Frustration

[Vanish]

I'm just about finished my first re-read of the series with two books left and I can't help be frustrated on how much better this could have been. Don't get me wrong even now at age 22 it's the best book series I've ever read and it impacted me so much as a child. It's just that, well it was written for children. I wish it were written for adults so much, could you imagine maybe 300-700 page books that go into so much more depth in the characters and the whole universe. Even though it was a pretty graphic for a children's book and deals with many adult issues, it could have gone so much further!

I understand that it has a certain quality to it being complex and simple at the same time and it's part of what made the series so good. But I just think it has so much more potential.

Sorry for my ramblings, it's something I've thought about throughout this series. Maybe I'm completely wrong I don't know, I'm just curious if you guys feel the same way or not.

[Chad32]

Actually the more I think about what kind of changes I would make to the series, the more ideas I come up with. It was a great series, but it was by no means perfect.

[Gumby]

I do agree. When I first read 'em in grade four, they were awesome. still are, but too short. I blow thorugh thme in like half hour or so. 350 pages would be nice.

[rebelxluck]

I agree somewhat with wanting more--less formulaic filler and more fleshed out character/world studies would have been awesome--but gearing Animorphs for adults would take away a significant part of the series and I don't think it would necessarily make the books better. I'm having a friend read them for the first time, and she's really impressed with the way the writing reflects the age of the characters but still speaks to her as a 23-year-old. Yeah, the target audience is children, but the fact that the main characters are kids fighting a guerrilla war is a pretty big deal. The changes they go through and effects of the war are, overall, well-portrayed (could be smoother in specific instances, but the big picture is astounding), and clearly the series doesn't need to be adult-oriented to appeal to an older audience. There's a point about children being more capable than adults give them credit for, and without them being the target audience, well, you're kind of missing the mark.

As for higher page counts, I wouldn't have minded a series that was less books but 300-400 pages per book. 500 and over would be totally extraneous. There's something to be said for brevity.

[Chad32]

150 pages is fine for a kid's book. Though for an adult 400 pages would be good.

[JFalcon]

Oh there's so much they could have done if it weren't a kid's series, but at the same time I wouldn't have experienced it if it weren't. These books were part of what got me interested in reading in general as a kid, so if they'd been aimed at adults instead they'd never have been in the school book catalog, I'd never have seen them in the library and so on, I mean when I was like ten I tried to get through Lord of the Rings since I liked the cartoons, I didn't finish the Hobbit until I was eleven.

Still having more things fleshed out or gone over would have been nice, seeing other villains than Visser Three might have kept him from becoming sort of a joke, I'll admit I didn't find what I considered to be a really good villain in Visser Three but he started out well, killing off a named character shortly after he's introduced, using a simple but effective strategy to annihilate an allegedly superior enemy vessel, scaring the crap out of our main characters time and again. The books treated us well as kids and I think they're still great today but I will admit things could be different.

If this 2.0 thing works out maybe we could get a more grown up series out of the publisher, or something.

[Chad32]

Maybe somsone should ask KA if they'll make a series aimed at adults this time, since most people that pick this up will probably be the old adult fans. Especially what with all the ninties references.

[Vanish]

Maybe somsone should ask KA if they'll make a series aimed at adults this time, since most people that pick this up will probably be the old adult fans. Especially what with all the ninties references.

 

[rebelxluck]

I agree so much about Visser Three becoming a complete joke. It was just downright sad. For the most part I didn't mind the episodic missions, but it always came down to Visser Three being thwarted yet again. Maybe if he'd been more developed in the main series he'd have been more interesting. I did love his dispassionate attitude in the end when he knew he was beaten, though. "I was undone by my trusting nature." Freakin' hilarious.

[arzwlf]

lol, i never really thought about the Visser Three/One thing until just now, but cant you picture him at the end of every book yelling "I'll get you meddlesome kids!"

[aareavis]

The only thing I would change would be:

1) A little more romance.  I'm on MM2 right now.  Jake and Cassie are almost comfortable with each other.  Rachel and Tobias can't decide if they're just friends or not.  Yeah, Tobias was ready to say something way back in #3.  And Rachel, so far, gets pretty defensive when someone pesters him (Marco).  However, I'm worried I'm going to get to #33 and not see any real build-up before Rachel plants one on him.

2) A curse word here or there would be nice.

[arzwlf]

keep reading. there's a lot more to go on personal relationships

[Gafrash]

I echo Vanish's point. When reading Animorphs now, some parts really scream out that they could have been done with more adult context.
Though I don't think it needs swear words to make it more 'grown up', I do agree that some parts of the story could have done with a bit more fleshing out so we could buy it more seriously. The Visser definitely became one dimensional after a certain point in the series. To a point where he wasn't really that scary, but just plain stupidly aggro. A joke, as JFalcon, stated. Similarly, unless she was described by some other Ani's narration, Rachel, also turned one dimensional after a certain stage.
Just on characters, I always thought Toby and Erek were not fully used as the Anis' allies in the war. Likewise for Chapman and Taylor, on the other side. Characters like Melissa, Tom, Lauren and Mertil, are worth noting too.
And not to mention that crazy old lady on MM#1!!!
These are characters that could have done with a bit more space in the book, me thinks.

[itw2009]

maybe i'm hesitant to take something that "ain't broke" and fix it, but i felt- when i was the target audience- that the series was perfect. ^^ as an adult, sure, i can see plenty of things to alter just for the heck of it... but it's one thing to say that in hindsight, and another to say that as a 10- or 12-year-old reading the book series.

[estrid]

really its all those stupid filler books that killed it. but i also totally agree, alot more coulda been done w/that series

[itw2009]

really its all those stupid filler books that killed it.

blasted ghostwritten books! i just can't force myself to read them. it hurts! too.... painful!