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

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Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Read this thread over the weekend. Loved these books like a lot of other people, though I stopped reading around book 30, which is when I started middle school. When I was in high school I read the last two books from the library which were wild, and not what I remembered from elementary school. You can see some of the terrifying things in these early books more than I remembered. For some reason my strongest memories are:
*David, and how scared I was of being trapped as a rat, on rat island
*How completely insane the Ellimist is
*Ax and his love of cinnabon, looks like he is coming soon but it does seem really different without him
*I really liked Toby and the Hork-Bajir chronicles and how comically dumb the Hork-Bajir are, but I am worried this will be worse on the re-read
*When they find a yeerk chatroom

Excited to read/post along in this thread.

editted question: Does anyone ever come looking for Tobias? I don't remember

Fritzler fucked around with this message at 15:42 on May 4, 2020

# ¿ May 4, 2020 14:57

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 10:54

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

biracial bear for uncut posted:

Yeah. That's the book when we learn he's literally the son of the Andelite that gave everybody morph abilities; Visser 3 was trying to track said son down and Tobias only gets away because he keeps a straight face after months of living as a hawk and having not used those facial muscles in forever--after he gains his old human form as a morph via the Ellemist..

Yeah, that actually happened.

I remembered that Elfangor was his dad/Ax was his uncle, but not the rest of that spoiler at all. That's wild.

# ¿ May 4, 2020 16:46

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:

There definitely is a later Tobias book where he at least obliquely considers shacking up with a lady hawk, though its more about whether he should just accept his fate as being a bird forever rather than diving too deep into furry (feather-y?) territory.

This makes the Andalites' eventual plan to largely ignore the conflict on Earth before deciding to let the Yeerks congregate there and then glassing it from orbit make even more sense from a realpolitik perspective.

Another thing about this plan and the size of population of earth: I remember Ax said that the time that Earth went from initial space flight to landing on the moon was way less than the Andalite time between those two events. It freaked him out and made him realize Earth could eventually be an interstellar powerhouse. I doubt the Andalite home planet would know that, but another reason they may not like Earth.

# ¿ May 6, 2020 18:41

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

nine-gear crow posted:

That's part about what I love about Visser Three. The dude has the ultimate infiltration, subterfuge, and espionage ability at his disposal, and through a combination of ego and idiocy insists on being as absolutely blatant as possible. And the one time he DOES try to do any kind of morphing skullduggery, he's outted instantly because he can't sell an act for poo poo.

What book are your spoilers from? It sounds funny.

# ¿ May 24, 2020 04:04

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

It�s wild the controllers shoot instantly. Gotta be a better way of running a stealth mission.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2020 05:07

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Daikloktos posted:

Whoah, I forgot this quote. Wonder who that might have been penciled in in the notes by this point? I think the Leerans show up soon, and there's a couple ancilliary conflicts the Andalites are mentioned as involved with for flavor. Probably most races are just trying to run or are too far away to give a gently caress at this point

Yeah, this was a wild comment that I didn't remember. It definitely makes the Andalites seem more sympathetic, in way they aren't always, if they're part of a group of species fighting against the yeerks as well. Although I think later it makes space seem so big, that yeerks aren't near taking over the universe that this makes it sound like. The eliminist books confirm this, first when Ax shows that on a star chart, that a planet they're on is so far that word of their human forms will never reach the yeerks. Also in centuries yeerks will meet another species and learn another way of a symbiotic relationship rather than parasitic..

# ¿ Jun 19, 2020 15:48

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Epicurius posted:

I'm with Cassie. Ax's utter indifference to and contempt of school will never not be funny to me.

i didn�t think about it while reading, but Ax�s slacker attitude compared to the pedestal his brother is put on definitely makes him very endearing.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2020 23:29

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Light spoilers for a future book and question about Visser 3�s biology:
I remember later the Yeerks are genetically adapting sharks so their brains are big enough for Yeerks to live in. Does this ever come up in Visser 3�s morphs? He can�t morph small enough wit hour killing the yeerk inside? Does this ever come up in an animorphs battle plan against him?

