In this new tale, Acorna's people, the Linyaari, have survived an attack from a mortal enemy, but their planet, naarhi-Vhiliinyar, and their original homeworld, Vhiliinyar, have been ravaged. Now, they are determined to restore both.

But as their work begins, Linyaari begin disappearing, including Acorna's lifemate, Aari. Searching for him, Acorna discovers the remains of a subterranean world that belonged to the Friends, an advanced society that populated Vhiliinyar long ago. What happened to the Friends? Acorna knows that to save Aari, she must find the answers—a quest that will take her back into deep space to uncover the origins of her people.

Publishers Weekly

Homecoming for Acorna of the Linyaari turns out to be not only bittersweet (because of the damage sustained to the planet during its occupation by the Khleevi) but treacherous in this fanciful continuation of the Adventures of the Unicorn Girl (Acorna; Acorna's Quest; etc.) from fantasy titans McCaffrey (The Dragonriders of Pern) and Scarborough (The Healer's War). Acorna finds out that there's much more to her world than she or anyone else had imagined. It all starts when the teams who are helping to survey the planet for terraforming start to disappear, one by one. At first, Acorna is only a little worried about the disappearances of her friends and co-workers, but when her life-mate Aari goes missing, Acorna will move heaven and earth to bring him back. Mac (an android who wishes he were a Linyaari, even to the point of fashioning himself a horn), a cat named Roadkill and a youngish Linyaari named Thariinye all help Acorna in her search. Acorna and her hastily gathered team race against time (literally) and space to find their missing crewmates, pitting their wits against a world that has been decimated by warfare and a lack of information of any kind and transformed by technology that's more advanced than any they have seen before. As a book in a continuing series, this title will be better understood by those who've read the previous five volumes. There's enough story line to keep readers going, however, even when they encounter unfamiliar plot points from previous novels. This is a light, fluffy, fun read, perfectly complemented by the jacket art showing a beautiful blonde with a little horn stuck on her forehead. (Jan. 15) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
VOYA
In this latest novel about Acorna, the unicorn girl, she and her fellow Linyaari people begin to salvage and restore their home planet, which was destroyed by the vicious Khleevi in the previous book, Acorna's World (HarperCollins, 2000). Members of the surveying teams, who are working to locate the major mountains and streams underneath all the rubble, one-by-one start disappearing without a trace. When Aari, Acorna's life-mate, disappears, she frantically begins a search for him. The search spans the rest of the novel. She takes with her Roadkill, the cat; Mac, the android; and young Thariinye. Along the way, they discover their ancestors and the Linyaari people's history and folklore. They also discover that deep within their planet, a lavish world still exists. By novel's end all lost members have been found, except Aari, although he has been sighted, leaving the door open for the next book in the series. The Linyaari people have the ability to communicate telepathically, which is compelling for the most part, and Acorna's search for her people takes her through several adventures. Nevertheless neither Acorna's story nor the writers' language contains the richness that one usually encounters when reading McCaffrey. Still, fans of the series will enjoy the suspense that this continuation of the Unicorn Girl series offers them. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M J (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2001, EOS/HarperCollins, 292p,
— Cynthia Grady
Library Journal
After the departure of the hostile Khleevi from the Linyaari home-world, Acorna and her psychically gifted, unicorn-horned people attempt to salvage their devastated planet. A series of mysterious disappearances propels Acorna and her companions on a desperate search that leads to the discovery of a secret at the heart of their world. The latest installment in the Acorna series delves into the ancient past of the Linyaari, opening new avenues for further novels. Coauthors McCaffrey and Scarborough exercise their storytelling skills to create an engaging tale that belongs in libraries where the series is popular. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
The YA adventures of the girl with the unicorn horn sticking out of her head continue (Acorna's World, 2000, etc.), as the telepathic Acorna, her traumatized "life-mate" Aari, and others on two and four legs to heal their shattered homeworld. Having vanquished those nasty Khleevi bugs and put Aari on the road to recovery (a tiny, inch-long horn is growing out of his forehead), the Linyaari, the psychic humanoid crossbreed with unicorns, return to Planet Vhiliinyar and find an ecological disaster of fetid swamps, polluted streams and carnivorous plants that nearly devour the feisty cat Roadkill. The Linyaari are considering a big loan from the wealthy, somewhat untrustworthy Hafiz Harakamian in order to terraform their world back to what it was before the Khleevi ruined it. While taking preliminary surveys, a handful of Linyaari, including Aari, vanish mysteriously. Acorna and friends consult their four-legged unicorn ancestors, who show them fragile hand- (hoof?-) written records, and drop enigmatic hints that imply that these disappearances might have to do with a hidden cave carved out by the Ancestor Friends, who originally rescued the unicorns from Earth and brought them to Vhiliinyar. With the help of the loquacious android Mac (who has outfitted himself with a series of mechanical horns), Acorna discover the cave, which is filled with old carvings and lined with a substance that dampens communication gear. One of the missing Linyaari turns up, but before Acorna can find out more about what happened, she and her explorers are menaced by a pair of bear-like "hairy monsters." The cave leads to an ancient buried city that predictably reveals secrets about the Linyaari past, adds anethical complication to the terraforming question, and includes additional plot threads for the next installment. Dialogue-soggy, overcute, featherweight YA space-opera, a mix of light fantasy with coming-of-age themes about social responsibility and solemn respect for elders.



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