Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Group Re-Reads => Animorphs Forum Classic => Past Re-Reads => Topic started by: Terenia on January 15, 2009, 09:51:12 PM
-
Summary
We could blame everything that happened on Marco. He was the one who heard about the downed submarine. He was the one who thought we should check it out. And everyone knows that if Marcos up to a challenge, I'm definitely there.
Everything was going fine. Until the explosion. An explosion that blows us millions of years back n time. Back to the age of dinosaurs. Now Tobias, Cassie, Marco, Ax, Jake, and I are fighting for our lives with every step we take. But that's not our biggest problem. Our biggest problem is we have no idea how to get back to our own time...
Questions
1) The entire debacle gets started because Marco hears about a downed submarine and alerts the group in a non-war related rescue mission. This is basically one of the only times we see the Ani's do something like this actively. Do you think they should have used their powers to help people (in ways unrelated to the war) more often?
2) This is one of the few books (the only book?) that has absolutely NO Yeerks in it. Did you find the book completely irrelevant, a nice break from the war, or something else?
3) In general, what'd you think about the idea of the Ani's in the dino time? Did you think KA's portrayal was well-done?
4) What do you think of the portrayal of the Nesk and the Mercora and the idea that Earth was being fought over millions of years before humans popped into existence?
5) Based on this book, the Animorphs are basically the cause of not only the extinction of the dinosaurs, but also the evolution of humans. What do you think the world would be like if the comet had never struck Earth? Pure speculation, of course, but how do you think the Earth may have evolved in 65 million years if nothing had wiped out the dino's?
6) Rachel briefly brings up the idea of Tobias staying in morph permanently. Then, when the dino morph takes over Tobias' mind temporarily she revives him not by saying he's human, but by saying he is a hawk. What do you think about these scenes? What does it say about their characters and their development?
7) Cassie, the moral one, gets caught up in the T-Rex morph and kills a triceratops. She is extremely distraught by the fact that she's killed an animal. Do you think she over-reacted? Considering what happens in the next book, do you think this was one of the things that led to the breaking point?
8) Anything else?
Next week: #19, The Departure
-
1. more often? I can't recall one time they heard about something like this, and didn't help.
2. you know I just realized there were absolutely no yeerks invovled in this...I just thought it was cool that there were dinosaurs...
4. creative, and nice way to explain death of the dinosaurs...
5. good news, no yeerks. bad news, no humans either...and I don't think we'd have sentient dinosaurs because of something the ellimist said...
7. for once, I think she did indeed over-react... I mean yeah, it was bad, and horrifying, but not that much more so than killing hork-bajir or something...why was she that devastated this time?
-
Morfowt, you have to remember, she never ate a Hork-Bajir. I think that was the intention until she came to her senses. (And I have to say something about Jake's bravery -- I would not demorph in front of a T-rex.)
1) I don't blame them -- I've have somewhat of a Harry Potter syndrome ("playing the hero") myself.
2) I'm a paleontology buff, so I enjoyed the departure. Especially because we see some triceratops (my favorite dino).
5) Humans are overrated. ;) Kidding. Couldn't resist.
-
she had hork-bajir flesh in her mouth before...that seems close enough to me...
-
1. I don't remember them ever turning their backs on someone in trouble. However, I think it was better they were focused on the Yeerks because no matter how good they were, they could never stop every crime/disaster, and it would have distracted them.
2. Because I liked the book, it didn't bother me that the Yeerks werent in it.
3. I thought it was well done.
4. I liked the Nesk and the Mercora. In a way Earth being fought over before human existence kinda makes sense. Fighting/surviving is such an integral part of the planet's history.
5. If humanity managed to survive with the dinosaurs around then I don't life would be that much different, except for being more prepared for all the Godzilla situations.
6. It was a good way to bring up is Tobias more hawk than human. However, when Rachel was talking about him as human, she just saying "you're human." When she talked about him as a hawk she managed to give more details, make it a stronger argument. Along with her being surprised with his dino knowledge, I think MM#2 shows that Rachel doesn't know everything about Tobias as a human.
7. I think with everything being so heightened: the situation, the morph, the mission; the emotions are amped up too. However, it is kind of weird considering how okay she was with Ax killing the T-rex and using it as a food source. Does that prove Cassie is ok with violence as long as others do the dirty work? I do think does cause a breaking point because in #19 she does have a dream about being the T-rex. Funny how that is about the only time MM2 is mentioned afterwards. Do you think the series should have made more allusions to it later on?
