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Animorphs #40
The Other
Ax and the Animorphs have always believed he was the only non-infested Andalite on Earth. That he alone survived the terrible battle between his people and the Yeerks.
Until now.
There were other survivors. Other Andalites. And they're here on Earth. Trying to keep a low profile. Trying to find a way to defeat Visser Three. Trying—like Ax and the Animorphs—to stay alive until help finally comes.
If help finally comes . . .
Until now.
There were other survivors. Other Andalites. And they're here on Earth. Trying to keep a low profile. Trying to find a way to defeat Visser Three. Trying—like Ax and the Animorphs—to stay alive until help finally comes.
If help finally comes . . .
130 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2000
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About the author
K.A. Applegate
251 books486 followersalso published under the name Katherine Applegate
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
October 1, 2019
THE ANDALITES IN THIS BOOK WERE A VERY CUTE QUEER COUPLE THAT HAD TRIED TO RETIRE TO A QUIET LIFE ON EARTH AMIRITE OR WHAT
January 5, 2023
A vague amateur video recording of an Andalite on earth shows up in a TV show. Since it’s not an Andalite they know, the Animorphs go to investigate. When they find the Andalite, they realize he’s not alone. The two Andalites are actually a couple. They’re hiding on earth as they don’t want to fight in the war with the Yeerks anymore. All they want in life now is to just be happy together.
This story focuses mostly on world building in terms of the Andalites and the development of Marco’s character. There’s also somewhat of a plot to tie everything together. The most interesting part is what we learn about the Andalites, especially in terms of how they view their disabled. It’s nothing must read, but it’s nice to find out a bit more about them as a species. Though I think the theme of being more open-minded could have been shown better.
The concept has some potential and the story has its moments. But after two very strong novels, we go back to business as usual in the Animorphs series with another average and perfectly acceptable filler story. It’s not bad. But it’s also not exactly remarkable or memorable to be honest.
This story focuses mostly on world building in terms of the Andalites and the development of Marco’s character. There’s also somewhat of a plot to tie everything together. The most interesting part is what we learn about the Andalites, especially in terms of how they view their disabled. It’s nothing must read, but it’s nice to find out a bit more about them as a species. Though I think the theme of being more open-minded could have been shown better.
The concept has some potential and the story has its moments. But after two very strong novels, we go back to business as usual in the Animorphs series with another average and perfectly acceptable filler story. It’s not bad. But it’s also not exactly remarkable or memorable to be honest.
December 4, 2015
I understand ruthless.
I understand, maybe more than any of the others, what it means to be unsentimental. Cold, even. To see the end in the beginning and the beginning in the end.
I'm not denying that Jake, for example, doesn't make his share of tough decisions. That almost every day he isn't forced to choose between two seemingly impossible, equally degrading choices. That he doesn't feel the agony of those crisis moments. That too often he looks about fifty.
All I'm saying is that I understand, immediately and on some instinctual level, the state of ruthlessness you have to reach -- almost, to live in -- to be able to make those impossible choices. To see the right way to the right end.
To accept being perceived as cruel and heartless.
To live with the fact that people are afraid of getting too close to someone like me, like maybe it'll rub off, my ability to do what needs to be done.
In spite of my incredible sense of humor, I am not always fun to be around.
Man. It's been 40 books and yet I'm never going to be over this; I have to repeat that I just love that the 'class clown' archetype in this series is also the ruthless pragmatist. It's a dramatic little speech, but Marco's earned it; his calculations are genuinely chilling sometimes.
Ghostwriter: Gina Gascone. This is her only Animorphs book, but cripes, I'm just so glad not to suffer through more Zeuhlke humour, and I think she does do a really good job of capturing Marco as well. That above passage just stopped me dead and I had to highlight it. It's like a continuation of the bright clear line speech; I don't mind the thematic overlap, however, because it's only become more and more pronounced as time goes on, such as Marco's immediate assumption that he'll probably have to kill Gafinilan for breaking their cover. Plus, in this book it's juxtaposed against mankind's ability to show sympathy and caretaking towards the less-privileged.
I get REALLY EXCITED whenever more Andalites appear, because it shows more facets and nuances of their culture and society, more possible personalities, and we've encountered such a good variety of them. tbh, part of me wishes they'd just outright gone with a same-sex romantic relationship for Gafinilan and Mertil* because it's what makes the most sense okay, but this book was already focusing on a particular topic: treatment of the handicapped. It's a bit of an Issues Book, like a couple others in the series; the Andalites, true to form with their snobbery and focus on valour and tail-fighting, are horrendous when it comes to their physically handicapped (MAKING THEM LIVE IN MONASTIC SECLUSION FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD??). And through the Animorphs teaching Ax to be more compassionate, I think it's also a valuable lesson to the child readers of this series. It's a little heavy-handed towards the end -- trying to tie it into Marco's mother was ham-fisted and I couldn't really see the connection -- but I loved the Animorphs' dealing with Ax's condescension, their attempts to tolerate him, and their teeth-gritting anger before they finally snap and scold him for it.
[*EDITED TO ADD: So on October 24, 2015, literally four days after I finished the book, Michael Grant -- KAA's husband and co-writer -- posted a blog entry confirming Gafinil and Mertil as a homosexual couple. I am the most pleased & validated reader.]
I did actually like the plot of Gafinilan, too, mostly because it contributed some additional worldbuilding, and I got a little teary on the very last page. Although I do question the in-universe logic of .
Within the team, I feel like the primary focus was on Marco and Ax, and we didn't get much time with the rest of them (although how fantastic was Jake at keeping his cool?). Even so, I did really like the scene where Rachel reads Marco correctly, assumes he's going to disobey orders and go in anyway... and instead of tattling on him, demands to be taken along as backup. :']
MY PRECIOUS BAAABIES.
Anyway, 3.5 stars for this one. The status quo is left the same as before, but I appreciate the thematic & worldbuilding ground that this one covers.
June 27, 2017
The Other reminds us how far the Animorphs have come from being the naive kids they were at the start of the book. Gone are the days of insufficient plans. Enter the world of automatic suspicions, backups, dissembling and disguise. The Animorphs are tried-and-true insurgents now. And Marco, joker that he is, might be the most strategically-minded of them all.
There are other Andalites on Earth. (Again.)
They don’t want to fight the Yeerks. Mertil is disabled, a vecol as Ax so dismissively refers to him, despite his status as a renowned fighter pilot. The other, Gafinil, has pledged to protect Mertil. But Visser Three has other plans, and after the Animorphs discover Gafinil and Mertil’s presence on Earth, they also get involved. The result is messy for everyone. But since the book is narrated from Marco’s point of view, the story isn’t so much about the Animorphs dealing with two Andalite refugees so much as it is Marco processing how much has changed since he became an Animorph.
I found this book surprisingly low-key, in terms of action and threat level, considering the plot. Yes, there is a battle at the climax, but that doesn’t seem like the main focus at that point. Similarly, the new morph in this one is underwhelming—Applegate’s ghostwriter does a good job ruminating upon what life might be like as a bee, and the situation contrived to require a bee morph is as good as any.
Rather than delivering pulse-pounding action, then, The Other asks us to focus on Marco and his psychology. Much of the story takes place with Marco on his own, or with a single Animorph as backup. (I love the part where Rachel basically corners him and forces him to take her with him on an independently-devised reconnaissance mission.) These twosomes are a nice way to see how Marco interacts one-on-one rather than as part of the whole group, where he usually ends up functioning as Jake’s supporter or as the blackly comic relief to Rachel’s bloodlust and Cassie’s ambivalence. Marco in a group is funny; Marco on his own or with a partner is … focused. Determined. He finds his mission and he sticks to it.
This book also takes some time to look at attitudes towards disability. Ax displays a visceral aversion to interacting with the disabled Mertil, because that’s how Andalite society encourages people to act. Marco doesn’t think much of this attitude and serves to model a more inclusive and tolerant mode of behaviour (although he does use the term “differently abled”, which was in vogue back in the 1990s, I guess, but I’ve learned it’s generally better to say “disabled” unless the person in question specifically likes the former label). Still, the use of Mertil as a pawn in the Visser’s latest Saturday morning cartoon villain scheme belies the disability education agenda here—there are a lot more interesting ways to introduce and use a disabled character in a children’s and young adult book; this approach is both heavy-handed and rather unimpressive.
Much like my friend Julie, the gay-coding of Gafinil and Mertil’s “friendship” because an openly-gay relationship probably wouldn’t be allowed by Scholastic at the time is … interesting … in hindsight. Like, it’s not at all subtle to my 27-year-old eyes in 2017, though I’m sure as a kid I didn’t pick up on anything at all.
I also concur wholeheartedly with Julie’s last line, wherein she observes that “the status quo is left the same as before”. In some ways this hearkens back to an earlier Animorphs era, where episodic stories occasionally advanced the arc but more frequently had our character confronting their individual issues with their morphing capabilities. Recent books have me accustomed to subplots moving the arc forward.
Then again, the last Megamorphs adventure is next, and we get more temporal shenanigans.
My review of Animorphs:
← #39: The Hidden | Megamorphs #4: Back to Before →
There are other Andalites on Earth. (Again.)
They don’t want to fight the Yeerks. Mertil is disabled, a vecol as Ax so dismissively refers to him, despite his status as a renowned fighter pilot. The other, Gafinil, has pledged to protect Mertil. But Visser Three has other plans, and after the Animorphs discover Gafinil and Mertil’s presence on Earth, they also get involved. The result is messy for everyone. But since the book is narrated from Marco’s point of view, the story isn’t so much about the Animorphs dealing with two Andalite refugees so much as it is Marco processing how much has changed since he became an Animorph.
I found this book surprisingly low-key, in terms of action and threat level, considering the plot. Yes, there is a battle at the climax, but that doesn’t seem like the main focus at that point. Similarly, the new morph in this one is underwhelming—Applegate’s ghostwriter does a good job ruminating upon what life might be like as a bee, and the situation contrived to require a bee morph is as good as any.
