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Acorna #8
First Warning: Acorna's Children
Beloved by millions of readers, Anne McCaffrey is one of science fiction's favorite authors. Writing with award-winning author Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, she has created the bestselling Acorna series focusing on the adventures of the brave unicorn girl.
Now the exciting saga of the next generation begins.
First Warning
Khorii, daughter of the near-mythic Acorna and her lifemate, Aari, must contend with an overwhelming legacy to forge a path of her own through a universe filled with new adversaries and adventures.
A simple journey home to visit her parents turns into a race against time when Khorii happens upon a derelict spacecraft drifting in space, its crew dead in their seats. But this gruesome discovery is only a dread harbinger—a deadly plague is spreading across the universe and not even the healing powers of the Linyaari can slow its horrific advance. Khorii, one of the few unaffected by the outbreak, must find the nefarious perpetrators and a cure before the disease consumes all in its path—including her beloved parents.
Now the exciting saga of the next generation begins.
First Warning
Khorii, daughter of the near-mythic Acorna and her lifemate, Aari, must contend with an overwhelming legacy to forge a path of her own through a universe filled with new adversaries and adventures.
A simple journey home to visit her parents turns into a race against time when Khorii happens upon a derelict spacecraft drifting in space, its crew dead in their seats. But this gruesome discovery is only a dread harbinger—a deadly plague is spreading across the universe and not even the healing powers of the Linyaari can slow its horrific advance. Khorii, one of the few unaffected by the outbreak, must find the nefarious perpetrators and a cure before the disease consumes all in its path—including her beloved parents.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2005
92 people are currently reading
1685 people want to read
About the author
Anne McCaffrey
478 books7,767 followersAnne Inez McCaffrey was an American writer known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, Weyr Search, 1968) and the first to win a Nebula Award (Best Novella, Dragonrider, 1969). Her 1978 novel The White Dragon became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list.
In 2005 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd Grand Master, an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on 17 June 2006. She also received the Robert A. Heinlein Award for her work in 2007.
In 2005 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd Grand Master, an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on 17 June 2006. She also received the Robert A. Heinlein Award for her work in 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
April 10, 2021
I'm short on time, so, I'll be brief: This series already passed its "jump the shark" point, so, it was already headed downhill. Some great moments, but, overall, not as good as the earlier novels.
December 15, 2017
I have enjoyed other Acorna stories, but this one started out being written in a very patronising manner as for a child - very Enid Blyton-ish. I almost put it away after the first chapter, but continued and it improved. I doubt Anne McCaffrey had much to do with it beyond the idea, and I think it was written entirely by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. Not highly recommended, but enjoyable.
August 26, 2021
It's now a few years later, and Acorna and Aari's daughter, Khorii, is being taken from Vhiliinyar, to her mother's adopted family on the Moon of Opportunity - or MOO, as it's known by - for a visit to get to know this side of her family better.
On their journey, they come across a derelict luxury liner, called The White Star, in standard, and her adopted Uncle, Captain Joh Becker, with his usual eye for scrap opportunities, persuades his Linyaari friends to pause for a while to investigate it.
As Acorna and Aari are resting, Becker takes Khorii and her cat, Khiindi, along with his first mate, the Makahomian Cat, RK, along with him. But Acorna and Aari wake up as they are leaving the Condor, Becker's ship, and insist that Maak, Becker's android first mate, and his son, Elviiz, go with them for safety.
What they find on the derelict ship, are hundreds of dead bodies, floating around in zero G, and Khorii notices a strange cloud of tiny dots floating everywhere.
They decide to access the ships computers, so they can get all the lists they'd need of passenger, crew, and cargo information, in order to report their claim to salvage but, half way back to the Condor, Becker's ship, Becker, RK, and Khiindi fall seriously, and suddenly, ill, with both Maak and Elviiz also being affected in their organic parts.
Khorii manages to make them well again, but, as they get back to the Condor, they decide to tow The White Star to one of Becker's nearby storage asteroid, so that it didn't become either a shipping hazard, nor a time bomb, as they all realised that most of the deaths were caused by a new plague.
As they get near to MOO, they're informed by a Federation broadcast that there is a plague in the Solojos System, and are asked if they could help save however many people are still alive but, as they're worried about taking Khorii with them into danger, so they agree to go after they've dropped her off with Calum and Judit at MOO.