-
5. If humanity managed to survive with the dinosaurs around then I don't life would be that much different, except for being more prepared for all the Godzilla situations.
what teach meant was if dinosaurs ruled the earth and humans never existed...after all if the dinosaurs never died, mammals wouldn't be able to evolve into humans...
-
5. good news, no yeerks. bad news, no humans either...and I don't think we'd have sentient dinosaurs because of something the ellimist said...
Well, not necessarily no yeerks. Yeerks may still exist and just have a plethora of dino hosts to choose from. You think Hork-Bajir are bad? What if there were a bunch of T-Rex Controllers running about?
Plus, if you're right and sentience never comes out of the dino's (which is arguable, since some obviously had heightened intelligence of some sort) then they can't put up much of a fight against invasion.
-
but would yeerks even be able to fit inside a dino brain? they're supposed to be pretty small, and sharks were already too small...besides...i f they don't mind not having sentient species, why don't they infest sharks or gorillas which are much more powerful than humans in raw power...
-
but would yeerks even be able to fit inside a dino brain? they're supposed to be pretty small, and sharks were already too small...besides...i f they don't mind not having sentient species, why don't they infest sharks or gorillas which are much more powerful than humans in raw power...
Some dino's had larger brain's than others. I'm sure it wouldn't work on ALL dinosaurs, but it may work on some. And that's true that they like sentience....which is probably because they have characteristics like opposable thumbs and whatnot that make them more valuable on a spaceship...but then again, how sentient qualifies as sentient? Velociraptors were relatively intelligent. They weren't doing math, but still...
-
I can't imagine them building spaceships or weapons though, no matter how intelligent they got...
-
Besides, I don't see anyone really forcing a T-Rex's head into a Yeerk Pool -- not without harming the host. . . .
-
1) The entire debacle gets started because Marco hears about a downed submarine and alerts the group in a non-war related rescue mission. This is basically one of the only times we see the Ani's do something like this actively. Do you think they should have used their powers to help people (in ways unrelated to the war) more often?
I liked it. I find it interesting that this isn't the first time Marco has volunteered (despite his care free attitude) to use morphing to help people in a way that has nothing to do with the Yeerks. He did the same thing back in #5 the first book he narrated, when he came to the aid of a man being beaten by thugs.
2) This is one of the few books (the only book?) that has absolutely NO Yeerks in it. Did you find the book completely irrelevant, a nice break from the war, or something else?
Like in the previous question, I enjoyed seeing them help people in a way that had nothing to do with the Yeerks. Especially since it lead to one of the coolest books ever! Also it would have been weird trying to include the Yeerks in that kind of plot.
3) In general, what'd you think about the idea of the Ani's in the dino time? Did you think KA's portrayal was well-done?
I thought it was done pretty well and I loved the idea of them being trapped in the past with Dinosaurs. If there's anyone on the planet that doesn't think that's awesome, then they're insane.
4) What do you think of the portrayal of the Nesk and the Mercora and the idea that Earth was being fought over millions of years before humans popped into existence?
I liked the fact that even in the millions of years before humans were around, there was still people fighting over Earth. Has a kind of ironic symmetry to it. And of course I always love seeing an interesting interpretation of how a major event in history happened, especially if it involves time travel and aliens! ;D
5) Based on this book, the Animorphs are basically the cause of not only the extinction of the dinosaurs, but also the evolution of humans. What do you think the world would be like if the comet had never struck Earth? Pure speculation, of course, but how do you think the Earth may have evolved in 65 million years if nothing had wiped out the dino's?
If you know anything about that period in history, you'd know that the Dinosaurs were already a dying race. Granted the comet certainly helped things along, but it was only a matter of time before the Dinosaurs became history. Maybe they would still have died out, or maybe they might have evolved into new creatures, but it still seems likely that mammals would have become the new masters of the planet eventually. It's even possible that humans would have evolved at some point, although it would have taken longer to happen.
6) Rachel briefly brings up the idea of Tobias staying in morph permanently. Then, when the dino morph takes over Tobias' mind temporarily she revives him not by saying he's human, but by saying he is a hawk. What do you think about these scenes? What does it say about their characters and their development?