# ¿ Jun 23, 2020 15:06

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Forgot about radio shack, going to the mall can only mean they are about to hit Ax's favorite store for the first time I assume?

Also do all mall's have one person bathrooms? He should go in there and morph half way through definitely.

# ¿ Jun 28, 2020 00:48

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

disaster pastor posted:

Just a reminder that right up to the end, Scholastic marketed Animorphs as roughly fifth-grade reading material (ages 10�11 for non-US people).

Edit: ha, it gets better. I checked Scholastic's website, and now they have more general ranges, which means most of the books are either grades 3�7 (this one included; imagine being given this at age 8) or 4�7. Some are grades 6�8 (small spoilers beyond book 17): the oatmeal book, the butterfly book, David's first book, and parts of the final arc (but not the last two books).

I quit around 30's, but read all of those as they came out. I was definitely 7 or 8 when this one came out. I actually don't remember much about this book in general, other than cinnabon (but I remember that in general for the series) and the twist at the end.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2020 22:26

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:

It definitely started on the West Coast, because Visser One thought the way to take over humanity while preserving most of the host bodies was through secret, cultural domination using Hollywood and pop culture. We find out near the very end the kids are living in a West Coast city. Some readers have proposed Ventura, California based on some similarities (nearby large forests, a zoo right by an amusement park) which would place it near LA but further/quieter enough that Yeerk infestation might be less noticed. It's unclear if Elfangor knew this and intended to go there, but given how much the Ellimist is involved it makes sense he would land right near the heart of the invasion.

Andalite chronicles: We know why Elfangor wanted to go there: he was trying to use the time cube that he had previously left there. Now why he lived his life in this town, hid a powerful relic there and then that is where the Yeerk investigation started later? I think that is because ~~a god~~ the ellimist did it. Very excited to see what new readers think of eliimist/crayak btw. I remember thinking they were bonkers but liking them as a kid.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2020 18:54

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Interesting that Jake can control himself at the beginning of this infestation. Wonder if that's because Yeerk wasn't ready/expecting to get a host yet, or if it always takes a while. We've seen that the hosts can occasionally rebel (Chapman) but that makes me surprised Visser 3's host never rebels in combat to try to die or anything like that.

disaster pastor posted:

Edited to add: I also brought up that at a chapter a day, we're looking at the 3.5�4 years' range for getting through the series, which may not be everyone's ideal.

This is what I'm more worried about. Am I following this thread for 4 years? I hope so. I wouldn't mind a few more updates however. At the same time, not going to pester OP to update more, as I'm sure this already takes a good amount of time. Also by updating more he may burn out and we never finish anyways.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2020 17:30

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Epicurius posted:

See, I never really got the impression before this that Jake and Cassie did know each other for years. I had pegged Cassie as Rachel's friend, and that, even though they were cousins, Rachel and Jake weren't really that close.

I got the feeling they weren�t all best friends but did know each other. They all seem to know what�s going on with each other. Cassie and Rachiel seemed to know what had happened to Marco and his dad. I figured Tobias is the one they knew least about, but they still seem to know a good amount about him.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2020 02:52

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Jake is dumb to be surprised the Yeerk can morph. But all of the animorphs are dumb at one time or another.

The Yeerk showing Jake Tom's mind is the most disturbing thing in this series to me so far. He loved Tom and looked up to him so much. Also makes me rethink Tom throughout the entire series.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2020 00:53

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Epicurius posted:

How so?

Just Tom is a whimpering mess, didn�t want to go through spoilers but makes me feel a lot worse for him throughout the series as he is forced to do worse and worse stuff to other people, his brother and then he is eventually relieved and thankful for Rachel

# ¿ Jul 29, 2020 03:30

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Ednamamame posted:

Man Tom's new Yeerk is dumb. It may not have the memories of Jake not normally being a total food obsessed weirdo, but Tom does.

