obsidianwolf | Entries tagged with animorphs

Obsidianwolf's Animorphs 2020 re-read Thoughts so far

Okay so I've finished my re-read of the first Five books and since book six is the first with a repeat Narrator I thought I'd give my thoughts so far on the first five.

The main plot is very well established and we get some absolutely heart rending moments such as when Mellissa's parents fight against the Yerks for the sake of their daughter and the real Chapman even tells off Visser Three to his face. We also get a rather rosy picture of the Andalites, yerk politics and see how the kids started out.

The books do have some obvious weak points though, I mean early on they get out of messes far to much by out side factors.

As to the Animorphs themselves

We see Jake as a slightly more mature ordinary teen who gets shoved into the role of leader.

We see Rachel and how a strong sense of justice and a need to be needed will make her do whatever it takes to defeat the yerks.

We see Marco who desperately doesn't want to get involved but keeps getting dragged in anyway.

We see Tobias and find out how deeply fucked up he already was and see that it is only going to get worse.

We see Ax and see glimpses of how naive he can be, how arrogant he can be about his people.

We see Cassie and see that she's empathetic but we also see shades of how manipulative, reckless and self centered she can be. Traits that will get more prominent in time and be excused by the narrative constantly.

Before I begin the next Cycle of Five in my re-read I will be taking a brief break to read one new book and re-read at least one favorite that has nothing to do with Animorphs. If I don't then I'll very quickly burn out on them and not finish my re-read.

Obsidianwolf X Re-Reads Animorphs 2020 Book Five The Predator

So now we come to the first Marco book and the turning point where his arc really begins. Before this Marco was just dragged along with the others after this well he's got a reason to be involved. The opening also does a nice job of showing his character. He barges in to save the guy and then when the guy is frightened and turns on him he grumbles about it. Which does a good job of summing up Marco’s character. He’s actually a lot more selfless than he wishes he was but he is going to complain non stop about it.

We also get his first glimpse of how he sees the others and it's mostly the same old same old though he's clearly in denial about Cassie being manipulative. He jumps to the she's not manipulative statement way to fast which means he's probably thought of it and dismissed it because she's genuine and nice. Which is a blind spot a lot of folks have even though someone being manipulative has very little bearing on if they appear nice or not. Hell people can manipulate folks they genuinely care about either consciously for their own good or unconsciously because they are just manipulative by nature. Cassie is selfish enough and convinced of her own righteousness so she can easily be read as the t ype to manipulate others for their own good or whatever Cassie says is their own good.

You also see his chemistry with Rachel which in another life might have led to the two having a relationship but again the war and what it did to them destroyed any chance of that. However, the most interesting thing is how he views Tobias because his reaction to Tobias flips the script to the others they see Marco as trying to make Tobias feel better with his still joking around but this makes it clear the joking is to avoid thinking about how it could happen to him.

Now let's move onto the main thrust of the book which is Ax's plan to steal a ship to get home. I have to admit it is refreshing to see the Advanced alien as the more naive one. Ax is clearly a kid and hasn't started to change like they have yet. His head is full of Andalite propaganda and he's convinced of his people's own righteousness. Now in later books Ax's fixation on taste and bouts of Andalite arrogance are irritating at times especially when he's not the main character. He can be irritating when he's narrating but as a side character it can be even worse because it'll be his only real role in the book. Once I finish my reread I'll decide which character tended to have the most irritating ax. I can remember clearly that he was the most likable in the Marco and Tobias books but as to the other three I can't fully recall which narrator had the most irritating version of Ax.

Anyway the mall scene ends badly and they have to become Lobsters this is one of those horrifying vignettes that's meant to set up later troubles namely the ant morph. Now the ant morph bits are truly horrific and one of the first big signs of the series tendency to include a lot of body horror at times. Sure the early books have featured some but the ants are where it really starts to shine. It also introduces the creepiness of the hive mind phenomenon which is an interesting take on things.

So they get the transmitter and nearly die. Which brings us to the big action peace of this their attempt to steal a bug fighter that blows up in their faces when none of them ever consider that their trap might go wrong. The fact they only escape cause Visser One wants to embarass Visser Three is something I am torn on. It works in it sets up the conflict between the Vissers and yerk politics but at the same time it's a bit of an ass pull that they got out it. Still it's not that bad so I can roll with it.

But now let's get to the best part of the book Marco's journey from ready to quit to full support brought on by him learning Visser One's hose body is his mother. The whole story is wrapped up in how he isn't as selfish as he wishes he was. His worry about Ax's family and relating it to his situation with his dad and mom is why he was even there to find out. In a lot of ways it shows how Marco is more selfless than a lot of the ones that some fans insist is the heart of the team. He also shows an awareness of what to come how the war is going to break them some day.

