After the spectacular success of The Last Unicorn Beagle felt the usual pressure to repeat himself, either by writing a sequel or by returning to the same milieu.

This was a temptation that Beagle resisted, swearing never to write another "unicorn novel." For two decades Beagle turned out short stories at a craftsmanlike pace, writing only one novel during that time, the fantasy The Folk of the Air (1986). In 1993, however, Beagle drew upon his previous work for the character of the unnamed magician in The Innkeeper's Song, identifiable to the discerning reader as none other than an older, wiser version of the transformed Schmendrick from the final chapter of The Last Unicorn.

While it is not a sequel in any conventional sense, The Innkeeper'.; Song is an extension of some of the themes introduced in The Last Unicorn.

Beagle's career has seen a creative surge in...