It's weird but why would he assume it's andalite related? Maybe he could figure it out after Jake calls though. As far as Yeerks know no andalite has morphed human before I know this has happened and Visser Three knows about it, but I doubt he tells people so how would he know andalites become obsessed with food when they become human? Also yeerks have no sense of taste I assume either, but they aren't amazed when they are able to talk and taste the same way Ax is. Personally I think Ax is the weirdo here (he rocks though) but it doesn't seem like its a yeerk thing any more than it seems like it would be a teenager thing.

# ¿ Jul 31, 2020 18:28

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Epicurius posted:

No comment really necessary regarding this chapter, other than that they're lucky Josep wasn't a Human-Controller.

Guess there aren�t pools everywhere so if you travel you�re safe. They probably need an resistance alliance of truckers and stewardesses.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2020 15:01

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

disaster pastor posted:

The downside of Rachel being the POV character and doing this solo is that it's easy to skip past just how incredibly, ridiculously bonkers this is, especially for only seven books in. Try to imagine this scene if this were a Cassie- or Marco-narrated book and they'd gone along with Rachel.

Book 1, Jake acquires the tiger by accident, stumbling upon it with Marco, terrified out of their minds, acquiring it only because Jake knows it'll be chill for a few seconds after that and they can flee for their goddamned lives. Book 7, Rachel goes by herself at night, heads directly and intentionally to the grizzly enclosure, unintentionally wakes up the grizzly, and instead of reversing the morph and fleeing, reaches out to touch the grizzly knowing full well that if the grizzly doesn't like it, there will be very little left of her body when the staff shows up the next morning. And the whole time, her attention is way, way more on her (entirely valid!) complaints and discomfort with her own life. Not with her potentially being at the mercy of a grizzly bear, but with her sadness about her father and Tobias and all the involuntary Controllers locked up in the Yeerk pool.

It's a more amazing scene than Rachel's narration paints it as, and it tells us a lot about her.

Yeah it is a very classic reckless Rachel moment. I assume soon Cassie or someone else will call her out on it when she reveals that she has a grizzly morph. Also already had at least one problem with Rachel's elephant morph being too big so makes sense to give her another battle morph.

# ¿ Aug 4, 2020 14:59

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

I really remember the Ellimist well, but I did not remember his intro came so early. Definitely seems like they same change some ideas later from this introduction he is a singular being, who underwent 1 of a kind events to receive these powers, not a race of ultra powerful beings. Parts of this later series definitely get more and more sci-fi, which lots of alien races appearing, and this is the first alien we see who isn't affiliated with Yeerks or Andalites, although we see a lot later.

# ¿ Aug 5, 2020 22:43

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:

It�s odd that this didn�t reveal that most of the Animorphs are humans to the Yeerks, but maybe the whole situation was just too chaotic for anyone to be sure of anything they saw.

I guess they�re covered in taxxon goo? But like, it seems like there should be space cameras in the yeerk pool that can be reviewed.

fauna posted:

one of the ghostwritten books was about a pair of gay andalites, it was my favourite

Which book is this?

# ¿ Aug 6, 2020 04:00

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

I do think killing Alloran only is the optimal play for the animorphs actually. Killing Visser Three is terrible, because a more competent Visser (like Visser One) might take over. If they just kill Alloran Visser Three stays in charge but in a much less deadly body.