Anyway good book and the last of the first cycle of Narrators.

Obsidianwolf X Re-Reads Animorphs 2020 Book Four: The Message

Since I make no secret of my dislike of Cassie what I'm about to say may sound strange but this is one of the best of the early books and it is hands down the best Cassie book in the entire series in my opinion. Now in hindsight all the normal problems with Cassie are there but at this point in the narrative they haven't grown into real problems. At this point it could have been part of the arc that she should have had.

An interesting thing to observe about Cassie in this opening of this book is her tendency to decide on a course of action that is flawed and stick to it appears fairly early. Her turning into a squirrel to find out what is taking their birds is heavily flawed and nearly gets her eaten by Tobias and/or a Fox and just like her later bad ideas it some how works out.

Another interesting bit is one of the strengths folks point to in an attempt to defend Cassie is how well she reads people and this book does show she has some talent in that area. Though it also shows it as very superficial she does clue in on how people are very well but only on a surface layer. Honestly just enough to manipulate them. All of her observations of her friends are technically accurate but just scratch the surface even with so little in the way of seeing them. Which is just another example of how a character like Cassie who wasn't a creator's pet could have been very interesting because that skill set can be wonderfully helpful or downright dangerous often both at the same time and that is never acknowledged by the narrative outside of incidents where other character praise her for it.

We also get our first dose of Cassie's moral dilemmas that aren't moral dilemmas at all in her reluctance to morph Dolphins. Now It does show an interesting facet to her character that isn't actually intentional. She likes Dolphins and thinks they are smarter than other animals so it's wrong to morph them. Yet she ignores that Gorilla's and elephants are also highly social intelligent animals that show awareness of things just like dolphins. Hell even wolves are highly social and show traits like mourning so if she's going to have this faux moral delima about turning into a dolphin she should have it about nearly everything but she doesn't she rates the importance of animals on her feelings about right and wrong not on any objective measurement. Of course part of that is simply author ignorance on things but that only applies out of universe in universe Cassie is just biased. Which in a competently written arc could have been a really interesting character flaw.

Instead it just eventually turns into a major annoyance. It isn't as pronounced here so it's more tolerable as long as you tune out any knowledge you have of later works. Now I like that the message is transmitted as dreams and connected to the morphing tech but frankly I once again get a bit too annoyed with only Cassie and Tobias receiving it. Again I'd have been fine with others getting them later but once again it is Cassie is special and this was back when Tobias was going to be important before that went away so they are the only two who get it.

I suppose now we need to address the standard sci fi plot of whales and dolphins being even more intelligent than we actually think they are. The Hollywood whales and dolphins are a bit annoying the dolphins are too nice(read up on real dolphins some times) but since it's standard sci fi fare it's forgivable even though I think their inclusion is probably the weakest part of the book.

Now let's discuss Marco's near death and the conversation Cassie has with him. Taken just by itself it's almost touching but combined with knowledge of later books it really reads like Cassie needs him to make her feel better about things. That's the biggest issue I keep having in this reread I can tune out a lot of what's to come but the parts that really irritate me stand out. Cassie and Marco's dynamic here in a competant arc would have been a real asset to the series but it was never allowed to grow realistically instead becoming what it eventually becomes.

Now let's discuss two final bits the first is the introduction of Ax who will be an important character in the series even if I get slightly annoyed at the set up for the two biggest annoyances. The Prince Jake don't call me Prince bit which gets repeated way to often and then the everyone is wierded out by Ax's human form bit. I wouldn't have minded it if he faded but they keep harping on it constantly.

Still Ax's introduction does help bring home more of the stakes to them which again in a competent arc would have led to folks like Cassie developing like the others do but that was never allowed to happen.

And now the very end when Cassie sneaks out to play with the Dolphins. This ending is meant to be cute and all but it bugs me. She's risking discovery by Security to go play with the Dolphins. Anyway that's book four done.

Obsidianwolf X Re-Reads Animorphs 2020 Book Three: The Encounter

Ah yes the first Tobias book which are some of the most interesting but also some of the most cringe inducing as you see just how broken bird boy is. This one probably starts out with him in the healthiest mental state he’ll ever be in. Yes he’s stuck as a hawk but he’s willing to accept help.

We start of course with him and Rachel freeing a Hawk from a cage. This sequence is interesting in that it is only there to set up the conflict in him and allow him to spot the Yerk tanker ship. I have to admit I absolutely love the description of the cloaked ship. It is one of the more interesting takes on a cloaked vehical since it’s still detectable by it’s effect on the environment if you look closely but most would look past it. Far more believable than a perfect camouflage that some how avoided disturbing anything.

