Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

pastor of muppets posted:

No lie, as much as I loved these books when I was a kid and read the ones I had obsessively, it's wild what has stuck in my memory and what hasn't.. For example, I remember the Elimist showing up in this book, but none of the major plot beats in the aftermath, while at the same time, lines like this:

....will bubble up through my lizard brain literally at least once a month.

I remembered Ax indicating how big a Z-space transponder is for two decades, but not why they needed it

# ? Aug 10, 2020 00:19

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# ? May 23, 2024 05:48

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Terror Sweat posted:

Prophecy poo poo and chosen ones is always dumb

Yeah even the weird coincidences of half of them already being linked to the invasion is some way is better than this

# ? Aug 10, 2020 00:23

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Ok. Time to finally find out what the Ellimist is up to.

The Stranger, Chapter 19

quote:

Okay , it's three forty-seven in the morning," Marco said. "And I'm here, thanks to the fact that my dad is a sound sleeper who doesn't notice when I wake up screaming because an owl and a hawk have just flown through my window. So now maybe you can tell us all why we're here?"

Everyone was there in Cassie's barn. Jake looked sleepy but interested. Cassie was using the time to check on some of the sick animals. Ax just stood to one side, waiting to see what Jake told him to do. Tobias perched on an overhead beam, tired from having flown too much.

We were lit by a single small bulb that never even touched the shadows in the corners of the barn. We didn't want to take the chance that Cassie's parents might notice a light on and come to investigate.

"Yes," I answered Marco, "I'll tell you why you're here. I know where the Kandrona is. I know where it is."

That got his attention. But he was still skeptical. "What makes you think you know where the Kandrona is?"

"The Ellimist. He showed us. We all thought it was unfair when he appeared in the Yeerk pool and asked us to decide when we were about to be eaten, right?"

 Ax said.

"No. You're wrong, Ax. At least this time. The Ellimist appeared when we were about to be swallowed by the Taxxon. But then he showed us the dropshaft."

"We saw the dropshaft because it was there," Jake argued. "It wasn't about him showing it to us."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "He waited till we had walked out of the Yeerk lunchroom to appear. He waited till we were standing where we were sure to notice the dropshaft."

I saw Jake raise an eyebrow thoughtfully. He and Marco exchanged a look.

"What if we're wrong about the Ellimist being unfair? What if Cassie's instinct is right - that he is telling the truth? That he's trying to do what's right? He tells us that in the future we lose the fight. That the human race is enslaved. That he has a way to save a small number of us by taking us to a safe place. And it's all true."

"If he's telling us the truth, that we lose in the future, what's this all about?" Marco asked. "We've seen that future. Nothing we do will matter."

I shook my head. "No. It will matter. If it didn't matter how we decided, why even bother to ask us what we wanted to do? See? It does matter what we do."

"Yes," Marco said. "But the answer is obvious. We can only change the future by agreeing to
the Ellimist's plan to take us to a safe planet."

"Yes, that's one way. He offered us that. But when we finally accepted, he didn't act. He didn't take us instantly away. Why? Why, after we agreed, did he leave us here?"

"Because he wanted a different answer," Cassie said, nodding at me and giving me a wink.

"That's what's been eating at me."

"What different answer?" Marco asked.

"He's in a trap," Cassie said. "The Ellimist is trapped. He wants to save Earth. But he can't interfere directly. Supposedly all he's allowed to do is offer to save a small number of us. But he knows that won't save Earth. It will save a few humans, yes, but when he showed us visions of Earth, he wasn't talking just about humans. He said Earth was a work of art. He wants to find a way to save it."

"Without interfering directly," I agreed. "But what if we just happened to see another way?

What if the Ellimist showed us the future, trying to convince us to let him take us away, and we just happened to see a way out?"

"What way out?" Jake demanded.

"The Kandrona. He let us see where the Kandrona is," I said. "That Yeerk pool downtown, that's the key. Why build a Yeerk pool downtown? Why level so many buildings to make room for it? Why leave the EGS Tower still standing? And why is there a glass dome on the top floors of the EGS? Ax is the one who said it - the Yeerk pool is the center of their lives. That Yeerk pool? I think it's a shrine. Almost a holy place to them. It's where they located the
first Kandrona to be placed on planet Earth."

Jake snapped his fingers, "The EGS Tower!" "That's what's under that dome on the top floors. The Kandrona. That's what the Ellimist wanted us to see. Just the way he let us see the dropshaft we used to escape. He wasn't interfering ... technically. The choice is still ours."

Marco laughed out loud. "You mean maybe the Ellimist is bending his own rules? So he can say 'hey, I didn't interfere," but at the same time he's putting us where we can figure it out? I can't believe it! The Ellimist is a weasel! He found a loophole! I think I like that guy."

"But even if you're right about the Kandrona, Rachel," Jake argued, "what does it prove? If we destroy it, are we sure it will change the future?"

Cassie looked at me and smiled. "Maybe yes, maybe no," she said. "But things are connected in millions of ways. They say a single butterfly, beating its wings in China, can start a tornado in America."

<Yes.> Tobias said, <but how does the butterfly know when to beat its wings?>

"It doesn't," I said. "I guess it beats its wings the best it can, and hopes it will all work out. It's a butterfly. It just does what butterflies do."

"And what do we do, Xena, Warrior Princess?" Marco asked mockingly, knowing the answer I would give.

"We kick Yeerk butt," I said with a grin.

And that was his plan!

The Stranger, Chapter 20

quote:

At five-ten in the morning, the EGS Tower's windows were almost all dark. From the deeply shadowed plaza in front of the building, we could see a sleepy, uniformed guard inside the lobby.

"There are dozens of businesses and law firms and stuff in this building," Jake warned. "Most of them are probably just normal people. Fortunately, at this time of day, almost no one will be here. But the guard is probably just a normal guy."

