Skandar and the Unicorn Thief

Published in 2022 and written by A. F. Steadman, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A. F. Steadman is the first installment in the middle-grade Skandar series. The book focuses on unicorn lore and follows Skandar, a brand-new unicorn rider whose unicorn wields special yet outlawed magical abilities. While most unicorns and their riders have affinities with earth, fire, air, or water, Skandar’s unicorn has an affinity with spirit. As a secret spirit wielder, Skandar forges bonds of friendship with his fellow riders as they discover the truth about the spirit element and combat the world’s most infamous spirit wielder of all—the Weaver.

The book currently has one sequel, Skandar and the Phantom Rider, with more installments on the way. Simon & Schuster signed an unexpected seven-figure advance for Steadman’s debut novel, with Sony Pictures signing quickly for the rights to adapt the book into a movie. Since publication, the novel has received several awards, including the Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year award in 2022 and the 2023 Indie Book Award for the Children’s category.

This guide refers to the 2022 Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.

Plot Summary

As a youngster living on the Mainland, Skandar Smith is deeply interested in both the wild and the bonded unicorns who live separately on the Island. He also closely follows the annual unicorn race, known as the Chaos Cup. His sister, Kenna, recently failed the Hatchery exam to determine if she would be a viable unicorn rider, and she still feels the sting of disappointment from this failure. Had she passed the exam, she would have been able to travel to the Island, bond with a unicorn, and undergo training as a unicorn rider. In addition to the benefit of riding a unicorn, riders are also able to wield magical powers associated with one of the four elements: earth, air, fire, or water. (There is also a fifth element—spirit—but because of the violent actions of the mysterious Weaver, who wields the power of spirit and steals unicorns whenever possible, using the spirit element and becoming a spirit wielder at all is now considered illegal.) This year, Skandar will take the Hatchery exam in the hope of passing and becoming a rider. He, his father, and Kenna each have their opinions about this year’s Chaos Cup competitors, but in the end, it is Skandar’s favorite, Aspen McGrath, and her unicorn, New-Age Frost, who win the cup. Immediately afterward, the Weaver attacks and steals New-Age Frost.

A few days of school pass for Skandar in which he experiences his ordinary life—bullies, his father’s fluctuating moods, and his sister Kenna protecting him. On the morning of the Hatchery exam, his father emphasizes that he must take the exam no matter who tries to stop him. Skandar promises to do so, but he is prevented from keeping this promise when his teacher states that the officials from the Rider Liaison Office have ruled Skandar ineligible for the exam. He tries to enter anyway, but his teacher blocks him from doing so. He goes home disappointed that he will not become a rider and angry that his father did not tell him that the Office called to inform them all that Skandar could not take the exam.

At midnight, a unicorn rider named Agatha unexpectedly knocks on the Smiths’ door. She comes bearing tidings that Skandar did not need to take the exam because he is special and has already passed the exam through his schoolwork. Neither he nor Kenna quite believe this story, but Skandar leaves with Agatha, nonetheless. She takes him to the Island and tells him how to navigate the Mirror Cliffs surrounding the Island and reach the Hatchery in time to blend in with the other candidates. Skandar manages to do this and places his hand on the Hatchery door, which opens for him. He walks through the Tunnel of the Living—a magical record of all living unicorn riders—and passes into the antechamber, where he meets other new unicorn riders and the president of the Silver Circle. The Silver Circle is an official organization dedicated to keeping unicorn riders safe.

The process of selecting unicorns begins. The riders approach and touch one unicorn egg at a time; if the unicorn inside pierces a rider’s hand with its horn, this indicates that the rider and the unicorn were fated to bond with each other. Skandar tries egg after egg with no success, until at last a unicorn responds, piercing his hand. He takes the egg into a Hatching cell, and his fated unicorn, Scoundrel’s Luck, hatches, sporting a white stripe on his forehead. When Skandar leaves his cell, he encounters three other new riders: Bobby, Flo, and Mitch; the latter two react negatively to the white stripe on Scoundrel’s forehead, recognizing it as the mark of a spirit unicorn. Because it is illegal for unicorns and their riders to wield spirit magic, the four all agree to hide Scoundrel and Skandar’s affinity with the element of spirit. If the officials on the Island were to learn of Skandar’s true nature as a spirit wielder, his career would be over immediately. As it is, Mitch takes an immediate dislike to Skandar because he has been taught to distrust any spirit wielders; this prejudice is largely because of the activities of the villainous and mysterious Weaver, who steals unicorns and forces bonds between non-riders and unicorns, thereby robbing such “riders” of their autonomy.

Now, the new riders and their unicorns walk the distance to the Eyrie, a training ground in which they will spend the next five years as they train to be unicorn riders. Anyone who does not pass this five-year curriculum successfully will become outcast and will be labeled as a “nomad.” At the heart of the Eyrie is the Divide, a place where natural four fault lines meet. Each fault line represents one of the four elements with which a rider can have an affinity: water, earth, fire, and air. As each rider traverses the fault lines, one fault line will light up, indicating that rider’s affinity. (Spirit, which is also a possible affinity even though it is illegal, is indicated when all four fault lines light up simultaneously.) When Skandar stands in the Divide, all four fault lines light up, officially marking him as a spirit wielder. Luckily, his friends create a distraction while he enters the circle, so only Joby Worsham, the disgraced spirit wielder who now teaches Mainlander children about life on the Island, sees all four fault lines light up. Everyone else believes that Skandar’s affinity is water. Skandar, Flo, Bobby, and Mitch decide to form a team, training and living together in order to protect Skandar’s secret. Mitch is the most reluctant to go through with this plan, but he acquiesces.