Rather than delivering pulse-pounding action, then, The Other asks us to focus on Marco and his psychology. Much of the story takes place with Marco on his own, or with a single Animorph as backup. (I love the part where Rachel basically corners him and forces him to take her with him on an independently-devised reconnaissance mission.) These twosomes are a nice way to see how Marco interacts one-on-one rather than as part of the whole group, where he usually ends up functioning as Jake’s supporter or as the blackly comic relief to Rachel’s bloodlust and Cassie’s ambivalence. Marco in a group is funny; Marco on his own or with a partner is … focused. Determined. He finds his mission and he sticks to it.
This book also takes some time to look at attitudes towards disability. Ax displays a visceral aversion to interacting with the disabled Mertil, because that’s how Andalite society encourages people to act. Marco doesn’t think much of this attitude and serves to model a more inclusive and tolerant mode of behaviour (although he does use the term “differently abled”, which was in vogue back in the 1990s, I guess, but I’ve learned it’s generally better to say “disabled” unless the person in question specifically likes the former label). Still, the use of Mertil as a pawn in the Visser’s latest Saturday morning cartoon villain scheme belies the disability education agenda here—there are a lot more interesting ways to introduce and use a disabled character in a children’s and young adult book; this approach is both heavy-handed and rather unimpressive.
Much like my friend Julie, the gay-coding of Gafinil and Mertil’s “friendship” because an openly-gay relationship probably wouldn’t be allowed by Scholastic at the time is … interesting … in hindsight. Like, it’s not at all subtle to my 27-year-old eyes in 2017, though I’m sure as a kid I didn’t pick up on anything at all.
I also concur wholeheartedly with Julie’s last line, wherein she observes that “the status quo is left the same as before”. In some ways this hearkens back to an earlier Animorphs era, where episodic stories occasionally advanced the arc but more frequently had our character confronting their individual issues with their morphing capabilities. Recent books have me accustomed to subplots moving the arc forward.
Then again, the last Megamorphs adventure is next, and we get more temporal shenanigans.
My review of Animorphs:
← #39: The Hidden | Megamorphs #4: Back to Before →
September 19, 2013
Brought to you by The Moonlight Library!
When a video of an Andalite shows up on TV, Marco and the Animorphs know they have to investigate. Is it Ax accidentally caught on tape, have the Andalites finally arrived, or is it a trap set by Visser Three to flush out the ‘Andalite bandits’?
This book is one of those that is both tragically sad and extraordinarily beautiful. The Andalite caught on tape is none of the above – he is, in fact, a crippled survivor of Ax’s Dome ship attack, one who has neither tail blade nor morphing ability. He is taken care of by another impressively huge specimen built like a wrestler crossed with a Clydesdale (as opposed to the weak human/deer the Andalites are normally described as), but who has a genetic disease morphing won’t heal and will kill him in a matter of months. They live peacefully in suburbia with Gafinilon (the big guy) posing as a human at the local university. He, for some reason, manages to eat a doughnut without freaking the fuck out because of this amazing sense of taste.
The books is quite well written and althought tragically none of the Animorphs experience any growth (especially Ax who hates the disabled by the end of the book still hates the disable) details homoerotic subtext between the two ‘other’ Andalites. A lot of focus is on maintaining Gafinilon’s character and the rescue the Animorphs stage to rescue his gay BFF. I say gay because it’s obvious the Andalites are more than just friends, best friends forever, shorms, or even brothers. No matter where they are, so long as they are on the same planet, they can hear each other’s thought speak. Now, I don’t know exactly how homosexuality works in the Andalite world but I guarantee you the interpretation is there for you to read.
I swear, this romance rivals Dak and Aldrea’s. It rivals Rachel and Tobias. It’s the third best romance in the series. Jake and Cassie don’t come near.
While nothing else really happens besides scoping out Gafinilon and trying to figure out whether he’s laying a trap for the Animorphs, and then his buddy’s rescue, the book does give us our first taste of the Marco-Tobias-Ax dream team that will star in many future books. In closing, I would like to raise some questions this book made me think in an obvious attempt to make my brian explode: apparently the Yeerks hate the disabled as much as Andalites do, and would rather not infest Gafinilon nor his tail-less buddy. Now, this makes no sense to me because Yeerks are blind, deaf, mute, and helpless in their natural state. Consider the following:
~ ANY Yeerk would prefer a crippled Andalite to no host at all. Remember the whole four eyes thing? FOUR EYES? VERSUS NONE.
~ Just because an Andalite can’t morph doesn’t mean they’re useless. They still have super smart brains and all the military secrets. And hands. And can move on land.
~ Why am I comparing Andalites to Yeerks?
~ Gafinilon’s Yeerk could acquire Mertil, become a nothlit, and BOOM – healthy adult host.
~ Hork-Bajir aren’t set free when they’re crippled. Although they might be fed to Taxxons, we met a guy with one eye once. It’s not like they’ve got any military secrets.
~ Maybe Visser Three would forbid any other Yeerk from becoming a morphing Andalite-Controller, but I can’t imagine him denying a regular healthy non-morphing Andalite body. Imagine the shenanigans. “Le’ts have a tail fight.” “Let’s have a morphing battle.”
~ Are we forgetting the fact that Esplin was promoted super high not because he could morph but because he learned all the Andalite military secrets?
~ WHY THE FUCK AREN’T PEOPLE INFESTED RIGHT AWAY? The Yeerks have this habit of NOT infesting people, akin to the big bad villain’s monologuing in a crappy telemovie.
~ I MEAN COME ON, IF THE NON-MOPRHING ANDALITE IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE ANDALITE MILITARY SURELY HE’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR A YEERK?
November 10, 2024
*** 4.25 ***
This was a Marco book, but it was mostly about a couple of Andolite visitors. Adorable 😃
This was a Marco book, but it was mostly about a couple of Andolite visitors. Adorable 😃
November 13, 2018
(originally reviewed at
thelibraryladies.com
)
Narrator: Marco
Plot: I had some vague memories of this book, of the fact that it was another “more Andalites on Earth” book VERY shortly after we had just gotten done with the last “more Andalites on Earth” book. But since I really liked the last one, I had high hopes for this one. And while it doesn’t paint certain Animorphs coughAxcough in the best light, it’s a pretty good book as far as general characterization for our team and for Marco in particular.
Marco is chilling at home on one of his rare free evenings when he sees a strange video clip being highlighted on the news and immediately recognizes the blurry form as an Adalite. Sure that Ax has been caught on film and that a good percentage of Controllers also saw the clip and will be trying to find him, Marco immediately morphs osprey and flies off to find Ax and Tobias in their meadow. Once there, Ax is able to view the clip and notes that this is an entirely different Andalite, since it is missing the last half of its tail. Tobias is also able to guess at the location of the scene and he, Ax, and Marco quickly take off to check it out. Once there, Marco demorphs. Halfway through, however, a local possum starts morphing as well and they find themselves confronted with a massive, adult Andalite, notable NOT the one in the film. After a brief confrontation where the adult Andalite threatens them, smacks around Tobias, and insists they leave, they split off. But, of course, they decide to follow the new Andalite. After seeing him morph human, they are able to track him to a house in the suburbs. They decide that now is the time to call in the rest of the team.
Back with the group, Ax reports that he has heard of both the Andalites who are stranded on Earth. The large one is named Gafinilan and the injured one is named Mertil. Both have strong reputations, though Ax makes sure to get in a few digs about how Mertil is now essentially useless due to his injury. The group decides that for now it is best for just Ax and Marco to approach, not giving away their true numbers. At the house, osprey!Marco decides to try and get a closer look, but when he flies in towards the house he is zapped by a force field. Gafinilan gets on a speaker system and tells him to surrender and come in or he will shoot them. Marco and Ax demorph and approach.
After some more barbed words, Marco and Ax are invited in. On the way in, Marco notices a slight tremble in Gafinilan’s large body. Inside, he leads them to a hidden room where through mad gardening skills he has re-created an Andalite meadow. He and Ax partake in eating an Andalite herb while Marco surreptitiously acquire a bee that is buzzing around, figuring he may need the morph later. After establishing a reluctant amount of trust, Marco and Ax agree to bring their Prince to meet with Gafinilan.
The next day, the group meets up at the mall to discuss their plan of action. It’s agreed that while Gainilan appears to be a bit of a loose canon, Jake should go ahead and meet with him. The others head out, but Rachel lingers behind with Marco. She has correctly guessed that Marco has his own plans and isn’t about to let Jake wander in without further investigation. The two team up for a spy job.
At Gafinilan’s house, Rachel sets up to provide back up support and Marco morphs bee to make his way in. He almost gets eaten by another bug on his way in, but eagle!Rachel manages to rescue him. The second trip in goes better and bee!Marco makes his way into the house. He doesn’t find Mertil. Anywhere.
After Jake scolds Marco and Rachel, the team try and figure out what game Gafinilan is playing. Ax suddenly realizes the importance of the herb he ate while visiting. It is a pain killer, and after witnessing Gafinilan’s shaking, Ax is able to guess that he has a horrible Andalite disease called Soola’s Disease. It create horrendous pain and is fatal. They figure out that Gafinilan is likely trying to meet Jake thinking that he is an adult Andalite whom Gafinilan could acquire and thus escape his disease (even though, according to Ax, this is considered a very shameful thing to do).
The next day, Jake goes in to meet with Gafinilan. After becoming frustrated when Jake refuses to “demorph” to his Andalite form, Gafinilan pulls a shredder on him and tries to force him to demorph. The other Animorphs barge in in their battle morphs. Gafinilan realizes that they all are human, except for Ax. Gafinilan finally comes clean with what is going on. He does not want to acquire Jake, agreeing with Ax that this is a shameful way out of his illness. Instead, the Yeerks have captured Mertil and are willing to exchange him for a healthy Andalite (the Yeerks don’t want Mertil since he is morph incapable and don’t want Gafinilan because of his illness). Ax is incredulous that Gafinilan would be willing to exchange one of his own people for a mere vecol, an Andalite who can’t morph. Gafinilan says that he would do anything for his friend, vecol or no.