We see more of the gang’s early dynamics with Marco being able to see the big picture but wanting to avoid it and Cassie playing peacemaker when it suits her. Which now we need to talk about something that bugs me about this book. Jake’s attempts to make a space for Tobias are interesting but raise a really big red flag. Namely it is perfectly understandable for Jake not to know how best to take care of Tobias and for Tobias being Tobias not to tell him he’s doing it wrong.

However, Cassie the girl raised in an animal rehab clinic should have known and should have been involved in making arrangements for Tobias. I mean I know the real reason is that the writer never thought about it and needed the situation in Jake’s house to be unsuited to him being there so he’d go semi feral but real world reasons don’t apply when you deal with in universe situations. Which means I am left wondering why Cassie didn’t supply any help at all for Tobias dealing with his situation. At the very least she should have supplied diet information and where they could get proper nutrition for him. He might not have gone feral if his nutrition needs were being met. The most generous interpretation is that she just didn’t think about it though that brings up some disturbing implications but it’s still less disturbing then some of the others.

But moving on now we need to discuss Tobias break down and temptation by the female hawk. Both are signs of how this situation is causing Tobias to unravel and lose mental stability. What makes Tobias situation so stark and hopeless is that while there are ways to help him adjust the others never think to offer them and he refuses to ask for them. He basically gas lights himself by the end of the novel into thinking he’s now something neither human or bird as a survival mechenism. It’s understandable but creepy to watch. Even more so knowing what’s coming in later novels.

Of course we’ll cover all of that in future novels so now let’s discuss the plan our heroes come up with to find out what’s going on. Morphing the wolves was smart but I can’t help but notice shades of out dated ideas about wolves lurking around. Which leads to them discovering what the Yerks are doing and Marco seeing a way they could use this to their advantage which leads to a really good idea and a horrible plan. It makes sense that they’d fail to see how the ways it could go wrong at this point in the story but it is very clear that they got damn lucky getting out of this situation.

On the surface their plan works and is pretty good for inexperienced child soldiers but none of them even consider the idea that the tank might be sealed. Or all the other ways it could go wrong. It was only sheer luck that Tobias managed to damage the ship in a way that got them out alive.

Now let’s talk about the ending and sets up what could have been a really interesting dynamic that isn’t allowed to be explored sadly. Tobias is beginning to see the world like a predator that could have been a really interesting perspective to bring to the discussions but sadly it rarely gets used and when it does it is usually set up so someone can disagree and be proven right.

In the end The Encounter is pretty good as story of one kid slowly unraveling and less good as an action story cause they only got out of there by luck.

Obsidianwolf X Re-Reads Animorphs 2020 Book Two: The Visitor

So Book two it's not as strong as the first one but it does have one of the most powerful illustrations of the effect of the Yerk Invasion on folks not involved in teh fight. The opening of this book has the kids being kids and since it is Rachel's first turn Narrating we get to see her view point for the first time.

I mentioned last time that they read like the type of friends only young kids form. The ones based on proximity and time spent together. I'm sure everyone has friendships like that in their past and it is very obvious here. Rachel talks a lot about the others in the beginning when they are playing around as birds but at the same time it reads more like a group held together by proximity instead of real friendship. The only one she talks about having things in common with is Jake. Everyone else she talks about just mentioning a few generic traits. It's an interesting question if they'd have remained friends without the sheer forged in fire banded together by the fight nature of what happened over the next few years.

She was already drifting away from Melissa because of being unaware of the stress in Melissa's life. Whose to say it wouldn't have eventually happened with Cassie as well. Speaking of Cassie this is an interesting book because her actions in the book are helpful and actually playing the peace maker she's often said to be with on real evidence. However, knowing what comes later and how she'll eventually come to think of Rachel it adds an edge of manipulation in how I read her words. She's quick to agree with Jake and Marco and then soothe Rachel's ego about the stunt with the creep.

Which let's talk about the creep following a teenage girl and trying to get her into the car. To the kids it's a fun sequence where Rachel scares off someone to an adult reading it well it's a lot more chilling since the odds are very good if he'd gotten her in the car she'd be in for a bad time and very possibly dead. Strategically it was stupid to spook the guy but it was understandable.

Speaking of strategy we get our first look at Jake's talent for seeing the big picture and Marco's strategic thinking. Marco is the one who sees how exactly reckless Rachel's actions where and Jakes has already figured out that Tom is expendable to the Yerks and realized they can't use Tom to spy on the Yerks.

