I don't think this book will have as much from me as some others, which isn't to say it wasn't a good book, I thought it was a really cool premise that had to happen at some point (although, I agree with others, a lot more could have been done with it), but simply that there isn't a lot of deep insights to discuss in the way that there are in others.
Questions1) This is obviously a major turning point in the series. Do you think that the ‘reveal’ of the Animorphs to Marco’s dad was handled appropriately?The revealing itself was pretty good here and better handled by Marco than some of the other parents, by explaining the whole story carefully, then showing the morphs as proof) rather than assaulting them with wild animals and then explaining. I think that the whole "adults are too stubborn and unimaginative to be able to believe in this sort of thing when confronted with it, isn't it wonderful that we are kids" thing is a bit overdone with the other adults but is held in check pretty well here.
2) Do you think that Marco’s dad’s reaction was a pretty accurate representation of what would actually happen? How would YOUR dad react if you told him you had spent the last three years fighting brain-stealing slugs?I think it was a fair enough reaction and that the reaction would depend completely on the individual. I think that some answers to this question, such as that he took it 'too lightly' were unfair, people are really unpredictable when it comes to shocking news and can occasionally handle it in very calm and orderly fashions for quite some time before the shock really sets in and causes a reaction.
3) What do you think would have happened if the Yeerks attempted to capture Marco and his dad rather than kill them? How would the Chee had reacted? What would have been the long-term affects?Well, there is the whole "catch the Yeerk and have other chee pretend to be Marco and Peter as controllers" theory but at this point in the series that wouldn't work. The problem is, this is one of the biggest unresolved conflicts within the official canon that has been maintained: It was solidly established that Erek allowed a Yeerk to 'infest' into his body, then held it captive and sustains it with Kandrona that he provides while masquerading as a Controller and that this is how the Chee spies infiltrate the Yeerk Empire on Earth, also in the same book (#10, The Android) Mr. King is able to restrain Rachel in bear form, and explains that the Chee are fully capable of restraining anyone who is not powerful enough to overcome them, but cannot actually inflict violence on them; but later the Chee are more restricted, in #26, The Attack Erek is unable to shove a Howler aside in defense of the Anis and in #29 The Sickness he is not even allowed to restrain a delirious Andalite who may be a danger to himself and others because this is somehow 'too violent,' but while the series has ret-conned stronger restrictions on the Chee non-violence programming it never addressed the issue of holding Yeerks captive that allows them to infiltrate the Empire in the first place.
I think that in this case Marco, Erek and Mr. King were simply depending on accurately predicting that the Yeerks being desperate and not wanting to risk another escape and more trouble from Marco and Peter and that they would simply kill them.
4) This is the book where Visser One is finally destroyed and Eva, Marco’s mom, goes free. Do you think that this mission was handled well?I think that the mission was handled well in a "Visser 1 is almost starved to death and Eva will be killed as soon as Visser 1 does starve, so we have to act fast and rashly because we don't have time for planning and a subtler rescue mission" sort of way.
As far as the actual storyline itself, it was a bit too rushed for verisimilitude, that in all these months (years) of war Marco's dad is on the team that discovers Z-space and he has to be rescued on almost the exact same time that Eva's controller is returned to Earth for execution (not to mention why she was returned to Earth for execution when she could have been starved in the Anati system or elsewhere in the galaxy before the counsel) and she has to be saved, bringing them both to the free colony at the same time is far too much of a stretch when, as others have said they could have happened at completely different times and been fleshed out into two separate books; both more interesting and satisfying, as well as realistic.
6) Marco notes that it is possible that Nora was never actually in love with his dad, but was actually a Yeerk plant all along. Do you think this is a viable suggestion, or is he just grasping at straws? Do you think Nora was a Controller all along?His inner narration here could be unreliable, but it suggests that he isn't blatantly lying, but is grasping at unlikely straws for his father's sake (as well as his conscious). Yes, in 35, The Proposal they did verify that Nora was not a Controller as well as they could ("She'd never gone near any known Yeerk Pool entrances"), but Marco's voice in this one suggests that this ghost author may have written this book before the others were released and was given the big storyline issues like that Peter had remarried a teacher named Nora who had an annoying poodle that Marco had morphed, but had not been able to read details like the confirmation that Nora was not a Controller; a mistake that should have been picked up in the editing but evidently wasn't.
7) The book ended on kind of an odd note. After the Animorphs finally contact the Andalites there is a page break followed by the following words, in bold: "We do know who they are... and we know you, too... What do you think the meaning of this was?Yeah... um. Unnecessary. Go ahead and throw in things for added drama and suspense if you want, but only if you intend for it to go somewhere.
8 )Anything else?I thought it was really powerful seeing Eva finally freed and full of hate at the evil creature that had enslaved her, how even though she is a strong, positive and life-valuing character she was filled with enough hate at after all she had been through and suffered to be ready to kill her enemy when it was completely defenseless.
Kind of a side note, but does anybody else feel like most of the ghostwriters were pulling their punches?
I disagree here. I think a lot of the flak that the ghostwriters get isn't really their due, and that you have to be willing to criticize KA for her problems as well as praise her brilliant strokes. OK, maybe the ghostwriters could have put more power into their emotional scenes and deeper messages, but they'd be just as at risk of being criticized as being too 'over the top' and 'too dramatic' as the criticism you get here. Ultimately, KA did a read-over to make sure it fit in the series and made changes to suit what she wanted to see in it, if she gave it her approval to be a part of the canon of her series then she is responsible for the content.
And yes, while I was reading it I also thought a "Marco's funeral" scene could have been both funny and interesting, Jake trying to fake a serious mourning to avoid any public attention to himself while Marco's thought-speech jokes were in his head would have been great material to work with.