"How do we deal with him without hurting him?" Cassie asked.

Suddenly Tobias swooped down out of a dark sky. he said. <Too bad that glass dome is still in the future. But I can tell you one thing. Something up there is giving off some heat. I'm getting a beautiful updraft from the building itself. >

If you learn nothing else from this series, the one thing I hope you take away is the importance of thermals.

quote:

"Let's do this, already," I grumbled. I started morphing into the bear.

"Okay, but take it easy on any innocent bystanders," Jake said. "Tobias? I know you're wearing out, but stay up and keep an eye out while we morph."

<No prob, Jake. > He flapped his wings and slowly gained altitude.

"These doors will be locked," Cassie pointed out.

"Not for long," I said.

Ax was already demorphing, coming out of his human body and resuming his Andalite shape.

Jake's eyes were glittering, his body was lengthening, and striped orange-and-black fur was spreading like a wave over his skin.

Cassie was already on all fours. Rough gray fur grew thickly around her shoulders. Her mouth bulged out further and further to form a wolf's muzzle.

<Hey! A guy's coming up behind you.> Tobias called down. 

<Keep morphing.> Jake said quickly. <Cassie? See if you can get rid of him. >

Cassie trotted off, already fully morphed. And a second later we heard, "Grrrrrr, grrrrrr, grrrOVVWWRR!" followed by "Whoa! No way!" and the sound of a crashing bottle and running feet.

Cassie returned just as we were finishing our morphs.

<He decided to go in a different direction.> Cassie reported.

<Okay, so let's go in.> I said. I was fully the grizzly now, and feeling invulnerable.

<Actually, how about if Marco tries it first?> Jake suggested.

While the rest of us lurked in the shadows, Marco, now an extremely large, powerful gorilla, knuckle-walked to the glass door. He stood up on his hind legs and tapped with one massive finger on the glass.

The guard jerked in his seat. He stood up and moved cautiously closer. Then he drew his gun.

"Hey, get out of here," the guard said.

The guard is a lot more blase' than I'd be to see a gorilla knocking on the door.

quote:

<Hi.> Marco said in thought-speak. 

The guard's eyes went wide. "Andalite!" he hissed.

<Oh, so you are a Controller. Good, That makes it so much simpler. >

With that, Marco punched straight through the thick glass of the door.

CRASH!

His gorilla fist connected squarely with the guard's chin. The guard crumpled, still holding his gun.

<Move, move, move!> Jake yelled.

I barreled into the rest of the glass door. I was careful, but not too careful. I wasn't very worried about being hurt. Shattered glass flew everywhere. Cassie, Ax, and Jake leaped over the glass shards. Jake raced for the elevator.

<There may be an alarm. We have to move fast.> Jake said.

<We'll never fit in one elevator.> Marco said.

<Head for the freight elevator. That'll hold us.> Jake said. <Go for the top floor. >

Cassie and Ax kept an eye on all activity on the ground floor while they waited for the elevator to come back down. Jake, Marco, and I had the most firepower - so we went in first.

We squeezed our combined bulk into the one freight elevator car - not an easy thing to do - but we managed it.

<Can you press the button? I sure can't.> Jake said. He held up one of his huge paws to show me.

It wasn't easy. Bear paws aren't exactly subtle tools. But after carefully lining up my first claw, I hit the top button.

The doors closed and we rose swiftly upward. There was a safety inspection certificate mounted on one wall. I leaned very close to make out the letters, and read it aloud. <Says here the maximum load is twenty people. >

<How many bears, tigers, and gorillas?>

The ride seemed to be taking forever. I watched the counter tick off the floors. Twenty-one. Twenty-two. Twenty-three.

<So. Seen any good movies lately?> Jake asked.

 I said.

<He's supposed to be cute, right?>

<Duh.> I said.

The book came out in April of 1997. Only two Keanu movies that came out around then were September 1996's "Feeling Minnesota", where Keanu falls in love with Cameron Diaz, and June of 1997's "The Last Time I Committed Suicide", based on the true story of Neal Cassidy trying to deal with the attempted suicide of his girlfriend. Cassidy is played by Thomas Jane, and Keanu plays his best friend. So no idea what movie she's referring to, because they're both R rated, which would give her trouble getting in, and neither were very good. I've now spent more time thinking about this throwaway line than Applegate ever did.

quote:

Suddenly I realized there was music playing in the elevator. The usual stupid elevator music.

<Get ready.> Jake said.

<Been ready. >

<Top floor. Ladies shoes. Children's apparel. Everyone out.> Marco announced in his best elevator operator's voice.

The elevator stopped. The door opened.

Just as three humans and two Hork-Bajir were racing toward the elevator.

"Rrrrrroooowwwwrrrr!" Jake roared in a voice that could crack concrete.

"Rrrrrooooowwwwrrr!" I echoed in my own muddier bear voice.

I charged like an enraged bull. I went straight for the nearest Hork-Bajir. That meant running through the closest human. I felt a slight thump as his body was knocked aside.

I slammed into the Hork-Bajir. The force of my charge just picked him up and carried him along till I hammered into the far wall.

It didn't kill him, but he wasn't going anywhere.

Jake took down the other Hork-Bajir with a lightning swipe of his claws. The remaining humans bolted.

<I'm cut.> Jake said.

<Is it bad?>

<It isn't good.> Jake said. <But I'll be okay for a while. >

Just then the elevator door opened and Ax and Cassie piled out.

<About time.> I said. <We've taken care of the welcoming committee.>

<Sorry. Ax pushed the button for the wrong floor.> Cassie said. She glanced at the two Hork Bajir.

<You know they have more than those two up here guarding the Kandrona and. . . Jake! You're bleeding.> Cassie cried.