Which now brings us to the adventures in cat catching. I get that this is meant to be a light moment in the book but it goes on a bit too long. Though it does show how out of touch Cassie is about things she keeps recommending her friends get a rabies shot which is a good idea but she seems completely out of touch at how difficult that would be for folks not living and working on a wildlife rehabilitation clinic. I mean they could take turns turning into an animal and biting each other to get the shots(by saying a stray bit them) but otherwise there would probably be questions and at least it would need parental permission if they showed up at the doctors asking for them.

This brings up a point completely unrelated to this book but Cassie's parents are by far the least involved of all the parents in their kids lives. In the previous book Cassie didn't come home to eat Dinner and her parents were really chill about that. Their twelve/thirteen year old kid didn't come home and a friend called looking them and no alarm bells. In some ways they almost seem more like plot devices to supply animals than actual people. Sure all the parents are out of focus but hers are even more so.

Anyway back to the get the cat sequence. The whole shrew bit is really just for flavoring about morphing and of course there's the mistake where Cassie says Rachel has more morphs than any of them when she only has the same amount as Jake. Of course screw ups like that are all over the series and are something you just have to deal with.

We then get one of the series lovely nightmare sequences culminating in a rather enlightening scene involving one of Rachel's siblings. This moment begins to show how the animorphs are drifting away from their families and gave a hint of how close Rachel was to her siblings before this. It does fit with how I see Rachel as someone who needed to be needed.

Then we get to school and see the beginnings of the reveal about Melissa's life with her breaking down just after Jake and Rachel bond over having nightmares after morphs that have gone wrong. Next we get a skip over a few days and then it's time for the mission. Rachel of course is warned not to get cocky with her natural confidence mixed with a cat's attitude.

The sequence in the basement is a very well done one tense but in a realistic way. The fact Visser Three several times admires cats of various sizes has always amused me. It is one of the most human for lack of a better word moments with him.

We follow that up with the first real show of how the Yerks under him hate his guts and the signs that he's completely and utterly incompetent. We also then get the absolutely heartbreaking moment where Rachel finally understands what has happened to Melissa. This moment is also telling because we see Rachel's sense of justice and how she's willing to do whatever it takes to end the threat. A moment that foreshadows the rest of her arc very well.

Of course next is the meeting where Marco is clearly in full deflector mode and we get the second time in the book when Cassie actually does what her defenders claim she does. This time doesn't have the manipulator vibes that the other scene does to me as this one feels far more natural. Or it does until she clues in that Rachel is hiding something and then definitely goes manipulative. It's one of those moments that again remind you of how things could have gone if Cassie wasn't a creator's pet that was never allowed to be wrong. Because Cassie would have been far more interesting if the series acknowledged her dark side.

So next we get the Jake as a flea and Rachel getting caught sequence all in all it's interesting but not really worth discussing. What is worth discussing is the moment with the Real Chapman and his wife fighting to keep their daughter from being infested. It is one of the few moments that truly brings home how horrible the yerks are and makes the track the books occasionally take about the yerks should be pitied really hard to take seriously. It is also why I absolutely hate the inclusion of Chapman in the Andalite chronicles as one of the ones at fault for the invasion but that's a rant for when I get to that book.

The ending action sequence is again pretty good but not stellar outside of the human Chapman getting to tell off Visser Three. Then after they escape we have the ending where Rachel leaves the note for Melissa. I some times think Melissa should have eventually become more involved in the plot but sadly she just drifts away which is it's own way is realistic.

Anyway I don't like The Visitor as much The Invasion but it's still over all a good book.

Animorphs 2020 re-read Book One: The Invasion

So I’ve finished the first book in my 2020 re-read and well it reminds me why I originally fell in love with this series and why at times I’m incredibly frustrated by it. Since Jake is the first narrator we get his view of the others and a brief glimpse of their pre-animorphs lives. It is very apparent that most of their initial relationships were family and school yard friends based on proximity. They weren’t old enough yet to really drift away from the friendships they’d formed in earlier years and start basing them on things other than proximity and initial meeting. Jake and Marco were clearly childhood friends and so where Cassie and Rachel. Family ties then had Rachel and Jake hanging around each other enough that Jake had time to form a crush on Cassie and Rachel most likely had one on Marco.

The only one who didn’t fit into that mold of family or school yard friends was Tobias and he was quiet clearly the bullied kid who gravitated to the kid who stood up for him. Though the first book still shows how utterly broken he is since it very heavily implied he got himself stuck as a Hawk on purpose. Now it’s possible he didn’t mean to do it but on some level he wanted to be a Hawk forever but didn’t really think it through.

