Customer Reviews

Acorna - The Unicorn Girl

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Acorna is different from other sci-fi novels I have read, because not many incorporate the ancient myth of unicorns. The innocence of Acorna made me laugh, for McCaffrey and Ball have created an original and likable character for me to relate to. I am looking forward to reading the two other books that are in print now (Acorna's Quest and Acorna's People). The miners that befriend the baby Acorna and eventually become her "uncles" are humourous and display realistic emotions towards an enigmatic Acorna. The exploits of Acorna on the planet filled with misery touched a cord for me, for IF only someone could exist in the universe today to care about all the "nameless" children. Acorna: The Unicorn Girl is a must-read for McCaffrey and Ball fans, but also for anyone who is touched by an innocence that is not really present in today's harsh world.

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, Miyazaki's Naussicaa, and Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age (espeically the latter, which also features a young female protagonist, a world run by corporations, and a chinese man bent on saving children). Of course, this book is much less heart-wrenching than Nausicaa, less heady (or trippy) than Dune, and has FAR less swearing, abuse, and violence than Diamond age.

Anyone looking for a light read or fan of stories with female protagonists or world saviors will no doubt enjoy this book greatly. Now to read all the sequels...

It's always disappointing to read a lackluster collaboration between two wonderful authors. In this case, the story moves along reasonably well but Acorna herself is so perfect that she's boring. She is an angelically sweet little girl, the kind that only exists in fiction, without any personality flaws to give her character depth. After a while I began to wish she would throw a temper tantrum, badmouth her 'uncles', anything! The gritty and realistic depiction of the exploited slave children helps rescue the story from the nauseatingly saccharine beginning. If only some of that realism had rubbed off on Acorna herself. This book is worth picking up at the library, but not worth spending hard-earned money on.

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.

-Arthur W. Jordin

In general this book was good. Even very good. However, I've found Anne McCaffrey's work in general to be a bit more addicting than this collaboration with Margaret Ball. I can normally tell an excellent book by how many times I am able to put it down for real life interferance--this one was way too easy to set aside. Despite the lack of raving, I really did enjoy the book, and immediately ordered the sequels, Acorna's Quest, Acorna's World, and Acorna's People. The characters were very well written, though some were better developed than others, and the plot was adventurous and moving. I wouldn't call it an excellent book, but I'd read it again with pleasure and recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.

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.

I am a big McCaffery fan, and read these books with interest, but unfortunately not before I had given a set to a 12-yr old girl relative. Had I done so, I would not have given them as a gift.

These books have some pretty strong sexual connotations and situations not suitable for pre-teens, including references to child abuse, prostitution, exploitation and s-m practices including very suggestive dialog between unsavory characters.

For more mature readers, they are an entertaining though unchallenging adventure.

This book was charming and enchating. I read this book when I was about 10. I loved it and read the other two we own. This book tells the enchanting story of Acorna and her "Uncles". Her "Uncles" Found her in a life suport pod when she was a baby. her travels took her to Kezdet where She was apaled by the shild abuse there. This book is a must read for people who love fatasy.

Although this book did not come even close to the depth and characterization of The Pern books, it is readable and enjoyable, although perhaps a little too predictable and the end was done much too quickly. It is worth reading the next book in the series however.

I just finished reading this book this past weekend, and was checking to find information about the sequels (which shows that I liked it at least somewhat); I looked for them at the local library, but all of the many copies were checked out!

Many others have given a basic plot summary, so I won't bother. I liked many of the characters. Acorna in particular seemed rather young, naive, but with a huge heart that was willing to do whatever necessary to help those in need (even at the risk of her own life and well-being). This seems a lot like what I'd expect if a unicorn (at least one that fits several of our stereotypes about them) became a human being. I also liked the fact that many of the other characters seemed quite human, and the interesting point that the authors made that people may be neither good nor bad. For example, one of the main characters was an extremely rich old man who was extremely corrupt, but in a good way; i.e., he would bribe officials, pull whatever strings he had, etc., but all for the purpose of trying to save children from slavery.

On the other hand, the story was somewhat predictable, and seemed a bit too easy. I won't say what happened at the end, but even though the authors set it up well, I had the feeling that it had all been sewn up a bit too neatly. Besides this, some of the plot twists were almost too simplistic.

If you can make it beyond that, the end was the kind of ending that you really want to have with such a situation, and I have to admit that a part of me would have been disappointed had it turned out otherwise. One final saving grace is that the conclusion didn't sew up all the romantic situations; I get quite sick of books where everyone automatically and unexplainably end up with the right person after a few quick pages. So overall, I'd call this a decent book; not wonderful, but not a bad book, either.