On This Page
Description
"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 girl might grow up free. But Kezdet has its show more own dark secret. The prosperity of the planet is based on a hideous trade in child slave labor, administered by "The Piper" -- a mystery man with special plans for Acorna and her powers. But free little girls have a way of growing into freedom-loving young women, and Acorna has special plans all her own. . . show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
Three miners rescue a space pod and discover it houses a tiny humanoid infant they dub Acorna. The rapidly maturing child leads them to many adventures, finally landing for a spell on Kezdet. But Kezdet's economy is based on child labor, a practice young Acorna finds abhorrent.
This is a feel good story that lays the groundwork for the rest of the series. The writing is good, although the story jumps around a bit to cover Acorna's formative years. A fun read that leaves me wanting to know what happens next.
This is a feel good story that lays the groundwork for the rest of the series. The writing is good, although the story jumps around a bit to cover Acorna's formative years. A fun read that leaves me wanting to know what happens next.
Honestly, it's a fairly enjoyable read.
But there are a lot of weird things with it, mostly having to do with the characters. Hafiz goes from a villainous scumbag to a swashbuckling hero (well, sort of). And I love him as a good guy, but his turnaround is a little unexpected and hard to believe. Likewise, the various romances throughout the story seem very forced, obvious, and stereotypically expected.
The Piper is not as impressive as he should be. He just doesn't live up to his reputation, honestly.
And the whole plot... is just very hard to take seriously.
Of course, the heroine is an alien unicorn girl.
Who, unfortunately, isn't quite as awesome as I wish.
Nevertheless, I will keep reading the series.
But there are a lot of weird things with it, mostly having to do with the characters. Hafiz goes from a villainous scumbag to a swashbuckling hero (well, sort of). And I love him as a good guy, but his turnaround is a little unexpected and hard to believe. Likewise, the various romances throughout the story seem very forced, obvious, and stereotypically expected.
The Piper is not as impressive as he should be. He just doesn't live up to his reputation, honestly.
And the whole plot... is just very hard to take seriously.
Of course, the heroine is an alien unicorn girl.
Who, unfortunately, isn't quite as awesome as I wish.
Nevertheless, I will keep reading the series.
"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 girl might grow up free.
But Kezdet has its own dark secret. The prosperity of the planet is based on a hideous trade in child slave labor, administered by "The Piper" -- a mystery man with special plans for Acorna and her powers. But free little girls have a way of growing into freedom-loving show more young women, and Acorna has special plans all her own. . . show less
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 girl might grow up free.
But Kezdet has its own dark secret. The prosperity of the planet is based on a hideous trade in child slave labor, administered by "The Piper" -- a mystery man with special plans for Acorna and her powers. But free little girls have a way of growing into freedom-loving show more young women, and Acorna has special plans all her own. . . show less
An orphaned, magically gifted, humanoid unicorn girl found in a space pod by three miners. She rapidly matures, healing others and using her powers to fight child slavery on the planet Kezdet.
Three bachelor asteroid miners, Gill, Rafik, and Calum, find a small, horned, silvery-haired girl in a life pod. They adopt her, naming her Acorna, and raise her on their mining ship. Acorna matures remarkably fast and possesses magical, telepathic abilities, including the power to purify air/water, heal injuries, and detect metals.
Because of her unique nature, Acorna is sought after by scientists and others wanting to exploit her powers. The miners become her protective, loving uncles, fleeing from system to system to keep her safe.
They land on show more the shady planet Kezdet, which secretly relies on child slave labor. Acorna, upon reaching young adulthood, uses her abilities to fight back against the slave traders, specifically The Piper who runs the operation, freeing the enslaved children. show less
Three bachelor asteroid miners, Gill, Rafik, and Calum, find a small, horned, silvery-haired girl in a life pod. They adopt her, naming her Acorna, and raise her on their mining ship. Acorna matures remarkably fast and possesses magical, telepathic abilities, including the power to purify air/water, heal injuries, and detect metals.
Because of her unique nature, Acorna is sought after by scientists and others wanting to exploit her powers. The miners become her protective, loving uncles, fleeing from system to system to keep her safe.
They land on show more the shady planet Kezdet, which secretly relies on child slave labor. Acorna, upon reaching young adulthood, uses her abilities to fight back against the slave traders, specifically The Piper who runs the operation, freeing the enslaved children. show less
I was in some ways impressed and tickled by Acorna, and in other ways unimpressed and chagrined. Being an avid reader of Anne McCaffrey since I was in junior high school, there are many traits that I’ve come to enjoy in her writing: tying mythical beasts and the paranormal to modern and future settings, abused and neglected children’s retribution against a world that would not have them (a facet of literature that I later came to hate with the mediocrity of Harry Potter), and her talent to develop characters into romantic chess pieces.