They begin to form a plan to rescue Mertil. The Yeerks move him daily and he is well-guarded. Ax again protests that a vecol is not worth them risking their lives over. Marco finally snaps and calls Ax out on his horrible attitude. Jake says it doesn’t matter what Ax things and they will move forward with the rescue plan.
Marco, speaking from his own ruthless nature, recognizes the same trait in Gafinilan. That he would do terrible things (like turn them over) all to reach the goal of saving his friend. This leaves the Animorphs in a perilous position, trusting Gafinilan to not give them up in the middle of the mission. They move forward with the plan, however, and locate Mertil in an old train yard.
The Animorphs and Gafinilan go in for the rescue, but what started out as a surprise attack quickly devolves into the team be largely outnumbered by Yeerks. A massive fight breaks out. The team is quickly divided up, all fighting seemingly losing battles. The Yeerks attempt to drive off with Mertil in a Uhaul, but gorilla!Marco and elephant!Rachel manage to catch up with them. Gafinilan shows up too and helps rescue Mertil.
Ax again sinks to his normal low for this book with more disparaging comments about Mertil. Tobias finally snaps and calls Ax out on his inability to look past “normal.” Ax finally seems to cave and reluctantly greets Mertil saying that he will always remember the hero he was (great progress, really great).
After they escape, Gafinilan asks the Animorphs to give the two Andalites their space. Gafinilan is dying and would like to be left alone with Mertil during this time. A few days later, Marco makes his way to visit Mertil in the greenhouse. He lets Mertil know that once Gafinilan passes, he would be wiling to visit Mertil, not wanting him to just be alone. After a long silence, Mertil thanks Marco.
The Comic Relief: After the Marco’s last book which was a massive letdown, it was a relief to open this one and find myself back with the character I know and love. We again have a smart, strategic thinker who is impatient with others’ bullshit and willing to confront his own darkness.
Throughout the book, Marco repeatedly calls Ax out for his really negative attitude towards Mertil and those with disabilities. As the story progresses, these put-down become more and more harsh; but in this case, one is completely on Marco’s side of this situation. At one point towards the end, Marco chews Ax out pretty thoroughly and Rachel notes that this might be a bit hypocritical of Marco, who regularly makes some pretty inappropriate jokes. He rightly notes that there is a big difference, that that is gallows humor and that when it comes to his actions, he’s not like that at all. It’s a nice highlight of a key feature for Marco. Yes, he makes a lot of jokes, some that definitely tow the line. He’s also very cynical and suspicious. But, importantly, he owns these aspects of himself and, even more importantly, when it comes to his actions, he’s one of the most loyal members of the group. We also see, at the end of this book, that he can be very considerate, coming to visit Mertil and offering companionship. Just making sure not to tell the others that he has a heart.
We also get a return to Marco’s self-evaluation as far as his ruthlessness and direct-line method of getting from point A to point B. He sympathizes with Gafinilan, who was willing to turn over another Andalite to save a friend. To Marco, this type of cold-hearted decision making makes sense. Gafinilan’s priority is his friend, and that rules all. It’s a very unique point of view to Marco, and it’s nice to see it used to differentiate how Marco can see, and understand, Gafinilan’s choice as compared to the others.
Our Fearless Leader: Jake has some really good lines when he first meets Gafinilan. At this point, Jake’s met his fair share of arrogant, adult Andalite leaders and isn’t having any of it. It’s always fun to see him in his element as leader of the group, fully embracing his role and even making sure that others (usually other Andalites) know that he will be the one calling the shots from here on out.
Xena, Warrior Princess: I really liked how much Rachel/Marco team up action there was in this book. Though I’ll save some of my thoughts on that for the “Couples” section since there isn’t any actual romantic couple stuff to cover for this book. But we see Rachel team up with Marco not only for the initial spy mission, but also in the end when they both are the ones to catch up with and rescue Mertil from the UHaul.
A Hawk’s Life: There are a lot of weird hints in this book about Tobias being a bit off. I can’t remember this building up towards anything in other books (at least not in a way that feels like it was intentional here), so I have to imagine it was just to lead up to the last discussion about Ax and his unpleasant attitudes when Tobias finally cracks and comes down on him. He has a nice little speech about “normal” being a word that this group, in particular, probably shouldn’t throw around. He mentions all the weirdness in his own life as good examples. Stuck as a bird. Best friend is an alien. Girlfriend is a human. Etc. But as good as his speech is, he’s also not saying anything that the others haven’t said to some extent before in this book. They all come down on Ax at one point or another. But we have to imagine that when Tobias finally speaks up, it’s more the fact that he’s Ax’s best friend than what he actually says that finally breaks through to Ax.
Peace, Love, and Animals: Cassie doesn’t have a whole lot in this book. She makes one really strange observation towards the middle of the book that makes you question whether she’s actually paying attention to what’s going on, though. After Marco returns from the spy mission and they’re debating whether they can trust Gafinilan, she says that he must be a good guy because of the care he’s taken of Mertil. But…we’ve just established that no one really knows where Mertil even is! Why is she so sure that Gafinilan is taking such good care of him? It’s really strange. Marco even partially notes that this is a ridiculous line of reasoning, so it can’t be excused as just a weird writing mishap. The author actually just wrote Cassie as being this out of it. I mean, we all know Cassie’s not my favorite character, but this would be really dumb, even for her. But she’s also the one to note in the end that Marco’s right, that his actions do prove more than his out-there jokes, as far as being on the right side of the disability argument.
E.T./Ax Phone Home: Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve disliked Ax this much. And really, the other times it at least made more sense, because it was usually early in the series and he wasn’t quite on-board with his role in the team. In other stories, we’ve seen plenty of examples of the nastiness at the heart of the Andalite culture. But this is one of the few times where we’ve seen it really come out in Ax himself. And not just once, but again, and again, AND AGAIN. It never really gets better, and in fact just gets worse and worse. He tries to claim that he never said he was human, but the Animorphs (and readers, I have to think) aren’t going for it. Especially when you have another Andalite in the book who is proving that you can get past this type of backwards thinking, regardless of how instilled it is in Andalite culture. But nope! Ax is all-in, saying again and again that Mertil is completely valueless, not worth saving, and even says as much to Mertil’s face after they rescue him. Even in the end, his small step in the right direction is so tiny that it barely counts. Especially with the insult that is wedged into it as well, that all that is worth honoring/remembering about Mertil is how he was before. At this point, between the attitude towards the disabled and the idea that it is somehow “cowardly” for an Andalite like Gafinilan to try to save himself, I think we just have to admit that the Andalites as a whole are just kind of bad people. They can be on the right side of this war, but being better than a Yeerk is a low bar, and I’m not convinced they’re doing a whole lot to elevate themselves above it.
Rachel said it best as far as Ax goes in this book. Not only Ax actually making progress on his own thinking, but the sheer number of times we have to go over his bad attitude.
Rachel said.
Best (?) Body Horror Moment: There wasn’t really much as far as body horror, other than our usual descriptions of gross morphing. Marco rightly is concerned about morphing a bee, theorizing that it is also a hive-mind insect like the ants and might be equally horrible. Luckily, he has a better time of it here than he did then.
Couples Watch!: So, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to indulge my side-ship of Marco/Rachel. As I’ve noted so many times in the past, these two are really the members of the group who have the most in common as far as their philosophies and attitudes towards the war. We still usually see them on the same side of most arguments and they still have good banter. So, it’s nice to see here that Rachel is the only member of the group to cotton on to Marco’s plan to further investigate Gafinilan’s house before letting Jake go in. They have a nice little buddy adventure scoping it out, and it really proves how in-step they both are with the other.
If Only Visser Three had Mustache to Twirl: Visser Three is absent from this book. I do wonder at the reasoning behind some of his choices though. I mean, from a strategic standpoint, Gafinilan and Mertil would still be strong assets on their own as Controllers, if only for their knowledge of Andalite strategy and plans. It also seems strange that Visser Three would ask him to only turn over one other Andalite or, really, even attempt this kind of trade at all. It seems more in line for him that he’d try to just set a general trap to capture all of the bandits who he’s assume are connected to these two.
Adult Ugly Crying at a Middle Grade Book: Not much really, other than my general frustration at the number of times we have to hear about Ax’s horrible ideas.
What a Terrible Plan, Guys!: They have some good plans in this book. Their approach to Jake’s first meet-and-greet with Gafinilan is probably one of the better ones. They are all prepared in various forms of back up (Marco going in with Jake as a bug, the others waiting in the wing in their battle morphs), and Jake never flinches when Gafinilan goes off track and pulls the shredder on him. Clearly, they were expecting this and it shows with the tidy way they clean up the situation.
Favorite Quote:
One of Marco’s more lethal put-downs of Ax:
Ax interrupted,
“Okay, Ax-man,” I said, my voice a little less than steady. “I’ve been cutting you slack on this handicapped thing because you’re part of the team. But when you talk like that, like this guy is some sort of dirty, worthless thing, I have to say you’re just not one of us.”
Scorecard: Yeerks 10, Animorphs 15
No change! Technically this is a win for the Animorphs, but the stage remains largely unchanged by the end of it, since Mertil and Gafinilan pretty much take themselves out of the equation on both sides.
Rating: I really liked this book as a Marco book. I’m not sure about it as anything else. As I said, it was a relief to get back to a book from his narrative standpoint that wasn’t ridiculous. But man, other things about this book drove me up the wall. For one thing, Ax makes himself very, VERY unlikable in this book. And the book just keeps hitting.that.point.home. And in the end, it doesn’t even feel like he’s made progress. Beyond that, it seems to further reinforce the fact that Andalites are probably just a terrible group of beings, given what we’ve seen about their general culture. And lastly, it’s only been one book since the LAST story we’ve had dealing with new Andalites on Earth. The timing makes it feel very strange and its proximity to the last book kind of cuts the legs out of the interest of this one. After going for long in the series without anything from the Andalites, it’s a bit much to have two stories like this so close together. But, again, I liked it as a Marco book, so I came away pleased.
