|
Chapter 3quote:Most Powerful Emperor, Lord of the Galaxy, disaster has struck your bold minions! Our engines have malfunctioned. We searched the planet for a power source we could tap. But now, even as we replenished our strength from a strange source of transforming power, one of the alien monsters of this planet has attacked! We have sustained damage, but we are undaunted! Perhaps the weak and unworthy captain of the Planet Crusher will assist us so that we may achieve everlasting glory! I hate it when the weekend gets cancelled. Chapter 4 quote:We assembled. Jake, Rachel, Marco, Ax in his own, natural Andalite body (which is a cross between a blue deer, a centaur, and a scorpion), and Tobias who, though he regained his morphing power, is a red-tailed hawk. So this is certainly getting weird now.
|
![]() |
|
![]()
|
# ? Jun 22, 2024 13:26 |
|
I feel like this is going to end with the gang Acquiring tiny aliens, going inside the ship to have a peaceful conversation, immediately getting captured, and then having to fight their way out before their two hours are up.
|
![]() |
|
This is definitely more of a comedy book than anything else and feels like a very disconcerting swerve after the misery trudge of David>HB Chronicles>23.
|
![]() |
|
Fun fact: this is among the last few books to be written by K. A. Applegate herself before the stretch at the end. She writes this, #26 (which is great), and #32 (which I recall being nearly as bad as this one).
|
![]() |
|
Between this and the Andalite toilet book, it seems like Cassie gets the comic relief books for some reason.
|
![]() |
|
WrightOfWay posted:Between this and the Andalite toilet book, it seems like Cassie gets the comic relief books for some reason. They're fun to write and Applegate likes her best?
|
![]() |
|
Good Lord this feels dated. If these books were written today, everyone's thoughts would immediately go to "That must be a Yeerk drone."
|
![]() |
|
This book is fun and Helmacrons rule ![]()
|
![]() |
|
These starfighters are small. Those starfighters are far away
|
![]() |
|
Maybe it gets terrible but so far this book rules.
|
![]() |
|
This sounds like the story one of the traumatized survivors would actually tell their grandkids about when asked about the war. One of my WWII relatives was clearly haunted and hated talking about it, but every now and again he'd cheerfully talk about the time he and his buddies were horsing around with an oxygen tank during training and accidentally launched it through a yacht.
|
![]() |
|
Chapter 5quote:Most Omnipotent Leader! We have located the fools of the Galaxy Blaster. They have allowed themselves to be taken by the large aliens of this planet. But your loyal ship, Planet Crusher, will destroy all who stand in our way and will save that other unworthy ship so that they might, perhaps by mere accident, serve your great will! These aliens are charming people. Chapter 6 quote:“Tobias! Follow them,” Jake said as we leaped from the loading dock platform onto the ground outside. “We’ll be along as soon as we can.” This is maybe a weird nitpick, but Dracon beams are specifically a Yeerk weapon, right? In fact, in the Hork-Bajir Chronicles, we learned how the Yeerks combined Andalite and Ongarchic weapon technology to make them. Of course, it's been 30 years since the events of that book, so I have no doubt the secret to Dracon beams is out in the wild now. Epicurius fucked around with this message at 06:17 on Jun 30, 2021 |
![]() |
|
Epicurius posted:This is maybe a weird nitpick, but Dracon beams are specifically a Yeerk weapon, right? In fact, in the Hork-Bajir Chronicles, we learned how the Yeerks combined Andalite and Ongarchic weapon technology to make them. Of course, it's been 30 years since the events of that book, so I have no doubt the secret to Dracon beams is out in the wild now. It's just getting genericized, like Xerox and Kleenex. The Yeerks better watch out or they'll have a trademark fight on their hands.
|
![]() |
|
effervescible posted:It's just getting genericized, like Xerox and Kleenex. The Yeerks better watch out or they'll have a trademark fight on their hands. I wonder if DeGroot does trademark law alongside wills and probate?
|
![]() |
Didn't we also learn that the Yeerks sold off obsolete Dracon beams for coin, which the Skrit Na fitted to their ships?
|
|
![]() |
|
Epicurius posted:I wonder if DeGroot does trademark law alongside wills and probate? I'm guessing DeGroot was also how Chapman manged to walk away from running over and possibly murdering the Deputy Director of the US Secret Service with his car without seemingly any consequence.
|
![]() |
nine-gear crow posted:I'm guessing DeGroot was also how Chapman manged to walk away from running over and possibly murdering the Deputy Director of the US Secret Service with his car without seemingly any consequence. Thats a big ask for a lawyer next to a laundry. Or was that a metaphor? ![]()
|
|
![]() |
|
"Get back, their weapons can mildly annoy us!"
|
![]() |
|
Comrade Blyatlov posted:Thats a big ask for a lawyer next to a laundry. Better call Saul!
|
![]() |
|
I have no memory of this book from reading the series as a kid, but I'm kind of loving it as a goofy, light-hearted break from all the heavy poo poo lately.
