Author Topic: Group Re-Read 2.0 #41 The Familiar  (Read 2574 times)

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Offline RYTX

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Group Re-Read 2.0 #41 The Familiar
« on: October 27, 2012, 10:22:07 AM »
Synopsis
They're out of sight. You're out of mind....
Today Jake woke up slightly different. About ten years older than when he went to bed. And that's not the only thing that's different. Jake's awakened to a world-a galaxy-controlled by Yeerks. And the Animorphs are no exception. Trapped in this nightmarish future, Jake is haunted by his past, but it seems he still must carry on the fight to save the world, even if he's already lost everything he once held dear.....

Questions
   1. What do you think of this presentation of Earth following a Yeerk take over, e.g. Yeerk society, resistance groups and the fate of the Animorphs? What do you think the world would be like under Yeerk dominion? How would an alien take over initiated now differ from one started a decade or two ago?

   2. What's your explanation for the events of this book? Who/what orchestrated the experience for Jake, and why?

   3. It's said in this book that "we were more than a thorn in the side of the Empire. We'd actually started to shift the balance." Up to this point in the series, do you agree? What significant accomplishments of the Animorphs up till now do you think allowed them to push back the Yeerks?

   4. Jake notes the following in regards to repeatedly being called a controller: "when everyone tells you again and again who and what you are, it's hard not to wonder, way in the back of your mind, if they aren't somehow right." Do you agree? How much can others perceptions of you effect your own view of reality?

   5. Jake wakes up about 10 years in the future in a world he couldn't  imagine. Where do you see yourself in ten years-with or without an alien takeover? This book was written about 10 years ago: back then, what did you envision your life would be like now, and how does that compare to what it is?

   6. What choice did do think Jake ultimately made between Cassie and the world? Why?

   7. What would you have done in his place: the person you loved, or the whole world? In this book, Cassie is terribly changed from the girl he loved: how would such a change effect your decision?

   8. Jake spends much this book expressing that the current predicaments of the world and his friends is result of his failures as leader. Do you agree? How has he been doing as leader up till now? How much responsibility does he have in the defeats of the Animorphs?

   9. Approximately when is the last time you read this book? What changes do you expect or would like to see in a re-release?

   10. Anything else?

Answer, ignore and submit your own questions and comments as you please; but remember to vote!

Next week: #42 The Journey
Something, something, oh crap I pissed everyone off again....

Offline Oceanspray

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Re: Group Re-Read 2.0 #41 The Familiar
« Reply #1 on: October 30, 2012, 12:53:27 AM »
I'll reply, because there's so little activity lately.


1.  The first question:  The presentation of earth was adequate for what we saw of it.  The world would be less habitable as the yeerks terraform the world to better suit their own life.   The fate of the Animorphs was rather odd imo.  The second question:  In the year 2012?  Cell phone cameras would certainly be a game changer for any aliens trying a covert takeover. 

2.  I would simply dismiss it as the Ellimist and Crayak.  This late in the series it's doubtful that K.A. would add more characters to the Universe.

3.  Plenty of significant accomplishments, the attack on the kandrona, the battle on the world of the Leerans, and instigating the feuds between Vissers.  So Yes, they were certainly shifting the balance.

4.  Very much so, this is a common practice among people in authority.  Treat your subordinates like subordinates if you want them to stay that way.  I'm sure we've all seen different variations of this from Teachers, Professors, Police, Managers, etc.

5.  Probably working 9-5 everyday.  I wanted to be

6.  Cassie because it's fiction.  We already had this choice in another popular sci-fi series;  The Matrix Reloaded when Neo has to choose between Trinity and the world.  Can I get the release dates for this book and that movie?

7.  As a reasonable Man, I would choose the world.

8.  Jake up to this point has made most of the calls but he often gives the others an option to vote.  While he did make most of the decisions, the responsibility belonged to everyone. 

9.  I read this book about one year ago.  I would like to see the 2 mysterious figures at the end revealed, but keep Jake's choice a mystery. 

10.  I read this one rather quickly, I really wanted to see how the series ended. 

Offline RYTX

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Re: Group Re-Read 2.0 #41 The Familiar
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2013, 12:57:17 PM »
     1.It felt rather apocalyptic to me. I know the Yeerks are all for simplification, but still, once you've won, I imagine a bit of indulgence is to be expected. Resistance groups seemed sad. I get most of the others fates, but Tobias going nothlit, again, pissed me off. On current take overs, tech would make covert difficult, but man all the stuff you see now days that's faked, may help em a little

     2. The thing that banished Crayak. Too passive to be the One, too different to be anything we've seen to date, beyond that no reason, but that is my guess.

     3. Plenty of accomplishment, several years ago. All Oceanspray is right, but the most recent thing is keeping V1 in the game, which is hardly stopping the Yeerks progression. It's been so long since they've made a move, that if this is the point where they fell off, you could hardly expect a rush of accomplish from the Yeerks.

    4. I personally don't think so. I'm decent at shutting out peoples actual opinions, (what I think they're opinions might be is a whole different issue) Reality is in my head, not someone else's. It might plant a seed of doubt, but nothing of great concern.

