cptn_dr posted:

I wonder if this is a side effect of him being an Andalite-controller, so having access to thought speak. Maybe not a conscious thing, but just constantly broadcasting that he's incredibly pissed off and will kill you without provocation.

Grammarchist posted:

I have the mental image of a squirrel being in a North By Northwest situation. Like Visser Three took it into custody thinking it was an Andalite, but it escaped and is now chewing through the wires of his ship and always escaping through sheer luck and pluck while Visser Three commends it as an honorable foe.

quote:

<You? A threat?> Visser Three laughed. He reached out with one hand to push lightly on Chapman's chest. Chapman fell back, sprawled out on the dirt. His head was just inches from the door of my cage. Tears were streaming down the side of his face.

"If you harm my daughter I will fight you. I will fight you forever. Ask your Yeerk if he believes me. He knows me better than anyone. Ask Iniss two two six if I will fight for my daughter."

Chapman closed his eyes. The tears stopped. Then his eyes opened again. He picked himself up quickly from the ground and stood before Visser Three. The Yeerk slug was in charge again. He was once again a Controller.

Before he stood, I saw something that frightened me all over again. It was Chapman's watch. The time was now nine twenty-eight. I had about seventeen minutes before I hit the two-hour limit!

<The host will attempt to disrupt your work?>

"Yes, Visser. And the woman as well. She is not as strong as this one, but she was able to gain control of one hand. Perhaps she has deeper strengths than we knew." He hesitated before going on. I could still smell the fear on him. "I am of more use with a passive, voluntary host. But I am your tool, Visser. I will do as you command."

<Yes, you will certainly do as I command,> Visser Three said. <But you have brought me the Andalite bandit.> He nodded down at me. <And this will occupy my time for a little while. Leave the girl, for now. Now get out. You tempt my patience. >

Chapman didn't need a second invitation. He jumped in the car and tore out of there.

Melissa was safe. As safe as she would ever be with Chapman as her father. That was some thing. Not much, but something.

<Move out,> Visser Three yelled. I saw the Hork-Bajir respond instantly to his command. The nearest one snatched me up and suddenly we were moving fast toward the Blade ship.

In seconds it would all be over. I would be aboard the Visser's ship. I would leave Earth. The only thing in my future was pain. Maybe I would die before I betrayed my friends. A depressing kind of thing to hope for.

<So. What's happening now?>

"Mrrraaaoww!"

I jumped and spun around inside my cage.

<Jake? Is that you?>

<Who else would it be? You know anyone else who would be a talking flea riding on your back?>

<Jake, you were supposed to get away and be safe!>

<Yeah, right. Like I was going to abandon you. Listen, I could hear Visser Three's thought-speech, but I don't know where we are.>

quote:

<We are about ten feet away from being loaded into Visser Three's Blade ship. And I have about fifteen minutes left before I'm trapped in this morph. >

<Fifteen minutes? Great, if you have fifteen, I have ten. I had to morph earlier than you, remember.>

<Jake, get out of here! You can't be trapped as a flea!>

The door of the Blade ship slid open silently. I could see dark red light inside. I could see a handful of Taxxons that seemed to be standing over control panels of some sort. Hork-Bajir stood at attention.

<I'm not getting out of here.> Jake said. <None of us are. >

<None of ... You mean the rest are fleas, too?>

<No, but they should be around somewhere. Tobias was supposed to follow us and lead the others to wherever we ended up. >

<They can't do anything. >

<Oh, really? Well, I bet they'll try. >

Just at that moment I heard a strange sound. My cat brain didn't recognize it. But the human me did. It was an engine. A big engine. Like a big truck. Or maybe a tractor. Or

An earthmover.

The Hork-Bajir carrying me saw it, too.

He ran into the Blade ship and tossed me down.

Then he ran back to the Visser, who waited in the doorway.

<I think they've started one of the earth-movers,> I told Jake.

<Then I guess it's time for me to get into this fight,> Jake said. <I'm going to try a quick double- morph. Hope it works. Here goes nothing. Yeeee-haaah!>

All at once, through the open door of the Blade ship, I spotted the earthmover. It lumbered at a painfully slow speed. But it lumbered right toward the Blade ship.

<Get us into the air!> Visser Three shouted.

The nearest Taxxon said something in their slithery snake-speech. It sounded like "Sssree shway snerp snerrrrup ssreet."

<Two minutes to liftoff? Too long!> Visser Three said. His tail whipped forward. I saw a huge gash open in the flesh of the Taxxon. Greenish- yellow goo poured out.

The other Taxxons all looked kind of excited. They were waving their little upper arms and snapping their little claws.