I also think it�s cowardly to not kill Alloran when he is asking for it. I understand not wanting to do it, or feeling uncomfortable. You would think Jake would volunteer how horrible it is to be a controller.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2020 02:38

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

OctaviusBeaver posted:

I think not killing Alloran was the morally correct choice, even though it's a strategic disadvantage. I think it's weird to see people condemning the Andalites for genociding the Hork Bajir but also condemn the Animorphs for not killing Alloran, it's the exact same choice just at a different scale

i don�t remember the details of the first part of your first spoiler, but I�m going to guess it is way different because Alloran requested it. If anyone wants to be a voluntary controller I have no problem with that, but honestly it seems worse than death to me. If someone wanted to be killed instead of subjected to that I think it is moral to prevent their future suffering.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2020 05:07

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

MrNemo posted:

Pretty sure a book back Ax made a remark that he can't use thought speak in human morph because they have a mouth or something. Which makes no sense but I kind of understand the narrative convenience of it.

Same, but related to this book 15 spoilers: I know they transform into parrots to harrass the rainforest cafe. Can they thoughtspeak as parrots?

# ¿ Sep 8, 2020 15:19

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Epicurius posted:

Ny apologies, but I'm probably got posting chapters tonight. I'm I'll with a fever and don't have the energy.

Hope you feel better soon! You deserve the day off.

# ¿ Sep 20, 2020 01:53

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

OctaviusBeaver posted:

~~Llama~~ Marco rules

# ¿ Nov 8, 2020 05:06

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

I remember reading this as a kid and thinking the andalites were dumb for not knowing of any species with clothing. Like it�s Impossible to me that humans are the only species that uses fabric like that. But in retrospect it is better than all alien species being humanoids that are very similar to humans.

# ¿ Nov 15, 2020 03:17

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Epicurius posted:

The Andalite Chronicles-Chapter 12
On the other hand....So, in December, 1944, there was the Battle of the Bulge. The Germans, in a last ditch attack, massed their troops and led an offensive into the American lines, driving US troops back (the aforementioned bulge), until the Americans were able to counterattack and stop them. During the offensive, part of the German 6th SS Panzer Army captured an American convoy, and took it prisoner. The unit decided, since they were on such a tight schedule, they had no way of dealing with the American prisoners. So, they lined them up in a field and machine gunned them. Even though some escaped, about 84 died, This became known as the Malmedy Massacre. After the war, the perpetrators of the massacre were put on trial....some were sentenced to death, others to life imprisonment, and others to shorter terms. If we accept that the Malmedy massacre wasn't justified (and I don't think it was), how is that different than what Alloran wants to do?

I don�t think it is justified, but are there any Allied equivalents to this massacre? If so how did did their punishments compare to these German punishments? I do think there�s an argument to be made about killing defenseless yeerks. All the Yeerks that people have seen want to take over the free will of intelligent species. It seems to be another horrible, walking torture. Preventing that from happening does seem somewhat justified, keeping free will. However these Yeerks are acquiring taxxons who agree with the enslavement so maybe that is more justified.

# ¿ Nov 18, 2020 03:14

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

freebooter posted:

The perpetrators of the Malmedy massacre were put on trial by the occupying Allies, not by the Germans. Winners tend not to put their own war criminals on trial at all. This in fact crops up in the very final Animorphs book!

I understand that point which is why I asked! I worded poorly though, by saying German punishment I meant punishment that the Germans received, rather than the other way around.

I don't really like comparing fictional stuff overly to real life disenfranchised people, but because of the way Yeerks operate this is like destroying a European boat sailing to Africa for slavery. Completely justified destroying in my opinion. From what we learn later though it does throw a wrinkle that we know some Yeerk's do not agree with this policy and are part of a resistance.

# ¿ Nov 18, 2020 22:02

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Rochallor posted:

Y'know, I don't know who the Animorphs are writing these for, but I think they may have hosed up by leaving out their last names but mentioning things like their parents' jobs, that they live near the ocean, not far from forests, in the city where the Yeerk Pool was, and probably pretty close to the place where Visser Three got sprayed by a skunk. I mean, we've established that Visser Three is hopelessly incompetent, but I just imagine him poring over these paperbacks being like, "Kansas City? Could it be Kansas City?"

How many girls were on tv after falling in a crocodile pit? If only we could narrow it down!