As they near the moon, they contact it, only to be told that Calum had taken Judit to Kezdet, as her baby is now due, and that Gill and Mercy had gone with them. They decide that it's still best for Khorii to stay on MOO, with Elviiz and Khiindi cat to go with her for company, and so, with reluctance on both sides, they are left, while Becker, Acorna, and Aari go on towards their first stop.
From then on, it's a race between life and death, as more and more Linyaari are informed of the problem. Everywhere that Federation troops went, the plague follows, and Acorna and Aari become swamped with plague victims.
But, back on MOO, they also have problems, as their food supply ship is late, and then eventually arrives, but with the crew struck down with plague, too. The headmaster of MOO refuses to let the ship land, and won't listen to Khorii, as she tries to tell him that she can cure the crew and ship.
Then Khorii, Elviiz, Khiindi, and two school friends, Hap, and Sesseli, plot to sneak onto the supply ship so that Khorii can clear it of the plague, but, despite their reassurances to the headmaster that all is clear, he still refuses to let them land.
But, one of the teachers, Asha Bates, who knows Acorna well, believes Khorii, and knows that the pupils will starve without those supplies, so she uses her own ship, to meet up with the supply ship.
Unfortunately, the school bully, Marl Fidd, who had already almost killed Khiindi, knows what she's doing, so blackmails her into letting him come along.
Unfortunately, all the crew, apart from the young daughter of the supply crew, Jaya, have died by the time Khorii gets to the ship, but Khorii sees all the plague dots everywhere, and starts to clear both crew, cargo, and ship.
But, while everyone is busy getting the supplies down to MOO, Marl catches Hap by surprise, knocks him out, and ties him up in the engine room, then he puts small packages of explosives all over the supply ship.
When everyone gets back there, he grabs Sesseli as a hostage, and forces everyone to take him to one of the planets in the Solojos System, where all the rich lived, then, with the threat of blowing up the ship, with them on it, he supervises them to gather up warehouses worth of drugs.
While he's doing this, Khiindi manages to get into the engine room and with much effort, and lots of blood, helps Hap to escape his bonds. Hap follows Khiindi all around the ship, as the cat points out where Marl has placed the explosives, and disarms them then, as Marl returns to the ship, Hap manages to knock him out for enough time to disarm him, then tie him up.
None of them will ant to deal with Marl so, in the end, they drop him back onto the planet he had just stolen from, and let the plague survivors, Khorii had helped, deal with him.
From then on, it's a race against time, as Khorii joins in with trying to clean the plague from wherever it touches but, unfortunately, Acorna and Aari got so tired and overworked, that the plague mutated and, though it couldn't kill them, they became carriers themselves.
Khorii meets back up with her parents, but can't heal them of the mutated strain, so it's decided that Acorna and Aari, plus Becker and Maak, should go back to Vhiliinyar, to see if the Ancestors can help cure her parents
The book ends with Khorii vowing to find the entity who, they had discovered, had deliberately spread the terrible plague.
On their journey, they come across a derelict luxury liner, called The White Star, in standard, and her adopted Uncle, Captain Joh Becker, with his usual eye for scrap opportunities, persuades his Linyaari friends to pause for a while to investigate it.
As Acorna and Aari are resting, Becker takes Khorii and her cat, Khiindi, along with his first mate, the Makahomian Cat, RK, along with him. But Acorna and Aari wake up as they are leaving the Condor, Becker's ship, and insist that Maak, Becker's android first mate, and his son, Elviiz, go with them for safety.
What they find on the derelict ship, are hundreds of dead bodies, floating around in zero G, and Khorii notices a strange cloud of tiny dots floating everywhere.
They decide to access the ships computers, so they can get all the lists they'd need of passenger, crew, and cargo information, in order to report their claim to salvage but, half way back to the Condor, Becker's ship, Becker, RK, and Khiindi fall seriously, and suddenly, ill, with both Maak and Elviiz also being affected in their organic parts.
Khorii manages to make them well again, but, as they get back to the Condor, they decide to tow The White Star to one of Becker's nearby storage asteroid, so that it didn't become either a shipping hazard, nor a time bomb, as they all realised that most of the deaths were caused by a new plague.
As they get near to MOO, they're informed by a Federation broadcast that there is a plague in the Solojos System, and are asked if they could help save however many people are still alive but, as they're worried about taking Khorii with them into danger, so they agree to go after they've dropped her off with Calum and Judit at MOO.