It's pretty much the start of Rachel's "stay permanently as a human" campaign, which she pursues throughout the rest of the series. As for the hawk thing, it worked because the hawk is a part of who he is now so it's something he can identify with.
7) Cassie, the moral one, gets caught up in the T-Rex morph and kills a triceratops. She is extremely distraught by the fact that she's killed an animal. Do you think she over-reacted? Considering what happens in the next book, do you think this was one of the things that led to the breaking point?
I think it's a big part of why she breaks down in #19. If you recall she does seem hesitant in leaving the Animorphs until she has a nightmare about the events of this book, so I think it's fair to say it had a major impact. Honestly I think it's something that would have bothered all of them, but being Cassie it affected her a lot more deeply than the others.
-
I can't imagine them building spaceships or weapons though, no matter how intelligent they got...
apparently you've never heard of the Voth lol
-
1) The entire debacle gets started because Marco hears about a downed submarine and alerts the group in a non-war related rescue mission. This is basically one of the only times we see the Ani's do something like this actively. Do you think they should have used their powers to help people (in ways unrelated to the war) more often?
Yes and No... Elfangor had given the Anis the Morphing power to help save Earth. But this was to fight the Yeerks. Not exactly to go save people that are being mugged or drowing in the middle of the sea (incidents that were human led). BUT doing these things on the side DOES SAY A LOT about our heroes; going in a tangent when they can to rescue fellow humans. They had the power to help and they USED IT! Simply as that.
2) This is one of the few books (the only book?) that has absolutely NO Yeerks in it. Did you find the book completely irrelevant, a nice break from the war, or something else?
I never realized this fact. I can't remember the circumstances of the submarine incident right now.
But it WAS a nice change of pace for the series. An Animorphs adventure CAN BE done without the Yeerks.
3) In general, what'd you think about the idea of the Ani's in the dino time? Did you think KA's portrayal was well-done?
I enjoyed her portrayal of the dinosaurs, Velociraptors, T-Rex and Triceratops. I don't think there was anything 'new' there, but it was well-done. Particularly liked the scenes where Tobias and Rachel face off the Velociraptors.
4) What do you think of the portrayal of the Nesk and the Mercora and the idea that Earth was being fought over millions of years before humans popped into existence?
Nice concept, not hard to grasp, really. Important to also note, that it was at this time that Earth was ALMOST molested by The Cryak in the Animorphs Universe.
I didn't like the idea that one of the races (can't remember which one) had the whole colony-for-one creature... It was too similar to the Veleek concept, I think. And both those races being technologically superior and all.
What was up with the 'thought-speech-detector-alarm' thing?????!!!! Not even the Andalites or Yeerks have shown that!!!
5) Based on this book, the Animorphs are basically the cause of not only the extinction of the dinosaurs, but also the evolution of humans. What do you think the world would be like if the comet had never struck Earth? Pure speculation, of course, but how do you think the Earth may have evolved in 65 million years if nothing had wiped out the dino's?
This is really pushing the whole concept of time-travel and rarara. I remember thinking that Cassie's description of how the time fast forward and they returned to the present was really hard to grasp.
6) Rachel briefly brings up the idea of Tobias staying in morph permanently. Then, when the dino morph takes over Tobias' mind temporarily she revives him not by saying he's human, but by saying he is a hawk. What do you think about these scenes? What does it say about their characters and their development?
I actually can't remember this scene. But it is so contracdictory, isn't it!?
7) Cassie, the moral one, gets caught up in the T-Rex morph and kills a triceratops. She is extremely distraught by the fact that she's killed an animal. Do you think she over-reacted? Considering what happens in the next book, do you think this was one of the things that led to the breaking point?
This was d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y the experience that culminates her feelings to what will happen to her in The Departure!
What I don't understand is that Cassie has morphed a predator before, ( I am thinking the wolf and the shark) and SHOULD have known what to expect of the dinosaur's mind. But the T-Rex overpowered her. How could the others handle it better than her, the 'animal-lover' of the group?!
