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Acorna: The Unicorn Girl (Acorna #1)

by Anne McCaffrey, Margaret Ball, John Ennis (illustrator)

3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 · rating details · 5,296 ratings · 108 reviews

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...more

291 pages

Published by Turtleback Books (first published 1997)

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Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

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Jan 22, 2010 Rawles rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, time-contemporary

I read this as part of a big cleaning out of the many books I've purchased since my teen years, but never actually read. I expected it to be an earnest story about a unicorn girl (named Acorna nonetheless) and as such possibly humorously bad. One mark in its favor is that there was a very definite wry tone to the narrative, so most silliness seems intentional. But that's pretty much the only mark in its favor.

Sadly, this book is just...bad. It's badly written and badly structured, with constant...more I read this as part of a big cleaning out of the many books I've purchased since my teen years, but never actually read. I expected it to be an earnest story about a unicorn girl (named Acorna nonetheless) and as such possibly humorously bad. One mark in its favor is that there was a very definite wry tone to the narrative, so most silliness seems intentional. But that's pretty much the only mark in its favor.

Sadly, this book is just...bad. It's badly written and badly structured, with constant POV changes, often from one paragraph to the next, a plodding pace, and a complete lack of rising action or climax.

It's as if the authors forgot that in a book things not only need to happen, but need to happen in a way that's interesting and engaging. Instead, the characters (all quite shallow) just sort of wander about and do stuff with little to no competent resistance or drama. There's never any suspense or sense of danger despite the fact that the characters are ostensibly attempting very dangerous things. Every antagonist either turns out to mean them no harm and becomes a massively powerful ally or is instantly and easily dispatched by aforementioned massively powerful allies. So, instead of anything remotely entertaining you're basically just reading a dull account of how some dudes easily accomplished a thing.

This is the part where I would usually complain about the relationships, but there's not much to complain about. There are a couple of people who appear to vaguely like each other and in the end maybe move in together or get married or something with no actual development leading into this. There are a couple of other people who like each other in an even more vague manner than the previous couple, one of whom suddenly confronts the other about it 3/4 of the way through the book. They proceed to have a brief conversation in which no conclusions are reached and absolutely nothing is resolved, and then it's completely forgotten about for the rest of the book. I suppose it would be disappointing if you had any reason to care about any of these people? I don't know.

At any rate, I expected this book to be bad, but it was surprising in the way that it was bad. Instead of earnest, melodramatic cheese bad, it was shoddily-thrown-together, barely-a-story bad.

0/5(less)

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Sep 08, 2012 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first read Acorna: The Unicorn Girl when I was in grade school. This review is for a reread. I remembered the major strokes of this book, but had forgotten the details.

This is the story of three miners and how they find purpose and romance in their lives, catalyzed by the discovery of an extraterrestrial named Acorna. It is the story of the start to the overhaul of an economy in which labor is ill treated - very reminiscent of what happened on Earth in the not too distant past - by a few rich...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Jo rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 devel...more 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 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.(less)

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Apr 16, 2013 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Anne McCaffrey is one of my favourite authors and she has given me many hours of happy reading over the years. I have come late to the Acorna series – this book was published in 1997 – but I am happy to say that her collaboration with Margaret Ball has created another delightful piece of science fiction. Her stories are always deceptively childlike, with clear heroes and villains, some very smart characters and loveable aliens and Acorna is no exception. Humanoid with unicorn features – a horn w...more

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Aug 31, 2011 Arliegh Kovacs rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf-fantasy, series

The Unicorn Girl by Anne McCaffrey (as well as the rest of the series) was just a waste of good forest. They might have gotten away with one of this title if it had been "lighter and tighter" -- seemed they weren't sure whether they were writing space opera or taking themselves seriously. Then the series just went on and on and on. I kept waiting for it to get either silly or vastly serious. Was it about prejudice? Ecology? Bad, nasty corporations who exploited children? Small corporations (and...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Brandi rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 20, 2009 Mary Taitt rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was prepared to not like this book because it was written in part by someone other than Anne McCaffrey herself and because as soon as I opened it, I realized it was not a Pern book. But I liked it a lot. I was disappointed at the end to realize that there was a sequel to the book and further disappointed to realize that it was a series, but not so disappointed that I didn't order what I hope is the next book! The book was interesting and engaging. I liked Acorna and her three miners and many o...more

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Nov 02, 2010 Sarah H rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was an okay book. i was a little confused at certain parts and it was sometimes boring and dragged out. The storyline was interesting and i enjoyed how McCaffrey was able to go through a long period of time in a short book.