< I'm fine. The human-Controllers ran down that hallway.> Jake said. < Let's go. We haven't won this battle yet. >

I took off at a loping run. The others were right behind me. My claws gouged the carpeted floor with every step. I couldn't see well, but I could smell the adrenalin of the frightened human-Controllers. I knew where they had gone. I could smell them. I could sense them. They had challenged me. And I was going to show them who was boss.

<Watch out, Rachel.> Cassie called. <There's a door straight ahead of you. >

<Nah. There's no door.> I said, and plowed all my eight hundred pounds into a steel door that popped open like the lid of a jack-in-the-box.

Inside, eight Hork-Bajir warriors stood ready.

Eight walking razor blades.

Eight of them. Five of us. No way we could win.

A sensible person would have seen the odds and run away. But I charged straight at them.

Later, everyone thought I was being brave.

But you know what the truth was? The truth was, with my weak bear eyesight, all I could see was a blur. I thought they were humans.
I wasn't brave. I was just blind.

I wonder how much heroism is just not knowing any better?

# ? Aug 10, 2020 00:31

Soup du Jour: Sep 8, 2011; I always knew I'd die with a headache.

Berserker Rachel emerges, never to be put back in her bottle.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 00:39

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

I forget what happens in book 11, but all of these next few are absolutely unrelenting.

And I love how Rachel is honest about the fact she couldn't see poo poo.

Not like they had much choice anyway, they had to go through them.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 00:40

PetraCore: Jul 20, 2017; 👁️🔥👁️👁️👁️BE NOT👄AFRAID👁️👁️👁️🔥👁️

freebooter posted:

Yeah even the weird coincidences of half of them already being linked to the invasion is some way is better than this

I enjoy it but only because Rachel is the bad one which is so unfair to her it loops back around to hilarious.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 00:51

Radio Free Kobold: Aug 11, 2012; "Federal regulations mandate that at least 30% of our content must promote Reptilian or Draconic culture. This is DJ Scratch N' Sniff with the latest mermaid screeching on KBLD..."

if this doesn't end in defenestration i'm going to be very disappointed

# ? Aug 10, 2020 00:52

Grammarchist: Jan 28, 2013

It would be kind of funny for a normal cop to respond to some drunk guy calling about a wild animal at this building only to have a razor-blade alien fly out of the upper floors and crash into his windshield.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 01:25

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

Grammarchist posted:

It would be kind of funny for a normal cop to respond to some drunk guy calling about a wild animal at this building only to have a razor-blade alien fly out of the upper floors and crash into his windshield.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 01:38

Piell: Sep 3, 2006; Grey Worm's Ken doll-like groin throbbed with the anticipatory pleasure that only a slightly warm and moist piece of lemoncake could offer; Young Orc

I really want to know what kind of shenanigans Marco had planned for if the guard wasn't a Controller.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 01:54

Avalerion: Oct 19, 2012

Do bears really have bad eyesight?

# ? Aug 10, 2020 09:04

Kchama: Jul 25, 2007

Avalerion posted:

Do bears really have bad eyesight?

No, but it's forgivable as it's what people thought when these books were written. It's actually probably as good or a bit worse than human's.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 10:11

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

Good news! Bears are even more dangerous than we thought-!!

# ? Aug 10, 2020 10:18

Avalerion: Oct 19, 2012

I�m curious both why people thought bears would have bad eyesight and how they found out they don�t. :allears:

# ? Aug 10, 2020 10:25

Gun Jam: Apr 11, 2015

Maybe this particular bear needed glasses?

# ? Aug 10, 2020 10:30

Kchama: Jul 25, 2007

Avalerion posted:

I�m curious both why people thought bears would have bad eyesight and how they found out they don�t.

It was believed that since they had a rather good sense of smell that their eyesight must not be that great.

Unfortunately for humanity, that turned out not to be the case. Sadly, I dunno how they found out.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 10:44

Homora Gaykemi: Apr 30, 2020; by Fluffdaddy

Piell posted:

I really want to know what kind of shenanigans Marco had planned for if the guard wasn't a Controller.

Just miming shoving his big gorilla mits into nonexistent pockets and casually strolling away, whistling (if gorillas can whistle)

# ? Aug 10, 2020 11:06

cptn_dr: Sep 7, 2011; Seven for beauty that blossoms and dies

https://twitter.com/ToraLeeHart/status/1001654737354272768?s=19

Saw this on Twitter tonight.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 11:10

Karma Comedian: Feb 2, 2012

Iirc they determine things about animal eyesight by dissecting eyes and optic nerves and stuff

# ? Aug 10, 2020 11:28

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

cptn_dr posted:

https://twitter.com/ToraLeeHart/status/1001654737354272768?s=19

Saw this on Twitter tonight.

Ooh, I like that dome ship.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 12:03

Kchama: Jul 25, 2007

Wow those ship designs are great. I approve of all of them. The Blade Ship actually looks as dangerous as they describe it.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 12:13

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

Kchama posted:

Wow those ship designs are great. I approve of all of them. The Blade Ship actually looks as dangerous as they describe it.

Visser Three flying a Klingon battlecruiser somehow doesn't surprise me.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 12:22

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

The Stranger-Chapter 21

quote:

<Rachel!> Cassie yelled a warning.

<Too late to retreat.> Jake said. <GO!>

I figured out the eight blurry figures were Hork-Bajir when I was about three feet away from slamming into the first one. By then it was too late to stop.

"Kill the gaffnur Andalites!" a Hork-Bajir cried in the weird mix of languages that they use.

"Kill fraghent Andalite halaf kill all!"

Suddenly, I realized I was cut. A searing pain radiated from my shoulder. I swung my paw and hit the Hork-Bajir in the head. He fell, but as he fell he slashed with his tyrannosaurus feet, and ripped a second cut in me.

<Aaarrrgghhh!>

From that point on, it was a nightmare of terrible images that seemed to float in and out of my hazy vision.

I saw Cassie, with her bone-breaking jaws sunk into the throat of a Hork-Bajir.

