The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden

The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden

The enchanting new historical fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of the Winternight Trilogy and The Warm Hands of Ghosts.

'Captivating' NAOMI NOVIK
‘Rich, immersive and wonderfully escapist’ GUARDIAN
‘One of my most anticipated books of 2026 and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT!’ 5-star reader review
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Anne of Brittany was a child when her land was invaded, her castle besieged, and her royal father driven to his death.

Now Brittany is occupied by her enemies, her treasury empty, and only one thing is lacking to complete her realm’s subjugation: she is required, on pain of the sword, to marry the King of France.

But Anne cannot. She has promised her dead father that Brittany would never be conquered.

Defiantly, she betroths herself in secret to France’s greatest enemy. But in a world where courts may spy on each other by magic, there is only one way to solemnize this illicit union.

Under the guise of a hunting party, Anne takes her court deep into a deep forest, a strange place dogged with rumours of ancient enchantments; a place where diviners cannot see. She tells the French that she had gone there to hunt unicorns.

It’s a ruse, a lie, a feint.

But when, against all expectations, a unicorn does appear and a wounded stranger stumbles from the trees and falls at her feet, Anne is plunged into a world of enchantment where a doomed sovereign might find the power to change the destiny of her nation - or be lost in the mist for ever.

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Readers are loving The Unicorn Hunters:

‘Every page brims with delight, humanity and pin-sharp observation’ Daily Mail

‘Absolutely enchanting’ 5-star reader review

‘A magnificent fairy tale, and I loved it with all my heart!!!!’ 5-star reader review

‘Truly unforgettable’ 5-star reader review

'Magical blend of fact and fancy, rich characters and intricate plotting' Irish Daily Mail

‘Absolutely dazzling in plot and character and prose’ 5-star reader review

‘This alchemy of history, fairy tale, romance, and setting that just blows me away’ 5-star reader review

‘I was completely consumed’ 5-star reader review

‘Full-body immersion into a world of danger, enchantment, heartbreak, and fierce, breathtaking courage’ 5-star reader review

Born in Austin, Texas, Katherine Arden has long had a taste for wandering.

She spent her junior year of high school in Rennes, France before attending Middlebury College in Vermont where she specialized in French and Russian literature, and her studies included sojourns at the Sorbonne in Paris and the Russian State University for the Humanities in Moscow.

After receiving her BA, Katherine moved to Maui, Hawaii and worked every kind of odd job imaginable while writing her debut novel.

She is the author of The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch which make up her Winternight Trilogy, as well as The Warm Hands of Ghosts, which was a Sunday Times bestseller.