Many parts, as i said earlier, were long and boring. Many times she would have been able to be shrunk down into only a couple of pages instead of fulll chapters.

Overall, i would recommend this book to anyone that likes science fiction but would also like a challange in...more

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Feb 10, 2013 cathepsut rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2004

3 miners are working away in a lonely asteroid belt, when they come across a livepod. Inside is a baby. Not your usual baby - it has fur, hoofs instead of feet and a small horn protruding from its forehead. They adopt the girl and name it Acorna. Very soon everybody is trying to get to her and run tests on her or add her to their collections of rare items. And that's on top of all those nasty people, that have issues with our three godfathers... Good that Acorna has all those special skills, tha...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Seth rated it 2 of 5 stars

Few fears back, I discovered "The Dragonriders of Pern" series by Anne McCaffrey. I genuinely enjoyed the mix-up of traditional sci-fi and fantasy, and in looking through her other works I discovered this book and thought I would give it a try. I found it interesting and alluring enough to finish, but I can't say a lot more about it than that. It was an interesting concept with interesting characters, but on the whole felt rather flat and lifeless. It drew me in for a time, but didn't hold my in...more

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Mar 02, 2011 Jennifer Kyrnin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, science-fiction-and-fantasy, kindle

Okay, it bugs me that the drawing on the cover doesn't match her description in the book. In the book she looks more like a horse (not an elf) and her hands do not look human. Stupid, I know, but it bugs me. ;-)

Overall, the book was okay. Much of the action would wrap up very quickly. Often with me thinking "what just happened?" the BGs were quite over the top and the GGs somewhat silly. It felt more like a slow YA novel than well-thought out SciFi.

Oh and it had the tone of a book that would re...more

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Dec 02, 2011 Gerold Whittaker rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Book 1 of the Acorna series. Three space miners are busy mining among some asteroids when they come upon something something apparently man-made. On investigation, they find it is some type of escape pod though they don't recognise the metal it is made from. Not only that, but once opened, they find someone - a little girl - inside. Not able to get back to their base at that stage, they "adopt" the girl, naming her "Acorna".

Soon it becomes apparent that Acorna is not human. She is growing much f...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Vanessa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction, fantasy, science-fiction

This was a reread, as I hadn't read Accorna since it came out and when I stopped reading the books when I started college there were only three. I was surprised I loved this book so much when it came out. I rememberer the adult topics from the first time, and maybe that had been part if the appeal; however now I have spent years working with kids all over the world where child slavery and sex trade are a major part of there life. I just couldn't like the book as I once had. The story is not bad,...more

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Jan 06, 2012 Nieva21 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I like the writing style. The details are rich and descriptive; it flows really great and it also leaves my imagination to work at the same time. I am not getting bogged down in small irrelevant details and it's fascinating and captivating how the science fiction conventions are told so that they aren't surface but they aren't daunting either. I like Anne Mccaffrey. I have a feeling I am going to have to read everything she's written; I hope she continues to keep me interested and that I keep my...more

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Jan 06, 2009 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Okay, this is going to be of a review for the entire series of Acorna books because, well, there are alot of them and I would get carpal tunnel if I wrote an individual review of each book.

Basically this is the story of 2 asteroid miners who come across a strange space pod that has a little girl that resembles a unicorn inside of it. As she is only a baby and there is no one to care for her, they quickly adopt her. This creates all sorts of problems as she is highly sought after as proof of alie...more Okay, this is going to be of a review for the entire series of Acorna books because, well, there are alot of them and I would get carpal tunnel if I wrote an individual review of each book.

Basically this is the story of 2 asteroid miners who come across a strange space pod that has a little girl that resembles a unicorn inside of it. As she is only a baby and there is no one to care for her, they quickly adopt her. This creates all sorts of problems as she is highly sought after as proof of alien life. So the three miners head to the planet Kezdet, where they have heard that with enough money, one can live without being bothered.

However Kezdet has its own problems, namely that its entire economy relies on children working as literal slaves. The 3 miners, along with Acorna, work to end this terrible tragedy.