...7. I think with everything being so heightened: the situation, the morph, the mission; the emotions are amped up too. However, it is kind of weird considering how okay she was with Ax killing the T-rex and using it as a food source. Does that prove Cassie is ok with violence as long as others do the dirty work? I do think does cause a breaking point because in #19 she does have a dream about being the T-rex. Funny how that is about the only time MM2 is mentioned afterwards. Do you think the series should have made more allusions to it later on?
UHHHHHHH! You do bring up a very good point about Cassie here. Cassie comes of as a bit hypocrite at times. And this is what makes her person very confused and numb in #19.
8) Anything else?
I thought Tobias not being able to fix his broken wing... the whole thing with the 'unhealing-demorphing' because of the time difference was a load of bs on KA's part...
And Jake surviving inside the T-Rex's mouth was something many writers have done to the point of cliche, too. Nevertheless, the acquiring through holding on to the tongue was brilliant!
I liked Tobias endnote, too. It was refreshing to see the realism in the character's fond in Dinosaurs. Really connected with the Dino-phase. ;)
Question: Cassie spoke at the end as if she had total memory recall of the Sario Rip episode in #11: The Forgotten. Sounds like a KASU to me...
Question: The Nesk seemed to be possessive ruthless evil beings. They showed that in those days, already there was evil manifestations happening on our planet. Who thinks The Nesk may well still be alive and active 65 million years in the Animorphs Universe?!?!?!?
Question: The nuke explosion didn't seem to be THAT far out from the coast. Can an underwater nuclear explosion, of the Sario Rip magnitude, TRULY not have caused any human casualties?! Especially with the whole rescue crew being very much near its epicenter?!
Next week: #19, The Departure
OH MY GEE!!! The Departure is POSSIBLY MY FAVORITE ANIMORPHS READ!!!!
-
Summary
2) This is one of the few books (the only book?) that has absolutely NO Yeerks in it. Did you find the book completely irrelevant, a nice break from the war, or something else?
there aren't Yeerks in 44 after the first three or so pages.
-
yeah there are, in fact the whole ending climax of the book was about yeerks...
-
...I just realized how so many of these Ani concepts may have inspired KA on her later series Everworld and Remnants.
Cassie takes us on a description trip of the comet that brought on a change to Earth 65 million years aho. An idea that was later re-lifted by KA and set her on the path of the Remnants series, years later.
And (without meaning to go on a tangent), in the Andalite Chronicles, we get a generated-environment of mixed-in AndaliteXEarthXYeer k Worlds through the interfaced Time Mattrix. It makes me think of Everworld itself with the mixture of those mythical cultural places. Furthermore, it sounds a hell lot like a certain 'Mother' in the Remnants too, huh!?
-
Gafrash, I love making comaprisons among KAA's series. If you want to read some of mine, check out the Mr. Trent thread in the Everworld forum.
-
Also, why did they lose all the dino morphs? I mean, I know that Ax said he wasn't sure why and that it would be way too hard to explain, but come on! Just another KASU?
(*coughs* yes!)
-
Also, why did they lose all the dino morphs? I mean, I know that Ax said he wasn't sure why and that it would be way too hard to explain, but come on! Just another KASU?
(*coughs* yes!)
Not a KASU, more like a landshape hanging. If they could morph dinos from then on, they'd have way too powerful of morphs at their disposal, and it would be a whole different series.
-
Also, why did they lose all the dino morphs? I mean, I know that Ax said he wasn't sure why and that it would be way too hard to explain, but come on! Just another KASU?
(*coughs* yes!)
I think the whole situation was framed as a Sario Rip, which, if you remember Ax describing it to Jake in 11 they couldn't keep their morphs because technically, they were never there. I believe the same could apply to the dinosaurs in this Megamorph :3
1) No. It's a nice thought, but ultimately they knew their bottom line, the main reason they had that ability was to fight. I think the usage was adequate to highlight that they were more than just warriors for the cause, but any more would have altered the message of the books I feel.
2) A nice break from the war I think; It was a way to take a step back and see the Animorphs act more intimately within their own ranks and with novel aliens.
3) This is one of my favorite Megamorphs, and I felt her portrayal of the times reflected knowledge, simplified of course, that reflected the nature of understanding at the time.
4) It helps put the Earth into perspective on the Universal scale, instead of just this planet in just this Solar System.
5) Who's to say? The Dinosaurs most likely reached their peak of evolution and many of them were specialized and truth be told, something would have done the job.
