Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Katie

Tanaquil is a sorceress's daughter. Jaive, her mother, is probably the most powerful sorceress in the world. But there's just one thing wrong- Tanaquil doesn't have any power. All she seems to be good at is fiddling with and fixing broken things. Her mother tried to teach her once, but she has long since given up. They live in the middle of a desert in a giant fortress.

Tanaquil has only heard stories from her mother about a city to the east, and she wants to leave her boring, monotonous life. But Jaive won't let her go anywhere. Then one day Tanaquil follows a peeve, a small desert creature who adores bones, and makes an amazing discovery. She finds a whole skeleton- a skeleton of a unicorn! She brings it back and puts it together in her room, making gears for it's legs so it will appear to "run" in the wind when she hangs it over her worktable.

Everyone is frightened out of their wits when something comes tearing down from the tower during dinner, and only Tanaquil knows what it is. None of Jaive's spells work on the midnight-black unicorn, and she begins to panic. What has Tanaquil brought to life?