The unicorns in Skandar’s world aren’t what you might expect…

The author A.F. Steadman was walking down the road in Oxford one day when an image of a boy riding a fierce creature came soaring into her mind. She knew it wasn’t a dragon, or a phoenix, it looked more like a unicorn – but not how she expected. It looked ferocious and bloodthirsty. A.F. Steadman had lots of questions about the unicorn and the boy, and wrote the first draft of the Skandar and the Unicorn Thief to try to answer them.

Scoundrel’s Luck, Skandar’s bloodthirsty unicorn, has a sweet tooth

Skandar’s unicorn Scoundrel’s Luck has a love of Jelly babies, brought on from an early age when they were given to him from a packet Skandar stole from his sister, Kenna, before he came to the Island. Red jelly babies are his absolute favourite.

The Uffington White Unicorn…

In the Skandar universe, the true pre-historic figure on the hill made of chalk is not a horse, but a unicorn, hinting that hundreds of years ago, unicorns may have roamed the UK too

The Hatchery Scar and destined unicorns…

When a destined rider looks for their destined unicorn, they must lay their hand on different eggs. When they lay their hand on the correct egg, if it contains their destined unicorn, the unicorn will poke their horn through the shell, breaking the egg and creating a wound on their destined rider’s palm. This creates the rider-unicorn bond and leaves a hatchery scars on the rider’s right palms – a dark circle in the centre of the palm, with five lines attached, snaking up to the tips of each of the rider’s fingers.

Click here to find out more or grab a copy of the first book Skandar and the Unicorn Thief at selected Sainsbury’s stores

Elemental Mutations…

During their training, part of a rider’s appearance changes for good, becoming a bit more magical, almost as though the unicorn is giving riders their very own elemental gift. This can include things like flaming fingernails, thorny vines around an arm or frosted eyelashes!

Elemental smells

Each element smells a particular way to an individual rider – so water magic smells different to earth magic etc. According to Skandar, fire magic smells like bonfires, lit matches and overdone toast!

Click here to find out more or grab a copy of the first book Skandar and the Unicorn Thief at selected Sainsbury’s stores

The Summer solstice, the longest day of the year, is a sacred day on the Island when all elemental magic is at its most powerful. It is a day where lots of exciting events happen in the world of Skandar…

Red Night’s Delight loves a fiery fart…

Mitchell’s destined unicorn, Red Night’s Delight is the opposite to him – often getting herself dirty and letting out a cheeky flame-filled fart much to Mitchell’s dismay

Silver Unicorns and the Silver Circle

Silver Unicorn riders are a part of the Island that it likes to keep itself secret from the Mainland. Silver Unicorns are rare and powerful, and train in the Silver Stronghold. An elite group of Silver unicorn riders form the Silver Circle which controls the sentinels on the Island

The Chaos Cup Winner…

Every year in June there is an elemental race on the Island between unicorn riders. Twenty-five competitors engage in sky battles during the race – attacking each other with elemental magic such as fireballs, dust storms, flashes of lightning or walls of water to slow their opponents down. The winner of the Chaos Cup becomes the Commodore of Chaos, the most powerful person on the Island.

Click here to find out more or grab a copy of the first book Skandar and the Unicorn Thief at selected Sainsbury’s stores

Subject to availability. Selected stores only. Excludes Sainsbury’s Locals.