<You and you. > Visser Three pointed at two of the Taxxons. < Get us off the ground! The rest of you may feed on this fool. >
The wounded Taxxon emitted a wailing, slithery scream. Three other Taxxons rushed at him. Their circular mouths fastened onto their fellow Taxxon's writhing flesh and began chewing and tearing at him.

quote:

The sound of the diesel engine grew louder. Visser Three was rapping out orders. Hork-Bajir ran through the door and back outside.

Then I saw something happening in the dark corner of the cabin, over past the horrific Taxxon feeding frenzy. Something was growing. A human being was growing out of nothing.

<Jake!>

<Can't talk. Don't distract me. >

Visser Three was in a rage. You could feel the waves of his anger radiating around the small space. <Destroy that machine!> he ordered.

Outside, two Hork-Bajir took aim at the five tons of slow-moving steel.

Jake was still cowering in the corner, but he had begun to change once again. In the darkness my cat eyes could see the beginning of a pattern of stripes. Black and orange. The stripes of a tiger.

It was time for me to do my part. I concentrated. I felt the change begin. The cage grew small around me.

Rumble rumble rumble. The earthmover closed in.

The near-dead Taxxon screamed as his fellow Taxxons ate him alive.

Suddenly I saw a brilliant red light.

There was a sizzling sound. I saw the earthmover disintegrate. My heart was in my throat. Marco! Cassie! Had they gotten away?

I had to concentrate. I had to ignore the Taxxon's screams. I had to stop wondering whether Cassie and Marco had been on that earthmover when it was hit. I had to control my morph. Not too far, Rachel. Not too much. I could not become human. Not totally human. I looked down at my paw. Short stubby fingers had appeared. I stuck my stubby half-human fingers through the bars of the cage and found the lock.

One of the feeding Taxxons looked away from his meal just long enough. "Yeerss srenn ssseere!" It waved its creepy front legs in my direction.
Visser Three snapped around and glared at me with ferocious hatred.

I opened the door of my cage.

"Rrrrraaawwwrrr!" Jake leaped through the air, his huge claws outstretched.

I flew out of the cage, a clumsy mass of fur and skin, a creature that was half-cat and half-human. Jake hit Visser Three in the side.

<This time, you're mine, you jerk!>

Visser Three fell over, tangled up in tiger. His deadly tail flashed but missed. Jake ripped the Visser's flesh with claws infinitely bigger than mine.

<Aaaaarrrgghhh!>

It was a great pleasure hearing Visser Three scream that way. But I had other things to worry about.

I couldn't move in my half-morph. I concentrated on regaining my cat form. I had only minutes left before the two hours would be up.

Jake rolled off Visser Three just as a handful of Hork-Bajir rushed to the Visser's defense.

<Run!> Jake yelled.

<Run!> I agreed.

We ran. I was back fully in Fluffer's shape. I could do thirty miles an hour, as fast as the fastest human being could run.

quote:

Unfortunately, Hork-Bajir are faster.

Jake was faster still, for short distances. Fast enough to outrun the Hork-Bajir that were after us. But he wasn't going to leave me behind.

Jake turned and came for the closest Hork-Bajir.

I saw him flying over my head, a huge beast, orange-and-black striped. The Hork-Bajir went down hard.

<Get outta here, Rachel! You're too small to fight these guys. >

But there was still another Hork-Bajir on my tail. Faster than me. Too fast!

I dodged left. The Hork-Bajir shot past me. I turned back sharply, my little pads scrabbling in the dirt. The Hork-Bajir grabbed for me but missed.

Something else was moving. Something big. The ground was rumbling. . . .

A second earthmover was grinding forward on its tank treads. Marco and Cassie had started another earthmover!

I raced toward the nearest half-finished building. I had to get away. And I had to morph back. Time was up. In minutes I would be trapped!

I saw a dark hole. I flew toward it in a single leap. The hole led under a wall. Then it opened into a shallow basement. There was a concrete floor about two feet over my head. I was safe!

Safe, and with room enough to morph back to human shape.

I tried to concentrate. Out beyond my little concrete shelter I heard growls and alien cries. I heard the rumble of the earthmover. I thought I heard the sizzle of Dracon beams.

Human, I told myself. Return to human. Only minutes left!

Then I felt a shattering noise. Then another. Another. It was like some giant was stomping around. The giant steps stopped. I was frozen, unable to even
think, let alone morph.

Crash!

All around me pillars of rock-hard, scaled flesh, each as big around as a tree trunk, ripped into the concrete.

Grrrunch!

The concrete was lifted off me. Torn away, like it was paper.