In later books, the story of searching for acorna's people takes place, along with her finding a boyfriend who is physically and emotionally scarred, and finding out that her people are at war with a bug-like race, the Khleevi who are responsible for not only her being an orphan but also for her boyfriends scars as well.

Up until this point the story is pretty straightforward and easy to understand and really quite enjoyable. Anne McCaffrey once again is able to create a world that is easily understandable, with characters you can identify with.

However, eventually as the series wore on, i think she ran out of plot developments and the story just turns downright well, bizarre. Acorna's boyfriend finds a way to travel back in time and he tries to change history so that he is never captured by the khleevi and tortured (can't really blame the guy but still) meanwhile while doing this he somehow traps acorna in a time loop so that she isn't in the past with him or in the present with everyone else but somewhere else altogether. At this point the story got so incredibly technical, hard to follow and really just unbelievable that I stopped reading before finding out how they fixed it. But I assume they did, becasue there is apparently another series entirely that follows thier children and it is somewhat difficult to have kids if you are stuck in some sort of time vortex(less)

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Jul 12, 2011 Anna Marie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

The impression I got from the front cover made me think I was in for a fantasy built around a mysterious, young girl. I even was under the impression from the style of writing at the beginning that this was more of a young adult book. Then things suddenly got overly dark with children being abused, raped and murdered. It all felt unbalanced somehow. The point of view seemed to shift way too much, but yet I never felt like I got to know anyone, let alone Acorna, that well. I didn’t really seem t...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Natasha rated it 3 of 5 stars

A nominal tale. Started out really interesting, but as another reader commented, there is absolutely no struggle - all the troubles are conveniently resolved or effortlessly overcome. It's just too perfect. Although there was potential for some great tension, it always dissolved before it ever reached a good boiling point.

Swearing language: Very, very, very mild. Sexual content: none. Setting: future, outer-space. Genre: sci-fi.

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Oct 03, 2011 Joann H Buchanan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I found this story to be fresh and creative. While the mystery of Acorna the unicorn girl was the center of the book. I found the other characters to be funny, protective and cool. I could see each of them as if they were living and breathing in front of me on a screen. Her details were also extremely imaginative without giving so much that I was unable to picture things myself. This is the book that made me an Anna McCaffrey Fan. :D

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Feb 23, 2010 Vanessa Lujano rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

Recommended to Vanessa by: gram

This book has a very special place in my heart, at the age of ten I couldn't read that well but I was at my grams watering the plants and needed something to do and sitting there was Acorna. It took me two monthes to read but I did it and after that I just keep reading and now I can read a book in under a day. All thanks to Anne McCaffrey's Acorna: The unicorn Girl.

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Sep 05, 2010 gargamelscat rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, ebook, novels

Picked this up on a whim from a pile of 'free' ebooks.

Though this seems to be aimed at the Y.A. market McCaffrey is a facile writer and tells a good story. Epic space opera its not - a mostly linear narrative with simplistic monochromatic characterisations. The pacing and plot are well done and it holds the attention until the end.

More like 2.5 stars.

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May 05, 2013 Ash rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

Ever since I was a little girl, I've always loved Unicorns. That said, when I saw this book on my Grandmother's shelf when I was a kid I naturally devoured it, and then preceded to read the entire series well into my teen years. This is the start of a wonderful adventure that I think you should consider taking, as Anne McCaffrey is always a joy.

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Jul 01, 2012 Tien rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, snakes-ladders

The opening of the book reminds me of the opening of Superman – you know when baby Superman is being sent away for his survival. That’s how it was with Acorna… She, however, was found floating in space in her pea pod by 3 miners who, in turn, became attached to her. The story then continues with these 3 miners protecting her from those who would take advantage of her to Acorna saving children from slave labours. As Acorna grew up really fast (I mean really really fast), it was slightly disconcer...more

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Jan 10, 2010 Stephanie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fluff, fantasy, ya, just-terrible

Ooh, I thought. Unicorns. Anne McCaffrey is supposed to be good, right? Played straight, this could be enchanting, or if it's tongue-in-cheek, all the better! But... alas, I was too old to swallow this one. I should have listened to the cover's warning. My favorite thing about it was deconstructing its flaws.

