Ball, Margaret Books

Acorna: The Unicorn Girl (Acorna)

Anne Mccaffrey, Margaret Ball

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 81 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A True Hero 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Picture this, a green pod shaped object drifting toward your ship. Oh and this isn't just any normal ship, this ship is totally different from any other ship. This ship is a space ship that is where this great story's plot is placed. As I read the beginning of this book I found it interesting and wanted to keep reading more. I found it having a great plot and was wonderfully descriptive. The characters were also easy to follow and to me that is very important in books. My only problem with this book was that it was a little slow for my taste, but don't let that hold you back from reading this book, that is just one person's opinion. My favorite part is at the last 5 chapters of the book, that's when it gets really interesting. Its when the book finally picks up the pace and makes me want to never put it down. I love how the beginning is too, it has a lot of detail and is very descriptive, the only part that made me want to stop reading is in the middle, that's when it got a little confusing.
This book is great and even though the middle is a little slow, I would read it again and again. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did because it is just a great rainy day type of book. Don't forget that this is just one person's opinion of a book, you might love it even more than I did.

Editorial Review:

"Something's Alive In There!"

She was just a little girl, with a tiny horn in the center of her forehead, funny-looking feet, beautiful silver hair, and several curious powers: the ability to purify air and water, make plants grow, and heal scars and broken bones. A trio of grizzled prospectors found her drifting in an escape pod amid the asteroids, adopted her, and took her to the bandit planet Kezdet, a place where no questions are asked and the girl might grow up free.

But Kezdet has its own dark secret. The prosperity of the planet is based on a hideous trade in child slave labor, administered by "The Piper" -- a mystery man with special plans for Acorna and her powers. But free little girls have a way of growing into freedom-loving young women, and Acorna has special plans all her own. . .

Disappearing Act

Margaret Ball

Amazon Price: $7.99 List Price: $7.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Baen Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Maristhe local underworld on the huge space station was anything but honest, but life was much more pleasant than it had been before the gang picked her up from the slums. Then her boss grabbed a visitor to the station who was asking too many questions, only to find out that she was a very important diplomat. Then his prisoner apparently committed suicide by jumping through an airlock into hard vacuum. Since Maris and the missing diplomat had a strong facial resemblance, he decided to let Marisfound with the diplomatid a search in his territory. Instead, Maris used the IDs to escape to the planet the Diplomat was about to investigate¿and found herself in a hornetrrupt officials conspiring with a local tyrant in a mysterious scheme. Surrounded by people who wanted her eliminated, the only person she could trust was Gabrel, a young officer who set off on a cross-planet trek with her to get evidence that would expose the web of corruption. Maris was strongly attracted to Gabrel and the feeling seemed to be mutual. Of course, he thought she was a high-ranking government agent; but she was only a petty criminal on the run, and her deception could not be maintained much longer. . . .

Partnership (Windsor Selections)

Anne McCaffrey, Margaret Ball

By: Chivers Large print (Chivers, Windsor, Paragon & C Amazon Marketplace: 10 new & used starting at $4.23

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

This time it is a "brain" named Nancia that needs to find a compatible "brawn" 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

"PartnerShip" is the second book in the Brainship Series that was begun by Anne McCaffrey in the short stories that were collected under the title "The Ship That Sang." But this second book is a novel rather than a short story collection, tells the story of a new shellperson, and is co-written by McCaffrey with Margaret Ball (they also collaborated on the Acorna boks). Readers of the first book might be disappointed that this "sequel" is not about Helva, but the idea of brainships lends itself to new characters and if you have read McCaffrey's Pern and/or Talent series then you know she likes to tell new stories about new characters more than she does finding new tales for familiar (and even beloved) ones.

Nancia Perez y des Gras was an aristocrat, a member of one of the High Families, who was born with grave physical disabilities that required her human body to be encased in a massive titanium column that provided a direct link between her mind and the computer of her ship, XN-935. Nancia never would have survived without the complex life-support system the shell provided and which also allowed her to have a career as a new brainship for the Courier Service. Although she has been well trained, Nancia is not ready for dealing with the five "ordinary" human beings who are her passengers on her first voyage.

They are also members of the High Families and what her passengers have in common is that they are the proverbial black sheep of their respective families. That is why they are being sent to the forgotten far side of the galaxy. Usually the "brain" on a Courier Service ships is complemented by a "brawn," a human pilot special trained for such services, but Nancia is traveling without one on her maiden voyage. So Nancia is shocked and appalled by what she hears as her passengers plan to make their illegal fortunes and enjoy their ill-gotten gains. However, these five aristocrats do not know that they are on a brain ship and Nancia never bothers to tell them that she is listening (and recording) all of their plans.

What I like about "PartnerShip" is that Nancia bides her time before bringing the Nyota Five to justice. After all, she is fairly new to the ways of the real world and, as the title indicates, she is not going to be alone with the time comes to put her plan into motion. Consequently, in addition to the anticipation as to how Nancia is going to get these five clowns there is also a question of who is going to be the "brawn" to her "brain"? The former appeals to be a bit more simply because I like it when somebody on the inside has got the goods on the bad guys, but I was satisfied with the specific partnership that McCaffrey and Ball came up with for Nancia. Final Note: the cover art for this 1992 book is by Stephen Hickman.

Editorial Review:

Nancia, a new member of the elite Courier Service of the Central Worlds and the brain of one of the most advanced stellar ships, finds her innocent vision of human nature shattered when she is paired up with brutish partner Forister.

Acorna's Quest (Acorna 2)

Anne McCaffrey, Margaret Ball

List Price: $14.45 By: Corgi Books Amazon Marketplace: 15 new & used starting at $1.97

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This SF team's earlier novel, Acorna, introduced the alien girl Acorna, an orphan rescued and reared by space-faring humans. Though generally human-shaped, she shares some features with the unicorn of myth--notably, a forehead horn that can heal and purify. Now Acorna blasts off with human friends in search of her own race, who shortly turn up looking for her. These gentle, horned nonhumans are fleeing other aliens who are wanton murderers and torturers that resemble huge cockroaches. Meanwhile, a starship full of dispossessed human miners picks up a scientist whose devastating system of planetary weather control inspires some on-board criminals to stage a coup and use the weather machine to blackmail whole planets; Acorna stumbles into this conflict. Meanwhile, a spacefleet of killer roaches is on its way.

These storylines mix romance, light comedy, and some violent action, which is generally downplayed or dealt with offstage. Of course, the verminous villains find humanity a tougher proposition than nice unicorn-folk and complain bitterly: "They are barbaric and vicious beyond belief; when attacked, they actually fight back!" Happy endings emerge, with room for more sequels. Overall, Acorna's Quest feels like a romping, uncomplicated SF adventure intended for younger readers and Anne McCaffrey devotees. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk

3 Book Set; PartnerShip. The Ship Who Searched. The City Who Fought. (Audio Cassette Book) (Science Fiction & Fantasy)

Anne McCaffrey, Margaret Ball, Mercedes Lackey, S. M. Stirling

By: Audio Adventures Amazon Marketplace: 2 new & used starting at $175.00

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Editorial Review:

Clamshell Case with 6 audio cassettes/ 3 novels/ 2 cassettes per novel