|
![]() |
|
Chapter 7quote:With osprey eyes I could see the weird aerial battle long before we reached it. Tobias was twisting and turning, flaring, diving, catching up-drafts, and just generally putting on a display of flying skills. So why were they going after Tobias? Chapter 8 quote:<Rachel, look out! He’s on your tail!> Getting through to them was a mistake.
|
![]() |
|
I'm assuming they can detect morphing energy with their ship, since they found the Box, something the Yeerks are unable to do. Probably why they could tell something was up with Tobias, too. I wonder if morphing and demorphing fixes shrinking, like it does injuries.
|
![]() |
|
Bobulus posted:I'm assuming they can detect morphing energy with their ship, since they found the Box, something the Yeerks are unable to do. Probably why they could tell something was up with Tobias, too. Yeah, that seems the most plausible, we know that it is possible to detect from that one Megamorphs book. On the other hand, Tobias was in his natural form so maybe something else is going on? Maybe there's weirdness about being a Nothlit or they can detect that someone is morph capable even if they haven't morphed.
|
![]() |
|
Based on the little snippets at the start of chapters they seem pretty genocidal - maybe they're just attacking everything that moves?
|
![]() |
|
Chapter 9quote:I was getting small. I was getting small very fast. Half points to whoever said the team would shrink to Helmacron size, because half of them did. Chapter 10 quote:“I am loaded up and ready,” Rachel said grimly. I think the next book should just be Cassie, Marco and Tobias moving into a thimble.
|
![]() |
|
Chapter 11quote:O Great One, Most Magnificent of all Leaders, we have met the Vast Enemy in battle and have triumphed! Using the power source Ax is very good at doing math in his head, and also, Ax is going to meet Cassie's dad disguised as somebody besides Jake, Chapter 12 quote:“Run! It’s my dad!” I yelled, and started running, stumbling across the endless plain of rocks and boulders. To be fair, Ax could, I'd imagine, be a bit much to take.
|
![]() |
Weirdly enough, I think "I am Canadese" is the one phrase from this entire series that's most solidly entered my lexicon. Totally forgot it was from this book!
|
|
![]() |
|
Ax's mental math aside, I'm impressed by Marco. I definitely don't know the size of a virus in inches. Or any other measurement for that matter.
|
![]() |
|
0.00006 inches is 15 microns, and a human body cell is 50 microns across. So yeah that's around the range where you could plausibly be eaten by a microbe or maybe a very very small bug.
|
![]() |
|
"Fools!" sneers Visser 3, morphing a tardigrade
|
![]() |
|
Chapter 13quote:I was buried in rock! Helmacron jurisdictional responsibilities aside, this is the other side of the square-cube law that we talked about in another book (about the problem with human sized cockroach Marco). As something grows, its volume grows a lot faster than its surface area. So, smaller animals are stronger relative to their size than large ones. Chapter 14 quote:They were gigantic. They were brown Godzillas. They were … cockroaches. Yep, all a question of size. But they had been in the habit of underestimating the Helmacrons because of their relative sizes when they first made contact.
|
![]() |
|
I remember this book somewhat but I totally forgot Tobias gets shrunk too, I thought it was just Cassie and Ax. Another thing I mistakenly remembered was how frequently they use their diverse arsenal of morphs. I remembered each book introducing some Morph of the Week that then gets forgotten, and they go back to their battle/raptor/seagull/roach/fly rotation, but Ax has cracked out the wolf spider quite a few times now, and Rachel morphs elephant way more than I remember.
|
![]() |
God I had forgotten about this book but I fuckin hate it
|
|
![]() |
|
SSJ_naruto_2003 posted:God I had forgotten about this book but I fuckin hate it Wrong, this book is awesome. O great leaders, this forums poster has maligned us! We will soon crush them, along with all those who oppose the mighty Helmacron!
|
![]() |
|
Chapter 15quote:“Neep! Neep! Neep!” They met the captain! Chapter 16 quote:O Greatest of the Great, Most Magnificent of the Magnificent, we have taken two of the strange, transforming aliens prisoner! They tremble before us! They abase themselves! They quiver in cowardly terror! And it should be noted that the Galaxy Blaster was of no help whatsoever. I mean, I think this is pretty clever. Cassie's going with an "enemy of my enemy" strategy.. Also, the Helmacrons are very dramatic.
|
![]() |
|
I never got this far in the series when it was current and my god I'm loving how absurdly silly this book is.
|
![]() |
Yeah, this book has just wrapped back around to good.
|
|
![]() |
|
Helmacron leadership has always stuck with me as a near perfect last ditch revolutionary option. they seem newly spacefaring. I'm so curious about how they evolved.
|
![]() |
|
Comrade Blyatlov posted:Yeah, this book has just wrapped back around to good. I have no idea what you all are talking about, this book was never bad? ![]()
|
![]() |
|
![]()
|
# ? Jun 22, 2024 13:26 |
|
Gwaihir posted:I never got this far in the series when it was current and my god I'm loving how absurdly silly this book is. KA is clearly having fun with it. Although I remember the ending, and it's also very clearly one of the books in the series where they picked out a neat new animal to morph and reverse-engineered the book around that.
|
![]() |