From Publishers Weekly
More episodic than its predecessors, McCaffrey and Scarborough's finale to the charming Acorna saga will please the two authors' many fans and lovers of horses and cats generally. Last seen in Acorna's Rebels (2003), the unicorn girl has finally located her missing life-mate, Aari, though his exile in time has resulted in a disturbing personality change. Besides helping Aari to recover, Acorna must retrieve a hoard of jewels-chrysoberyls used in terraforming, stolen by a troupe of dancing girls with anti-gravity belts-from three races of sulfur-based beings, the Liquids, Solids and Mutables. She must also contend with the return of the Khleevi, disgusting insectoid aliens with evil designs on Acorna's home planet. And of course there is Grimalkin, the felinoid shape-changer, whose antics delay the well-deserved happy ending after all the bopping back and forth through time, across space and in flight from the Khleevi. While this light SF/fantasy romp is a hopeless proposition for newcomers to Acorna's travels, it serves as a fitting coda to the series. Both Acorna and Aari and their creators can ride off into the starlight with clear consciences. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
This coda to McCaffrey's popular series packs plenty of action into 320 pages. Although Acorna has found her people, defeated their enemies, and, with the aid of friends of various species, is helping to restore her ancestral planet, something is wrong with Aari, her newly found lifemate. He barely remembers her, and the past interests him more than the present. But then the chrysoberyls--gems used in terraforming--are stolen, and they must be retrieved from the planet of sulphur beings. And then the insectoid Khleevi turn up, still out for everything they can grab. Acorna has to keep watch over the timestream machines of the Ancestors, especially since they can constitute a true menace, even in the hands of those with good intentions. McCaffrey and Scarborough have each written more serious books than this light space opera, but lack of seriousness will hardly prevent fans of the Acorna series from enjoying its conclusion. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description

Aari has returned! Now he and his lifemate, the brave and beautiful Acorna, can finish rebuilding their once-decimated homeworld. Yet Aari's travels through time have left him oddly changed, and he barely remembers Acorna or their love. And as Aari's actions turn more sinister, Acorna must shift her attention to stopping the destruction of innocents by a vicious criminal. It is precisely the sort of weakness and confusion the dreaded Khleevi have been hoping for, as the brutal insectile oppressors set in motion their final invasion and the total destruction of the Linyaari and the conquest of their world. Though Acorna's heart is wounded, her courage and determination must remain strong in this dark time -- for only then will she be able to rescue the Aari she knows and adores, and halt the bloodthirsty alien menace for good and for all.

About the Author
Anne McCaffrey is considered one of the world's leading science-fiction writers. She has won the Hugo and Nebula awards as well as six Science Fiction Book Club awards for her novels. Brought up in the United States, she is now living in Ireland with her Maine coon cats, her piebald mare, and a silver weimaraner and declines to travel anymore. She is best known for her unique Dragonriders of Pern series.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Now, with Acorna's Triumph Acorna faces her most difficult challenge ever. She has defeated slavers, a deadly international conspiracy, and the vicious alien Khleevi, only to endure the loss of her beloved Aari, distant in both time and space." Now, finally, Aari has returned, and together they can finish rebuilding their home world. But Aari is oddly changed, to the point where he barely remembers Acorna - much less their love - and his actions grow more and more sinister....As Acorna tries to stop a vicious criminal from destroying innocents, a new complication arises. Sensing the Linyaari weakness, the deadly Khleevi return, determined to take back the planet - for good. In this dark time, it will take all of the unicorn girl's courage and determination to rescue Aari and stop the alien menace once and for all.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

More episodic than its predecessors, McCaffrey and Scarborough's finale to the charming Acorna saga will please the two authors' many fans and lovers of horses and cats generally. Last seen in Acorna's Rebels (2003), the unicorn girl has finally located her missing life-mate, Aari, though his exile in time has resulted in a disturbing personality change. Besides helping Aari to recover, Acorna must retrieve a hoard of jewels-chrysoberyls used in terraforming, stolen by a troupe of dancing girls with anti-gravity belts-from three races of sulfur-based beings, the Liquids, Solids and Mutables. She must also contend with the return of the Khleevi, disgusting insectoid aliens with evil designs on Acorna's home planet. And of course there is Grimalkin, the felinoid shape-changer, whose antics delay the well-deserved happy ending after all the bopping back and forth through time, across space and in flight from the Khleevi. While this light SF/fantasy romp is a hopeless proposition for newcomers to Acorna's travels, it serves as a fitting coda to the series. Both Acorna and Aari and their creators can ride off into the starlight with clear consciences. (Mar. 2) FYI: McCaffrey is the author, with Todd McCaffrey, of Dragon's Kin (Forecasts, Oct. 13, 2003) and other titles in her popular Pern series. Scarborough is the author of the Nebula Award-winning novel The Healer's War. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

VOYA - Snow Wildsmith

Acorna has faced many challenges since being adopted by her three miner fathers, but the most difficult thing that she has had to deal with is the disappearance of her lifemate Aari into the depths of time and space. Messages from him have told her that he plans to try to prevent his brother's death at the hands of the dread aliens, the Khleevi. Soon he returns to their world with his brother, but Aari is not the mate Acorna remembers. He is frivolous and cold. While she tries to deal with the new Aari, she is also trying to prevent the slaughter of innocents by a greedy criminal, answer the distress call of the famous "singing stones," and deal with the problems caused by terraforming, time travel, and everyday life. The dust jacket bills this book as the conclusion to the Acorna series, bringing it to a total of seven books, but the ending is still not tidily wrapped up, possibly leaving room for more sequels. Although this series is easy to read, fast paced, and not filled with a great amount of strong language, violence, or adult situations, this last book is a little heavy on the puns, making it difficult for readers to lose themselves in the tale. This installment is recommended only for libraries that already own the rest of the series. VOYA CODES: 3Q 2P S A/YA (Readable without serious defects; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2004, Eos/HarperCollins, 308p., Ages 15 to Adult.

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