Narrator: Marco
Plot: I had some vague memories of this book, of the fact that it was another “more Andalites on Earth” book VERY shortly after we had just gotten done with the last “more Andalites on Earth” book. But since I really liked the last one, I had high hopes for this one. And while it doesn’t paint certain Animorphs coughAxcough in the best light, it’s a pretty good book as far as general characterization for our team and for Marco in particular.
Marco is chilling at home on one of his rare free evenings when he sees a strange video clip being highlighted on the news and immediately recognizes the blurry form as an Adalite. Sure that Ax has been caught on film and that a good percentage of Controllers also saw the clip and will be trying to find him, Marco immediately morphs osprey and flies off to find Ax and Tobias in their meadow. Once there, Ax is able to view the clip and notes that this is an entirely different Andalite, since it is missing the last half of its tail. Tobias is also able to guess at the location of the scene and he, Ax, and Marco quickly take off to check it out. Once there, Marco demorphs. Halfway through, however, a local possum starts morphing as well and they find themselves confronted with a massive, adult Andalite, notable NOT the one in the film. After a brief confrontation where the adult Andalite threatens them, smacks around Tobias, and insists they leave, they split off. But, of course, they decide to follow the new Andalite. After seeing him morph human, they are able to track him to a house in the suburbs. They decide that now is the time to call in the rest of the team.
Back with the group, Ax reports that he has heard of both the Andalites who are stranded on Earth. The large one is named Gafinilan and the injured one is named Mertil. Both have strong reputations, though Ax makes sure to get in a few digs about how Mertil is now essentially useless due to his injury. The group decides that for now it is best for just Ax and Marco to approach, not giving away their true numbers. At the house, osprey!Marco decides to try and get a closer look, but when he flies in towards the house he is zapped by a force field. Gafinilan gets on a speaker system and tells him to surrender and come in or he will shoot them. Marco and Ax demorph and approach.
After some more barbed words, Marco and Ax are invited in. On the way in, Marco notices a slight tremble in Gafinilan’s large body. Inside, he leads them to a hidden room where through mad gardening skills he has re-created an Andalite meadow. He and Ax partake in eating an Andalite herb while Marco surreptitiously acquire a bee that is buzzing around, figuring he may need the morph later. After establishing a reluctant amount of trust, Marco and Ax agree to bring their Prince to meet with Gafinilan.
The next day, the group meets up at the mall to discuss their plan of action. It’s agreed that while Gainilan appears to be a bit of a loose canon, Jake should go ahead and meet with him. The others head out, but Rachel lingers behind with Marco. She has correctly guessed that Marco has his own plans and isn’t about to let Jake wander in without further investigation. The two team up for a spy job.
At Gafinilan’s house, Rachel sets up to provide back up support and Marco morphs bee to make his way in. He almost gets eaten by another bug on his way in, but eagle!Rachel manages to rescue him. The second trip in goes better and bee!Marco makes his way into the house. He doesn’t find Mertil. Anywhere.
After Jake scolds Marco and Rachel, the team try and figure out what game Gafinilan is playing. Ax suddenly realizes the importance of the herb he ate while visiting. It is a pain killer, and after witnessing Gafinilan’s shaking, Ax is able to guess that he has a horrible Andalite disease called Soola’s Disease. It create horrendous pain and is fatal. They figure out that Gafinilan is likely trying to meet Jake thinking that he is an adult Andalite whom Gafinilan could acquire and thus escape his disease (even though, according to Ax, this is considered a very shameful thing to do).
The next day, Jake goes in to meet with Gafinilan. After becoming frustrated when Jake refuses to “demorph” to his Andalite form, Gafinilan pulls a shredder on him and tries to force him to demorph. The other Animorphs barge in in their battle morphs. Gafinilan realizes that they all are human, except for Ax. Gafinilan finally comes clean with what is going on. He does not want to acquire Jake, agreeing with Ax that this is a shameful way out of his illness. Instead, the Yeerks have captured Mertil and are willing to exchange him for a healthy Andalite (the Yeerks don’t want Mertil since he is morph incapable and don’t want Gafinilan because of his illness). Ax is incredulous that Gafinilan would be willing to exchange one of his own people for a mere vecol, an Andalite who can’t morph. Gafinilan says that he would do anything for his friend, vecol or no.
They begin to form a plan to rescue Mertil. The Yeerks move him daily and he is well-guarded. Ax again protests that a vecol is not worth them risking their lives over. Marco finally snaps and calls Ax out on his horrible attitude. Jake says it doesn’t matter what Ax things and they will move forward with the rescue plan.
Marco, speaking from his own ruthless nature, recognizes the same trait in Gafinilan. That he would do terrible things (like turn them over) all to reach the goal of saving his friend. This leaves the Animorphs in a perilous position, trusting Gafinilan to not give them up in the middle of the mission. They move forward with the plan, however, and locate Mertil in an old train yard.
The Animorphs and Gafinilan go in for the rescue, but what started out as a surprise attack quickly devolves into the team be largely outnumbered by Yeerks. A massive fight breaks out. The team is quickly divided up, all fighting seemingly losing battles. The Yeerks attempt to drive off with Mertil in a Uhaul, but gorilla!Marco and elephant!Rachel manage to catch up with them. Gafinilan shows up too and helps rescue Mertil.
Ax again sinks to his normal low for this book with more disparaging comments about Mertil. Tobias finally snaps and calls Ax out on his inability to look past “normal.” Ax finally seems to cave and reluctantly greets Mertil saying that he will always remember the hero he was (great progress, really great).
After they escape, Gafinilan asks the Animorphs to give the two Andalites their space. Gafinilan is dying and would like to be left alone with Mertil during this time. A few days later, Marco makes his way to visit Mertil in the greenhouse. He lets Mertil know that once Gafinilan passes, he would be wiling to visit Mertil, not wanting him to just be alone. After a long silence, Mertil thanks Marco.
The Comic Relief: After the Marco’s last book which was a massive letdown, it was a relief to open this one and find myself back with the character I know and love. We again have a smart, strategic thinker who is impatient with others’ bullshit and willing to confront his own darkness.
Throughout the book, Marco repeatedly calls Ax out for his really negative attitude towards Mertil and those with disabilities. As the story progresses, these put-down become more and more harsh; but in this case, one is completely on Marco’s side of this situation. At one point towards the end, Marco chews Ax out pretty thoroughly and Rachel notes that this might be a bit hypocritical of Marco, who regularly makes some pretty inappropriate jokes. He rightly notes that there is a big difference, that that is gallows humor and that when it comes to his actions, he’s not like that at all. It’s a nice highlight of a key feature for Marco. Yes, he makes a lot of jokes, some that definitely tow the line. He’s also very cynical and suspicious. But, importantly, he owns these aspects of himself and, even more importantly, when it comes to his actions, he’s one of the most loyal members of the group. We also see, at the end of this book, that he can be very considerate, coming to visit Mertil and offering companionship. Just making sure not to tell the others that he has a heart.
We also get a return to Marco’s self-evaluation as far as his ruthlessness and direct-line method of getting from point A to point B. He sympathizes with Gafinilan, who was willing to turn over another Andalite to save a friend. To Marco, this type of cold-hearted decision making makes sense. Gafinilan’s priority is his friend, and that rules all. It’s a very unique point of view to Marco, and it’s nice to see it used to differentiate how Marco can see, and understand, Gafinilan’s choice as compared to the others.
Our Fearless Leader: Jake has some really good lines when he first meets Gafinilan. At this point, Jake’s met his fair share of arrogant, adult Andalite leaders and isn’t having any of it. It’s always fun to see him in his element as leader of the group, fully embracing his role and even making sure that others (usually other Andalites) know that he will be the one calling the shots from here on out.
Xena, Warrior Princess: I really liked how much Rachel/Marco team up action there was in this book. Though I’ll save some of my thoughts on that for the “Couples” section since there isn’t any actual romantic couple stuff to cover for this book. But we see Rachel team up with Marco not only for the initial spy mission, but also in the end when they both are the ones to catch up with and rescue Mertil from the UHaul.
A Hawk’s Life: There are a lot of weird hints in this book about Tobias being a bit off. I can’t remember this building up towards anything in other books (at least not in a way that feels like it was intentional here), so I have to imagine it was just to lead up to the last discussion about Ax and his unpleasant attitudes when Tobias finally cracks and comes down on him. He has a nice little speech about “normal” being a word that this group, in particular, probably shouldn’t throw around. He mentions all the weirdness in his own life as good examples. Stuck as a bird. Best friend is an alien. Girlfriend is a human. Etc. But as good as his speech is, he’s also not saying anything that the others haven’t said to some extent before in this book. They all come down on Ax at one point or another. But we have to imagine that when Tobias finally speaks up, it’s more the fact that he’s Ax’s best friend than what he actually says that finally breaks through to Ax.
Peace, Love, and Animals: Cassie doesn’t have a whole lot in this book. She makes one really strange observation towards the middle of the book that makes you question whether she’s actually paying attention to what’s going on, though. After Marco returns from the spy mission and they’re debating whether they can trust Gafinilan, she says that he must be a good guy because of the care he’s taken of Mertil. But…we’ve just established that no one really knows where Mertil even is! Why is she so sure that Gafinilan is taking such good care of him? It’s really strange. Marco even partially notes that this is a ridiculous line of reasoning, so it can’t be excused as just a weird writing mishap. The author actually just wrote Cassie as being this out of it. I mean, we all know Cassie’s not my favorite character, but this would be really dumb, even for her. But she’s also the one to note in the end that Marco’s right, that his actions do prove more than his out-there jokes, as far as being on the right side of the disability argument.
