Diadem

When I created the concepts for the Diadem: Worlds of Magic series, there was one thing I was absolutely certain of: there would be unicorns in the stories. I've been a lover of fantasy all of my life, and there's just something so wonderful about unicorns. I was determined they would be a part of my worlds. So my unicorns make their debut in book 3, and then book 4, Book of Thunder, is almost entirely about them.

Why unicorns? Partly because of my love for The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. I adored the movie when I first saw it (some ten years after it was made!), and devoured the book. Beagle has a unique perspective on unicorns (and almost everything else), and he created a wonderful world. But, aside from Beagle, there's a lot of fascination in the creatures. I live just outside New York, and enjoy wandering around the Cloisters, where the famous Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries are on display. People in the Middle Ages loved unicorns!

They're a symbol of power, of course. Horses are not merely for riding and working, but for us to admire their strength and skill — and unicorns are horses with magic added to them. They're also a symbol of purity (their attraction to virgins is well known!) and honesty. From this, I was certain that I could create an interesting world for my unicorns.

Unlike The Last Unicorn and others of its kind, I didn't want just one or even two unicorns — I wanted a herd. I wanted a society of unicorns, not just a few individuals. I was interested in how such magical creatures might interact. The only books I'd read with more than a couple of unicorns in them was the Apprentice Adept series by Piers Anthony, which I'd enjoyed tremendously. My unicorns have a similar color scheme to their coats out of homage to his stories. It's just one example of the references I've placed in the series to other wonderful works of fantasy. Some of the references are deliberate, others subconscious. One fan wrote to ask if Helaine, the warrior girl, was based on Xena. Oddly enough, although I was watching Xena at the time, the possibility of a comparison had never occurred to me! But I suppose, looking back, that perhaps there's a bit of Lucy Lawless in Helaine!

I was intrigued by the unicorns. Given their intelligence (and an ability to communicate telepathically — the idea of unicorns being able to speak was a bit silly), they had to have a social structure. And, of course, they couldn't possibly be all alike, any more than all humans are alike.

One of the great joys in being a writer is the opportunity to work out such musings on paper, and then to construct stories to expound them. Of course, no matter how fascinating it is to try and work out unicorn social interactions, it is really no more than the backdrop for the story that takes place. Once my unicorns "evolved," then I could decide what I would do with them.

One legend has it that unicorns can purify water by dipping their horns into polluted wells or streams — it's another aspect of their incredible purity. They cannot be contaminated, but instead cleanse whatever they touch. I thought it could be rather fun to expand this into the idea that unicorns have the ability to negate magic. Being magical creatures themselves, they can't perform magic, but their purifying horns have the ability to stop magical spells. This then makes them both powerful and a threat — evil magicians can hardly allow unicorns to graze on their lawns if they expect to cast world-shattering spells.

And it gave another reason for why people collect unicorn horns (there was a brisk trade in them in the Middle Ages, even if they were all narwhal whale teeth...) — the horns negate magic, making them invaluable to anyone who wants to take on a powerful magician. Useful tools to have around, even if fatal to unicorns. And since unicorns are such beautiful, mystical creatures, anyone who'd kill one for his or her horn has to be really evil indeed — and a villain young readers are guaranteed to loathe!