I saw Ax, his tail like a deadly bullwhip, lashing, cutting, lashing again, till one of the HorkBajir stood screaming, holding his own severed arm.

I saw Jake and a Hork-Bajir locked in a deadly embrace as they rolled and slashed at each other with superhuman speed.

I saw Marco fighting with one arm as he held his own sliced stomach together with the other hand.

And everywhere, snarling, growling, raging, roaring noise.

<Look out! Rachel, behind you!>

"Die, gaferach, die!"

"RRRROOOWWRRR!"

<Help! He's on me!>

<Aaaahhhhhh!>

I couldn't tell who was winning. I couldn't tell who was hurt. It all became one long cry, one long scream of rage. Hork-Bajir and Animorph.

Alien and animal.

We were flesh-and-blood creatures thrown into a meat grinder. Thirteen deadly animals locked in a combat to the death.

I felt the bear weakening as he was cut again and again by Hork-Bajir blades. I was losing blood. The human part of me knew that. I could feel my strength ebbing.

I charged again and hit a Hork-Bajir in the stomach. I carried him along with my momentum as he slashed wildly at me.

CRAAAASSSSHHHH!

I'd hit something! Glass. It had shattered.

A window! I had shoved the Hork-Bajir through the window.

"AAAAAA-AAAARRRRR!"

I heard the Hork-Bajir's cry, dying away as it fell.

A sudden flash of movement, as something came zooming through the shattered window.

"Tseeeeeerrr!"

Tobias screamed as he spread his talons forward and struck the closest Hork-Bajir, raking his eyes.

The battle had turned!

The Hork-Bajir had had enough. Maybe it was hearing one of their fellows fall sixty stories.

Or maybe it was Tobias's arrival, strengthening our side. But whatever it was, the remaining Hork-Bajir ran.

Three of them ran. The rest would not be running anywhere.

Marco grabbed the crumpled door and slammed it back in place. Then, with what must have been the last of his strength, he shoved a desk in place to block the door.

<I'm hurt bad.> Marco said. 

<Do it.> Jake said.

<Everyone. Demorph. >

<I'm okay.> I said weakly.

<Rachel.> Tobias said. <Your left arm. >

I stared blankly at my left paw. It wasn't there. It was a stump.

So that's two severed arms this fight.

quote:

<Demorphing.> I said. I focused on my human body. My weak but healthy human body.

Morphing is done from DNA, fortunately. DNA is not affected by injuries, so injuries do not follow you from one morph to another.

Exhaustion does.

As my human body emerged from the vast bulk of the grizzly, I felt so weary I was afraid I might faint.

Through human eyes, I saw a scene of carnage. The Hork-Bajir lay sprawled around the room. Most seemed to be breathing. None were conscious. All were bleeding from claw-and teeth wounds.

Unfortunately for the Hork-Bajir, they could not simply morph out of their injured bodies.

"Everyone okay?" Jake asked, sounding as weary as I felt.

"Yeah, but that was way too close," Cassie said.

We were in a large office. I could see that now with my human eyes. Desks lay splintered.

The carpet was ripped into ribbons. The walls were gouged. Floor-to-ceiling windows formed one wall. They were shattered. I remembered the Hork-Bajir falling, and shuddered. There was a door in one wall.

"Through there?" Marco suggested.

"Let's try it," I said. I staggered toward the door. It was not locked.

A bare room. Tile floor. White painted walls.

The wall of windows was blocked by heavy curtains. The room was empty but for a large, massively built platform in the very center.

It was a steel pedestal, maybe three-feet-high, eight-feet-long.

And atop that pedestal was a machine the size of a small car. It was shaped like a cylinder, tapered to dull points on both ends.

It gleamed brightly, like new chrome, as if it had just been polished. And it made a slight, low humming noise. As I approached I felt my hair stand on end from the static electricity. It was warm in the room, very warm. It smelled like lightning.

<The Kandrona.> Ax said.

"The Kandrona," I echoed.

For a full minute we all just stood there, gaping at it.

"Rachel?" Jake said at last. "We need you to morph again. Can you do it?"

I nodded slowly. "Elephant?"

"Elephant. I don't know how else we're going to do it. We don't have any tools or anything."

I morphed the elephant.

Tobias flew outside to make sure there were no pedestrians below on the dark sidewalk. It took every last ounce of power that elephant had. But the Kandrona did move.

It did, slowly, in jerks and starts, slide across the floor.

And when at last I shoved it through the windows, it did fall the sixty stories, to smash into the concrete below.

We did it," I whispered as I returned to my normal body. "We destroyed the Kandrona."

"We have to get out of here," Jake said. "The Yeerks will know. They'll be all over this place."

"So, what does this mean?" Marco asked. "We did it. But, what does it mean? Have we changed the future?"

EVERYTHING CHANGES THE FUTURE.

I groaned. "Somehow I knew we'd hear from that guy again."

A REPLACEMENT KANDRONA WILL BE HERE IN THREE OF YOUR WEEKS. IT WAS ALREADY ON ITS WAY.

"Are you telling us this was all a waste?" Marco demanded.

Ax said, <No, Marco, it was not a waste. Three weeks with only the Kandrona aboard the mother ship? In three weeks' time they will suffer greatly.
They will fall behind in their schedule. Many Yeerks will perish. Three weeks is not a waste.>

"Don't you mean three of our weeks, Ax?" Marco teased.

"Is it enough?" Jake demanded loudly. "Is it enough? Have we changed the future?"

There was no answer. Just silence.

"I don't think he knows," I said. "He showed us a possible future. But you know what? I don't believe the Ellimist really knows the future any more than we do."

"What makes you so sure?"

I laughed. "Because wherever it is that the Ellimist exists, and whatever he's up to, and whatever game he's playing, and no matter how mighty he is, he has butterflies, too."

