Summary
Sometimes weird things happen to people. Ask Jake. He may tell you about the night he and his friends saw the strange light in the sky. He may even tell you about what happened when they realized the "light" was only a plane - from another planet. Here's where Jakes story gets a little weird. It's where they're told that the human race is under attack - and given the chance to fight back.
Now Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias and Marco have the power to morph into any animal they choose. And they must use that power to outsmart an evil that is greater than anything the world has ever seen...
Questions
1) When Elfangor and Visser Three interact their conversation is very impersonal. How much of their history do you think that KA had figured out at this point?
2) Elfangor's fighter is equipped with two oddities: a family picture and an Escafil Device. Why do you think Elfangor would have these items on a fighter? Especially the Escafil Device - as a fighter pilot, it seems odd that Elfangor would have the added responsibility of guarding a piece of Andalite technology as he rides into battle.
3) The infamous KASU of book #1: Do you think that KA should have kept thought-speak the way it was in the first book, so that they could thought-speak even in human form? Or does it make more sense the way it ended up? If I remember correctly some of the ghostwriters have Ax and Tobias capable of thought-speaking in human morph later on in the series. What do you think about that?
4) How much of an 'accident' do you think Tobias getting stuck in morph was?
5) What do you think of the way KA portrays each of their personalities in this book? This is when we're introduced to the characters, and they're all still incredibly naive. What do you think about how they start out?
6) Cassie is, surprisingly, the first person to agree to receive the morphing power and fight. What do you think about that?
Feel free to answer these questions or not, add your own, etc. Next weeks book will be #2: The Visitor.
1) Although I doubt she had the whole history figured out, it didn't seem that impersonal: after all, V3 goes out of his way to humiliate and torture Elfangor by eating him. A more sensible course of action for an Andalite he had less of an emotive relationship with would have been to stun and then infest, thus gaining a second morph-capable Andalite host. Another reason for V3 not doing this, of course, is that he isn't about to give up his position as sole Andalite-Controller very easily.
2) The family picture doesn't seem odd: I can understand why Elfangor would want something to remember his family by while in space. The Escafil Device IS odd, because I can't see why it would be standard issue in a fighter, as it's illegal to give the technology to other species, and all members of the Andalite military already have it. Plus there's the risk of the Yeerks getting hold of it. And as Elfangor was originally going down to Earth to find the Time Matrix (and that when he saw the battle had failed and was desperate), I can't see why he would have taken the device with him. All I can suggest is the Ellimist "not interfering" again
(Isn't it useful how you can attribute all plot holes to him?)
3) I can understand how Ax can use thought-speak in human morph, as human is a morph just like any other, so thought-speech should be built in. The fact that humans have an alternative means of communicating shouldn't matter, as the Anis morph other creatures who have their own means of communicating (dolphins, for example, or Hork-Bajir) yet can still thought-speak. However, if I remember rightly Jake thought-speaks in this book, which he shouldn't be able to do as it's his own natural body, and as Andalites already have that capability in their own body I can't see why it would be built into the technology. After Tobias is trapped, however, it would make sense for him to be able to use thought-speech as a human as it is a morph after that point, just like any other. But yeah, it's a KASU.
4) I think it was definitely partly an accident, but I think he may not have tried as hard as he perhaps could have done to save himself from being trapped.
5) They cope with it better than I would have done. Even Marco, who's pretty reluctant at first.
It was a fairly realistic portrayal of how 13 year olds might react, IMO. Perhaps not totally realistic, but it is fiction.
6) Well, at this point I don't think Cassie quite realises how much fighting may clash with her morals. Also, I think Cassie would have had one of the strongest senses of duty to do what was right, and with her ability to read people, I think she will have been more trusting of Elfangor and more able to see he was telling the truth than perhaps some of the others. Plus, as an animal-lover, the idea of turning into them must have seemed especially cool to her