# ¿ Dec 8, 2020 19:46

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Soup du Jour posted:

I totally thought this book ended on the Andalite toilet so this whole segment feels completely new and bonkers to me

When this book started I had no recollection of it. Once the kids got interviewed for first time and gave fake names, I remembered the book but totally thought it ended with the toilet as well. My memory was they realized it was just a toilet and wouldn't help the Yeerks so they let them do whatever they wanted there. This is more much more wild than that.

# ¿ Jan 4, 2021 08:24

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Epicurius posted:

I should explain: Money is a sort of abstract human concept. You give amounts of money to various people in society and they in turn give you useful items.

Money doesn't exist for Andalites? First time I have thought their society actually seems cool.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2021 07:52

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Obviously this doesn�t end here, but this is such a bad idea. I can�t believe Cassie did this. Really, if no one is looking for this girl yet (or even if they are) they should just hold her in the woods till the yeerk starves.

Do we ever get the opinions of any Yeerks who take over non-sentient beings? Or more specifically, what those non-sentient beings think/feel about it? Do they seem as psychologically damaged by the process? I do think enslaving sentient beings to have more experiences is very different than eating a pig. I don�t think Yeerks have to be condemned to being blind in a pool - they can just as easily take over non sentient species. They might have to communicate a different way, or invent a new language, but that seems as valid a solution as the one they decide later.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2021 05:17

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Terror Sweat posted:

Uh how do the yeerks not realize that this little girl stopped coming to meetings

How did the yeerk get to the pool without Karen being captured?

# ¿ Apr 8, 2021 04:38

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

Ok in addition to Karen surviving, I feel like maybe the yeerks would be a little more suspicious of this girl who went missing at the same time as their Rich Guy's Kid and got a sudden blast of media coverage afterwards. Like the non-controller led search parties were looking for both of them. How would no one in the Yeerk empire try to check out either of these girls.

Rachel got all that press a few books back between the house and crocodile out. Now her best friend too? I wonder what kids at her school or Chapman think.

# ¿ Apr 8, 2021 18:10

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Very intrigued by spy dad.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2021 05:03

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Seems like David is actually getting along with the team dynamics in first half of chapter 17. Too bad it is all downhill from there.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2021 04:36

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

FlocksOfMice posted:

A very satisfying ending but wow we really don't get to see the part where he tells everyone who his dad is huh

also Tobias you're going to be hungry again you know you'll end up eating those rabbits eventually too

I think he will repeatedly raise rabbits till they have babies, then kill the mother so he always has a supply of food. He is using human thinking to make sure he has a constant supply of food.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2021 15:53

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

This book is much funner than it gets credit for. I enjoyed it. Also looking forward to hearing particulars of ghost writers, I do not know anything about any of them. I wanted to share the inner cover for this book which spoils the end, but also shows us what the helmacrons look like.

Also was this the day? Did anyone see a blue deer threatening an anteater?

# ¿ Jul 12, 2021 04:08

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Fuschia tude posted:

Yeah, this is about as far as I can remember from this book; I don't remember the confrontation with the howlers or how this plot was resolved at all. And aside from Megamorphs #3 and Visser, which I guess I read out of sequence of the main series, it's also the last book I can remember anything about. I've seen some synopses of future books and they don't seem familiar at all. This must have been about when I went over to Everworld instead.

I think is the last book I actually remember exactly how it resolves. I think I thought it was dumb as a child, but I think I will like it much more as an adult who is not worried about cooties. I also remember how this is relevant to the Yeerks, which I thought was a nice touch.

I do like how out there some of the sci fi concepts are. These books were probably my first sci-fi experiences, and they really swung for the fences in a way I really appreciate now. Capitalist planet is a big enough concept that it did not also need the krayak/elimist war but glad to have that present too.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2021 23:58

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 10:54

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Make the pemalite ship their future base. I guess that will probably just remain the mall.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2021 18:41

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