Although I now feel that I am older and wiser in regards to romantic settings (and McCaffrey’s stance on homosexuality being little more than effrontery to me), I still find her universes complex show more and interesting. The Talent/Pegasus series has always been a favorite of mine and I am constantly rereading Damia and To Ride Pegasus for their science fiction/romance blend. In Acorna’s case, we have a book that is ostensibly young adult literature, set in the far future, while incorporating elements of the unicorn mythos. Since I’ve never taken the time to read up on unicorns from a mythological perspective, I feel as if I have earned an insight into their makeup that I wouldn’t have otherwise known. Additionally, a great many science fiction and science non-fiction made up a tremendous part of this story and it was all composed and inserted well and aptly.
However, one could argue the dynamics of Acorna stop there. The plot is, to say the least, confusing. If the reader is to take the three miners as the story’s protagonists, the book should have ended when they reached Kezdet. I had actually been under the mistaken assumption that Acorna was going to feature… oh I don’t know, the character named Acorna? Instead, so many characters are introduced, their stories overlapping well, that one quickly loses sight of just who and what Acorna really is. One reads Dragonsong because they identify with and become empathic to its protagonist. One reads Damia because of her vivacious personality. Why is it then, that a book just called Acorna, doesn’t feature really any personal growth for the character. It is fitting that this book brings us from her infancy into her young adulthood with nary a stop along the way, because that is exactly how I feel her character was developed through out. I felt as if I was reading an abridgement of her story. I kept holding out hope for the text to become feminist or at least sympathetic to Acorna and her plight. I guess that would have required her to have a plight.
I am really upset that I didn’t enjoy Acorna more. I have recently acquired the other books in her series, and I’m quite sure they introduce some interesting characters and funny scenarios, but… I don’t know if I’ll be able to muster up the will to read them. The question of whether or not the books begin to actually center on Acorna and who and what is unsettles me because I’m afraid I’ll never find out. I have to question the wisdom of having a female character-driven series begin with an episode-driven, masculine trio. What sense I do get from Acorna is that she has little regard for social niceties, a traint I do find appealing. Yet, I am also stymied by her utter lack of interest in the opposite sex (no doubt this is due to McCaffrey/Ball’s wish to make her a “late bloomer” as the story closes on her being all of three years old). As McCaffrey has rarely used homosexuality in her books, I find it highly unlikely that she would choose to make Acorna one (although I will look for fanfics to that end). Instead, I see Acorna becoming like Nimisha—a soul searching for something she knows not what and is willing to settle for the mundane and take on stereotypical female maternity roles in anti-feminist fable. Given that side characters have already recognized Acorna as being motherly, I have to wonder if Acorna will ever morph into a Lessa-like character that truly controls the fate of the story. I do not attempt to posit that motherly characters are anti-feminist or even that they don’t make good protagonist: I merely wonder if Acorna does. show less
Although I now feel that I am older and wiser in regards to romantic settings (and McCaffrey’s stance on homosexuality being little more than effrontery to me), I still find her universes complex show more and interesting. The Talent/Pegasus series has always been a favorite of mine and I am constantly rereading Damia and To Ride Pegasus for their science fiction/romance blend. In Acorna’s case, we have a book that is ostensibly young adult literature, set in the far future, while incorporating elements of the unicorn mythos. Since I’ve never taken the time to read up on unicorns from a mythological perspective, I feel as if I have earned an insight into their makeup that I wouldn’t have otherwise known. Additionally, a great many science fiction and science non-fiction made up a tremendous part of this story and it was all composed and inserted well and aptly.
However, one could argue the dynamics of Acorna stop there. The plot is, to say the least, confusing. If the reader is to take the three miners as the story’s protagonists, the book should have ended when they reached Kezdet. I had actually been under the mistaken assumption that Acorna was going to feature… oh I don’t know, the character named Acorna? Instead, so many characters are introduced, their stories overlapping well, that one quickly loses sight of just who and what Acorna really is. One reads Dragonsong because they identify with and become empathic to its protagonist. One reads Damia because of her vivacious personality. Why is it then, that a book just called Acorna, doesn’t feature really any personal growth for the character. It is fitting that this book brings us from her infancy into her young adulthood with nary a stop along the way, because that is exactly how I feel her character was developed through out. I felt as if I was reading an abridgement of her story. I kept holding out hope for the text to become feminist or at least sympathetic to Acorna and her plight. I guess that would have required her to have a plight.