I was exposed. Trapped. And standing over me, with the shattered concrete floor in its mighty hand, was a beast that seemed to be made of living rock.

<You won't get away so easily,> Visser Three said.

Grammarchist posted:

I have the mental image of a squirrel being in a North By Northwest situation. Like Visser Three took it into custody thinking it was an Andalite, but it escaped and is now chewing through the wires of his ship and always escaping through sheer luck and pluck while Visser Three commends it as an honorable foe.

ToxicFrog posted:

Ytlaya posted:

The animorphs should acquire the morph of a funnel-web spider or something and just have another animorph deposit them onto Visser three.

Though I guess you could use the excuse of alien biology not responding to the venom.

Avalerion posted:

Said it earlier, they should have kept that rifle.

Would a gorilla have enough dexterity to use a gun I wonder?

chitoryu12 posted:

Avalerion posted:

It's weird how little actually happens book per book (presumably, but we are on chapter 18 and last book had 20 so I figure they get rescued/escape here but that's it for this one too). It works in thread format where we just move to the next one right away but I wonder how this was received back then, seems like it would be easy for kids to loose interest between books.

cptn_dr posted:

I think because they came out once a month, it was just serialised enough to keep kids hooked. Worked for me, at least.

K.A. Applegate posted:

Dear Animorphs Readers:

Quite a number of people seem to be annoyed by the final chapter in the Animorphs story. There are a lot of complaints that I let Rachel die. That I let Visser Three/One live. That Cassie and Jake broke up. That Tobias seems to have been reduced to unexpressed grief. That there was no grand, final fight-to-end-all-fights. That there was no happy celebration. And everyone is mad about the cliffhanger ending.

So I thought I'd respond.

Animorphs was always a war story. Wars don't end happily. Not ever. Often relationships that were central during war, dissolve during peace. Some people who were brave and fearless in war are unable to handle peace, feel disconnected and confused. Other times people in war make the move to peace very easily. Always people die in wars. And always people are left shattered by the loss of loved ones.

That's what happens, so that's what I wrote. Jake and Cassie were in love during the war, and end up going their seperate ways afterward. Jake, who was so brave and capable during the war is adrift during the peace. Marco and Ax, on the other hand, move easily past the war and even manage to use their experience to good effect. Rachel dies, and Tobias will never get over it. That doesn't by any means cover everything that happens in a war, but it's a start.

Here's what doesn't happen in war: there are no wondrous, climactic battles that leave the good guys standing tall and the bad guys lying in the dirt. Life isn't a World Wrestling Federation Smackdown. Even the people who win a war, who survive and come out the other side with the conviction that they have done something brave and necessary, don't do a lot of celebrating. There's very little chanting of 'we're number one' among people who've personally experienced war.

I'm just a writer, and my main goal was always to entertain. But I've never let Animorphs turn into just another painless video game version of war, and I wasn't going to do it at the end. I've spent 60 books telling a strange, fanciful war story, sometimes very seriously, sometimes more tongue-in-cheek. I've written a lot of action and a lot of humor and a lot of sheer nonsense. But I have also, again and again, challenged readers to think about what they were reading. To think about the right and wrong, not just the who-beat-who. And to tell you the truth I'm a little shocked that so many readers seemed to believe I'd wrap it all up with a lot of high-fiving and backslapping. Wars very often end, sad to say, just as ours did: with a nearly seamless transition to another war.

So, you don't like the way our little fictional war came out? You don't like Rachel dead and Tobias shattered and Jake guilt-ridden? You don't like that one war simply led to another? Fine. Pretty soon you'll all be of voting age, and of draft age. So when someone proposes a war, remember that even the most necessary wars, even the rare wars where the lines of good and evil are clear and clean, end with a lot of people dead, a lot of people crippled, and a lot of orphans, widows and grieving parents.

If you're mad at me because that's what you have to take away from Animorphs, too bad. I couldn't have written it any other way and remained true to the respect I have always felt for Animorphs readers.

ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:

I am 100% here for this thread though I'm curious how people are going to feel when we get to the mid-series quality dip. After the ghostwriters start the books become a LOT of filler material with some really stupid things: anything with the Helmacrons, the Atlantis human mutants, the one where a cow and an ant get the morphing power.

ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:

I am 100% here for this thread though I'm curious how people are going to feel when we get to the mid-series quality dip. After the ghostwriters start the books become a LOT of filler material with some really stupid things: anything with the Helmacrons, the Atlantis human mutants, the one where a cow and an ant get the morphing power.

