Publisher's Weekly Review
The vein of invention McCaffrey worked so effectively in her Pern series seems to have been exhausted. Collaborating again with Ball (after Partnership), McCaffrey opens promisingly in the far future with charming doomed unicorn beings who seal their infant into a survival pod, hoping someone will save her after they choose to die in space rather than in a grisly Khlevii torture cell. After three grungy Terran bachelor asteroid miners find the silver-curled, long-faced baby and name her "Acorna" for the strange protuberance growing from her forehead, the story gallops into a gulch of sentimentality. Acorna's horn can detect poisons and nuzzle sick and wounded humans back to health, so she becomes the savior of Kezdet, a Dickensian planet full of abused children slaving in mines, match factories and brothels. The authors stall in getting their major theme of exploited children under way, and they unconvincingly muddle it with precious goings-on among Acorna's three adopted miner dads, sentimentalized little victims, shady planetside entrepreneurs and a stock villain. Cut the "a"s from the title and what's left sums up this novel perfectly. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
First of a projected series from the authors of a previous collaboration, PartnerShip (a 1992 mass market). Three space miners, Gill, Calum, and Rafik, find a survival pod drifting in space; inside sleeps Acorna, a furry, unicorn-like humanoid infant. Young Acorna, who grows--and learns--swiftly, soon manifests the ability to purify air and water, and heal injuries with her horn. When the miners return to base, though, some scientists try to snatch Acorna for study, so she and the miners retreat hastily into space. Bargaining with Rafik's uncle Hafiz, they arrange to switch their ship's registration and start new careers as space traders. But Hafiz also covets Acorna, so they flee again; one thing leads to another, and eventually they end up on planet Kezdet, the last place they wanted to go. Vengeful Security Guardians hope to nab the miners for previous indiscretions; Hafiz's agents are hot on the trail; and Chinese mystic and enlightened businessman Delszaki Li wants to catch Acorna, since he's convinced that she's the key to overthrowing Kezdet's vicious and thoroughly entrenched system of child slavery. More fantasy than science fiction with a bustling yet flimsy plot, lots of scene-shifting, stereotyped characters, and the McCaffrey hallmark to pull in the crowds.
Booklist Review
In the sequel to Acorna: The Unicorn Girl [BKL Je 1 & 15 97], Acorna is determined to find her home planet, but her human friends keep delaying her from taking off on her quest. She and Calum, one of the former space prospectors who rescued the unicorn girl in the first book, manage to sneak off-planet and evade pursuit. What ensues is rousing space adventure, with Acorna and Calum being captured by space pirates, managing to get away, helping a planet devastated by the pirates, and meeting some of Acorna's people, who are in this quadrant of the universe to deliver a warning about the approach of merciless invaders who relish torturing their victims before killing them. Appealing space opera for readers of the first book. --Sally Estes
Library Journal Review
Found in a survival pod in space by prospectors, the infant Acorna soon exhibits the ability to analyze deficiencies in plants by taste, purify water and air, and heal. Taken to the planet Kezdet to avoid scientists who want to study her, Acorna discovers barbaric child-labor practices and vows to rescue the children. McCaffrey and Ball have created a magical alien in this fantasy/science fiction story. Recommended for sf collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
