A Ring of Unicorns, by M R Collard

David noticed that his sisters’ hair looked silver and blew in wisps over their pale faces. Their bright clothes were shadow-coloured. The herd was becoming frisky; manes and tails tossed like silken fringe flowing in slow motion. They sparred and fumed and kicked and foamed in a strange formal way, as though they were dancers obeying a hidden caller, a caller who drew them slowly into a circle.

When Barbara, David Genevieve and Peter meet a Gryphon, they react in different ways, but none of them could predict the adventure that will ensue. The Gryphon needs their help to send a posse of basilisks on their way, away from Lake Burley Griffin. To do this they have to cross through the layers and seek the help of unicorns, dolphins and bees.

Six Days Between a Second is the first of seven fantasy novels in the Ring of Unicorns series by Canberra-based author M R Collard. Each of the books is self-contained, though the first three form a trilogy and the other four two duos, with characters reappearing across the series. All of the books are also set in and around Canberra, though not perhaps in the first layer – the ‘real’ world.

These books will best appeal to fantasy devotees, with a host of fantastical and mythical creatures including the aforementioned gryphons, basilisks and unicorns, as well as ermines, faeries and more. They are not easy reads, with complex language and sentence structures, making them best suited to confident older child readers, or adults.

Will appeal to fantasy lovers.

Six Days Between a Second, An Ermine Tale, Of Jade and Amber Caves, A Frozen Moment, The Phoenix Feather, The One-Verse Gryphon and The Key to Rattlekey, all by MR Collard
Palindrome Publishing, 2005

More Information is available online from webmultimedia.com.au/ringofunicorns/