Acorna's Quest - Hardcover

McCaffrey, Anne

3.69

6,298 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061052973 ISBN 13: 9780061052972

Publisher: Harper Voyager, 1998

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In the first volume of the Acorna series, the infant Acorna was secretly set adrift in a lifepod in an attempt by her parents to save her from the Khlevii who have attacked their spaceship. She was rescued and raised by asteroid miners, growing at an astonishing pace into a young woman with coveted talents and genius. In Acorna's Quest, Acorna travels across deep space in search for her long-lost planet and people. What she doesn't know is that her people have come to her section of the galaxy with a dire warning that the Khlevii war fleet has targeted human space as it's next conquest.

"Acorna has the same atmosphere as the Pern books while having a very appealing and intriguing focus in the character of the unicorn girl. Hope to see more of this story."
- Baryon

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Review:

This SF team's earlier novel, Acorna, introduced the alien girl Acorna, an orphan rescued and reared by space-faring humans. Though generally human-shaped, she shares some features with the unicorn of myth--notably, a forehead horn that can heal and purify. Now Acorna blasts off with human friends in search of her own race, who shortly turn up looking for her. These gentle, horned nonhumans are fleeing other aliens who are wanton murderers and torturers that resemble huge cockroaches. Meanwhile, a starship full of dispossessed human miners picks up a scientist whose devastating system of planetary weather control inspires some on-board criminals to stage a coup and use the weather machine to blackmail whole planets; Acorna stumbles into this conflict. Meanwhile, a spacefleet of killer roaches is on its way.

These storylines mix romance, light comedy, and some violent action, which is generally downplayed or dealt with offstage. Of course, the verminous villains find humanity a tougher proposition than nice unicorn-folk and complain bitterly: "They are barbaric and vicious beyond belief; when attacked, they actually fight back!" Happy endings emerge, with room for more sequels. Overall, Acorna's Quest feels like a romping, uncomplicated SF adventure intended for younger readers and Anne McCaffrey devotees. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk

From the Back Cover:

"I MUST FIND MY OWN KIND!"

Found as an infant drifting in space, Acorna, the Unicorn Girl, has become a young woman. She still has her tiny, translucent horn and her "funny" feet and hands. And she still has her miraculous ability to make plants grow and heal human sickness.

But Acorna has strange dreams of a gentle folk who mind-speak by touching horns. With her "Uncle" Calum, one of the three grizzled asteroid prospectors who rescued, protected, and raised her, she sets off to find her people. No sooner does she leave than a mysterious craft appears, piloted by the Linyaari, a gentle race with telepathic powers.

The Linyaari are roaming the galaxy, spreading the alarm about the deadly Khleev -- and searching for a beloved little girl they had given up for lost, long ago. . . .

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