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Feb 25, 2012 Aeslis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, sci-fi

My vague memories of Acorna tell me that it's more towards traditional sci-fi, but somehow I enjoyed it anyway. I usually find sci-fi very dry and flat, not nearly so character driven as I like. Acorna had characters that I enjoyed, however, and as I recall the plot didn't go where I expected it to.

I should one day try to re-read it.

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Jul 26, 2010 Stormcloud rated it 1 of 5 stars

DISGUSTING. Child abuse, child abuse, child sex abuse . . . That's pretty much all this book is about. If you're going to explore this arena in writing, do it in an appropriate setting--maybe I would have to read more in the series to get it, but I'm not willing to do that.

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DeAnna I don't even know how you can turn this book around into child abuse or child sex abuse???? Please explain!!!
Aug 04, 2011 08:03pm

Stormcloud 1. I read this book . . . apparently 7 years ago, so my current memory of it is not very clear.
2. I was a lot younger when I read it, so my perception...more 1. I read this book . . . apparently 7 years ago, so my current memory of it is not very clear.
2. I was a lot younger when I read it, so my perception of the book may have been a little off.
3. I'm a very sensitive person, so I get easily disgusted compared to . . . most people, I think ^^

Perhaps I even have the wrong book . . . I don't think I do, though. How many Acorna's can there be? Haha!

Anyway, I will say what I remember. The premise at first was great, there was Acorna who was saved by those three guys who are in space; she grows up fast; but then they go to this planet, where children are used as slaves in a very gruesome environment that is pretty detailed by the author, and several of those children are sold into whorehouses (one of the slave girls, the head of that little slave group that was working together to survive, is one of them).

Acorna saves them, but only after loads of detail on how they're abused, how they're sold and murdered and how their master occasionally takes them to his estate, I believe tortures them (although I don't think there was an actual scene with that, just stories, thankfully for me) and then throws their bodies down the river, and other gruesome details that I didn't appreciate. Like I said, my memory's faulty, but I am pretty sure most of those slaves were kids, considering they spoke about growing taller a lot, and I think something happened to them once they became adults, or "too big", but I don't quite remember. Mostly, I remember being furious and disgusted once I was finished, so it was a bad reading experience for me--but I know she's a popular author, and she's definitely good at writing! I'm just personally not a fan . . .

In short, it's just not something I like to read about. I hope this explains well, and if there's any discrepancy, it's because I don't remember, and I'd rather NOT remember, so my ability to argue points is limited (I wish I'd barely just read it! Then it'd be fresh on my mind and I'd be able to give my views properly!)(less)
Aug 04, 2011 09:45pm

Apr 19, 2013 Susan Tietjen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Loved this book, altho I wasn't crazy about the ending. I would have so preferred if the series could have worked its way thru Acorna's growing up a little slower so that we could get to know her and the challenges she faced growing up.

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Aug 12, 2012 Unorthodox Mama rated it 3 of 5 stars

I got this book years ago but never got through it. However, the main character I never forgot.

I really wanted to love this book.

This book had a lot of potential but honestly I was somewhat disappointed.
I feel like a lot of Acorna's character development was lacking.

We don't learn as much about her as I would have thought.

Hoping the series gets better.

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Sep 28, 2011 Kimberly rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

I wanted to get into the Acorna stories, especially when I had exhausted most of Ms. McCaffrey's other works, but I just couldn't. The story never grabbed me, and I just never cared enough about her to make it worth my time to read.

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Nov 30, 2012 Bill Sexton rated it 2 of 5 stars

I've just finished re-reading this book. Not really connecting with the characters. Might try the second book in the series to see if it get any better. Love Anne Mccaffrey but the writing seems a bit off.

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Feb 07, 2013 Liz Donatelli rated it 2 of 5 stars

Too many characters. Lots of sci-fi jargon that isn't explained. Very Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom in that the book completely shifts focus to child slavery. I enjoyed the parts of the book that focused on the unicorn girl's powers.

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About Anne McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey was born on April 1st, 1926, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at 1:30 p.m., in the hour of the Sheep, year of the Fire Tiger, sun sign Aries with Taurus rising and Leo mid-heaven (which seems to suggest an early interest in the stars).

Her parents were George Herbert McCaffrey, BA, MA PhD (Harvard), Colonel USA Army (retired), and Anne Dorothy McElroy McCaffrey, estate agent. She had two...more

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