6) I enjoyed these scenes because they bring about Rachel's state of mind before and then forcing her to acknowledge (at least in some degree) what Tobias really wants and who he identifies as (instead of what she wants).
7) Cassie...I do think she over-reacted. It could have been avoided, yes, but the fact is she was caught up in instinct and she was doing what TRexs do. That being said, I do think it was one of the things that led to her breaking point.
-
1) The entire debacle gets started because Marco hears about a downed submarine and alerts the group in a non-war related rescue mission. This is basically one of the only times we see the Ani's do something like this actively. Do you think they should have used their powers to help people (in ways unrelated to the war) more often?
they did use their powers to help other people actually just not as a group so much. They happened mostly in the early books in the openings but still. Remember book 12 when Rachel saved the little kid fro the crocs?
2) This is one of the few books (the only book?) that has absolutely NO Yeerks in it. Did you find the book completely irrelevant, a nice break from the war, or something else?
It was mostly irrelevant, but at the same time I think it was pretty well told so I'm not really bothered by it. Only thing that bothers me is that they never once reference this crazy adventure again, but then again that's the same thing with all the megamorphs books.
3) In general, what'd you think about the idea of the Ani's in the dino time? Did you think KA's portrayal was well-done?
I got to have my dream of the Animorphs morphing dinos realized so all in all I was happy. And yeah it seemed pretty well done.
4) What do you think of the portrayal of the Nesk and the Mercora and the idea that Earth was being fought over millions of years before humans popped into existence?
I don't know. On one hand at this point in the story I was used to having layered characters and the Nesk and Mercora certainly were not. One was clearly bad and the other was clearly evil. On the other hand it did come keep up the theme of war (aka it will always be there no matter what period time you're in) and they were more or less needed to get the Animorphs back to where and when they were supposed to be.
5) Based on this book, the Animorphs are basically the cause of not only the extinction of the dinosaurs, but also the evolution of humans. What do you think the world would be like if the comet had never struck Earth? Pure speculation, of course, but how do you think the Earth may have evolved in 65 million years if nothing had wiped out the dino's?
well the dino's would have likely wiped themselves out (or at least mostly) and we would have more dinos today besides just Nessie :P Seriously though we might be several hundred years behind where we are now because we would still be trying to survive.
6) Rachel briefly brings up the idea of Tobias staying in morph permanently. Then, when the dino morph takes over Tobias' mind temporarily she revives him not by saying he's human, but by saying he is a hawk. What do you think about these scenes? What does it say about their characters and their development?
I don't think it says a whole lot actually. When you are trying to save someone (be it yourself or them) you will generally say whatever you think will work.
7) Cassie, the moral one, gets caught up in the T-Rex morph and kills a triceratops. She is extremely distraught by the fact that she's killed an animal. Do you think she over-reacted? Considering what happens in the next book, do you think this was one of the things that led to the breaking point?
Of course she over-reacted. Don't get me wrong I feel for animals, but if you don't have control of yourself then you don't have control of yourself. That's it and you can't continually blame yourself if you want to stay mentally healthy. Of course none of the Animorphs were all that healthy mentally (with maybe the exception of Ax) before the end of the series.
Anything else?
-
Questions
1) The entire debacle gets started because Marco hears about a downed submarine and alerts the group in a non-war related rescue mission. This is basically one of the only times we see the Ani's do something like this actively. Do you think they should have used their powers to help people (in ways unrelated to the war) more often?
No I don't it would have increased their chances of blowing their cover or somehow getting caught. They're trying to save the human race, it's not worth the risk.
2) This is one of the few books (the only book?) that has absolutely NO Yeerks in it. Did you find the book completely irrelevant, a nice break from the war, or something else?
It was a nice change, I love dinosaurs so I enjoyed this one.
3) In general, what'd you think about the idea of the Ani's in the dino time? Did you think KA's portrayal was well-done?
It seemed good but I'm not a dinosaur expert so I don't know. I still don't understand why Tobias was unable to heal his broken wing by morphing though.
4) What do you think of the portrayal of the Nesk and the Mercora and the idea that Earth was being fought over millions of years before humans popped into existence?
