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Title: The Invasion (Animorphs Book 1)
Author: K.A. Applegate
Published: Scholastic, 1996
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 185
Total Page Count: 284,975
Text Number: 923
Read Because: reading the series
Review: This is a more robust beginning than I expected, establishing the series's premise and major worldbuilding, also the character dynamics, and it has a mini-conflict and climactic action scene. The writing is workman-like and telepathy makes for convenient infodumping, but these aren't bad things: they make it possible to cram a lot into a short book. And I'm surprised by how well I remembered it, given that I haven't touched this series in 20 years. It's a phenomenal combination of elements—the tension between body horror and wish-fulfillment; the distinct characters made emotionally accessible by morphing into animals (the seductiveness of an animal's mind is great; the scenes where characters pet other-characters-as-animals is even better).
I imagine my response to the sequels will frequently be "same! but with various additions/exceptions" and so I won't review them in this much detail. But this was a great start. I can see why I loved it as a kid, and I'm excited to read more now.
( The Visitor (Animorphs Book 2) )
( The Encounter (Animorphs Book 3) )
( The Message (Animorphs Book 4) )
( The Predator (Animorphs Book 5) )
On account of how there are 54 main + 10 side books in this series, and because they're short and I'm reading them in bursts, I'll post these reviews in groups of ~5 at a time. Some overarching thoughts on reading the series so far:
( Read more... )
Author: K.A. Applegate
Published: Scholastic, 1996
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 185
Total Page Count: 284,975
Text Number: 923
Read Because: reading the series
Review: This is a more robust beginning than I expected, establishing the series's premise and major worldbuilding, also the character dynamics, and it has a mini-conflict and climactic action scene. The writing is workman-like and telepathy makes for convenient infodumping, but these aren't bad things: they make it possible to cram a lot into a short book. And I'm surprised by how well I remembered it, given that I haven't touched this series in 20 years. It's a phenomenal combination of elements—the tension between body horror and wish-fulfillment; the distinct characters made emotionally accessible by morphing into animals (the seductiveness of an animal's mind is great; the scenes where characters pet other-characters-as-animals is even better).
I imagine my response to the sequels will frequently be "same! but with various additions/exceptions" and so I won't review them in this much detail. But this was a great start. I can see why I loved it as a kid, and I'm excited to read more now.
( The Visitor (Animorphs Book 2) )
( The Encounter (Animorphs Book 3) )
( The Message (Animorphs Book 4) )
( The Predator (Animorphs Book 5) )
On account of how there are 54 main + 10 side books in this series, and because they're short and I'm reading them in bursts, I'll post these reviews in groups of ~5 at a time. Some overarching thoughts on reading the series so far:
( Read more... )
