Acorna

by Margaret Ball and Anne McCaffrey

Book Overview

"Something's Alive In There!"

She was just a little girl, with a tiny horn in the center of her forehead, funny-looking feet, beautiful silver hair, and several curious powers: the ability to purify air and water, make plants grow, and heal scars and broken bones. A trio of grizzled prospectors found her drifting in an escape pod amid the asteroids, adopted her, and took her to the bandit planet Kezdet, a place where no questions are asked and the...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061057894
• ISBN13: 9780061057892
• Release Date: July 1998
• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.4" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

A unicorn in need of a home, a world in need of a hero...

Most of my reading consists of classic sci-fi. I've practically been raised on Heilein, Herbert, Asimov, and others like them. I've heard of Anne McCaffrey (who hasn't?), but somehow I never got around to reading one of her books. Until now that is. You can basically divide this book into three parts. Part one, the discovery and raising to young-adulthood of a unicorn-girl found floating in an escape pod by three miners. Part 2, a series of chases and escapes as various entities try to hunt down, capture, kill, or make trouble for the miners and their young charge. Part three, an aging mastermind with a heart of gold seeks to implement the young unicorn into his plan to free the child-slaves a hellish industrial world. The first part of the story is a great deal of fun, as the young Acorna grows both mentally and physically far faster than expected, the miners try to cope with the complications of raising a "niece", and she amazes and amuses with her rapid learning and strange precociousness (to say nothing of compelling child-like innocence). The second part of the story kind adds some edge, pushing you keep reading so you can find out how the protagonists are going to escape from the myriad of people who for some reason want them dead. I actually found myself somewhere at that point wondering to myself aloud if there was indeed anyone in the whole galaxy who wasn't after the heroes of our story. The third part of the story though, is what adds that fifth star. The brillaint businessman Li is wonderful character because he is ruthless and crafty, sharp as a steel trap, and has a heart of gold and body that is failing him. We have the point driven home repeatedly that the situation on the planet Kezdet is in a homeless situation that only a miracle could solve. The girl Acorna turns out to be that miracle. Very quickly she and her companions find themselves allied with and protected by Li and his underground child-freedom fighters, and from there the story because most compelling, as Acorna repeated puts herself in dangerous situations because her compassion cannot allow her to simple watch children suffer. This very weakness becomes her greatest strength, as earning the trust of the children allows Li's long overdue (and magnificently grand) plans to come to fulfillment. On a technical level this book may disappoint some, and certainly there is no flowery language or flowing descriptions. The language of this book is clear and easy to follow, and the characters are very clear-cut. Like a good anime epic though, the characters' struggles are metaphorical, emotionally clear, and cut straight to the heart. Truly the strength of the characters is what drives this book, much as Orson Scott Card's Ender series was driven by its characters. Acorna herself and Li in particular were two characters I absolutely loved. If this story reminds one of other sci-fi about a young savior who would free the slaves. There are echoes of Frank Herbert's Dune, Mi

