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( The Warning (Animorphs Book 16) )
( The Underground (Animorphs Book 17) )
( The Decision (Animorphs Book 18) )
As a side note: why did Andalites invent morphing technology if they don't use it/consider it valuable? Is it one of dozens of equally sophisticated inventions that we haven't seen? Is it socially devalued for class/labor/other reasons, despite its potential? They're the only species in the known universe that has it, and it's desirable technology and effectively a status symbol, but doesn't jive at all with what we've seen of Andalite society. (Which may just be the consequence of bad worldbuilding that the narrative is forever trying to patch up.)
( In the Time of the Dinosaurs (Megamorphs Book 2 / Animorphs Book 18.5) )
Title: The Departure (Animorphs Book 19)
Author: K.A. Applegate
Published: Scholastic, 1998
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 160
Total Page Count: 295,130
Text Number: 971
Read Because: reading the series
Review: Cassie books could easily be pure navel-gazing, but they're stubbornly realized: a punishing lived experience with potentially devastating consequences. I love that the dilemma is never fully resolved, I love that the supporting cast spans a spectrum of agreements and disagreements, I love the necessary optimism of the resolution. I love the intimate ethical dialogue paired against substantial and thoroughly satisfying elaborations on Yeerk worldbuilding.
I've been grading the Animorphs books on a curve, if you will, to account for limitations like repetition and page length and writing style; I'm still stingy with "perfect" ratings, but for an Animorphs book this could well be perfect—it certainly meets and exceeds my other favorites so far.
Perhaps not always with utmost grace, but this book directly answers some worldbuilding questions re: Yeerks, such as, "Do they only self-actualize in host bodies?" and "Have they considered the ethical implications of this?" and it's fascinating.
( Two quotes, three notes. )
One small side-note: The book titles have become relevant to the books's contents! This is a welcome change.
This set of reviews only goes through book 19 because, as was a surprise to me, book 20 begins a 3-book arc. I'll shove that whole thing in the next group of reviews.
( The Underground (Animorphs Book 17) )
( The Decision (Animorphs Book 18) )
As a side note: why did Andalites invent morphing technology if they don't use it/consider it valuable? Is it one of dozens of equally sophisticated inventions that we haven't seen? Is it socially devalued for class/labor/other reasons, despite its potential? They're the only species in the known universe that has it, and it's desirable technology and effectively a status symbol, but doesn't jive at all with what we've seen of Andalite society. (Which may just be the consequence of bad worldbuilding that the narrative is forever trying to patch up.)
( In the Time of the Dinosaurs (Megamorphs Book 2 / Animorphs Book 18.5) )
Title: The Departure (Animorphs Book 19)
Author: K.A. Applegate
Published: Scholastic, 1998
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 160
Total Page Count: 295,130
Text Number: 971
Read Because: reading the series
Review: Cassie books could easily be pure navel-gazing, but they're stubbornly realized: a punishing lived experience with potentially devastating consequences. I love that the dilemma is never fully resolved, I love that the supporting cast spans a spectrum of agreements and disagreements, I love the necessary optimism of the resolution. I love the intimate ethical dialogue paired against substantial and thoroughly satisfying elaborations on Yeerk worldbuilding.
I've been grading the Animorphs books on a curve, if you will, to account for limitations like repetition and page length and writing style; I'm still stingy with "perfect" ratings, but for an Animorphs book this could well be perfect—it certainly meets and exceeds my other favorites so far.
Perhaps not always with utmost grace, but this book directly answers some worldbuilding questions re: Yeerks, such as, "Do they only self-actualize in host bodies?" and "Have they considered the ethical implications of this?" and it's fascinating.
( Two quotes, three notes. )
One small side-note: The book titles have become relevant to the books's contents! This is a welcome change.
This set of reviews only goes through book 19 because, as was a surprise to me, book 20 begins a 3-book arc. I'll shove that whole thing in the next group of reviews.