I said in my before the re-read post that Jake ended up the leader because he was slightly more mature than the others and I still feel that way. The most telling about that is his interactions with Marco in this book because while Marco is far more world wise and aware of how bad things can go he’s still immature enough to think he can ignore the problem. He is the only one that really gets what they are risking not just for themselves and their families but he refuses to grasp that the Invasion is on going and ignoring it won’t make it go away. For all his if Tom is a controller you might have to kill him gotcha was meant to make Jake back off. Jake was mature enough to eventually accept it and agree with Marco. He like the others was very much a kid but he was the only one actually weighing the risks in any capacity outside of just emotional response. So it isn’t that surprising that the others pretty much made him the leader by default.

Moving onto to the girls Rachel often gets pigeon holed as gung ho eager for combat but I suspect it was more that Rachel has a need to be needed. You don’t see it as clearly in this book but in the next few it is obvious that Rachel is very popular but tends to be very loyal and tries to be what her friends need. I imagine it had a lot to do with her parents being divorced so she had to be the good girl picking up the slack as her parents were fighting. She got into the habit of being what folks needed her to be and unfortunately the other Animorphs need someone to be the aggressive one, the gung ho one, the violent one.

Cassie in the first book shows a lot of her major issues as a character. She decides she knows better and follows Jake to the Sharing Members only meeting and gets herself noticed. There was no reason for her to do that it wasn’t like he was gone long enough for it to be worth the risk and I doubt she told the others were she was going. She acted unilaterally. She also most likely killed the Controller who targeted her or at the very least set back while he died. The fact it’s never brought up again is a major disappointment. She also very clearly romanticizes their struggle as if they are fighting for Mother Earth. Cassie being naturally gifted at morphing at first seems like just a way to avoid the naked kids/teenagers problem but in hindsight feels more like an early warning sign of her creator’s pet status. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if it was just her starting out with a higher natural aptitude and the others get better in time but instead it was a rare and special talent even among the race that created morphing.

You also very clearly see the conflicts that each of them should have had to face moving forward start to form. Some of them will face moving forward. Rachel and Cassie should have had to come to grips with the reality of war. Rachel does and Cassie most assuredly does not but the narrative rewards Cassie and punishes Rachel. Marco had to find a reason to fight and eventually does. Jake had to deal with being the leader and dealing with the very real fear of never getting Tom back and lastly Tobias had to deal with being no longer physically human and finding his new place in the world. Jake does and even makes the hard choice to end his brother’s life. However, Tobias never really does and it’s sad but thematically appropriate unlike what happened with Cassie and Rachel.

My absolute favorite sequence in the book is Elfangor’s arrival and the aftermath in the unfinished construction site. It works absurdly well for establishing things in a way that makes sense to the reader while also bringing an actual sense of urgency. It does a very good job of establishing the mood of the series and the nature of the enemy. The fact it’s followed up on with the cop and Tom bits works very well.

The biggest disappointment of the book well it has to circle back to the cop. It’s partially hindsight talking but it’s pretty clear that Cassie had something to do with his death. However, it never comes up again and Cassie will later care more about a freaking termite queen then she did this human being enslaved against his will. It does fit the pattern I mentioned in my before the re-read post about how Cassie places value on others by how much she empathizes with them. She felt for the bug because she’d been a bug and pictured herself in it’s role. The cop was just a threat to deal with. Which if she’d had an actual arc could have been great but it’s just the earlist example of her hypocrisy and knowing where it leads in later books bugs me.

I suppose I could talk about the errors but I’ve long sense learned to ignore the errors in mid grade books churned out by scholastic. I can either fan wank it or just ignore it. So I mostly ignore the little errors and fan wank the others away to my satisfaction.

All in all I still really enjoy the book.

Or the book were it becomes clear that even before this mess started Tobias was extremely messed up. This entire book is like one long look into the head of a very disturbed teenager who makes his own life far harder than it has to be out of his own issues.

Example he's starving cause of another Hawk so the answer should be deal with the Hawk anyway he can or go get some frozen mice from Cassie to stay in top shape to be of use in the war. His answer nope he won't cheat it'll be a fair fight against an animal. He also refuses to go get help showing a messed up almost suicidal streak and the viewpoint that he needs to not be a burden.

His relationship with Rachel also begins to take on some really messed up dynamics. His whole spiel about Rachel's soul emerging when she morphs the eagle but of course he's not attracted because hawk's don't mate with eagles and her morph is male just screams messed up denial. He shouldn't be thinking about Hawks mating at all in this but he is which just goes to show how absolutely messed up his view of what he is has gotten.

The thing is there's a strong argument for it being noble of him to stay a bird to stay useful in the fight. The problem is that that nobility goes out the window because he isn't staying a bird to stay in the fight he's staying a bird to not have to rely on anyone else and to leave the human Tobias he has quiet a bit of self loathing for behind.