    5. *sigh* I thought I'd be a doctor/vet/teacher/president/olympian/scientist type of guy by now. Epic fail, but I was hopeful. Now I'm hoping in the next ten years I can get a decent faculty research program, maybe set up a family situation. Can't let myself fail this time

   6. I think he choose Cassie. The way the story was going, with the kid, and the call at the end, and her doing things she couldn't, I just think he did. I sometimes imagine he found a third option, but I can't imagine what that may be

   7. The world, but not just because that makes sense. You can love a person and love them forever, but if they change, or you change, well, that's not who you're loving anymore. This Cassie was not his Cassie; that's saving someone you want to love, not someone you do.

   8. Jake has done rather well, I say again. A leader has a lot of responsibility for results, but it's a good point that he is rather democratic, and can't dictate everything. I found this book rather annoying, because it seems very few of the others fates where is fault, but he takes the blame. Mistakes happen, you have to keep going. And while normally it appears he does, the ghost this book brings up beg to differ
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Offline Gafrash

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Re: Group Re-Read 2.0 #41 The Familiar
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2013, 09:32:10 AM »
1. I never took this whole dystopian scenario as legit, because of the experimental nature of the whole thing. It always read more as a 'down the rabbit hole' kind of sequence than a 'this is the future' kind of story.
It was clearly a product drawn from Jake's consciousness/perceptions/fears about his feelings towards the imposing prospects of this war.
And the inconsistencies that slipped, stuff that was said, the morphing that conveniently didn't activate, the way he would go from scene to scene, were correctly spotted by Jake.

...Tobias going nothlit, again, pissed me off.
:rofl2:

2. Although he wasn't exactly abducted, Jake was still the subject of some sort of experimentation. Upon pondering, that was always right up the Skrit Na's alley. The story ticks all of the species' motif and style boxes and it's not a stretch to picture them possessing the technology for it.

3. Absolutely! The Anis were a force to be reckoned with on Earth, for sure! The Yeerks had to factor in 'the Andalite Bandits' to their operations on Earth. They had some notable accomplishments, some already stated, but not least of which is surviving somewhat undetected for so long.

4. There is something that needs to be said about what others reflect about you. There's crap that we buy into quite sub-consciously since the day we are born. Messages we read between the lines throughout our existence, that we unwittingly take onboard, despite our better judgement. When you have multiple individuals 'repeating' the same message throughout different stages in your life, despite you not wishing to think so, at one point you will have to consider if there's any weight to what you are not seeing...

Moreover, you can do something with the best of intentions, but how others interpret it will complete the reality a good one or a bad one for you. So I agree with Jake's statement.

5.  I certainly didn't envision my life as it is now, ten years ago. All I care about is being more stable, 10 years from now.

6 + 7. I, too, like to think that he chose Cassie over everything else. It is a drama, after all.
I would take into account that nothing is the same and choose the opposite. The love interest of my life was now a hardened voluntary Controller, therefore there could never be the degree of connection, trust and love that I once had. That was gone and I would not condemn Earth and humanity for that ::).

   7. The world, but not just because that makes sense. You can love a person and love them forever, but if they change, or you change, well, that's not who you're loving anymore. This Cassie was not his Cassie; that's saving someone you want to love, not someone you do.
exactly

8. I'm an advocate of Jake being some of the best humanity has to offer, but he's filled with self-punishment. I understand he uses this as a way to keep on the good path, but it does hinder all his potential. It is evident at this stage in the series that he hasn't let go of the self-whipping.
How can one possibly guess that not making a phone call would tip over so many cards?!?

9. ~10 years ago, for me.
I wouldn't mind seeing some more alien activity and futuristic tech on the re-print. For all the Yeerk's domination that world still felt very much 'Metropolis with aliens species/spacecrafts moving about on it'.
Also, some expansion on the children with the fancy meaningful names would be cool.

10. I thought the Orff were an interesting insertion. Humanoid species with translucent skin displaying shiny organs, a bright eye and moving on 3 legs, used as police men of the Empire. Could they have been never-before seen hosts of the Empire or something the puppet masters conjured?

A couple of more good concepts on the Yeerk front in this stage piked my interest:
The idea of artificially-engineered hosts for Controllers. Too bad the Yeerks exterminated the Arn for entertainment, huh? Though I suspect we didn't get more elaboration on the concept due to the fact that it would have clashed with the key to the way the war ended on Earth.
Also, the idea of medication for troubled parasites was a good one, too  :XD:

I didn't mind the way this book ended with them 2 x unknowns (ref. Jake's decision and the mysterious aliens). Somehow the device worked better here than in The Revenge.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2013, 09:48:05 AM by Gafrash »

Offline The Spectre

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Re: Group Re-Read 2.0 #41 The Familiar
« Reply #4 on: October 09, 2013, 10:59:22 PM »
Im sorry, I know people hate thread necromancy but I wanted to ask, does anyone know who the hell sai "interesting choice" at the end of the book? was it the one? it just drives me insane!!!

Also, why the hell doesn´t rachel morph out of her injuries?!
« Last Edit: October 09, 2013, 11:32:29 PM by The Spectre »

Offline Tim Bruening

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Re: Group Re-Read 2.0 #41 The Familiar
« Reply #5 on: November 02, 2013, 01:36:17 PM »
Most interesting reference: The World Trade Center is seen!  This means that in this alternate timeline, the Yeerks completed their takeover or Earth by the year 2001, and prevented 9/11 in the process! 

Al-Qaida might be the biggest human resistance left!  I suspect that even the Yeerks would have trouble catching Osama bin Laden!  I can imagine him urging suicide bombings against the "Satan Yeerks"!