Then, an amazing thing. Laughter that welled up from inside us, and echoed through us, and made us all smile as if we were fresh and full of energy.

HA, HA, HA, HA. AS I SAID, YOU ARE A PRIMITIVE RACE, AND YET YOU ARE
CAPABLE OF LEARNING.

I smiled. "Come on, guys. Do you have the energy for one more morph? I feel like flying."

So, they did it. Their biggest win yet. They may have only delayed things for 3 weeks, but 3 weeks is 21 days, or seven required Kandrona feedings. So, Ax is right. This is going to hurt the Yeerks.

The Stranger-Chapter 22

quote:

At first we saw no evidence that the Yeerks were suffering. I don't know how they did it, but the Yeerks managed to maintain. It wasn't until later that we learned we had done them terrible damage.

But that is another story.

Two days later, I took the bus over to my dad's apartment. He was packing up his suitcase to leave.

"Hi, Rachel," he said when he opened his door. "I wasn't sure you were coming over."

I shrugged. "You're too disorganized to be able to pack all by yourself."

He smiled a sad smile. "Thanks."

"Yeah. No big thing."

"I would have come and picked you up," he said. "Sweetheart," my dad said, "you know you can always change your mind. You can always come live with me."

"I know, Dad."

He smiled sadly. "You know I'll miss seeing you as much. Even though I'll be here every chance I get."

"I know that, too, Dad," I said. I gave him a little kiss on his cheek. He patted my hair and I cried.

I closed up his suitcase and zipped it.

"You going to be okay without me here to take care of you?" he asked.

"I can take care of myself," I said, wiping away the tears.

We took the elevator down to a taxi that was waiting.

"Come with me to the airport. I'll send you home in the cab."

I shook my head. "No, I have stuff to do."

He smiled. "I understand. You probably have something very important to do with your friends." It was a joke.

"Absolutely," I said. "We have to save the world."

My dad laughed. "If anyone can do it, honey, it would be you."

Then the taxi drove off.

I looked up in the sky. A lone hawk circled high overhead.

<You coming, Rachel?> Tobias called down to me in thought-speak.

I nodded my head so he could see. Yes. I was coming.

And that's the book. All about choices and risks. What did people think? Like it? Not really? Any themes you noticed I missed?

Tomorrow, we're taking a break from the main series of books, and starting Megamorphs #1, The Andalite's Gift. It's a different sort of book than what we've been reading so far. It's longer, first of all. The copy I'm using has 125 pages, compared to the 88 pages in this book, and has 43 chapters, compared to this book's 21. The biggest difference, though, is that, instead of the entire book being told by a single viewpoint character, it shifts characters each chapter. We just changed to two chapters a day so far. This next book, we'll see. Some of the chapters are really short, so we might get 3 chapters in every once in a while. It all depends on how it formats on here. Anyway, that's a tomorrow thing to think about. For now, how was The Stranger?

# ? Aug 11, 2020 00:05

Piell: Sep 3, 2006; Grey Worm's Ken doll-like groin throbbed with the anticipatory pleasure that only a slightly warm and moist piece of lemoncake could offer; Young Orc

One thing that's neat that I don't think has been pointed out yet, but Cassie has never actually acquired a morph specifically for combat (at least so far). Cassie's morph in the first book battle scene is a horse. Her morph in this scene is a wolf, which was originally acquired for travel purposes.

Also Marco holding his own guts in is a pretty gross image.

# ? Aug 11, 2020 00:15

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Rachel's dad rules for that response :3:

# ? Aug 11, 2020 00:36

Radio Free Kobold: Aug 11, 2012; "Federal regulations mandate that at least 30% of our content must promote Reptilian or Draconic culture. This is DJ Scratch N' Sniff with the latest mermaid screeching on KBLD..."

quote:

I charged again and hit a Hork-Bajir in the stomach. I carried him along with my momentum as he slashed wildly at me.

CRAAAASSSSHHHH!

I'd hit something! Glass. It had shattered.

A window! I had shoved the Hork-Bajir through the window.

"AAAAAA-AAAARRRRR!"

I heard the Hork-Bajir's cry, dying away as it fell.

# ? Aug 11, 2020 00:45

Bobulus: Jan 28, 2007

I imagine there's some really low-ranking human-controller that has to spend all night scraping hork-bajir off the sidewalk so no pedestrians see it in the morning.

# ? Aug 11, 2020 01:39

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Bobulus posted:

I imagine there's some really low-ranking human-controller that has to spend all night scraping hork-bajir off the sidewalk so no pedestrians see it in the morning.

It was Chapman. It's always Chapman.

# ? Aug 11, 2020 01:54

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FAIL ME CHAPMAN

Later on he does one of the most hilariously dumb things imaginable

# ? Aug 11, 2020 01:57

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

Epicurius posted:

It was Chapman. It's always Chapman.

<Iniss, I need to you go to Home Depot and buy a pavement scraper. Don't ask questions.>

# ? Aug 11, 2020 01:57

Karma Comedian: Feb 2, 2012

That's a shitload of air and space traffic to coordinate.

Also, they should've grabbed Hork-Bajir dna from the unconscious ones.

# ? Aug 11, 2020 04:31

Starsnostars: Jan 17, 2009; The Master of Magnetism

I never read any of the Megamorph books so I'm really curious as to what they're like.

# ? Aug 11, 2020 14:32

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

I liked them, others didn't seem to.

# ? Aug 11, 2020 14:39

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

The main one I remember is the dinosaurs one. Hooray for multiple counts of genocide on the Animorphs' tally!

# ? Aug 11, 2020 15:50

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

Starsnostars posted:

I never read any of the Megamorph books so I'm really curious as to what they're like.

They're weird, and definitely different. I don't want to color anyone's opinion before we actually get into the book, but I generally see two points of contention: does the narrator-switches-every-chapter gimmick work or does it make the book worse, and are the stories cool because they're unusual or are they dumb stories with bad fanfic premises?