The final ten books though are really great and an awesome wrap up to the series and it's themes. I saw someone mention Applegate telling an interviewer they missed the point of the series but didn't see it posted, it's actually even better than that. It was a letter to the fans who were upset with the series ending.

WARNING that this includes big spoilers for how the series ends:

Ytlaya posted:

The animorphs should acquire the morph of a funnel-web spider or something and just have another animorph deposit them onto Visser three.

Though I guess you could use the excuse of alien biology not responding to the venom.

biracial bear for uncut posted:

I forget which book it happens in, but somebody gets a poisonous/venomous morph at some point and they very nearly kill Visser 3; force him to abandon the Andalite body, in fact, but they fail to rescue the mentally-broken Andalite and he gets ridden by Visser 3 again.

The animorphs really are a bunch of fuckups.

ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:

I am 100% here for this thread though I'm curious how people are going to feel when we get to the mid-series quality dip. After the ghostwriters start the books become a LOT of filler material with some really stupid things: anything with the Helmacrons, the Atlantis human mutants, the one where a cow and an ant get the morphing power.

Avalerion posted:

It's weird how little actually happens book per book (presumably, but we are on chapter 18 and last book had 20 so I figure they get rescued/escape here but that's it for this one too). It works in thread format where we just move to the next one right away but I wonder how this was received back then, seems like it would be easy for kids to loose interest between books.

Soup du Jour posted:

Yeah books 36-44 get pretty bad with the exception of 38. 44 also has some interesting foreshadowing that Cassie’s the only person getting out of the war with her head on straight but it has a ludicrous premise. Might be worth just switching over to a weekly format discussing the books rather than going chapter by chapter. They aren’t exactly hard to find and Applegate’s given her blessing to since the originals are basically impossible to find (and thus get any money from) anymore.

Soup du Jour posted:

Yeah books 36-44 get pretty bad with the exception of 38. 44 also has some interesting foreshadowing that Cassie’s the only person getting out of the war with her head on straight but it has a ludicrous premise. Might be worth just switching over to a weekly format discussing the books rather than going chapter by chapter. They aren’t exactly hard to find and Applegate’s given her blessing to since the originals are basically impossible to find (and thus get any money from) anymore.

quote:

It was all over. I knew I was done for.

Nothing in the world could stop the beast Visser Three had morphed into.

He was twenty feet tall. As tall as a telephone pole. He stood on three massive legs, each as big around as a redwood tree. He had a tiny head, not much bigger than a human head. He would have looked funny, except that there was nothing funny about what he was doing.

quote:

With two long, mighty arms he was casually tearing up the concrete. He slammed his fingers into the cement. He ripped it up in slabs and tossed them over his shoulder.

One of the slabs hit a Hork-Bajir and crushed him. I don't think Visser Three even noticed or cared.

I ran.

Crash!

One of the Visser's huge hands slammed down in front of me.

I scampered back and turned.

Crash!

Another hand like living rock slammed in front of me.

Even the cat in me knew- it was hopeless.

Visser Three glared down at me with tiny bright eyes in that weirdly small head. He reached for me with both hands, cupped together, forming a wall around me.

C-R-R-R-U-N-C-H!

Visser Three hesitated.

B-O-O-O-O-M!

I bolted.

I leaped to the top of a wall. Six feet straight up, and trust me, as scared as I was, I could have jumped even higher.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw what had happened. The earthmover had ground forward and slammed into one of the Bug fighters. The Bug fighter had exploded.

<AAAAARRRRGGGHHH!>

Visser Three roared in fury. I did not envy the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons who had let that earthmover get through. 93

I ran along the top of the wall. It was cinderblock, full of holes and only a few inches wide. It was a much tougher challenge than the balance beam in gymnastics. But I was running as fast as a very scared kitty can run.

<l'll kill you ALL! FOOLS!> Visser Three screamed. I hoped he would just forget about me. But then I heard the thunder of his walk. In two steps he had caught up to me.

His huge hand swept toward me.

It was ten feet to the ground, and the ground was covered with rusted, twisted metal. I had no choice. I leaped.

The sharp metal was rushing up at me. Visser Three's hand was sweeping toward me.

Something sharp bit into my back.

The ground was no longer rushing up at me/ Instead, I was zooming through the air.

<Jeez, Rachel. Next time you want to morph into a kitty, pick one who doesn't eat so much!>

Tobias!

<I can get you as far as the trees, that's it,> Tobias said.

<I have to morph back,> I said. <My time is up!>

We flew toward the trees. Tobias strained to keep us in the air. I knew he was at his limit of endurance.

<Drop me, now!>

We were in the trees. Tobias dropped me. I fell through the air. But my tail pivoted and kept my balance perfect.

A tree branch!