I've always had mixed feelings about him being revealed to be Elfangor's son I think part of the problem is the fact that the writing waffle don how important he was to be to the final conflict with the Yerks. The early books lean heavily on the idea he's meant to play a major role and the later books dive away form it to push the Author's pet.

The thing is either direction works Tobias as a chosen one or as a deconstruction of a chosen one where his unique heritage and situation isn't that important. The problem is the narrative starts going one way and then clumsily reveres course which makes it appear disjointed.

Add in the fact that as a kids series even one as willing to dance around dark topics that exactly how messed up things are involving him never quite makes it into the narrative and it feels weaker.

Ah well up next the Andalite chronicles but no idea how long it will take me to reread cause real life issues are abounding.

So much later than I intended I finally got back to my animorphs reread and read Book 22 the Solution.

This is the best book of the David Trilogy and serves as the pivot point in Rachel and Jake's arcs. This is the book where Rachel begins to fear what the conflict is doing to her and both she and Jake are shown to be changing in ways that disturb both of them.

David completes his transition into a real monster and my earlier comparison to an overly privileged person who snaps at imagined slights and goes on a rampage still applies more neatly than ever. David's goal post shifts constantly to whatever makes him feel the like he's winning.

Which means now we have to talk about the ending of this book. It is a point of debate among fans if it was more merciful than killing him. Before I get to that I have to say it makes perfect sense why they all made the choice. Jake and Rachel are both afraid of crossing the line and killing someone. Their discussion in the hospital makes that clear, Ax goes along with Jake and while Marco and Tobias may see it as necessary as soon as an option is presented that keeps them from doing it. They jump at it. Cassie is the one most naturally opposed to killing him so of course she comes up with what in her mind is a better idea.

Now I've said before that at this point in the series all of them not just Cassie are operating on a childish morality and this is the book that shows the real horror such a view can create. Because let's be honest they did kill David. Rachel even thinks about it in those terms once but doesn't seem to follow it through. This is no different than poisoning someone with a slow acting toxin and telling yourself that sure you shortened their life considerably but it was the poison who killed them not me.

David was condemned to a short hellish life by them because they had the childish view that they weren't actually killing him. An adult morality would accept all the options and the reality that they were still hastening his death just adding a lot of torture and horror to it. An adult would then weigh which option they could live with better and make the call.

It is perfectly natural that they would make the decision they did and it fits all the characters at this point. It just wonderfully illustrates the cruelty inherit in more childish moral attitudes that define things with no shades of grey.

Now lets discuss the haunting ending where Rachel she never saw David again and how the rock they left him on got a reputation for being haunted. We don't know when these books were supposedly narrated but it does seem odd that we get never saw again when we do see David again. But we can just chalk that up to the issues caused by real world factors.

I won't bring up the risk of a controller going near the rock and hearing thought speak many have.

Now for the negative. This book is where the what will happen to Rachel after the war starts and the thing is it's a compelling question. The problem however is that it is being used by the author(s) to set up Rachel having to die. I have never cared for the implication given in various statements that Rachel was too messed up to live after the war. It is frankly insulting and ableist.

This book also has elements of shilling Cassie that are obvious in hindsight. Cassie sees the solution because she gets people the problem is Cassie getting people is something that comes and goes. It all goes back to the fundemental lack of arc for Cassie.

The really sad thing is that David and Cassie are very much potential foils to each other and if she'd been able to have a decent arc it could have been neat. Cassie is just as manipulative as David and just as willing to twist facts to support her view that she's done the right thing. The difference is David's morality is very much different if we had gotten a book of those two at war with each other well that would have been a fun read.

The threat is the part of the trilogy I'm mot conflicted about. It works very well as a Jake book but it also brings home how much Jake was following the others on the David thing. It brings up a flaw in his early leadership that even he acknowledges in this book his dependence on how well he knows them.

Now as I said last time I think David jumping off the slippery slope was inevitable but the situation wasn't helped by Jake coasting along and dragging a kid in who should have been kept back. It wouldn't have killed them to leave him out of the mission they were on at the time. Reading this book honestly makes me think the David arc should have been longer with more character POV's. I actually think we really missed out by not getting a Cassie book because she was clearly the most in favor of David as an Animorph and after that she sort of drops back and is just undecided untils he comes up with their horrible solution. (more on that next time)

This book does set up a fatal flaw of Jake's that the narrative glosses over alot. He's constantly putting Cassie as an authority on people or morality and it really bites him toward the end of the series. The fact Jake gives different weight to different folks opinions based on his personal feelings is the type of flaw that I would have loved to see exploredl in depth in the series.