My opinions, no plot spoilers: I think the first two have some good bits but are pretty rough overall. The third and fourth have good enough premises to make the books good (also Applegate was better at writing them by then), and the third is actually one of my favorite books in the series despite its flaws.

# ? Aug 11, 2020 16:21

OctaviusBeaver: Apr 30, 2009; Say what now?

I like Megamorphs #2 dinos, I'm mixed on the others though. The Chronicles and Visser are all fantastic.

# ? Aug 11, 2020 17:16

Radio Free Kobold: Aug 11, 2012; "Federal regulations mandate that at least 30% of our content must promote Reptilian or Draconic culture. This is DJ Scratch N' Sniff with the latest mermaid screeching on KBLD..."

The only things I remember about the supplementary books is that one of them featured Elfangor and another featured Visser One discovering Earth. There's one scene in the latter where they're cruising over the desert marveling at oddly-dressed humans, lying prone in the sand, holding funny long sticks. If memory serves it was the Gulf War or something.

# ? Aug 11, 2020 18:06

Terror Sweat: Mar 15, 2009

The gimmick didn't work for the first one, they literally didn't know what to do with rachel so they gave her the worst b-plot

# ? Aug 11, 2020 22:45

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Ok, here we go. Megamorphs #1-The Andalite's Gift

Chapter 1-Jake

quote:

My name is Jake. Just Jake. No last name. Or at least no last name I can tell you.

I am an Animorph. I guess that makes me one of the most hunted, endangered species on Earth. The Yeerks want me dead. They want my friends dead. So if they knew who I was, and how to find me, I wouldn't have a chance.

That's why I won't tell you my last name. And I won't tell you what city or state I live in. Because I want to go on living. I want to go on living so I can go on fighting them. Are you one of those people who looks up at the night sky and wonders whether there is life out there among the stars? Do you wonder about UFO's? Do you wonder whether aliens will ever come to Earth?

Well, stop wondering. The Yeerks are here.

They're a species of parasites - just little slugs, really. Little slugs that crawl inside your head and wrap themselves around your brain and make you do whatever they want you to do.

When that happens you stop being a true human being. You become a Controller. That's what we call a human who is under the control of a Yeerk. When you talk to a Controller, you may be looking at a human face, you may hear a human voice, but what you're really talking to is a Yeerk.

And they are everywhere. If you think you haven't seen one, you're wrong. The policeman in his patrol car, the clerk at the grocery store, your teacher, your pastor, your doctor: Any of them might be a Controller. Your mother, father, sister, or best friend: They could all be Controllers.

I know. My brother Tom is one of them. They have taken my brother from me and made him an enemy. I sit at the breakfast table every morning and make small talk, knowing all the while that Tom is not Tom anymore.

And they have taken my best friend's mother. Everyone thinks Marco's mother is dead. Only he and I know the truth: She, too, is one of them.

They are everywhere. They can be anyone.

They tear lives apart. They do unspeakable things. And we stand against them alone. Only we know the threat. We six: five Animorphs and one Andalite.

Five human kids with the power to become any animal we can touch. And a kid from another planet who looks like some weird mix of deer, human, and scorpion.

The six of us against all the might of the Yeerks, and all the evil genius of their leader, Visser Three.

In case you've forgotten the plot of the series, there it is.

quote:

Which is why Rachel was worried about leaving, even for a weekend.

We were all together that Friday evening - Marco, Cassie, Tobias, Rachel, and me. Ax wasn't there because he would have had to change into his human morph. He doesn't like to become human. I think he feels naked without his deadly tail.

I'll point out we've never seen this in the book before now. By all accounts, from what we've seen, Ax loves morphing human, eating food and playing wit speech.

quote:

So it was just the five of us in Cassie's barn, surrounded by all the chattering, snuffling, chirping, preening (and smelly) animals in their cages. The barn is also the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Cassie's parents are veterinarians. They use their barn to take in sick or injured wild animals.

"It's just this stupid, two-day gymnastics camp I signed up for a long time ago," Rachel was saying. "It's no big deal. It's something I was going to do back . . . you know, before."

"Rachel, you should go," Cassie said. "Our entire lives cannot be about fighting the Yeerks. We have to try to be seminormal. I mean, it can't all be danger and battle and fear, right? So go. But for now, help me lift up this crow's cage. He's going up on that shelf."

Cassie was trying to get us to help clean up the barn. We used the barn to get together. It was one of the few places we could meet with Tobias. See, he can't exactly go to the mall.

<Crows,> Tobias said, in thought-speak that we heard only in our minds. 

Tobias was perched high in the rafters of the barn. From up there he could fly in and out through the hayloft. Tobias is a red-tailed hawk. Actually, in his mind, in his soul, he's human. But the power to morph has a terrifying downside. Stay in morph for more than two hours, and you stay forever. Tobias was trapped forever in a body with long, powerful wings, ripping, taloned feet, and fierce, angry eyes that stared at you around his hooked beak.

You would never guess that he had once been such a gentle guy. I guess he still is that guy. But he's also a hawk.

<Yeah, I'm looking at you, crow,> Tobias said in mock threat. Obviously, the crow did not understand thought-speak.

Tobias's utter hatred of crows will always amuse me.

quote:

Cassie smiled. "Tobias, I promise when we release this guy, we'll take him far from your territory."

"I already told Melissa Chapman I wasn't going," Rachel said, going back to her own topic. "She went up to the camp this afternoon, right after school."

Marco, who had been lying back on a big bale of hay and staring at the ceiling, sat up. "Rachel doesn't think we can survive without her for two days. After all, she's the mighty Xena-Warrior Princess."

It was Marco's teasing name for Rachel. Rachel has a tendency to be very bold. Anytime there's something borderline-insane that needs to be done, Rachel is always the first volunteer.