I loved it! To this day I still think that's how dinosaurs went extinct
5) Based on this book, the Animorphs are basically the cause of not only the extinction of the dinosaurs, but also the evolution of humans. What do you think the world would be like if the comet had never struck Earth? Pure speculation, of course, but how do you think the Earth may have evolved in 65 million years if nothing had wiped out the dino's?
I think that humans would not exist. But I think there could be some kind of intelligent dinosaur civilization.
7) Cassie, the moral one, gets caught up in the T-Rex morph and kills a triceratops. She is extremely distraught by the fact that she's killed an animal. Do you think she over-reacted? Considering what happens in the next book, do you think this was one of the things that led to the breaking point?
Yes and No. While I can't even imagine what doing that would do to someone killing isn't new for her.
-
Also, why did they lose all the dino morphs? I mean, I know that Ax said he wasn't sure why and that it would be way too hard to explain, but come on! Just another KASU?
(*coughs* yes!)
I think the whole situation was framed as a Sario Rip, which, if you remember Ax describing it to Jake in 11 they couldn't keep their morphs because technically, they were never there. I believe the same could apply to the dinosaurs in this Megamorph :3
Yeah, but unlike a Sario Rip, they definitely were there because the consequences of dinosaurs going extinct and all is there.
Not a KASU, more like a landshape hanging. If they could morph dinos from then on, they'd have way too powerful of morphs at their disposal, and it would be a whole different series.
Yeah, but how awesome would that be!? 8)
-
Yeah I know this thread is old but I reread this book today and wanted to throw in my two cents -
I've got to be probably the only dinosaur buff on the planet that didn't really like the portrayal of dinos in this book. Like, really didn't like it. I'm not (usually) a pedant about accuracy when it comes to fiction, but there are a lot of things that KAA got wrong in this book that she really shouldn't have. And no, I'm not even talking about feathers. This book was written in 1998 so I would expect only the most in-depth paleobuffs to know about that. I'm talking about simple stuff like sticking Deinonychus in the same time period as T. rex and Triceratops, which any 8-year-old dinosaur nerd could tell you is wrong.
I still don't understand why Tobias was unable to heal his broken wing by morphing though.
The answer to this finally dawned on me today for the first time. Not the science of it (which probably makes no sense), but the reason from a plot and story perspective. If Tobias had been able to hunt normally as a hawk would hunt, he would have ended up consuming far too many tasty little primitive rodents. You know what that could mean for humanity millions of years later. :o
Okay, I know that the chance of Tobias choosing to eat THE rodent responsible for the evolution of modern mammals is pretty slim, but it's an amusing thought. ;)
-
Yeah I know this thread is old but I reread this book today and wanted to throw in my two cents -
I've got to be probably the only dinosaur buff on the planet that didn't really like the portrayal of dinos in this book. Like, really didn't like it. I'm not (usually) a pedant about accuracy when it comes to fiction, but there are a lot of things that KAA got wrong in this book that she really shouldn't have. And no, I'm not even talking about feathers. This book was written in 1998 so I would expect only the most in-depth paleobuffs to know about that. I'm talking about simple stuff like sticking Deinonychus in the same time period as T. rex and Triceratops, which any 8-year-old dinosaur nerd could tell you is wrong.
I still don't understand why Tobias was unable to heal his broken wing by morphing though.
The answer to this finally dawned on me today for the first time. Not the science of it (which probably makes no sense), but the reason from a plot and story perspective. If Tobias had been able to hunt normally as a hawk would hunt, he would have ended up consuming far too many tasty little primitive rodents. You know what that could mean for humanity millions of years later. :o
Okay, I know that the chance of Tobias choosing to eat THE rodent responsible for the evolution of modern mammals is pretty slim, but it's an amusing thought. ;)
Hey, Ferahgo! :D Long time no see. Well, I understand your concerns, trust me...this is the same book that wanted us to trust Tobias' opinion on the correct geological time placement of Spinosaurus versus a bunch of scientists with dusty old bones!
Another concern for me was their global position--were they supposed to be in southern California, or the Gobi, dealing with T. bataar? Who knows, there's a huuuge suspension of disbelief in this book, and while it wasn't my favorite...I was still glad that the Animorphs had at least some kind of prehistoric adventure. x3
-
Funny how irrelevant it was to the series, i dont even think it was mentioned anymore....but it was fun to read
-
Questions (or at least those that I feel I have something worth contributing that hasn't already been said)
2) This is one of the few books (the only book?) that has absolutely NO Yeerks in it. Did you find the book completely irrelevant, a nice break from the war, or something else?
