Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

** spoiler alert ** I'll start by saying this is a fantastic premise. It's about as high-concept as you get: "Killer unicorns!" The only basic book idea to hook you in fewer words is Jurassic Park, with, "Dinosaurs!"

The author also set up a lot of compelling dilemnas for Astrid, the protagonist. She has the special powers of a unicorn hunter thanks to being a female virgin descended from Alexander the Great. No one knows why for sure, but that's the way it goes. But does she want to hunt unicorns? If so, she has to remain a virgin, which means no sex with new boyfriend Giovanni. If not, sex might be her only way out - as long as she is a hunter, deadly unicorns will seek her out wherever she goes. Meanwhile, personality conflicts arise among the girls who are training their hunter powers, and the motives of their corporate sponsor remain shadowy and ominous.

Unfortunately, I had a number of empathy issues with Astrid. I tend to immerse myself immediately in stories, then experience frustrating jolts of disbelief when the protagonist's feelings or actions don't make sense to me. That happened frequently in Rampant.

First of all, I seriously disliked Phil, the cousin that Astrid basically idolizes. Phil is bossy, condescending, self-important, sometimes ditzy, and - like many characters in the book - inconsistent. Her main inconsistency doubles as one of her most annoying ideas: that unicorns are an endangered species that should be stewarded, not hunted. I'm a huge animal lover and an avid supporter of conservation, but the unicorns of Rampant are, at best, monsters that must be physically restrained from killing any human that isn't a hunter. That isn't natural carnivore behavior - even a unicorn that's happily playing, eating, etc. will stop immediately to gore any normal human it smells. And that's the "tame" unicorns! The non-tame unicorns actively pursue hunters and even taunt them by threatening those the hunters love. Forgive me if I have little patience with Phil's vague, unstudied desire to protect them. It especially bothers me given that it only surfaces when she's actually sent to hunt unicorns - after coming to Rome to train as a hunter, all on the trainers'/sponsors' dime. And yet, with no apparent turnaround point, she eventually just stops talking about stewarding unicorns and becomes just fine with the slaughter.

Also, did Cory really just second a nomination for Phil to take CORY'S UNCLE'S job? When Neil isn't even there?

So I didn't like Phil, and I couldn't sympathize with Astrid's thoughts about her. "Phil had a point." "Phil was right." No, Phil is being ridiculous and tiresome, and I didn't think it was very subtle how the author went, "Look, Phil's cool, athletic, popular, good-looking, and loved by boys, even though she doesn't have sex!"

On the subject of characters I had issues with: Bonegrinder and Lilith. Both are horrible psychos who should have been put down. Astrid's tolerance of - even affection for - both, distances me from her. Yes, I know she's your mother, but she mocked your cousin about having been raped and then threatened to sic a deadly monster on her! And Bonegrinder is a monster. I know she's useful for the "trial of the zhi," but how can you cuddle and pet a creature that you know would immediately turn on you if you ever stopped being a virgin, and that, given the chance, would murder your family and friends? (Also, pre-rape Phil trains Bonegrinder to balance meatballs on her nose. What? You're telling me this thing not only can be trained, but can be trained to resist meat? And you're not trying to train it not to kill people? The trial of the zhi would still work - she'll still only bow to hunters. WHY WOULDN'T YOU TRAIN HER TO BE LESS DANGEROUS?)

Also, isn't it pretty messed up that Neil names the critter that was a part of his sister's murder? Not a baby the killer unicorn parents left at home - an actual part of the murder? And names her "Bonegrinder"?

Oh, and that passage where Astrid ponders that this is what her mom would look like "if she really was crazy"? News flash, Astrid: your mom is more Fruit Loops than Toucan Sam. It doesn't matter that she was right about unicorns existing. She's still illogical, cruel, and dangerous.

To be clear here: what bothers me isn't the existence/behavior of these characters. It's Astrid's failure to recognize and condemn their behaviors in her mind. After all, it's her mind that's basically our guide through the story, and I want to sympathize with her.

I was also bothered by Astrid's mood swings and motivation irregularities. She's getting angry . . . ooh, she's mad now . . . and now she's not. She's really upset . . . and she gives up. I'm always frustrated by characters who work up a real, righteous anger, then just sigh and shrug and don't really do anything. After all, when they have real reason to get angry, I'm sort of vicariously angry, too, and I want to see them make something happen! At the very least, I want them to hold onto it, because then it's like a friend who feels the same way you do. That, incidentally, is part of the reason I like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix so much - I get to be in the Umbridge-hating club with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. When it came to anger, this book kept faking me out.

Also, Astrid flip-flops a lot on whether she wants to be a hunter. I understand that she's conflicted, but at any given moment, the reader doesn't necessarily know whether she's in, "Must seduce boy on second date to get out of hunting!" mode, or, "Let's train with weapons and make the best of it" mode. Personally, if I were so desperate to get out of this that I tried to seduce a guy I'd just met, begged my mom to let me come home, and hoped my absentee dad would sue for custody so that I could leave, then my day-to-day behavior would not be, "ho-hum, train with the girls." I would lock myself in my room, run away, sabotage training sessions, basically make it clear that I would never be a hunter and they shouldn't even want me around. After all, we have no evidence that Neil or Cory would force Astrid to stay against her will - she never even properly asks them to let her leave! I can't respect a character who doesn't put real effort into a goal that important.

There was also some dialogue that didn't ring true to me (American teens saying "I couldn't bear to" and "Thank heavens"?), and many of the cooler scenes were a lot like the end of Buffy Season Seven, but not as good. Plus, the end felt rushed, and many of the little twists - Cory's mother's death at the horns of unicorns, the karkadann that turns out to be Bucephalus - were obvious to me.

I did like Neil, Cory, Valerija, and Giovanni pretty well, and there were some cool scenes and even some nice writing. Giovanni surprised me a couple of times with his depth and/or subplots, and I like the subtlety of Brandt's "running away" (though it's almost ruined by being mentioned one or two too many times). Overall, though, I feel no need to look for any sequels that the author may write.