Acorna the Unicorn Girl – Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball

Acorna the Unicorn Girl – Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball

     Acorna is another of those books that I read as a teen/young adult that I liked enough that when I saw it at the library I had to take it home and try it again. I had to do a little research after I read it because I didn’t recall something classified as a young adult novel having that many controversial issues in it. Apparently, I was wrong.

     The book starts out with a life pod being launched from a ship under attack containing only a baby. The parents are hoping that the life signs for the baby will be so small as to escape the bad guys notice and the baby will be picked up by someone on their side. The life pod is found later by a group of three human miners on the fringe of explored space. The baby is nothing remotely resembling a human and speaks nothing resembling any of the known human languages. She has flat teeth, a horse like mane of hair that goes from head to, well, tail, and a small horn in the middle of her forehead. They name her Acorna. At this time, humans haven’t discovered aliens or vice versa. When their company gets bought out by a huge conglomerate that wants to mutilate and run tests on Acorna, they rescue her and go on the run. In the process, they come across more people who want to posses her for her uniqueness and one group who can help them but only if Acorna helps them first.

     It is apparently nothing like any of Anne McCaffrey’s other books and it deals with some controversial issues (more on that in a second) and I’d hate to see someone spend actual money on a book and hate it. This book goes into serious detail about child slavery, mutilation, torture, rape, kidnapping, and all of it is being ignored, even condoned, by the government of this shady planet. Acorna chooses to help the children of the planet escape their enslavement and helps as many as she can but there is still the overtone of all those they can’t help as well as the future children who get stuck with that situation. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is a good book and there are nine other books in the series but if you don’t like your books to have an underlying message that is disturbing, give this one a pass. 

The Outlaws of Sherwood – Robin McKinley

     The Outlaws of Sherwood starts out by introducing Robin Hood, Marian, and their friend Much. Robin accidentally kills a bully who is threatening him and has to run for his life. While it is clear case of self defense/accident, the Sheriff of Nottingham has always hated Robin’s family and carries a grudge because the girl he was in love with married Robin’s father. In this version of Robin Hood, Robin is a pretty crummy shot, somewhat of a pessimist, and a reluctant leader. He starts his band of outlaws thinking that they will be caught any minute and most of his decisions are based around trying to get as many of his followers away so they don’t share his fate. As time moves on, all of the well know characters become part of the band. Eventually, the final battle takes place and everyone’s fates are decided.

     Now, there’s good things and bad things about this book and it all revolves around the characters. The original (or original to me anyway) characters seem to have more thought put into them and their back story. You learn Cecily’s and Much’s background but Allan-a-dale shows up and the only info you get about him is that he’s a minstrel and his lady-love is to be married off to someone else. Nothing else is said about him or his reactions to things until the final battle. It feels like the well-known characters are just there and not really participating in the story, except for Friar Tuck and even then his dogs get more “air time” than he does. The ending was also unbelievably anti-climatic. After a large battle, the author leads you to believe there is about to be a bigger til-death battle between Robin’s outlaws and the Sheriff of Nottingham’s army. However, the battle is interrupted by King Richard before the first arrow is even shot. I felt cheated and it was way too neat of an ending. It was like everything Robin and others were worried about were tied up with a nice neat bow and thrown out the window along with the Sheriff and his followers. On the whole, if you can find this book at a used bookstore for a nice price or at the library (especially if you are a fan of Robin McKinley), I’d say pick it up but don’t pay full price. 

Polgara the Sorceress – David and Leigh Eddings

     I have discovered that this is a complicated book to review, not because it’s a bad book but because it is the twelfth and final book of a series. It is also a prequel to the series so it’s a little hard to review and not give spoilers. I re-read it recently because I haven’t got the others in the series (not that I need them since I've got them practically memorized) but wanted a Eddings fix.

     Polgara the Sorceress is about a several millennia old woman who happens to be able to do magic. She, her father, and her honorary uncles are all disciples of one of the seven gods. A few of the other gods have their own disciples, some don’t but this book is primarily about Polgara’s role in the war between the gods of their particular world and the fate of the universe in general. Both sides of this war have access to prophecies that outline important events and both sides try to influence events to make their side come out ahead before the final battle of Good versus Evil. All of the disciples of Polgara’s god, Aldur, get certain types of the populace to watch over and take care of up to and throughout events. At first, much of Polgara’s time is spent with the most formal (and sometimes silliest) of nobles and knights. Once the family line that will eventually produce their side’s version of the “chosen one” is almost wiped out, she goes into hiding with the one survivor. She then proceeds to raise a seemingly endless series of young boys until the right one is born. Once the right kid is born, the story ends because the characters have reached the beginning of the previous series.

     I really enjoyed this book as a teenager/young adult. After going back and thinking about some of the things that happen or what happens next, I become a little disturbed. If you are a disciple, you get magic and the ability to live for no one knows how long. To become a disciple, you have to use your magic and pretty much find another disciple to teach you. Now, Polgara has a sister who is normal, she dies (pretty much the first chapter so not much of a spoiler). At the end of the book, Polgara and another disciple both have kids. The kids don’t have magic. What would posses someone who might live forever to have kids that getting attached to would mean heartbreak? They would have to watch themselves grow old and creaky and eventually die, while their mother stays young and pretty forever. Wouldn't that tempt them to go over to the dark side as it were? Or to distance themselves from their parents at an early age? It’s like the beginning of the Highlander movie all over. I may be over thinking things again but too many questions go unanswered about other things in the book that are starting to bug me too. But! It is a decent book and a good wrap up to the series. 

The Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens

     This is another one of those books that I’m not sure what I feel about it. It is about a Teahouse in Belfast, Ireland and how the lives of the customers and employees intertwine. The book is well-written and there is something like a half dozen main characters. Each chapter alternates which character it involves using which ever one is most relevant to the passing of time. The chapters are decent lengths and fairly consistent; not three pages here, twelve pages there.

     The things that have me unsure about this book are the fact that all the characters get a nice, neat happy ending and her characters are just not likable. The endings for all the characters except one involve being in a happy, stable relationship. I don’t know why that part bothers me so much but it does. I might be trying to read too much into the concept but the people who have the kinds of problems these characters did, don’t and can’t just jump into a happy relationship without professional help. Instead of dealing with their problems, it feels like they either ignored them to stay with their current love interest or blamed their partner and ran away with some one else. It also bugs me that to get the happy ending the two professional artistic characters, a novelist and a painter, had to give up their art. She didn't even make it into a hobby. She just had the characters swear it off completely.

     The characters are unlikable because even though half of them get dealt a crappy hand, they go about trying to fix it in the worst way possible. One woman’s husband is cheating on her, so she decides to get revenge on him. Understandable? Yes. But what she does goes way too far and drags on way too long. She starts on a months long campaign to discredit him in the eyes of his mistress, his family, and his boss; ending with telling lies about him stealing clients and setting up a rival business at a work banquet in his honor to get him fired. The owner of the café has a penny pinching husband. He won’t do anything if it involves money. He doesn't want kids and won’t remodel or update the café. The owner decides she is going to withhold sex and starts an affair with some random guy until her husband changes his mind about having kids. I couldn't even feel sorry for them because they all act like stupid teenagers. I may read this book again in a few months just to see if my first impressions were accurate but I’m glad I got it from the library and didn't pay actual money for it.