Yes it was a nice break, but only because the MegaMorphs already lend themselves to be an aside from the main series. In the main series I think it would be distracting to have something like this that is not 'relevant' to the whole point of the series; but as the MMs are designed to be very "And now for something that's completely different" I think it's neat to step aside and engage in something else, in the same way that the 'Chronicles' were designed to fill in backstories but normally it isn't permissible to step out the main characters perspectives.
Funny how irrelevant it was to the series, i dont even think it was mentioned anymore....but it was fun to read
Really, you could point out a good handful of Animorphs books that have storylines that are irrelevant in the long run; ones that had the Animorphs avoided getting mixed up in the Yeerks really wouldn't be any more powerful anyways. At least as a MegaMorph, it's already feels like it is supposed to be outside of the normal series in some way.
3) In general, what'd you think about the idea of the Ani's in the dino time? Did you think KA's portrayal was well-done?
In general, the portrayal of the Animorphs in a completely new setting was a great aside from the main story. One thing I appreciated was that, though the series was its own brand of 'animal shapeshifters' that had never been done either in fantasy or sci-fi, it surprised me as the series evolved from sticking solely to its original premise by doing a great job of jumping into other types of sci-fi/fantasy. The Helmacrons brought in the exploration of shifting in scale of characters and objects for new perspective that you see in the 'Honey I Shrunk the Kids' movies, 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and 'Gulliver's Travels' for example. This seamless shift to other types of fantastic settings while staying in the Ani-verse was very cool and this exploration of the Animorphs series into a "Dino-story" type of sci-fi was totally awesome (OK, maybe it wasn't entirely seamless shift in this case, but I'll rant about that later). I identified very much with Tobias' childhood memories of being totally fascinated and obsessed with dinosaurs. Along with various articles, books and fact-pages about dinosaurs, the first book I ever owned was one of those 'personalized books' that you can order where they put your kids' name into the individual copy and it told all about me going back in time and having an adventure with friendly dinosaurs, I asked to have it read to me hundreds of times between the ages of 2 and 4 or so.
But while it was awesome in general, I agree with Ferahgo that as cool as the setting was, the fudging the details kinda annoyed me. While I appreciated the 'note from Tobias' at the end that let us know that it wasn't a KASU in the sense that she didn't do her research before writing, but in that she knew her writing didn't fit historically but was willing to say "here's my story, it's pretty neat so enjoy it." It was a good story, it was neat, I enjoyed it. Still, I believe it was entirely within her imaginative capabilities to work with the framework of existing history to make just as interesting and engaging of a story. Sure the setting had to have been late-Cretaceous to have had the ending it did and yes that would mean swapping out a few of the species in the story for a bit more realism, but Big Rex would have still been around and honestly: Who cares about all the other details as long as the dino-story involves him?
4) What do you think of the portrayal of the Nesk and the Mercora and the idea that Earth was being fought over millions of years before humans popped into existence?
I'm not going to go on at too much length here, except to say that it does a great job of showing an ongoing, even eternal, struggle of Good vs. Evil and the interconnectedness of it all.
6) Rachel briefly brings up the idea of Tobias staying in morph permanently. Then, when the dino morph takes over Tobias' mind temporarily she revives him not by saying he's human, but by saying he is a hawk. What do you think about these scenes? What does it say about their characters and their development?
I tend to view the Rachel/Tobias relationship as it develops from this point on out as symbolic of a common relationship problem. Rachel is in denial about Tobias, and wants him to be something that he isn't at heart. In the same way that the characters say that she was always a warrior at heart but never would have had a way of dealing with a 'normal' life, Tobias was also never complete until he became a hawk. After that, though struggled some with his 'predator/human' duality, he finally found a satisfying sense of 'who he was' that he never would have found as just a human. Rachel spends a lot of time in denial of the full aspect of who he is, but as we saw when he was losing his identity to the dinosaur mind she was ultimately willing to accept him as he was then loose him entirely. I think this struggle to get over expectations and accept someone for who they are is something common (in a much less bizarre form) in many relationships.
8) Anything else?