E.T./Ax Phone Home: Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve disliked Ax this much. And really, the other times it at least made more sense, because it was usually early in the series and he wasn’t quite on-board with his role in the team. In other stories, we’ve seen plenty of examples of the nastiness at the heart of the Andalite culture. But this is one of the few times where we’ve seen it really come out in Ax himself. And not just once, but again, and again, AND AGAIN. It never really gets better, and in fact just gets worse and worse. He tries to claim that he never said he was human, but the Animorphs (and readers, I have to think) aren’t going for it. Especially when you have another Andalite in the book who is proving that you can get past this type of backwards thinking, regardless of how instilled it is in Andalite culture. But nope! Ax is all-in, saying again and again that Mertil is completely valueless, not worth saving, and even says as much to Mertil’s face after they rescue him. Even in the end, his small step in the right direction is so tiny that it barely counts. Especially with the insult that is wedged into it as well, that all that is worth honoring/remembering about Mertil is how he was before. At this point, between the attitude towards the disabled and the idea that it is somehow “cowardly” for an Andalite like Gafinilan to try to save himself, I think we just have to admit that the Andalites as a whole are just kind of bad people. They can be on the right side of this war, but being better than a Yeerk is a low bar, and I’m not convinced they’re doing a whole lot to elevate themselves above it.
Rachel said it best as far as Ax goes in this book. Not only Ax actually making progress on his own thinking, but the sheer number of times we have to go over his bad attitude.
Rachel said.
Best (?) Body Horror Moment: There wasn’t really much as far as body horror, other than our usual descriptions of gross morphing. Marco rightly is concerned about morphing a bee, theorizing that it is also a hive-mind insect like the ants and might be equally horrible. Luckily, he has a better time of it here than he did then.
Couples Watch!: So, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to indulge my side-ship of Marco/Rachel. As I’ve noted so many times in the past, these two are really the members of the group who have the most in common as far as their philosophies and attitudes towards the war. We still usually see them on the same side of most arguments and they still have good banter. So, it’s nice to see here that Rachel is the only member of the group to cotton on to Marco’s plan to further investigate Gafinilan’s house before letting Jake go in. They have a nice little buddy adventure scoping it out, and it really proves how in-step they both are with the other.
If Only Visser Three had Mustache to Twirl: Visser Three is absent from this book. I do wonder at the reasoning behind some of his choices though. I mean, from a strategic standpoint, Gafinilan and Mertil would still be strong assets on their own as Controllers, if only for their knowledge of Andalite strategy and plans. It also seems strange that Visser Three would ask him to only turn over one other Andalite or, really, even attempt this kind of trade at all. It seems more in line for him that he’d try to just set a general trap to capture all of the bandits who he’s assume are connected to these two.
Adult Ugly Crying at a Middle Grade Book: Not much really, other than my general frustration at the number of times we have to hear about Ax’s horrible ideas.
What a Terrible Plan, Guys!: They have some good plans in this book. Their approach to Jake’s first meet-and-greet with Gafinilan is probably one of the better ones. They are all prepared in various forms of back up (Marco going in with Jake as a bug, the others waiting in the wing in their battle morphs), and Jake never flinches when Gafinilan goes off track and pulls the shredder on him. Clearly, they were expecting this and it shows with the tidy way they clean up the situation.
Favorite Quote:
One of Marco’s more lethal put-downs of Ax:
Ax interrupted,
“Okay, Ax-man,” I said, my voice a little less than steady. “I’ve been cutting you slack on this handicapped thing because you’re part of the team. But when you talk like that, like this guy is some sort of dirty, worthless thing, I have to say you’re just not one of us.”
Scorecard: Yeerks 10, Animorphs 15
No change! Technically this is a win for the Animorphs, but the stage remains largely unchanged by the end of it, since Mertil and Gafinilan pretty much take themselves out of the equation on both sides.
Rating: I really liked this book as a Marco book. I’m not sure about it as anything else. As I said, it was a relief to get back to a book from his narrative standpoint that wasn’t ridiculous. But man, other things about this book drove me up the wall. For one thing, Ax makes himself very, VERY unlikable in this book. And the book just keeps hitting.that.point.home. And in the end, it doesn’t even feel like he’s made progress. Beyond that, it seems to further reinforce the fact that Andalites are probably just a terrible group of beings, given what we’ve seen about their general culture. And lastly, it’s only been one book since the LAST story we’ve had dealing with new Andalites on Earth. The timing makes it feel very strange and its proximity to the last book kind of cuts the legs out of the interest of this one. After going for long in the series without anything from the Andalites, it’s a bit much to have two stories like this so close together. But, again, I liked it as a Marco book, so I came away pleased.
January 22, 2022
Come check out my 4 hour 35 minute deep dive into reading every single Animorphs book for the first time on YouTube. I recap and review all of the books from the main series: https://youtu.be/H8kUM2q3CIU
July 15, 2022
Two new Andalites have been found on earth and Ax really despises one of them for being
*checks notes*
Disabled.
This definitely felt like a choice for Ax in particular given how often he is horrified with his own community’s crimes against outside alien races as well as the long history of human in-fighting and oppression.
I’m noticing a trend with this series where we break away from the central plot and throw in a Very Special Episode™️ installment to teach lessons and although I understand wanting to do good and teach the children of this middle grade series’ target audience but it’s also lazily thrown in. Over 40 books with zero indication of this particularly major ideology and likely something that will also never be mentioned again.
The Andalites creating a culture of ostracization, isolation, and systemic oppression against those physically or mentally unable to participate in violence or war is unsurprising and very in-character for them. It’s cruel and drives home the understanding of just how much this war between Yeerks and Andalites is one of “evil” vs. “slightly less evil”.
You know you’ve created a fucked up character when Marco, of all people, is telling you to make some corrections.
Marco— the body shaming, misogynistic, chaser of girls— had to tell Ax to be more open minded and accepting.
Anyways, points for Applegate not making Ax homophobic too while he was at it (yes, I am fully aware of how painfully the bare minimum that is).
Gay gardening aliens escaping military duty FTW 🙌
Anyways I think this book is crap in that it introduces alien ableism and then means to educate the audience alongside the ableist alien on the team and by the end of it, Ax is still an ableist and has barely budged in his views and the team just kind of has to accept it and move on with Marco secretly extending basic kindness and friendship to the disabled alien in question.
Once again, I’m very confident in assuming this topic will not be explored ever again in the series and that’s a really big problem for me with how we’ve left off Ax. This better not result in Ax learning to view Mertil as someone deserving respect as a result of potential assistance in the Yeerk war.
Ugly!!
CW: war, violence, slavery, blatant and recurring ableism, dated language referencing disability, brief use of ableist slur(s), death, grief
*checks notes*
Disabled.
This definitely felt like a choice for Ax in particular given how often he is horrified with his own community’s crimes against outside alien races as well as the long history of human in-fighting and oppression.
I’m noticing a trend with this series where we break away from the central plot and throw in a Very Special Episode™️ installment to teach lessons and although I understand wanting to do good and teach the children of this middle grade series’ target audience but it’s also lazily thrown in. Over 40 books with zero indication of this particularly major ideology and likely something that will also never be mentioned again.
The Andalites creating a culture of ostracization, isolation, and systemic oppression against those physically or mentally unable to participate in violence or war is unsurprising and very in-character for them. It’s cruel and drives home the understanding of just how much this war between Yeerks and Andalites is one of “evil” vs. “slightly less evil”.
You know you’ve created a fucked up character when Marco, of all people, is telling you to make some corrections.
Marco— the body shaming, misogynistic, chaser of girls— had to tell Ax to be more open minded and accepting.
Anyways, points for Applegate not making Ax homophobic too while he was at it (yes, I am fully aware of how painfully the bare minimum that is).
Gay gardening aliens escaping military duty FTW 🙌
Anyways I think this book is crap in that it introduces alien ableism and then means to educate the audience alongside the ableist alien on the team and by the end of it, Ax is still an ableist and has barely budged in his views and the team just kind of has to accept it and move on with Marco secretly extending basic kindness and friendship to the disabled alien in question.
Once again, I’m very confident in assuming this topic will not be explored ever again in the series and that’s a really big problem for me with how we’ve left off Ax. This better not result in Ax learning to view Mertil as someone deserving respect as a result of potential assistance in the Yeerk war.
Ugly!!
CW: war, violence, slavery, blatant and recurring ableism, dated language referencing disability, brief use of ableist slur(s), death, grief
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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May 3, 2024gay aliens???? in children's literature??? in 2000??????! hot damn
March 28, 2019
Another issue novel, this time about disability and from Marco's POV--not a promising start, given the treatment of mental illness in The Proposal (Book 35), but it's not horribly handled. To cast Andalites, again, as bigoted despite/as result of their advanced culture is a cop-out that exculpates humans, including Marco and the reader. There's some dated language and arguments, particularly the inept "'I might not always say the right thing, but most times I do the right thing. Or try to, at least. My intentions,' I added, smirking, 'are good.'" But Tobias's anxieties about his own disability/social role are superb--I wish more conflict between Tobias and Ax had made it onto the page, to add nuance and to contrast against the Andalite characters. I'd love a novel just about Andalite romantic friendship; eliding a queer-coded relationship with the concept of a shorm muddies up existing dynamics in delightful ways. So most of the value here is in intentions and unrealized potential; what actually exists on the page could have been better--but, given the subject matter, it also could have been a lot worse.
July 4, 2016
Another great entry in this series.
January 28, 2020
this book exists and that's fine
January 24, 2023
huh, some interesting takes on disability in this one.
August 7, 2014
In a Marco book of all places, we find other Andalites in a weird and sad situation. I was surprised to find them there. So were the characters. :)
Notable moments and inconsistencies:
This book is ghostwritten by Gina Gascone.
Marco sucks at math if he thinks himself and his five friends are .1 percent of the planet's population.
An Andalite who's missing his tail blade is called a vecol in the Andalite language.