As they near the moon, they contact it, only to be told that Calum had taken Judit to Kezdet, as her baby is now due, and that Gill and Mercy had gone with them. They decide that it's still best for Khorii to stay on MOO, with Elviiz and Khiindi cat to go with her for company, and so, with reluctance on both sides, they are left, while Becker, Acorna, and Aari go on towards their first stop.
From then on, it's a race between life and death, as more and more Linyaari are informed of the problem. Everywhere that Federation troops went, the plague follows, and Acorna and Aari become swamped with plague victims.
But, back on MOO, they also have problems, as their food supply ship is late, and then eventually arrives, but with the crew struck down with plague, too. The headmaster of MOO refuses to let the ship land, and won't listen to Khorii, as she tries to tell him that she can cure the crew and ship.
Then Khorii, Elviiz, Khiindi, and two school friends, Hap, and Sesseli, plot to sneak onto the supply ship so that Khorii can clear it of the plague, but, despite their reassurances to the headmaster that all is clear, he still refuses to let them land.
But, one of the teachers, Asha Bates, who knows Acorna well, believes Khorii, and knows that the pupils will starve without those supplies, so she uses her own ship, to meet up with the supply ship.
Unfortunately, the school bully, Marl Fidd, who had already almost killed Khiindi, knows what she's doing, so blackmails her into letting him come along.
Unfortunately, all the crew, apart from the young daughter of the supply crew, Jaya, have died by the time Khorii gets to the ship, but Khorii sees all the plague dots everywhere, and starts to clear both crew, cargo, and ship.
But, while everyone is busy getting the supplies down to MOO, Marl catches Hap by surprise, knocks him out, and ties him up in the engine room, then he puts small packages of explosives all over the supply ship.
When everyone gets back there, he grabs Sesseli as a hostage, and forces everyone to take him to one of the planets in the Solojos System, where all the rich lived, then, with the threat of blowing up the ship, with them on it, he supervises them to gather up warehouses worth of drugs.
While he's doing this, Khiindi manages to get into the engine room and with much effort, and lots of blood, helps Hap to escape his bonds. Hap follows Khiindi all around the ship, as the cat points out where Marl has placed the explosives, and disarms them then, as Marl returns to the ship, Hap manages to knock him out for enough time to disarm him, then tie him up.
None of them will ant to deal with Marl so, in the end, they drop him back onto the planet he had just stolen from, and let the plague survivors, Khorii had helped, deal with him.
From then on, it's a race against time, as Khorii joins in with trying to clean the plague from wherever it touches but, unfortunately, Acorna and Aari got so tired and overworked, that the plague mutated and, though it couldn't kill them, they became carriers themselves.
Khorii meets back up with her parents, but can't heal them of the mutated strain, so it's decided that Acorna and Aari, plus Becker and Maak, should go back to Vhiliinyar, to see if the Ancestors can help cure her parents
The book ends with Khorii vowing to find the entity who, they had discovered, had deliberately spread the terrible plague.
May 21, 2017
Acorna and Aari decided that their daughter, Khorii, hadn't seen their family on Maganos Moonbase or on Kezdet in way too long. So with Captain Becker, RK, and MacKenZ, they leave for vacation.
The Federation "requests" that Acorna and Aari help with a plague that has broken out. Quarantine is instituted in Federation Space. While Acorna and Aari are on their way to try to cure the plague, the reader is introduced to various planets/characters that the plague infects.
Khorii and Khiindi are dropped off on the moonbase, but food supplies are running low. She meets new friends, new enemies, and new adventures: Jana may be the only one left alive on a supply ship. Khorii, Khiindi, Elviiz, Hap and Sessili go up to try to save the adult, but are too late. Captain Bates and Merl follow after Captain Bates decides practicality wins and Merl decides that rationing food is not for him. Merl is a bully and eventually commandeers the ship to become rich, diverting the ship to a rich planet instead of trying to help people. Khorii and her friends escape and leave Merl on his rich plague-infested planet. Khorii can see the specks that make up the plague, and they are blue around the two Linyaari, but grey everywhere else. A gamer named Jorge helps with finding out that the plague targets people with higher hormone levels.
