Acorna: The Unicorn Girl (Acorna Series #1) » (Reprint)

Anne McCaffrey, a multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner, is one of the world's most beloved and bestselling science fiction and fantasy writers. She is the author of the hugely successful Dragonriders of Pern series and makes her home in a castle in Ireland.

"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 young women, and Acorna has special plans all her own. . .

VOYA

An alien infant, jettisoned in an escape pod shortly before her parent's spaceship is attacked, finds a new home with three itinerant asteroid miners. Though baffled by her physical appearance-she has a small horn in the center of her forehead, and strangely shaped hands and feet-and her amazing capabilities-she grows far more rapidly than a human infant, can purify the ship's air, and is a whiz when it comes to learning just about anything-Gill, Calum, and Rafik are immediately charmed by their young "niece." It is a good thing they're so besotted, because before long they are on the run from just about everybody, trying to save young Acorna from being analyzed to death by corporate scientists, being "collected" by Rafik's conniving Uncle Haviz, or being exploited and misunderstood. When the four arrive at the planet Kezdet, infamous for its exploitation of child labor, the reclusive Delszaki Li wants to acquire Acorna too; he believes she is a ki-lin, the unicorn of Chinese mythology whose presence augurs great things for the humans it visits. Sure enough, Acorna becomes the catalyst for planetwide change. McCaffrey at her best has created some of the most remarkable and well-loved worlds of modern science fiction. Pern and its dragons still catch and charm the imagination, even though recent novels lack the imaginative power of the older titles such as Dragonflight (Ballantine, 1968) or Dragonsong (Atheneum, 1976). The Ship Who Sang (Walker, 1969), powerful McCaffrey vision, has led to some successful collaborative sequels, including ParterShip (Baen, 1992), the previous McCaffrey/Ball collaboration. Ball also has produced memorable solo work, from the mystical Tibetan Flameweaver (Baen, 1991) to recent comic fantasies such as Lost in Translation (Baen, 1995/VOYA April 1996). It is a pity, then, that Acorna is so bland, not showing any real distinction in plot, characters, or setting. But most McCaffrey fans will not particularly mind, nor will readers who enjoy light, undemanding science fantasy with a romantic touch. VOYA Codes: 2Q 4P S (Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q, Broad general YA appeal, Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).