Two new Andalites show up in this book, and their names are Mertil-Iscar-Elmand and Gafinilan-Estrif-Valad.
The Animorphs always take great care to not be seen as a group too often, just in case Yeerks associate them with each other in a peculiar way. This seems a bit of a silly thing to worry about, but it seems especially silly if it's just taking caution to the greatest possible degree and then not continuing to be cautious once they get together. In this book, they make a big show of not having "planned" to meet there but then talking out in the open about Andalites and Yeerk vissers. It's not clear why they think they shouldn't be seen together but don't seem to take any precautions against being overheard.
Marco claims he "wouldn't have time" to try out his bee morph before his solitary mission, so instead he did Internet research on bees to find out what he could expect in the way of bee instincts. This makes no sense. They have a history in the more recent books of morphing very quickly when it's necessary--within a couple minutes--so it seems ridiculous to not try out a possibly disastrous morph because you "don't have time" if you have time to read about it.
This is the first time an Animorphs book has suggested that someone can be "allergic" to the morphing technology or be otherwise unable to accept it.
This is also the first time anyone's emotional closeness has been said to amplify their thought-speech. Mertil and Gafinilan can hear each other's thought-speak if they're on the same planet.
When Marco is in honeybee morph, there is a quote about how a color called "bee-purple" is "the color between yellow and ultraviolet on the spectrum." There are lots of colors between yellow and ultraviolet on the spectrum that humans can see just fine, though "bee-purple" is said in this book to be too intense for the human eye to see. In fact, the actual term "bee's purple" really is a mix between ultraviolet and yellow, but it is not "between the two on the spectrum." It is part of the ultraviolet section of the spectrum that humans can't see, while bees can't see red.
Notable moments and inconsistencies:
This book is ghostwritten by Gina Gascone.
Marco sucks at math if he thinks himself and his five friends are .1 percent of the planet's population.
An Andalite who's missing his tail blade is called a vecol in the Andalite language.
Two new Andalites show up in this book, and their names are Mertil-Iscar-Elmand and Gafinilan-Estrif-Valad.
The Animorphs always take great care to not be seen as a group too often, just in case Yeerks associate them with each other in a peculiar way. This seems a bit of a silly thing to worry about, but it seems especially silly if it's just taking caution to the greatest possible degree and then not continuing to be cautious once they get together. In this book, they make a big show of not having "planned" to meet there but then talking out in the open about Andalites and Yeerk vissers. It's not clear why they think they shouldn't be seen together but don't seem to take any precautions against being overheard.
Marco claims he "wouldn't have time" to try out his bee morph before his solitary mission, so instead he did Internet research on bees to find out what he could expect in the way of bee instincts. This makes no sense. They have a history in the more recent books of morphing very quickly when it's necessary--within a couple minutes--so it seems ridiculous to not try out a possibly disastrous morph because you "don't have time" if you have time to read about it.
This is the first time an Animorphs book has suggested that someone can be "allergic" to the morphing technology or be otherwise unable to accept it.
This is also the first time anyone's emotional closeness has been said to amplify their thought-speech. Mertil and Gafinilan can hear each other's thought-speak if they're on the same planet.
When Marco is in honeybee morph, there is a quote about how a color called "bee-purple" is "the color between yellow and ultraviolet on the spectrum." There are lots of colors between yellow and ultraviolet on the spectrum that humans can see just fine, though "bee-purple" is said in this book to be too intense for the human eye to see. In fact, the actual term "bee's purple" really is a mix between ultraviolet and yellow, but it is not "between the two on the spectrum." It is part of the ultraviolet section of the spectrum that humans can't see, while bees can't see red.
May 18, 2022
Kind of filler, but with good commentary on disability.
The Animorphs find some other Andalites on Earth, but one is dying and the other is missing his tail blade, a disability in Andalite culture.
The disabled one has been kidnapped and they have to save him, and damn, Andalites have a terrible attitude toward disability. Ax thinks he's a lesser being, not worth saving. He's dismissive and offensive the whole time, and Marco calls him out on it.
Also, the two Andalites are male and live together domestically, and one is named Mertil, almost like Myrtle. They say they're best friends, but they're fairly gay coded. But this was written in the 90s and was a kids' book besides, so of course that's not mentioned. But I say they were a couple.
The Animorphs find some other Andalites on Earth, but one is dying and the other is missing his tail blade, a disability in Andalite culture.
The disabled one has been kidnapped and they have to save him, and damn, Andalites have a terrible attitude toward disability. Ax thinks he's a lesser being, not worth saving. He's dismissive and offensive the whole time, and Marco calls him out on it.
Also, the two Andalites are male and live together domestically, and one is named Mertil, almost like Myrtle. They say they're best friends, but they're fairly gay coded. But this was written in the 90s and was a kids' book besides, so of course that's not mentioned. But I say they were a couple.
May 14, 2024
Okay Applegate I see you with that handicap rep.
Also these two andalites are totalllly gay for each other (they cross tails if you catch my drift)
Also these two andalites are totalllly gay for each other (they cross tails if you catch my drift)
July 25, 2018
Well! I wasn't expecting TWO good books in a row!
This one was really fun, as was 39. Honestly I almost feel like both were 5 stars, but I hesitated.
SPOILERS:
Okay so wow... this was interesting. The characters all felt like the characters I know and love! I'm impressed! It's a rare ghost writer that manages that!
MORE ANDALITES!! DUN DUN DUNNNN!!! Who ever could they BE!!!???
I must say I wasn't expecting some famed fighter pilot and a best friend without a tail and without morphing abilities etc...
This book really tugs at the strings of morality issues where disability is concerned. See, disability is a weakness according to Andalites! So it speaks highly of one who is able to put that behind them when it's embedded in the fabric of their society.
I could go on and on about the great things from this book, but alas, I'm time limited these days!
This one was really fun, as was 39. Honestly I almost feel like both were 5 stars, but I hesitated.
SPOILERS:
Okay so wow... this was interesting. The characters all felt like the characters I know and love! I'm impressed! It's a rare ghost writer that manages that!
MORE ANDALITES!! DUN DUN DUNNNN!!! Who ever could they BE!!!???
I must say I wasn't expecting some famed fighter pilot and a best friend without a tail and without morphing abilities etc...
This book really tugs at the strings of morality issues where disability is concerned. See, disability is a weakness according to Andalites! So it speaks highly of one who is able to put that behind them when it's embedded in the fabric of their society.
I could go on and on about the great things from this book, but alas, I'm time limited these days!
January 28, 2016
Suddenly Andalites are appearing out of the woodwork! This time, though, one of them is caught on video. Naturally, the Animorphs must investigate before Visser Three beats them to it. What they uncover is two fighter pilots who survived a crash-landing onto Earth at the time Ax’s Dome ship crashed. Since then they have been hiding, keeping to themselves and keeping their secrets, until now.
There are two big themes that come up in this book: perception of the disabled or “differently-abled” according to Marco, as well as how people relate on a personal level to the differently-abled, whatever way that may be. For the former, we have Ax’s view of Mertil, a vecol because he lost part of his tail in crash landing on Earth (or because he was unable to obtain the morphing ability for some allergy to it or something – it is up for debate which first dictated his status as a vecol). Despite having gone through the academy and being an exceptional fighter pilot, Ax shares the common Andalite view of those who are disabled, which is to look down upon them as lesser citizens. Marco eventually calls him out on it, and the rest of the Animorphs address this with him, and introduce him to their view, which is that just because someone is different does not mean that they are “lesser” in some way.
For the latter, we have Marco’s somewhat brief introspection about how he has become cold and ruthless when he needs to be, and how this distances himself from others who might be “afraid” to get too close for fear that his coldness will rub off on them. And yet, his cold streak does not prevent him from being able to relate to Mertil and stand up for his “plight.”
While this book tends toward the preachy-style we more expect out of Cassie’s narrations, it stands well to remind us that there is far more to Marco than the person he has become in this war. He still retains who he used to be, a kind-hearted soft kid, at the same time he can see the clear bright line and make the tough decisions.
All in all, it was nice meeting more Andalites who we don’t start to hate, and indeed, to see that where the Andalite societal views would dictate that Mertil be an outcast, an “other”, they have risen above that to cherish their friendship above what their society would think of them.
Loyalty is all there is.
Obviously, there are a lot of issues we [Animorphs] have to deal with. Issues far too complex for the six of us to waste a lot of time thinking about. Or maybe we’ve become far too complex for them to matter too much anymore.
In almost every way you can imagine, we’ve pretty much been there. Done that and bought the T-shirt and poster. If anyone from Guardian or Prudential knew the truth about us, we’d never, ever get health insurance. Forget about life. – page 4
< When is it ever good when one of us just shows up, all unexpected? > [Tobias] added.
I didn’t answer. Tobias has been big on rhetorical questions lately. – page 12
[In regards to the honeybee mind, Marco explains,] < […]It’s sort of like I’m part of a big farm family. All for one and one for all while we bring in the crop and feed the next generation and pay homage to the queen. That’s what Communism is all about, > I mused. < I mean, Castro’s like a king when you think about it. >
< Yeah, well, Comrade Marco, just be sure you maintain control, okay? > [Rachel said.] – page 73
“Aaahhh!”
The Hork-Bajir hurled himself from the top of the car.
< Rachel! It’s your soulmate! >
One lone Hork-Bajir, tearing at the seven of us, blades flashing. – page 108
A ladder rung is part of a ladder.
Ladders lead to places where you are not. – page 114-115 – Brilliant deduction, Sherlock! XD
There are two big themes that come up in this book: perception of the disabled or “differently-abled” according to Marco, as well as how people relate on a personal level to the differently-abled, whatever way that may be. For the former, we have Ax’s view of Mertil, a vecol because he lost part of his tail in crash landing on Earth (or because he was unable to obtain the morphing ability for some allergy to it or something – it is up for debate which first dictated his status as a vecol). Despite having gone through the academy and being an exceptional fighter pilot, Ax shares the common Andalite view of those who are disabled, which is to look down upon them as lesser citizens. Marco eventually calls him out on it, and the rest of the Animorphs address this with him, and introduce him to their view, which is that just because someone is different does not mean that they are “lesser” in some way.