"Marco? You have hay stuck in your hair," Rachel said.

He ignored her remark. "Rachel thinks if she's not here and we have trouble, we'll all just run screaming and yammering like a bunch of scared little kids." He put on a phony-serious expression. "All I want to know is this: Why don't you dress like Xena? I mean, the whole leather and sword thing would really work for you."

"Okay, shut up, I'll go," Rachel said. "I'll go. I'm going. Just to get away from Marco for a couple days. I'll catch the bus tomorrow morning."

"Think of me when you're on the uneven parallel bars," Marco said.

But it wasn't to Marco that Rachel looked. It was to Tobias. "You guys will stay out of trouble while I'm gone, won't you?"

<We'll be fine, Rachel,> Tobias said.

I saw Cassie smile, and my gaze met hers. She gave a slight nod. Cassie has a theory that Rachel and Tobias like each other. Not that Rachel has ever said anything, even though Rachel and Cassie are best friends. Cassie thinks it's sweet and romantic. I just think it's kind of sad. I mean, as far as we know, Tobias will never be fully human again.

"We should all just enjoy a nice, normal weekend," I said. "Have normal fun. We've had plenty of danger and excitement."

Marco sent me a sly, resentful look. "Some of us are going to have more fun than some others. Some of us are going to pool parties that some of us were not invited to." He shook his fists melodramatically at the ceiling. "Why? Why? What does that girl have against me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Here we go again."

Cassie rescued me. "I need someone strong to come outside with me, help me carry in some new cages from the truck. Marco?"

"Oh! My back!" Marco cried. "A sudden, shooting pain."

"I'm coming, Cassie," I said. I gave Marco a shove, pushing him back on his bale of hay. "You are so pathetic."

"Don't strain yourself," Marco said with a cocky grin.

Outside, out of the golden glow of the barn's lights, it was getting dark. A full moon had risen, and you could just see the first stars off to the east.

The pickup truck was piled precariously high with wire cages. I climbed up and began to untie the rope that held them in place.

"It seems strange - Rachel going away - even for a couple days," Cassie said. "And it seems even stranger that it would seem strange. I mean, it should be no big deal."

"Well, I guess when life turns completely crazy, it's the normal things that start to seem strange."

Cassie nodded slowly. For a while she said nothing. She just stood there with her arms crossed, looking up at the moon.

I climbed down off the truck. "What's bothering you?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. Just... a feeling. I don't know. Bad dreams, I guess."

"I have those, too," I said. "We all do. You can't live through all this and not have it bother you. What's the dream about? The ant thing?"

We'd morphed ants once. We'd gone down into an ant tunnel and had been attacked by an enemy colony of ants. No one wanted to go through that, ever again. Not ever.

"No, not the ants," Cassie said. "At least not directly. It's . . . it's dumb. There's . . . something. I don't even know what it is. But it's not a good thing. And it asks me to make a choice. In the dream I have to decide who lives and who dies."

I moved closer to Cassie and put my arm around her shoulder. There were goose bumps on her bare arms.

"I never used to be afraid, Jake," Cassie said. "Not of anything. And now it's like I'm afraid all the time."

"You deal with it, though," I said. It made me nervous talking about feelings like this. I guess I think if you just don't talk about the fear, it will go away. "You always deal with it," I repeated.

"So far," Cassie said softly. "So far."[quote]

Chapter 2-Rachel

My name is Rachel, I live with my mom and my two little sisters. We live pretty close to Jake, who lives pretty close to Marco. Cassie is the farthest one out because she lives on a farm.

I guess we're a pretty average bunch of kids. I mean, we were a pretty average bunch. Marco lives with his dad. I live with my mom. Jake and Cassie each have both parents around. We go to school. We do homework. We hang at the mall. We listen to music. Go to movies on the weekend. Normal. Boringly average.

Until one night when we happened to hook up together at the mall and decided to take a shortcut through an abandoned construction site off the highway.

We weren't a "group" back then. Jake was my cousin, but we didn't really see each other, except at school. Cassie was my best friend, and had been for a long time. But Marco was just Jake's friend, not mine. And Tobias was this guy Jake felt sorry for because he came from such a messed-up home and got picked on by bullies.

That's Jake: When he sees some guy getting his head stuffed in a toilet at school, he is absolutely going to stop it. Jake isn't some big tough guy or anything. It's just that when he tells you, in that calm, reasonable voice of his, to stop picking on someone, you stop. You just do.

Jake is sort of the one in charge. It's not something he ever wanted. It just seems natural for him to take over.

Not that Jake is without his own level of stupidity. I mean, he was right there with us, walking through an isolated, abandoned construction site that night. Wasn't the smartest thing we ever did.

But the way it turned out, the real danger that night was not from some mad slasher. The real danger was from a totally unexpected direction.
See, that's where the damaged Andalite spaceship landed. Right there in the construction site. That's where we saw our first alien. That's where we learned about the Yeerk threat.

And that's where the Andalite, Prince Elfangor, gave us our power to morph.

It's where Elfangor died, too. We watched it happen. We watched that brave, decent, kind creature be murdered by Visser Three. Murdered for trying to protect the people of Earth. Anyway. That's when we became a group. It was Marco who came up with a name for what we were. Animorphs. Persons who can morph animals.

The Andalite left us the burden of fighting the Yeerks, and gave us that one weapon: the power to morph. Like all weapons, it has dangers even to those who use it for a good cause. Just ask Tobias.

You know, you all have been following this thread. You know what happened so far

quote:

But it is an awesome power. We have done some damage to the Yeerks. And to be honest with you, sometimes the morphing power is just plain fun. Right now, though, my "normal" life was calling.

It was already getting! warm by the time I walked over to school the next morning. The bus to the camp was due to come at eleven. I got to school an hour early.