The Eyrie includes a protective dome that allows new riders to use a limited form of their magic while they become accustomed to drawing upon their elements. The night after the new riders’ first lesson, an explosion occurs near the Mirror Cliffs, and two sentinels die in the attack. Instructor O’Sullivan admits that the explosion was caused by the Weaver, but the instructor also assures the trainees that they are safe. The next day, they attend their first lesson with Joby, the disgraced spirit wielder, and after class, Skandar privately asks Joby about the attack and expresses his concern that the Weaver will attack the Mainland. Joby confirms this and states that only a spirit wielder is capable of stopping the Weaver’s destructive activities. Training continues, and the time comes for the protective dome to come down, allowing the trainees free access to their magic. Once the dome is down, Scoundrel is eager to use the spirit element. To keep this affinity for spirit a secret, Skandar resists and fights Scoundrel to hide the fact that they can access this forbidden element. Realizing the truth of what is happening, Joby steps in to help and makes Skandar swear to hide the spirit element and never to use it.

Skandar returns to lunch and discovers that a student named Amber is bullying Mitch. Skandar intervenes and dumps chocolate custard on Amber, solidifying their rivalry and proving to Mitch that not all spirit wielders are evil. Fall turns to winter, and the much-anticipated Fire Festival approaches. Skandar still struggles to control Scoundrel, who wants to have free use of the spirit element. After a particularly disastrous lesson, Instructor O’Sullivan shows Skandar a wall of broken elemental pins—the one-quarter of former trainees’ pins that serve as a reminder to future generations how easy it can be to become a nomad—someone banished from the Eyrie before the end of their training. During the festival, Skandar and his friends enter Fourpoint, the prison specifically for spirit wielders, looking for answers to the nature of the spirit element and the reasons for why this magic has become outlawed. Upon infiltrating the prison, Skandar encounters Agatha, who gives him the Book of Spirit. However, he promptly loses the book in a wild unicorn stampede that occurs soon afterward.

Talking to Agatha also shows Skandar a way to help control Scoundrel—by allowing pieces of spirit magic to intertwine with one of the other elements that he chooses to use. One day, during a training sky battle against Amber and her unicorn, Scoundrel unexpectedly uses the spirit element to completely block Amber’s magic. Joby reprimands Skandar for this occurrence, fearful that Skandar’s secret might be discovered. However, Skandar believes that using the spirit element in small quantities is the only way to keep control of his unicorn, despite the dangers of revealing his true nature. Joby tells Skandar where to find the Spirit Den, a safe space for spirit wielders, and the two go their separate ways. (It is later discovered that Joby has decided to willingly join forces with the mysterious Weaver.) Meanwhile, Skandar goes to find the Spirit Den and discovers a schematic that reveals the Weaver’s larger plan: to take non-riders and weave a forced bond between them and a wild unicorn, which will simultaneously bind the person’s soul to the Weaver.

Soon, the Training Trials approach, and the Hatchlings worry about the possibility of placing in the bottom five and becoming nomads. Instructor Saylor takes them to the Triumph Tree, which commemorates the names of all Training Trial victors—with the exception of the spirit wielders, whose names were removed from the records after they were imprisoned. (The Weaver’s destructive actions have created a deep distrust of all spirit weavers, who are assumed to be aligned with the Weaver’s goals, and are therefore imprisoned.) Mitch and Flo talk about some of the known spirit wielders, and Skandar recognizes that he has seen the name of a supposedly deceased spirit wielder—Erika Everhart—listed in Tunnel of the Living. He realizes that Erika Everhart must be alive, so the quartet goes to the graveyard to check the grave of Erika’s unicorn. There, they find both names carved into the tree as well as those of Skandar, Kenna, and their father. The only person who could have engraved the names of Skandar’s family is Skandar’s mother; therefore, Erika Everhart is not only alive but is also Skandar’s mother.

During the Training Trial, Skandar falls behind and only crosses the line in 13th place with Mitch’s help. However, the Weaver attacks and steals Flo’s silver unicorn. The four friends follow the Weaver into the Wilderness in order to confront the villain. There, they discover that the Weaver and Erika Everhart are one and the same; she also confirms that she is Skandar’s mother and tries to leverage their family bond to convince him to join forces with her. However, realizing the strength of his newfound identity as a unicorn rider, Skandar refuses. Instead, he recovers both Silver Blade and New-Age Frost. He restores the bond between New-Age Frost and Aspen, then makes a deal with Aspen that he will finally be allowed to train openly as a spirit wielder. He celebrates his success at passing the Training Trial with his friends and family before returning to the Eyrie.