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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Conspiracy Against Cats, March 18, 2003
Acorna's Rebels is the sixth novel in the Acorna series, following Acorna's Search. In the previous volume, Acorna has found a hidden city on Vhiliinyar where she was transported to the past. While she was away, her mate Aari has also traveled back in time searching for her and was still gone when she returned to the present. In this novel, Acorna is spending her time refining and re-refining the design for restoration of Vhiliinyar while waiting for Aari to return. Jonas and Roadkill, the Makahomian temple cat, convince her to relax a little and accompany them back to the Moon of Opportunity to visit their friends. Once there, Hafiz talks Acorna into visiting Nirii as an emissary of the Linyaari to solicit additional help in restoring Vhiliinyar and, incidentally, to take the Wats (unicorn hunters from ancient times) away from his wife, Karina. They also persuade Nadhari to go along to provide security. While enroute to Nirii in Condor, Jonas' conglomerate of a ship, RK bumps the warp controls and sends them to an unexpected destination. In the emergency, the warp computer and long range communicator have been rendered inoperative and they are forced to send out a mayday signal. They are rescued by an agricultural implements saleman, Scaradine MacDonald, who tows them to the nearest repair yard with his tractor beam. By some odd chance, this yard is located on Nadhari's home planet, Makahomia, and there they are introduced to Nadhari's cousin, Mulzar Edo Kando sach Pilau dom Mog-Gim, Temporal Ruler of the City of Hassim and the Mog-Dim Plateau. Nadhari is not very pleased to see her cousin and subsequent events show that he is not very popular with his subjects either. Soon Acorna learns that the Makahomian temple cats in the city are dying of a mysterious plague and quickly visits the temple to save four of them. However, the plague seems to be spreading elsewhere on the planet and infecting other animals and even people. Acorna is determined to use her healing talents wherever they are needed, but soon learns that Mulzar is trying to use these talents to justify a war of conquest to bring the rest of the planet under his rule. Moreover, Acorna is having dreams of Aari in connection with Makahomia itself. Another complication is the harsh penalties against the possession of temple cats outside the temples. While RK has been thought to be a temple cat, it quickly becomes obviously that he is a prime specimen of the breed and therefore jailbait for Jonas and company if RK is discovered aboard. However, RK has his own agenda and is able to come and go as he pleases, despite every effort to restrict him. Moreover, RK decides that now is the time to initiate telepathic contact with Acorna, so that she can be aware of his desires while away from his presence. For a change, RK's efforts to repopulate the planet with his own progeny is greatly appreciated by a people deprived of so many of their own temple cats. This story is a pleasure to read. While it doesn't require any heavy cogitation, it will keep the reader enthralled for several hour and leave a pleasant emotional aftereffect. Recommended for McCaffrey & Scarborough fans and anyone who enjoys light SF entertainment with a positive ending.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost there, but not there just yet, November 26, 2003
I've read all of the Acorna novels so far, and this is one of the most interesting. Acorna lands on Nadhari's home planet after a little technical difficulty with the Condor (courtasy of RK). While there, she tries to help the holy cats that have fallen ill due to a deadly disease and ends up getting tangled in a political plot to rule the planet. The atmosphere and description of Makahomia reminds me of Southeast Asia, blended together with a touch of Arabia/Egypt and even the Amazons. It gaves the novel an exotic feeling, a feeling that can't be found in metalic space ships, the rich and poor cities of Kezet, and the slightly Medival European styled narhii-Vhiliinyar of previous books. The plot line itself was interesting and had a nice twist to it, espically with the Makahomian religion and the morphing cat-people. The Wats and RK are probably the most comical, with their antics and "out-dated" believes. The only things i have a problem with is the villan and the ending battle. Althought the villan (as always) is an over egotistical maniac who's very cunning, he's just not willy enough to defeat the protagonist and in this novel, seems to lose his touch as the story progresses. The final battle was anticlimatic, since it happened so quickly.
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad, but lacking, February 7, 2003
Acorna's rebels left me feeling disappointed. I really enjoyed the first couple Acorna books, but the last few haven't been as great. To be honest, by the time I got this one, I had nearly forgotten all that happened in the last two books before. It took me a few chapters to remember where we had left off. Okay, my main problem was the storyline became very shallow. All the difficulties and emergencies had easy solutions, no one had any trouble with finding them or carring them out. Also, where's Aari? And what is happening with the others that we've been following for books now? We spent the entire time with Acorna, with no word whatsoever on anything else that's happening. In the beginning Acorna is working on rebuilding her planet, but that is quickly pushed aside in the story, and not returned to. Surely the work would be at least an interesting sidenote?
In the end, everything just seemed too pat, too easy. I won't spoil the ending, but it left me hanging too much for me to have enjoyed it.
So, to be fair, there's nothing badly wrong with this book, as it stands by itself. As a novel, alone, I think it deserved 3 stars. It's only when you compare this book to earlier ones from the series that you realize that, although it's good, the first few were far, far better.
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