I do like that we begin to see Jake's alienation from his family that only grows worse as the series goes on.

I'll reread the third book some time tomorrow got things to do tonight.

I was going to wait until I'd reread all three of these books to do a post but I've decieded instead to do three posts one for each book.

The first book is probably one of my favorite Marco books. The whole trilogy really feels like the moment most of the animorphs start to lose their innocence while at the same time it clearly demonstrates the flaws of the immature childish morality they are all operating at to different levels (most of them start to grow out of it after this book excluding Cassie)

This book really plays to Marco's strengths the fact he's very good at tactics and willing to do what is necessary to win. The fact the others are not in a place to agree to that makes the tragedy of the whole trilogy even more heart wrenching. I mean when they are deciding rather to leave David to the yerks or make him an animorph why everyone votes the way they does makes sense even as its tragic. Tobias wants his little family to grow convinced they can make room and get to know someone, Jake and Rachel vote yes because they are predisposed to siding with Cassie. This is one of the few things Cassie's in favor of that actually blows up in their faces.

But both Marco and Ax are right that it's too big a risk and from the get go David shows signs of what he'd become. I know it's a popular discussion as to if they could have handled David better or not.

Personally I think the idea was doomed to failure and the worst thing is that because it failed so terribly the Animorphs never considered expanding again(until they had no choice) even though the proper method was suggested during their debate about David. The idea of choosing someone they knew and knew they could trust in advance but sadly they are immature enough to decide to take a leap of faith that backfired horribly.

The thing is I am not someone who believes that David was inevitably going to become a monster. Oh I think he had the potential to be dangerous and horribly unsuited to the life he got thrust into but that was something they weren't able to figure out in their rushed decision making. Even Marco who saw the signs didn't really get it.

Based on what little we saw of pre-everything in his life being taken away David showed signs IMO of being a privileged kid who was used to blaming others for his problems. His dad obviously very busy with his job wasn't home very often and instead gave him whatever he wanted to make up for it. That's clear from the illegal pet cobra and other things. He's also got an idealized view of what his dad does a big hero spy. He also makes claims that others don't like him cause he's new and he can always tell. Like so many other bitter angry individuals he blames everyone who dislikes him on them being unfair to him.

We've seen plenty of real life cases of socially privileged folks turning violent when their lives are inconvenienced so David's transformation doesn't surprise me. Nor his fixation on getting things that's probably how he dealt with issues before trouble with a move get something new and so fourth. He lost basically everything and gained the morphing power so he wants to gain back as much as he can and the morphing power is his method. That's why he fixates on the cube plus he sees it as rightfully his cause he found it.

I mean the others make their share of mistakes dealing with him and certainly helped him speed along to what he became much faster but I think it was inevitable that he would have gotten there even if they'd all treated him his definition of well because sooner or later they were going to disappoint him and he was going to blame them for how his life turned out.

Anyway that's all until I reread the next book.

I've been dreading getting to this book because it is in many ways IMO the book where Cassie's arc becomes fundamentally broken and her static creator's pet status asserts itself. Sure she had her less than stellar moments before but before this book they could have been signs of an arc where she went from a childish form of morality into a more adult one.

Because IMO that is the biggest problem with Cassie she has a very immature morality that lends itself to her hypocrisy and making frankly bad or horrific decisions. Then her creator's pet status kicks in and she's shielded from all the fall out.

It really shines through in this book because the beginning of this book is just awsome Cassie reaching the breaking point, quitting and some real hard necessary truths are said by the others to her. If she'd had an actual over arching arc then this should have been the pivot point where she began to change. What that change should have been doesn't matter if it was staying idealistic but embracing a more adult view of how to stay that way and interact with the war or learning to set aside her concerns for the greater good. It doesn't matter just something but instead Cassie's morality doesn't change at all and instead the novels that follow this one constantly excuse it or have the others acting as if her morality is so much more developed then theirs when it is actually very shallow and child like.

I'd even be fine with her keeping the shallow and child like morality if the others and the narrative actually called her on it and realized its limitations. That could have been an interesting conflict later in teh series Cassie learns the others don't value her opinion and lie to her face to keep her from sabotaging mission but that never happens. Instead it is plain to see that she is the creators pet espousing the creators views on topics. I mean I have never cared for author tract creators pet characters regardless of my opinion on the views they state.

Anyway after a stellar beginning we reach the Aftran conflict and this is where the book gets shaky. It is actually a good idea but it begins to fall apart as Cassie begins making reckless dangerous choices with no forethought and no follow through by the narrative that culminates in the whole Cassie decides to prove her commitment by becoming a caterpillar. The others then decide to let Aftran fulfill her deal with Cassie out of sentimentality and everyone is rewarded with the ass pull of the century when Cassie becoming a butterfly lets her demorph despite going over the limit.