I stopped on the sidewalk in front of the school and checked my watch. The sun was climbing fast, and you could tell it was going to be a really hot day. I smiled. It would be a good day for flying.

I crossed the athletic field and headed for the woods behind the school. I wanted to check in with Tobias before I left. It's no big thing. It's just that I kind of take care of stuff Tobias needs. I bring him books sometimes. You know - things he can't get in the woods.

But Tobias isn't always an easy guy to find. Especially in the morning, when he's likely to be out hunting his breakfast. I knew I would need great eyes and speed to find him and still get back in time to catch the bus.

It's funny how it never even occurred to me that I was in a very dangerous position. See, my mom and my friends all thought I was heading to camp. They wouldn't expect to see me for a couple of days. But the camp people didn't think I was coming. So they wouldn't expect to see me, either.

But none of this occurred to me. After all, what did I have to worry about? Little did I know.

So, I entered the woods, put my outer clothing in my bag, hid it beneath some low-lying bushes, and took a quick look around to make sure I was alone. Then I began to morph.

I focused my mind on one of the many animals whose DNA is part of me. Every morphing is unique. The changes never happen the same way twice. This time, the first thing to change was my mouth. My lips grew hard and stiff. And when I rolled my eyes downward, I could see my mouth become bright yellow and bulge outward. As that happened, I began to shrink. The pine needle-covered ground came up toward me
as I lost a foot of height with a few seconds. Then another foot.

The strangest thing, though, was my skin. The flesh on my bare arms began to melt like candle wax. It melted and ran together. It formed intricate patterns, like a tattoo of feathers.

Suddenly, the painted feather patterns were no longer just designs. Actual feathers began to emerge.

The feathers were dark brown, except for the ones that replaced my blond hair and the skin of my face and neck. Those feathers were all snowy white.
By the time the morph was nearly complete, I only stood about two feet tall. My feet had split open and formed yellow talons, each of which ended in a wicked, hooked claw.

My arms rose up, horizontal. Long feathers sprouted from them, even as my solid, heavy, human bones became hollow and light.

It took just a few minutes for the transformation to be done. I was no longer human. I was a bald eagle
.
I turned to face the breeze and opened my wings. They stretched six feet from tip to tip. I felt the wind press against my feathers, stretching my muscles. I flapped several times with great power, and then ... I was airborne! I drew my talons up snug against my body.

I flapped and rose. I flapped more, and soared above the trees. The top branches reached for me but missed. I flapped still more and caught a good, strong headwind. It was like an invisible wedge that forced me up and up.

Up and up! I rose till I was several hundred feet above the treetops. I could see the school down below. I could see the bus parked in the empty lot. And, being an eagle, I could see a great deal more.

Looking through the eyes of an eagle is like having built-in binoculars. From hundreds of feet in the air I could see field mice just poking their noses out of their holes. I could see ants crawling up the trunks of trees. I could look down through the water of a stream and see the tiny fish feeding there. I could see everything, like no human will ever see.

I turned toward the deeper woods where Tobias lived.

Maybe there is something better than flying free, high above the trees, riding the wind, but I doubt it. It was freedom beyond any dream of freedom. I loved it. For all the pain that has come from the war with the Yeerks, I swear sometimes just being able to fly makes it all worthwhile.

I was close to Tobias's territory when I spotted something interesting below me. It was a deer-like animal, running swiftly through the trees. When I focused my laser-intensity eagle sight, I could see the semihuman torso and face and the deadly scorpion tail.

Ax! Or, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, to use his complete name. Ax is an Andalite. The only Andalite to survive a terrible space battle with the Yeerks. Prince Elfangor was his brother.

It was fun watching him run. I've never seen anything that can look as delicate and cute one minute - and as dangerous the next - as an Andalite.

I decided to swoop down over Ax and say hi. I spilled a little air from my wings and dropped, thrilled by the feeling of a controlled fall from hundreds of feet up. It's like jumping off a skyscraper, knowing you can survive.

I dropped toward the trees.

I actually had time to notice the nest in a high branch. Just out of the corner of my eye. I had time to think, Isn't that cute? Baby birds.

And then they hit me.

SWOOP!

SWOOP!

Faster than me! More agile! Small, dark birds zipped straight at me like they were going to hit. Too many of them!

SWOOP! SWOOP! SWOOP!

I turned a hard left. In a flash I knew what was happening. They thought I was attacking their nest. They were "mobbing" me! Trying to drive me off.
I banked a hard turn. Too fast! I was still going fast from the dive. Too fast! Bank left! Turn!

WHAM!

I barely saw the tree trunk before I hit. Headfirst.

Down I fell. Down through branches that tore at me, banged me, slapped me, ripped at my feathers.

I hit the ground hard. I was hurt. I knew I was hurt. Fading out. My mind was swimming.

Human thoughts . . . eagle instinct, all swirling, shifting. I was falling down, down a dark well.

Down . . .

Morph out, I told myself. Rachel. . . MORPH OUT!

And then I was gone.

Remember kids, always let people know where you're going, or else you might morph into an eagle and then be mobbed by angry crows until you pass out.

# ? Aug 11, 2020 23:19

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# ? May 23, 2024 05:48

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Ax not being there echoes the odd sort of vibe this early in the series that the authors seemed to want to hold him apart a bit - as though he was going to be a useful ally ala Erek but not really one of the gang. It was always odd to me that the blurbs described the group as "the Animorphs and Ax" which aside from suggesting he wasn't one of them, sounded terribly clunky.

Re: the Megamorphs books, I've also heard that other people didn't like them but I loved all of them, especially the second and third, where it's fun to throw the Animorphs into dangerous situations completely unrelated to the Yeerks but in which their only defence is still their morphing. I think part of that might be that beyond book 25 or so, them and the Chronicles books were the only ones Applegate actually wrote instead of being done by ghostwriters, and it shows.

# ? Aug 12, 2020 00:31

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Goldmine > Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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