My only other point of discussion is my time-travel rant, that makes this story not-quite-work in the way that a satisfying sci-fi does. I mean, I do certainly understand that with time travel authors (movie writers, ect.) struggle to make something that actually works or provide a way for time travel to function so that there aren't paradoxes and such. I know it isn't easy to do. However, when having that convenient literary device of "I don't know the details of how technology works precisely, but have a general idea of how it works in practice" that Ax provides, it usually isn't hard to provide something that works within its limited scope, and this one doesn't.
His insight that goes along the lines of "our actions here are already part of our own past, we don't have to worry about what we do since it is already a necessary part of our own past" lets us know that we have a single, solid time-line. We don't have to worry about their actions creating a paradox, it should ultimately be impossible for any of their actions to 'change' anything because it already happened as part of history of their 'present' universe. It's a good solid use of "whatever happened has already happened, if you know that it already happened then you know that it isn't possible for you to change it, so trying to do so will necessarily fail one way or another"
...Except that what they did doesn't work within this setting at all because of this: Unless humans came to exist without the Ani's time-traveling, the would have been able to come into existence to go back in time cause their existance. It's kind ove the opposite of a paradox, it is a contradiction not because it stops itself from happening but because the change in the past couldn't possibly happen without a present that is its effect. That is to say, how could the group go back in time to cause humanity to be born unless humanity had already been born?
A better "Well Jake, I wasn't paying attention in class, but I think it might work like this" explanation that the author could have had Ax give is that the time-line isn't a single, solid time-line where "Whatever we do has already happened" but is a flexible, self-correcting universal time-line. He might have said something along the lines of "In some original the comet never hit Earth, the crab-people and the ant people went about their war in some original way though we don't know what the outcome would have been. Then something must have sent some of the crab people back in time and their actions caused the ant-people to flee and create the comet-catastrophe. Then, since the crab people from the original time-line didn't survive long enough to go back in time and cause the catastrophe, and humans rose in their place there would be a paradox: the catastrophe couldn't occur without modern crab people from a catastrophe free time-line to go back and cause it to occur. Therefore, the universal time-line corrected itself by setting up a situation to send us back in time and cause the catastrophe without the need for a catastrophe-free time-line."
OK, kinda complex I admit, but anyone who is too young to figure out the multi-timeline paths and worry about the causality of it all already had to breeze over the brief discussions Ax caused the Ani's to bang their heads against the wall over; this way at least creates a type of time-travel that works.
-
Time travelling stories screw with my mind... It's why I choose not to get bogged down on them... ;D
It does make me wonder why a majority of authors go for these types of stories, if they are redundant on the main storyline...
I mean, when I re-read this book, I looked out more for its character moments. And there were relevant material to the main series. Such as Cassie's T-Rex morph episode and, yeah, the Tobias/Rachel relation. But either than that and the cool insights on morphing dinos... Not much else for me.
-
The way I see it the book accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do-the Animorphs go back in time and have an adventure with dinosaurs. It puts our heroes into a real wilderness survival story and introduces whole new aliens.
-
The way I see it the book accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do-the Animorphs go back in time and have an adventure with dinosaurs. It puts our heroes into a real wilderness survival story and introduces whole new aliens.
Well yes, it does; and I'm all for "go back in time, dinosaur adventures." But in a very B-movie sort of way (which isn't to say that I am not capable of appreciating the entertaining aspects of a B-movie despite their flaws), where the time-travel didn't make any sense but it was just given to you and you have to just accept that it happened anyways. I think sci-fi literature has come a long ways in the last half-century due to reliance on high standards of scientific and engineering plausibility even when (perhaps especially when) the science is only theoretical. I almost said something along the lines of "this isn't fantasy," but even in a world ruled by magic, fantasy novels still make sure that the events in their universe take place according to the rules and methods that explain how magic functions within it.
Again, in general the adventure itself was good, but it is fairly poor literary form to tell the reader "It happened this way, don't worry that it doesn't make sense" when it really could have worked in a plausible way without effecting the plot at all; I really think it was entirely within KA's capabilities to have created it in a cohesive, reasonable manner.
-
2) i think it was a very nice break from the war... i don't know why but i really like the chrinicles and this book better than any others
4) i think that it was pretty cool that th nesks and mercora were the masters of our planet before we were...
8) if you think about it the humans only exist BECAUSE the humans exist