Which makes the end of this book in the same realm of bad as some of the worst books of the series. So it makes it a hard book to comment on. I mean there is no real follow through on the Karen situation(I mean how did they free her and keep her safe) and it is abundantly clear that despite this whole victory being mostly luck. Cassie was followed by the only vengeful yerk who was able to convinced to give up the life even the narrative says yerks should be pitied for not having. There is nothing in later books to imply Cassie every considered doing anything wrong.

There are never any moments where similar events happen and it backfired spectacularly making it clear how lucky Cassie was and maybe making her reconsider doing that in the future. None of that and it really hurts Cassie as a character. The static creators pet role the narrative forces her into really hurts her likability.

Up next the David trilogy which I will not post about till I've reread all three so it might be a few days.

So i just finished the second megamorphs and it is a frustrating book I mean just by rule of cool it wins with Dinosaurs but it also was so clearly an event book that was clearly done for marketing that it kind of stumbles around a lot.

It was clear form the beginning that any dinosaur morphs would be lost but no real explanation was given for it or why Tobias suddenly couldn't heal. Which frustrates me cause there was a simple explanation involving the sub.

Simply say they were irradiated by the sub explosion then have Ax explain that because they were in morphs at the time they wouldn't suffer long term effects but until the morphing tech expelled all the radiation there ability to heal or acquire new morphs would be limited. Just have him say any morphs acquired during the period (set it at for longer than you plan to have them in the past) wouldn't take and would fade with the radition.

IT would allow the drama of Rachel carrying an injured Tobias around and let them morph dinosaurs while not breaking things in the future.

Next lets talk about the Mecora and nesk problem. The jokes about broccoli being stupid but I actually like the tragedy of the animorphs having to prevent the Mecora from being saved from a situation they unintentionally create by shifting the balance of power between the two races. The problem is since it happens in this side book it doesn't really come up often enough. This is the type of thing that should have been an issue. Especially in what should have been CAssie's arc this is one of the few books that actually almost addresses her nature as a hypocrite with her reasoning that she could blame Tobias so she didn't have to blame herself. Not to mention her speech to Marco which should have been the beginning of an arc where they were actually debating things and challenging each other instead it peters out like all possibilities for growth for Cassie.

I suppose it is fitting that up next is one of the worst most infuriating books in the series IMO The Departure. More on that when I've reread it.

This is one of my favorite low stakes books because it is one of the few times in the series where Jake and Cassie have real tension without the narrative contorting itself to take Cassie side.

We see her genuine concern for Jake’s mental state but we also see him rightly shut her down about it since he needs to set an example as the leader they asked him to be. We also see the first shades of her hypocrisy with her wanting Jake to kill for her so she doesn’t have to. The ending when he remarks that you can’t fight a war like they are fighting without doing evil along the way could have been a great feed into an arc where she actually faced her hypocrasy and the others learning Jake especially not to put her morality on a pedestal as she was no wiser or more mature than they were.

The novel also reveals what could have been an interesting conflict in their relationship that got lost along the way. Namely the fact Jake will side with Cassie some times when it isn’t the best strategy just to keep her good opinion of him. (Namely him siding with her on the don’t morph humans thing in the office building)

In a story arc where Cassie was allowed to suffer the side effects of her mistakes it could have been really interesting to see how their relationship would survive them growing up Jake having to weigh his desire to keep his relationship with Cassie going well and the practical needs of being the leader of a guerilla warfare unit.

Plus I love the ambiguity at the end about the fire was it set and if so by who. It is one of the rare leave it up to your interpretation scene sin the novels that really works for me because there are good arguments for any one to have done so.

Up next the oatmeal book

And it just reminds me of how frustrating I find the character. The first time I ever read the message I absolutely loved Cassie and the book sets up what should be an awesome journey for her. A young character with a very black and white world view having to face the realities of war and the challenges to her ideas about right and wrong.

And then it never happens the character never changes Cassie of the later books is in some ways even IMO a regression of the Cassie in the first book she narrates. It is incredibly frustrating because she goes from a character who could have had a truly great arc into a static hypocritical character that the narrative contorts itself to make always right.

What makes it even more frustrating is that all the other characters do change in ways that are both positive and negative and yet she doesn't. She just gets preachier and more hypocritical while being the author's mouth peice on issues which means the narrative always rewards her and works out for her.

Which is why every time I reread Animorphs especially the message I just feel sad that a character that was initially vying for the spot of my favorite animorph (when I started she was #2 with the potential to hit number one) ended up my least favorite and the weakest part of the books.