Khorii saves Captain Becker and RK after Acorna and Aari become "Typhoid Mary" infectants. Provisions are made for them on the Linyaari homeworld. Khorii realizes that healing in water works better than any other means, so sick people are placed in a pool for her to heal them; she is near exhaustion when reinforcement Linyaari arrive.
Khorii is determined to find those who started the plague in the first place.
The Federation "requests" that Acorna and Aari help with a plague that has broken out. Quarantine is instituted in Federation Space. While Acorna and Aari are on their way to try to cure the plague, the reader is introduced to various planets/characters that the plague infects.
Khorii and Khiindi are dropped off on the moonbase, but food supplies are running low. She meets new friends, new enemies, and new adventures: Jana may be the only one left alive on a supply ship. Khorii, Khiindi, Elviiz, Hap and Sessili go up to try to save the adult, but are too late. Captain Bates and Merl follow after Captain Bates decides practicality wins and Merl decides that rationing food is not for him. Merl is a bully and eventually commandeers the ship to become rich, diverting the ship to a rich planet instead of trying to help people. Khorii and her friends escape and leave Merl on his rich plague-infested planet. Khorii can see the specks that make up the plague, and they are blue around the two Linyaari, but grey everywhere else. A gamer named Jorge helps with finding out that the plague targets people with higher hormone levels.
Khorii saves Captain Becker and RK after Acorna and Aari become "Typhoid Mary" infectants. Provisions are made for them on the Linyaari homeworld. Khorii realizes that healing in water works better than any other means, so sick people are placed in a pool for her to heal them; she is near exhaustion when reinforcement Linyaari arrive.
Khorii is determined to find those who started the plague in the first place.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2025
(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I want to change my scoring by 0.50 or more of a star. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.
First time read the author's work?: No
Will you be reading more?: Yes
Would you recommend?: Yes
------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)
All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked
Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)
First time read the author's work?: No
Will you be reading more?: Yes
Would you recommend?: Yes
------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)
All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked
Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)
October 18, 2023
Suddenly, we aren't reading about the unicorn girl but rather her daughter. And if we thought a worldwide pandemic was difficult, imagine interplanetary illness killing many.
This book was written in 2005, only six years from the author's passing and 17 years from our own pandemic. I have to wonder how we would have reacted if we needed the healing horn of a unicorn to cure rather than a vaccine to prevent illness. Anne did show the reluctance of those infected to need the healing. Everyone had their own idea of what was causing and how to deal with the ill.
All this, space travel, and a teen needing her parents to help as she develops new abilities.
Though I have enjoyed the series, this might be my second favorite just because of how much the author could predict human behavior.
I was lucky to find this on Libby. I do wish it were audio, but the Kindle text-to-speech seems to do a good job reading this story.
This book was written in 2005, only six years from the author's passing and 17 years from our own pandemic. I have to wonder how we would have reacted if we needed the healing horn of a unicorn to cure rather than a vaccine to prevent illness. Anne did show the reluctance of those infected to need the healing. Everyone had their own idea of what was causing and how to deal with the ill.
All this, space travel, and a teen needing her parents to help as she develops new abilities.
Though I have enjoyed the series, this might be my second favorite just because of how much the author could predict human behavior.
I was lucky to find this on Libby. I do wish it were audio, but the Kindle text-to-speech seems to do a good job reading this story.
February 9, 2021
First Warning
Khorii, Acorna and Aaris’ daughter was on her first voyage when the ship received a message from the main Federation of the universe about a plague on a planet. Acorna and Aari left their daughter on MOO and traveled to help others out. But Khorii couldn’t stay in one place and not help others out like her mother and father and ended up in a few situations herself. Now she just has to figure out how and who invented the plague.
Khorii, Acorna and Aaris’ daughter was on her first voyage when the ship received a message from the main Federation of the universe about a plague on a planet. Acorna and Aari left their daughter on MOO and traveled to help others out. But Khorii couldn’t stay in one place and not help others out like her mother and father and ended up in a few situations herself. Now she just has to figure out how and who invented the plague.
August 14, 2024
I wanted to give this book 4 stars, but it ended in a cliffhanger. I don't like cliffhangers. This really should have been written as part of a larger book. As it is written, though, it is only an introduction to a larger story that has yet to unfold.
August 29, 2025
"Life goes on."
I definitely never finished this series the first go around when I was young, so it was interesting to see Acorna's daughter Khorii out in the galaxy with her own temple cat, and saving the universe just like her mom did.