For the latter, we have Marco’s somewhat brief introspection about how he has become cold and ruthless when he needs to be, and how this distances himself from others who might be “afraid” to get too close for fear that his coldness will rub off on them. And yet, his cold streak does not prevent him from being able to relate to Mertil and stand up for his “plight.”
While this book tends toward the preachy-style we more expect out of Cassie’s narrations, it stands well to remind us that there is far more to Marco than the person he has become in this war. He still retains who he used to be, a kind-hearted soft kid, at the same time he can see the clear bright line and make the tough decisions.
All in all, it was nice meeting more Andalites who we don’t start to hate, and indeed, to see that where the Andalite societal views would dictate that Mertil be an outcast, an “other”, they have risen above that to cherish their friendship above what their society would think of them.
Loyalty is all there is.
Obviously, there are a lot of issues we [Animorphs] have to deal with. Issues far too complex for the six of us to waste a lot of time thinking about. Or maybe we’ve become far too complex for them to matter too much anymore.
In almost every way you can imagine, we’ve pretty much been there. Done that and bought the T-shirt and poster. If anyone from Guardian or Prudential knew the truth about us, we’d never, ever get health insurance. Forget about life. – page 4
< When is it ever good when one of us just shows up, all unexpected? > [Tobias] added.
I didn’t answer. Tobias has been big on rhetorical questions lately. – page 12
[In regards to the honeybee mind, Marco explains,] < […]It’s sort of like I’m part of a big farm family. All for one and one for all while we bring in the crop and feed the next generation and pay homage to the queen. That’s what Communism is all about, > I mused. < I mean, Castro’s like a king when you think about it. >
< Yeah, well, Comrade Marco, just be sure you maintain control, okay? > [Rachel said.] – page 73
“Aaahhh!”
The Hork-Bajir hurled himself from the top of the car.
< Rachel! It’s your soulmate! >
One lone Hork-Bajir, tearing at the seven of us, blades flashing. – page 108
A ladder rung is part of a ladder.
Ladders lead to places where you are not. – page 114-115 – Brilliant deduction, Sherlock! XD
September 21, 2020
Original Review at Jaunts & Haunts
4/5
I gave this novel four stars!
This time around we are in Marco's POV. He's just lounging around watching Unsolved Mysteries (major kudos there already) when lo and behold, one of the stories is about a strange blue blur. Naturally Marco totally freaks, but the thing is, it's not Ax. Are there more Andalites on Earth? Why are they here? Can Marco and the others figure it out before exposure rears its ugly head once again?
I really enjoyed this installment of the Animorphs series.
The characters more or less stayed true to themselves. As always Marco's humor came through, but we also get a little bit of extra depth as well. All the other Animorphs were well portrayed, and I enjoyed getting to know Gafinilan as well.
The plot was what really got me. For starters, this book tackles the social issue of differently-abledness. I think it was important to address, and as an added bonus we get more information about the Andalites and their culture. Were the stakes high? Eh, I've seen them higher, but the journey was fun and I had to know the mystery behind Gafinilan. I kept second guessing myself throughout and was surprised at the reveal.
Like I said before, this book's stakes could've been higher, and I really want to start seeing the ante upped a bit since we are nearing the end of the series. But overall this was a solid read that was a ton of fun.
Definitely worth a read!
4/5
I gave this novel four stars!
This time around we are in Marco's POV. He's just lounging around watching Unsolved Mysteries (major kudos there already) when lo and behold, one of the stories is about a strange blue blur. Naturally Marco totally freaks, but the thing is, it's not Ax. Are there more Andalites on Earth? Why are they here? Can Marco and the others figure it out before exposure rears its ugly head once again?
I really enjoyed this installment of the Animorphs series.
The characters more or less stayed true to themselves. As always Marco's humor came through, but we also get a little bit of extra depth as well. All the other Animorphs were well portrayed, and I enjoyed getting to know Gafinilan as well.
The plot was what really got me. For starters, this book tackles the social issue of differently-abledness. I think it was important to address, and as an added bonus we get more information about the Andalites and their culture. Were the stakes high? Eh, I've seen them higher, but the journey was fun and I had to know the mystery behind Gafinilan. I kept second guessing myself throughout and was surprised at the reveal.
Like I said before, this book's stakes could've been higher, and I really want to start seeing the ante upped a bit since we are nearing the end of the series. But overall this was a solid read that was a ton of fun.
Definitely worth a read!
September 21, 2015
When an Andalite is caught on tape, the Animorphs go to investigate. By now, it is no surprise that these Andalites are not the warriors our heroes are waiting for. Instead, it is a vecol - a disabled Andalite with only half a tail - and his friend/guardian. The Animorphs must now decide if these strangers can be trusted.
It's also no surprise that Andalites apparently aren't kind to those with disabilities, though it's rather disconcerting to read how Ax dismiss the vecol. I mean, in general Ax is pretty loveable, and then you remember that he still has some of Andalite's trademark arrogance. Overall the plot brought out an interesting discussion about ableism, and I feel that it was even better because it told through Marco's point view. He's critical and has a sharp tongue to match, so it was great to have his observations.
I absolutely love the title of this book. I think The Other refers to Mertil - the Andalite with the half tail in the most literal sense - in that he is the other Andalite, but it makes me think of how Ax views him as an Other because of his disability.
I'd be interested to see if we'll ever see these new Andalites again, but what I'm taking away from this book is summed up best by Tobias here:
"Okay, I'm getting a complex over here. I'm a nothlit. A freak. Whatever. My best friend is an alien with blue fur. My girlfriend is human--when she isn't in morph. How about we don't talk about 'normal' anymore. Or 'average' or 'natural.' Please."
It's also no surprise that Andalites apparently aren't kind to those with disabilities, though it's rather disconcerting to read how Ax dismiss the vecol. I mean, in general Ax is pretty loveable, and then you remember that he still has some of Andalite's trademark arrogance. Overall the plot brought out an interesting discussion about ableism, and I feel that it was even better because it told through Marco's point view. He's critical and has a sharp tongue to match, so it was great to have his observations.
I absolutely love the title of this book. I think The Other refers to Mertil - the Andalite with the half tail in the most literal sense - in that he is the other Andalite, but it makes me think of how Ax views him as an Other because of his disability.
I'd be interested to see if we'll ever see these new Andalites again, but what I'm taking away from this book is summed up best by Tobias here:
"Okay, I'm getting a complex over here. I'm a nothlit. A freak. Whatever. My best friend is an alien with blue fur. My girlfriend is human--when she isn't in morph. How about we don't talk about 'normal' anymore. Or 'average' or 'natural.' Please."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2021
FINALLY a good Marco book; it's been too long. This ghost author really understood my boy. My GOOD boy; my ruthless son.
And some gay andalites, which is just fantastic. I need more gay andalites in my lesbian life, if we're being honest.
Oof, that ableism, though. Ax was quite the bigoted little andelite throughout this book... Be prepared for some uncomfortable ableist slurs and beliefs.
I mean, on one hand, it's good to have flawed characters. It's good to have flaws that tarnish even beloved characters... That's what we call good writing. (And the fact that it was repeatedly called out means it's MEANT to be a flaw; not the creator's ableism shining through.) On the other... It's hard to read your favorite characters showing bigotry, no matter how much it fits their particular culture. You want to believe the best of your faves. It's like when your beloved grandma starts saying racist shit-- nobody wants that! You want to love your grandma.
Sigh. It made me super uncomfortable, but it was MEANT to, so. There you go.
This showcased some of the aspects of Marco I love best... His ruthlessness and, under that, his caring heart.
And some gay andalites, which is just fantastic. I need more gay andalites in my lesbian life, if we're being honest.
Oof, that ableism, though. Ax was quite the bigoted little andelite throughout this book... Be prepared for some uncomfortable ableist slurs and beliefs.
I mean, on one hand, it's good to have flawed characters. It's good to have flaws that tarnish even beloved characters... That's what we call good writing. (And the fact that it was repeatedly called out means it's MEANT to be a flaw; not the creator's ableism shining through.) On the other... It's hard to read your favorite characters showing bigotry, no matter how much it fits their particular culture. You want to believe the best of your faves. It's like when your beloved grandma starts saying racist shit-- nobody wants that! You want to love your grandma.
Sigh. It made me super uncomfortable, but it was MEANT to, so. There you go.
This showcased some of the aspects of Marco I love best... His ruthlessness and, under that, his caring heart.
May 1, 2022
I liked this a lot. It highlighted a lot of the differences between the characters, especially Ax and the rest (and Tobias's sensitivity towards the Andalite's shame of being a nothlit). I kind of wish Ax got put in his place more, but also, shaking harmful cultural ideas is hard and it would ring false for him to suddenly drop his Andalite beliefs.
I did notice a couple sentences that didn't make any sense, maybe editing was rushed lol.
I did notice a couple sentences that didn't make any sense, maybe editing was rushed lol.
August 4, 2020
Plot: Six kids help an alien refugee save his husband from the villains.
CW: Ableism, just so much of it.
1. This book is basically Baby's First Ableism-Critical Narrative, managing to be both obvious and heavy-handed. There are a few lines here and there that are pretty good but the plot is mostly just the kids go on yet another mission while Ax snootily informs everyone how the handicapped are worthless eyesores in andalite society, and how Marco in particular gets really angry at him for it.
2. A lot of the charm of the Animorphs books comes from the sequences between the kids. Everyone sits around and argues over the moral issue/dumb plan of the week: in some cases it's done really well with each person having a slightly different take on the matter. This is not one of those books- Ax dismisses disabled people, Marco thinks that's unfair, and everyone else is I guess just mostly along for the ride?
3. Pretty much the only person (well, only Animorph- we'll get to that) who's a well-rounded character in this book is Marco.