Slam!

My claws dug into the bark.

I was already morphing back as I dropped to the ground and landed on soft pine needles.

Through the trees I could see the huge beast that was Visser Three rampaging in a fury. The few Hork-Bajir that were left were tossed around like toys. Taxxons were crushed under his feet.

<I think he's mad we got away,> Tobias said.

"Jake? The others?" I demanded. "Did they make it?"

<They're fine. Jake had to morph back into human shape before going into the tiger morph, so he didn't have a problem with the time. Marco got his feathers a little singed, but he's okay. Cassie, too. >

I collapsed on the ground. I had escaped. I had survived. I knew I should have been glad. But all I felt was tired.

quote:

]Melissa was at our next gymnastics class. She was still alive. Still free.

I acted nonchalant as I changed into my leotard and stretched out. But I did watch when she opened her locker and pulled out the envelope.

She opened it and read the words I had put there.
"Melissa, your father loves you more than you will ever know. And more than he can ever show you. Signed, someone who knows."

I'd printed it out on my word processor, of course, so she wouldn't recognize my handwriting.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but she seemed more into the practice that day.

After my mom picked me up and drove me home, I hooked up with the others. We hadn't gotten together for a couple of days, since the battle at the construction site. I guess I felt like I had some things to think about.

"How is Melissa?" Cassie asked. I shrugged. "I left her a note." I told them what it had said. "I know it's bad for security, Jake. And Marco, I know it was sentimental. But I don't care. Chapman gave up everything to save his daughter from being made into a host. I had to do something."

Jake nodded. "It's okay. Maybe it will help."

Cassie smiled at me, telling me she was proud of what I'd done. Marco rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything.

"Well, we destroyed a Yeerk Bug fighter. We made Visser Three nervous. And -"

"- and we came out alive," Marco finished.

"Yeah, that too," Jake agreed with a grin. "That's a very important thing to do."

"Next time we'll-" I began.

"- next time?" Marco cried out in mock horror.

<There will be a next time,> Tobias said. <There will be a next time until the Andalites return. >

redcheval posted:

I am REALLY enjoying this group reread and would love to just plow on to the next book. I’m enjoying reading people post about the book.

quote:

I'd printed it out on my word processor

Avalerion posted:

Stuff like this makes it show it's age, googling suggests word processors are basically electronic typewriters. Would these have been common back then or is this showing Rachel is from an upscale household?

Zaphiel posted:

This series is what broke me of kid-lit when I was a kid. It was so exciting to get a new book every month, but I would tear through them so fast and be like, so, that's it? Now I have to wait a whole month for the next one??

I wouldn't be surprised if I stopped reading during the quality dip too.

wizzardstaff posted:

The latter, I think. Rachel's mom is a lawyer and her dad is the kind of absent businessman who tries to make up for it with presents.

At the time this was written I think it still would be unsurprising for a family not to have a personal computer in the home. Jake's family has one, as does Marco's dad. But I don't think it's ever mentioned in Cassie's or Tobias's home lives, what little we see of them.

ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:

Didn’t they re-release at least some of the books with updated cover art and edited text to remove dated references? I’m pretty sure that happened.

Interesting to think about if Animorphs had been released during the later YA peak of Harry Potter/Hunger Games and been in line with the trends of that time. There’d probably only be like 7 books, one for each character and a finale for them all. Maybe Jake, Cassie, and Marco would make up the obligatory love triangle?

quote:

That's how they feed the animals and give them meds or whatever. Meds are medicines.

Soup du Jour posted:

Our first Rachel book, finished! She’s got some of the best books in the first half of the series, and some of the worst in the second half, so we should appreciate these while we can. It’s interesting that Rachel now has her reason to fight (which is the main theme of these early books), but Melissa doesn’t really ever play much of a prominent role going forward. To the point where I don’t think we find out what happens to her or the Chapmans at all by the end of the series. Escaped? Vaporized during the destruction of the Yeerk Pool? Who knows! Probably mostly a victim of the sprawling episodic nature of the series.

Soup du Jour posted:

Our first Rachel book, finished! She’s got some of the best books in the first half of the series, and some of the worst in the second half, so we should appreciate these while we can. It’s interesting that Rachel now has her reason to fight (which is the main theme of these early books), but Melissa doesn’t really ever play much of a prominent role going forward. To the point where I don’t think we find out what happens to her or the Chapmans at all by the end of the series. Escaped? Vaporized during the destruction of the Yeerk Pool? Who knows! Probably mostly a victim of the sprawling episodic nature of the series.

Radio Free Kobold posted:

Just keep posting man, keep 'em coming.