Three Men and a Baby Unicorn Girl

Acorna: The Unicorn Girl is the first in the Acorna series. Fleeing from the torture cells of the cruel Khevii, the couple had rigged their ship to explode when the pursuing ship is close enough. However, they also put their baby into a survival capsule and programmed it to eject just before the explosion so that the Khlevii would not be able to capture it.In this novel, Gill, Rafik and Calum are prospecting in an asteroid belt when they discover a metallic pod broadcasting a distress call. They bring it aboard the Khedive and find a baby within it. The youngling differs from human babies in that she has a large bump in the middle of her forehead, one fewer joint in her fingers, and larger and thicker toes. She also has silvery hair and eyes and teeth strong enough to mark the metal cup when she is given water. Although refusing to eat meat, she happily stuffs lettuce, chard, carrots, and radishes in her mouth and chews with her strong teeth.The men are busy mining an asteroid, so they postpone taking her back to the base until they have a full load. As Gill says, "How much trouble can one toddler be?" After she has disrupted hydroponics for the third time, they enclose it in netting to keep her out. She stays as close as possible to one or another of the men, which complicates the doing of their tasks. She is growing by the hour and then she learns to talk. Luckily, she learns how to draw and is content with drawing lines and squiggles on old printout sheets; she also learns the programming language on the front of the sheets. She loves baths and, when she drinks her bathwater, they discover that the water is no longer soapy and dirty, but crystal clear. Moreover, the air has been low in carbon dioxide despite her preference for broad leaf plants.The men have discovered that the bump on her forehead has become a horn and unicorns are supposed to purify water. That suggests a name, but they reject "Una"; then Calum proposes "Acorna" and this passes by acclamation. After some initial confusion, they baptize her Acorna and argue other who will be her godfather, finally agreeing that all three will accept the responsibility. Of course, that means that they have to discuss everything at the top of their lungs while Acorna is asleep (they have discovered that the only thing that awakens Acorna is an alarm hooter, which causes her to promptly flee her hammock and stand by her escape pod). Acorna is learning things at a fabulous rate and her godfathers are having a wonderful time, but then they return to the base.This novel is a pure romp af a tale. It is definitely not hard SF nor is it difficult reading, so it would be suitable for older children or young adults, but was also enjoyable to this more mature reader. The first volume is probably the best in the series, but the sequels are also pleasant reading.Recommended for McCaffrey and Ball fans and anyone else who enjoys light SF yarns with a touch of comedy.

Fantastic!

The book Acorna is a story about 3 miners in space that raise an orphaned alien child that has a horn in her head that resembles a unicorns. This wonderful story will not let you go until it is done. Acorna is one of the best books I have read from Anne McCaffrey and Margret Ball.

another aspect of of Acorna the Unicorn girl

The fact that I found this book to be of quality that is to be expected from Anne Mccaffrey is at the moment irrelevant to my comments. I am a long time fan of Anne Mccafrey. The Restoree is one of my all time favoroute books. I enjoyed Acorna from an aspect that is not enjoyed by your avarage english speaking readers.I happen to come from from Hungary. My native language is hungarian. Most of the book takes place on a planet called Kezdet. Kezdet is the hungarian word for beginning. In the beggining when I started to read this book I thought it was just a coincidence. I wasn't.I really enjoyed how the writers used the hungarian language and expressions in writing this book. I am about to provide a little dictionary for anybody who reads this review. anyag-material czerebogar- a particularly loathsome kind of beetle. farkas-wolf maganos-lonely And of course these are only a few examples. My favourite happens to be the name of one of the minor characters. The girl called Irodalmi Javak. The literary transaletion happens to be: Irodalmi- Litarery Javak-patents Essentiall her name means literary patents. The fascinating part of it is when reading this name the feeling of it not unnatural. All I could see in my minds eye is a fragile but strong girl with a name that suits her admirably. Incidentally most of the names of the characters from that planet actually probably came from hindi not from hungarian. I could recognize the origin because I lived in India also for a little while. I was at that time busy learning english so I could not understand those names that came from that source. I would love to learn their meanings also. My review does not have very much to do with the undoubted quality of this book but it added a lot to my enjoyment of it that I wanted to share with other readers. I do not know how long I can wait for the second part of it to come out in paperback so I can afford to buy it. I hope that by an incredible chance Anne Mccaffrey would be able to read a very personal message from me to her. All my life I wanted to write books. I never tried to publish anything that I wrote because I did not feel that they were up to a standar that I would expect from myself but you are definitely one of my stars to steer by.

Amazing Story about an Amazing young woman

I just finished reading the book Acorna: the Unicorn Girl, and I really loved it. I like unicorns, so that was the first thing that attracted me to the book. But then, the story itself hooked me. I wondered why Acorna's parents were being pursued by those Khletvi warriors, then I shared the frustration of her guardians when they couldn't talk some sense into the woman who couldn't see that Acorna was different, not deformed, and after feeling fear for her life when the Piper decided to kill her, I felt satisfied by the ending. I would like to see Acorna learn about her past, and I'd love to learn a lot more about her and her kind. So since this book is to be the first in a series about Acorna, I plan to read a lot more about the adventures of this amazing young woman.