Conceptually I think it was a pretty interesting plot device, that Marco of all people was the one most vocal about Ax's behavior. The moral conscience of the group is Cassie. The person who gets immediately pissed off at injustices in front of them is Rachel (and to a lesser extent, Jake). Tobias is the resident philosopher. Ax is much more likely to be swayed by concepts of honor and rightness than Marco is. Marco's role is typically to be the one guy who dismisses whatever is right in favor of what works, and what protects his friends and family.
But you know- all of the Animorphs (including Ax- you will NOT exclude my blue baby, as much of a horrible strawman he is in this book) are complex characters, and Marco often bemoans his softer emotions so this could have been a very interesting look into the kind of lines he will not cross. However, it mostly comes at the expense of everyone else keeping quiet and letting him rant instead, which feels a little... eh. Idk. Forced? I mean this could absolutely be everyone being really fucking exhausted and just not giving a crap, but the only person for whom the narrative supports this is Tobias (because you know- the reoccurring motif of apathy born of torture and your friends giving you up for torture because that was the best strategic choice and all that). It seems pretty business as usual for everyone else, and I will not be doing the narratives work for it so we're gonna leave it at that.
4. We also don't get too many interactions between the kids. I mean yes there are a few gems here and there like:
a. Rachel and Marco immediately forming the Jake Protection Squad. Babies.
b. Just that whole scene where we learn Ax tapes everything on every channel. I'm absolutely imagining him feverishly making an Excel sheet of all of the shows ranked according to increasingly obscure metrics. Tobias occasionally flies over to provide criticism.
c. Rachel and Marco absolutely gloating about having to save the oher person and getting really cranky when they get saved, all in the space of like ten minutes.
d. Marco spending a whole book getting irritated at Tobias' general apathy and upon meeting Mertil immediately complaining about having to deal with yet another Mr. Philosophy.
e. We know Ax goes nuts over food in human form and we are told it's an andalite trait but his reaction to the andalite coffee root just makes me think he's just like a foodie all the time. (Or, quite possibly, he misses home.)
f. Marco expressing his doubts about Gafinilian's loyalty. Jake just being really tired and saying he trusts him. And then, ten minutes later, Jake telling Marco to keep an eye of Gafinilian within Gafinilian's hearing. Okay look, I know this is dumb but by this point I know these characters okay the internal agony for Jake (who is essentially an idealistic naive kid at heart, who's had to force himself to think more ruthlessly) and the hyper-protectiveness from Marco can be read between the lines.
5. The plot is just... idiotic. I mean okay most Animorphs plots are dumb to some degree or another but this one just made such liberal use of handwavium? Why the fuck would Visser Three just LET two injured weak andalites live? Without even infesting them for information? And the andalite refugees know the kids are human now and the kids are just like "okay so we're just going to pretend the yeerks will never follow up here."
And okay- the kids being exhausted and overwhelmed and as a result making really questionable decisions is a reoccurring thing, but it only has an impact when there are consequences. (I am, of course, talking about The Diversion.)
6. On the bright side- the newly introduced terminally ill/disabled andalite husbands (friendship my ass those two are MARRIED and you will not change my mind) are lovely characters. Gafinilian's panic and dismay and desperation just float off the page. Mertil was around for a grand total of two scenes and I absolutely will riot if anyone makes him sad. They are both so tired and sad and just trying to live and are generally wonderful enough that I feel a little less frustrated by the you know- utter and absolute pointlessness of their story in relation to the rest of the narrative.
That said, setting up and developing them (especially Gafinilian, who probably gets the most screentime of anyone who isn't Marco) really cut into the screentime for the kids, which was a large part of my problems with the book.
7. The musings from Marco towards the end (about disability and being different and prejudice) are pretty on the nose, and like I said- I think this was a really good concept executed in a mediocre manner. There isn't enough in the book to really set up Marco's ending monologue, which means that even if the words are poignant, they aren't anchored to enough emotions to last.
Plus that final scene and conversation was just so bittersweet? Again- Mertil is in two scenes and one of them is like a page long- but I love him so much. I want to protect him. Hnnrgh.
CW: Ableism, just so much of it.
1. This book is basically Baby's First Ableism-Critical Narrative, managing to be both obvious and heavy-handed. There are a few lines here and there that are pretty good but the plot is mostly just the kids go on yet another mission while Ax snootily informs everyone how the handicapped are worthless eyesores in andalite society, and how Marco in particular gets really angry at him for it.
2. A lot of the charm of the Animorphs books comes from the sequences between the kids. Everyone sits around and argues over the moral issue/dumb plan of the week: in some cases it's done really well with each person having a slightly different take on the matter. This is not one of those books- Ax dismisses disabled people, Marco thinks that's unfair, and everyone else is I guess just mostly along for the ride?
3. Pretty much the only person (well, only Animorph- we'll get to that) who's a well-rounded character in this book is Marco.
Conceptually I think it was a pretty interesting plot device, that Marco of all people was the one most vocal about Ax's behavior. The moral conscience of the group is Cassie. The person who gets immediately pissed off at injustices in front of them is Rachel (and to a lesser extent, Jake). Tobias is the resident philosopher. Ax is much more likely to be swayed by concepts of honor and rightness than Marco is. Marco's role is typically to be the one guy who dismisses whatever is right in favor of what works, and what protects his friends and family.
But you know- all of the Animorphs (including Ax- you will NOT exclude my blue baby, as much of a horrible strawman he is in this book) are complex characters, and Marco often bemoans his softer emotions so this could have been a very interesting look into the kind of lines he will not cross. However, it mostly comes at the expense of everyone else keeping quiet and letting him rant instead, which feels a little... eh. Idk. Forced? I mean this could absolutely be everyone being really fucking exhausted and just not giving a crap, but the only person for whom the narrative supports this is Tobias (because you know- the reoccurring motif of apathy born of torture and your friends giving you up for torture because that was the best strategic choice and all that). It seems pretty business as usual for everyone else, and I will not be doing the narratives work for it so we're gonna leave it at that.
4. We also don't get too many interactions between the kids. I mean yes there are a few gems here and there like:
a. Rachel and Marco immediately forming the Jake Protection Squad. Babies.
b. Just that whole scene where we learn Ax tapes everything on every channel. I'm absolutely imagining him feverishly making an Excel sheet of all of the shows ranked according to increasingly obscure metrics. Tobias occasionally flies over to provide criticism.
c. Rachel and Marco absolutely gloating about having to save the oher person and getting really cranky when they get saved, all in the space of like ten minutes.
d. Marco spending a whole book getting irritated at Tobias' general apathy and upon meeting Mertil immediately complaining about having to deal with yet another Mr. Philosophy.
e. We know Ax goes nuts over food in human form and we are told it's an andalite trait but his reaction to the andalite coffee root just makes me think he's just like a foodie all the time. (Or, quite possibly, he misses home.)
f. Marco expressing his doubts about Gafinilian's loyalty. Jake just being really tired and saying he trusts him. And then, ten minutes later, Jake telling Marco to keep an eye of Gafinilian within Gafinilian's hearing. Okay look, I know this is dumb but by this point I know these characters okay the internal agony for Jake (who is essentially an idealistic naive kid at heart, who's had to force himself to think more ruthlessly) and the hyper-protectiveness from Marco can be read between the lines.
5. The plot is just... idiotic. I mean okay most Animorphs plots are dumb to some degree or another but this one just made such liberal use of handwavium? Why the fuck would Visser Three just LET two injured weak andalites live? Without even infesting them for information? And the andalite refugees know the kids are human now and the kids are just like "okay so we're just going to pretend the yeerks will never follow up here."
And okay- the kids being exhausted and overwhelmed and as a result making really questionable decisions is a reoccurring thing, but it only has an impact when there are consequences. (I am, of course, talking about The Diversion.)
6. On the bright side- the newly introduced terminally ill/disabled andalite husbands (friendship my ass those two are MARRIED and you will not change my mind) are lovely characters. Gafinilian's panic and dismay and desperation just float off the page. Mertil was around for a grand total of two scenes and I absolutely will riot if anyone makes him sad. They are both so tired and sad and just trying to live and are generally wonderful enough that I feel a little less frustrated by the you know- utter and absolute pointlessness of their story in relation to the rest of the narrative.
That said, setting up and developing them (especially Gafinilian, who probably gets the most screentime of anyone who isn't Marco) really cut into the screentime for the kids, which was a large part of my problems with the book.
7. The musings from Marco towards the end (about disability and being different and prejudice) are pretty on the nose, and like I said- I think this was a really good concept executed in a mediocre manner. There isn't enough in the book to really set up Marco's ending monologue, which means that even if the words are poignant, they aren't anchored to enough emotions to last.
Plus that final scene and conversation was just so bittersweet? Again- Mertil is in two scenes and one of them is like a page long- but I love him so much. I want to protect him. Hnnrgh.
September 16, 2024
Perfectly ok, but that's about it. We already dealt with the group discovering new Andalites two books ago - dealt with much more interestingly from Ax's perspective - there's some muddied, backloaded message about not seeing others as lesser-than, despite Andalites' (and by extension, Ax's) weird misconceptions about physical handicaps. It really feels like they wanted to make it a story about a gay couple, but backtracked into a physical handicap and didn't do the necessary rewrites. Maybe the Andalites from this book will come back later idk, but it leaves a lot up in the air that I'm sure the rest of the series will quickly gloss over, if address at all.
March 14, 2023
Teaches children that "cripple" is an offensive term and we should instead call people with disabilities "differently abled" in 1990's. Wild. Also dude turns into a bee.
March 28, 2023
Five stars for the gay Andalite romance. Minus one star for bury your gay Andalites
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2023
They were not just roommates.
Ax is having a time in this one.
Ax is having a time in this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2025
Returning to my COVID project of finally finishing the most insane sci fi series of my youth
June 21, 2020
The Animorphs reread continues! More Andalites! Also an exploration of disability. And bees. This one was cool.
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