I am really upset that I didn’t enjoy Acorna more. I have recently acquired the other books in her series, and I’m quite sure they introduce some interesting characters and funny scenarios, but… I don’t know if I’ll be able to muster up the will to read them. The question of whether or not the books begin to actually center on Acorna and who and what is unsettles me because I’m afraid I’ll never find out. I have to question the wisdom of having a female character-driven series begin with an episode-driven, masculine trio. What sense I do get from Acorna is that she has little regard for social niceties, a traint I do find appealing. Yet, I am also stymied by her utter lack of interest in the opposite sex (no doubt this is due to McCaffrey/Ball’s wish to make her a “late bloomer” as the story closes on her being all of three years old). As McCaffrey has rarely used homosexuality in her books, I find it highly unlikely that she would choose to make Acorna one (although I will look for fanfics to that end). Instead, I see Acorna becoming like Nimisha—a soul searching for something she knows not what and is willing to settle for the mundane and take on stereotypical female maternity roles in anti-feminist fable. Given that side characters have already recognized Acorna as being motherly, I have to wonder if Acorna will ever morph into a Lessa-like character that truly controls the fate of the story. I do not attempt to posit that motherly characters are anti-feminist or even that they don’t make good protagonist: I merely wonder if Acorna does. show less
A nice and uncomplicated SF novel. Typical Anne McCaffrey with a captivating story about the only unicorn girl among humans who helps fight child labor on the planet Kezdet.
Three miners find a pod carrying an alien baby and decide to raise her. The girl has a horn growing out of her forehead that has special abilities to heal and purify. As the girl grows at a rate much faster than human children, the miners realize that others would like to take the girl, who they named Acorna, off their hands and exploit her powers. The three miners do everything they can to protect Acorna and give her a meaningful life, but even they can't shield her from all the injustice in the galaxy. This was a fun book with some interesting and enjoyable characters. I liked reading it, but I suspect it will not be one that I remember later.
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Fantasy/Scifi Heroines Without Love Intrests
46 works; 10 members
Best reading order of Anne McCaffrey's non-Pern sci-fi
43 works; 2 members
Author Information
257+ Works 207,358 Members
Anne McCaffrey was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 1, 1926. She received a degree in Slavonic languages from Radcliffe College. She worked in advertising for Helena Rubenstein from 1947 to 1952. Her first publication was a short story in Science Fiction Magazine, and her first novel, Restoree, was published in 1967. She is a well-known show more author of over 100 books, mostly science fiction, including the Dragonriders of Pern series, the Crystal Singer series, Acorna's Children series, The Twins of Petaybee series, and Barque Cats series. She won numerous awards including the Hugo Award for Best Novella for the short story Weyr Search in 1968 and the Nebula Award for Best Novella for Dragonrider in 1969. In 2006, she was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. She has also written books under the pseudonym Jody Lynn. She died of a stroke on November 21, 2011 at the age of 85. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
56+ Works 7,515 Members
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Distinctions
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Acorna, the Unicorn Girl
- Original publication date
- 1997
- People/Characters
- Acorna; Dr Alton Forelle; Des Smirnoff; Siri Teku; Mercy Kendoro; Gill (show all 28); Rafik Nadezda; Declan Gilogley; Eva Glatt; Judit Kendoro; Hafiz Harakamian; Ed Minkus; Delszaki Li; Ram Dal; Laxmi; Khetala; Chiura; Jana; Kheti; Buddhe; Faize; Didi Badina; Sita Ram; Nadhari Kando; Pedir; Brantley; Provola Quero; Calum Baird
- First words
- Prologue:
The space/time coordinate system they used has no relationship to Earth, our sun, the Milky Way, or any other point of reference we could use to find our way around, and in any coordinate system we use, they'... (show all)re so far off the edge of the chart that nobody has ever contemplated going there, even with the proton drive.
At first Gill assumed it was just another bit of spaced debris, winking as it turned around its own axis and sending bright flashes ofreflected light down where they were placing the cablearound AS-64-B1.3. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)No one at Anyag dared to stop them.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 2,101
- Popularity
- 9,694
- Reviews
- 19
- Rating
- (3.57)
- Languages
- Czech, English, French, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 17
- ASINs
- 7