I definitely never finished this series the first go around when I was young, so it was interesting to see Acorna's daughter Khorii out in the galaxy with her own temple cat, and saving the universe just like her mom did.
August 25, 2017
Quick quick, we need to pay the electricity bill. Let's shit out another Acorna book.
July 13, 2018
Another great addition to the series. I loved getting the chance to meet, and get to know, Acorna's daughter. I look forward to reading and learning more about her in the next two books.
May 15, 2021
A pandemic that mostly affects adults--how prescient!
I'm still in the middle of the book, but couldn't help notice the parallels. Imagine a pandemic that spans a galaxy...
I'm still in the middle of the book, but couldn't help notice the parallels. Imagine a pandemic that spans a galaxy...
November 19, 2021
The story is interesting, well-written, with good character, is a bit slow moving, but entertaining.
October 20, 2008
I love the whole Acorna series. Now that she has a daughter, the Acorna's children series is like a Teen Fiction series.
Not meaning in a bad way, but it's one of the times I've seen her deal with teen problems and issues in her books. So it might be appealing to a teenager.
Love the whole Unicorn-alien world with Earth one of the colonies for the Ancestor Unicorns. But then there is the twist in this series that make it enjoyable, time travel.
It's a good read especially if you like Anne McCaffrey.
Try the other Acorna books as well.
Not meaning in a bad way, but it's one of the times I've seen her deal with teen problems and issues in her books. So it might be appealing to a teenager.
Love the whole Unicorn-alien world with Earth one of the colonies for the Ancestor Unicorns. But then there is the twist in this series that make it enjoyable, time travel.
It's a good read especially if you like Anne McCaffrey.
Try the other Acorna books as well.
May 14, 2011
This first book about Acorna's children picks up a few years after the previous book ended, incorporating a new story line about Acorna's daughter with some plotlines from the previous books. This is a fun read, and it is great to get to know more about Acorna's children while still revisiting old favorite characters.
August 18, 2011
Great adventure within a very interesting reality of a planet with dragons--of many sizes. Watch out for the sensuality in some of these books. However, they're still worth reading--well written fantasy adventure with positive characters and decisions, with the ultimate triumph of the noble and good.
August 20, 2012
Another amazing collaboration between Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough! Incredible new characters intermingled with familiar older ones. There were twists and turns in "First Warning" that I didn't anticipate, and I cannot wait to see what else Khorii encounters on her journey to find the cure!
July 5, 2010
I've been reading the series in order, and find the quality of this one to be the best since the first one. As for theme and plot, it reads more like YA fiction than the others.
I like the new characters that have been introduced, and look forward to reading the next one.
I like the new characters that have been introduced, and look forward to reading the next one.
January 9, 2011
I thought this series was done. Then I find out that she has children! Of course I had to pick up this book to see what is going on. We meet Khorii. Now there is another plague, but what is causing it? I did enjoy it because it is a Ms. McCaffrey story.
January 19, 2008
Very good book - good to be "back in the family". Interesting character development of the daughter and her relationships.
January 11, 2010
Number 8 - really?! I read these because they're McCaffrey, but it's hard to reconcile myself to the fact that she spending her time writing about Acorna instead of about my beloved dragons.
February 8, 2010
Haven't read the rest of the Acorna series, but I will give this one a read anyway.
March 1, 2015
First Warning: Acorna's Children (Acorna, #8)
McCaffrey, Anne
this book is a dynamic story of Acorna's children, how they struggle to save their father, and the universe
McCaffrey, Anne
this book is a dynamic story of Acorna's children, how they struggle to save their father, and the universe
September 6, 2016
Read October 2007
Read September 2006
Read September 2006
January 4, 2013
Good Sci-Fi story.
November 6, 2013
Overall I loved this series more than the original Acorna series.
July 11, 2014
Khorri Acorna’s daughter is a key part of fighting a plague that is killing people across the federation
January 20, 2015
First Warning (Acorna book 8)
Another very enjoyable book in this series, bringing Acorna and Aari's daughter into the picture. Looking forward to reading the next book.
Another very enjoyable book in this series, bringing Acorna and Aari's daughter into the picture. Looking forward to reading the next book.
February 7, 2009
I enjoyed the continuing saga of Acorna. This story is about her daughter.
February 24, 2013
Not bad, may continue reading the series later.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews