Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Animorphs Forum Classic => Topic started by: Aldrea on January 25, 2009, 03:13:28 AM
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If you could change one thing in the Animorphs, what would it be? I think the ending should change. It's impossable that after three-four years of fighting together, none of the animorphs ever kept in touch. The ending is too rushed as well. KA covers three years in bk54! I would definitely change the ending. What would you change? P.S- You can write about more than one thing that u wanna change, it doesn't matter.
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I probably wouldn't change the ending (unless KA consented to it), I would just make it longer and more detailed.
I would make book #54 about the size of a HP book, lol.
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I'd make David a returning villain and have him cause some serious trouble for the Animorphs.
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I'm not even going to mention the ending aside from this sentence. Too many things there to list.
David returning as a main villain. Do something better with the auxilaries, the Yeerk Peace Movement, and Loren. Or just leave Loren out of the later part of the series altogether, as she seemed to serve no real purpose. Maybe give Cassie her own unique battle morph, and not make her the special pet of the series. Not have one of Rachel's sides overshadow the other, since her having two sides is what I like most about her character. Make Mellissa a more important character. change the Megamorphs so that three out of four don't deal with time in some way.
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I'm not even going to mention the ending aside from this sentence. Too many things there to list.
David returning as a main villain. Do something better with the auxilaries, the Yeerk Peace Movement, and Loren. Or just leave Loren out of the later part of the series altogether, as she seemed to serve no real purpose. Maybe give Cassie her own unique battle morph, and not make her the special pet of the series. Not have one of Rachel's sides overshadow the other, since her having two sides is what I like most about her character. Make Mellissa a more important character. change the Megamorphs so that three out of four don't deal with time in some way.
If she re-wrote the series and did all those changes, I swear I would buy all 54 books again. Also, if she changed it to a YA (assuming Scholastic would let her).
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I'd rather it stick to it's roots as a children's books. I forgot to mention not making it darker in the last books. Keeping it light throughout. Yeah it's a war, but it doesn't have to be heavy on the dark parts. The entire series seems to have suffered in a similar way that rachel did. Over time it became darker, when at first it was balanced.
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That's true
As for what I would change? Idk, I'd probably make it to YA and make it not-so-dark :P
But I dunno, everyone else pointed out what I would like to be changed in the series
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That's true
As for what I would change? Idk, I'd probably make it to YA and make it not-so-dark :P
But I dunno, everyone else pointed out what I would like to be changed in the series
Well, the main reason I think she should change it to YA is so she would have more freedom to do whatever she wants. I feel that NO author should be restricted in their own world (by that, I mean their own work).
Plus, we wouldn't have to hear quotes like "Visser Three is a big jerk!", everytime I read something like that I actually laugh. It kind of seems a little........out of place.
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What is YA?
Oh.. Young Adult...
Um.. I would have liked to see David more.. and um.. I can't think of anything else right now :P
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Okay almost all of us agree that david returning is a must.
I personally would continue the series and make sure we actually know what that [spoiler]"one who is all" crap actually is[/spoiler]
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I would eliminate Nora. I felt bad for her.
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*deja vu*
i'd get rid of the filler books.
that, and continue the series (starting with book #53)
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I probably wouldn't change the ending (unless KA consented to it), I would just make it longer and more detailed.
I would make book #54 about the size of a HP book, lol.
I agree.
YA and darker for me ;)
And more about auxiliaries, Yeerk peace movement.
At the end, more explanations about what happened for the Andalites, the Humans, the Yeerks and the Hork-Bajirs after the war, about the Humans who were hosts and had the morphing power! Yeah, a much longer end... maybe the size of the biggest HP book ^^'
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I probably wouldn't change the ending (unless KA consented to it), I would just make it longer and more detailed.
I would make book #54 about the size of a HP book, lol.
I agree.
YA and darker for me ;)
And more about auxiliaries, Yeerk peace movement.
At the end, more explanations about what happened for the Andalites, the Humans, the Yeerks and the Hork-Bajirs after the war, about the Humans who were hosts and had the morphing power! Yeah, a much longer end... maybe the size of the biggest HP book ^^'
EXACTLY!
I'd KILL to get KA to re-write the last book. Even if she didn't change the story (but if she did, I'd definetly have no objections), just make it a huge book. Maybe for the 10th anniversary for the Animorphs ending? Does anyone know how KA would feel about this?
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I wouldn't have minded if they made 54 at least as big as the MM books, or bigger, and made it an official Megamorphs. for such a grand series, the last book should probably be emmense.
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I wouldn't have minded if they made 54 at least as big as the MM books, or bigger, and made it an official Megamorphs. for such a grand series, the last book should probably be emmense.
That's how I feel. I also feel we should've got something on the 10th anniversary of Animorphs, c'mon Scholastic!
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ooh, more chronicles would be nice.
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Keep Rachel alive. i used to think i would change all sorts of things, but nope, just that. everyone and everything could happen the same way, but if Rachel were alive i would at least have hope of possible happiness for the Animorphs, since they'd still be a team. or maybe i just want Tobias's life to suck less... ;)
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Most everyone would want Rachel to live. Tom as well, though perhaps to a lesser extent.
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Most everyone would want Rachel to live. Tom as well, though perhaps to a lesser extent.
Not me ^^'
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I would like a book from David's perspective. After all he is an Animorphs.
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Wow, The Solution as seen by David. Sweet.
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actually I'm thinking about a book that happens before David betrayed the team. You know, to make his betrayal something more unexpected.
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Yeah, a David book would be nice. Like, telling about how he starts to resent the animorphs, or something?
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Still pretty neat. I think he was one of the more psychologically interesting characters for sure.
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RACHEL WOULD HAVE FRIKKIN' LIVED.
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Oh, God. *slams a giant hole in the desk with his head, growls in primal rage*
Just stop it.
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Oh, God. *slams a giant hole in the desk with his head, growls in primal rage*
Just stop it.
That's what the majority of use are probably thinking about the minority of you.
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*Ahnold growl* It's not a toomah!
Well, as certain people throughout the ages have said, being in the minority doesn't mean you're not obviously in the right. Especially when the author of the damn intellectual property itself feels the same way you do.
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Keep it nice kids.
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It's nice, it's nice. It's heated, but it's all civil. All good in the hood, homeskillet.
*Takes a calming breath*
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*leaves the door open a crack*
*Sigh*
Richard why did we adopt 500 kids? ;)
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lolol! Uncle Russell.
The author isn't infallable. Especially after she loses interest in the series she's been working on. That's pretty clear when a lot of the last half of the books are ghostwritten, and the last words of her final book advertise Remnants. She lost her stuff.
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If I could change one thing in the series... I would have added an awesome British guy called Mike to the Animorphs team! ;)
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Lost interest, or had two other series going on at the same time?
Time management doesn't equate to a lack of interest. Hell, I'd say coming in to take back the reigns and finish the series the way she saw fit would allude to a pretty strong interest. You know she could have let the ghosties finish it, while she worked on Everworld/Remnants, and still fulfilled the contract, right?
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*leaves the door open a crack*
*Sigh*
Richard why did we adopt 500 kids? ;)
Because we're both lovable and adorable? *cutesy smile*
Another thing I would change would be bringing in The One. I think that it was too out of no where for the last book. I would have kept the conflict as the Yeerks. Or, introduced The One earlier on in the series.
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La lala lala It was SUPPOSED to be out of nowhere lala lalality laaa...
*dances the lala laa jig*
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Yes, but fans don't memorize details and follow a series for 64 books to have a totally random ending. Suddenly all those books of preparation are useless.
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*leaves the door open a crack*
*Sigh*
Richard why did we adopt 500 kids? ;)
It's not 500 goons or /b/ers, be happy :D
These kids are at least civil and abide by the rules
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Yes, but fans don't memorize details and follow a series for 64 books to have a totally random ending. Suddenly all those books of preparation are useless.
It wasn't totally random.
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It was pretty random, as The One was only mentioned once. And even then, not in the main series.
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Well the biggest things I would change would be continueing the series so we know what was going on with The One and Rachel would stay alive.
I love the randomness of the ending, I love the feeling that the story continues, but the total cliffhangerness of it all drives me crazy!
And Rachel I would only keep alive because of Tobias. Really if I thought it would work I'd just say give Tobias counciling and have him find a nicer girl. It would be nice for Jake too but I have the feeling he'd be guilty over everything else anyway ::)
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Gafrash fit nahar! I get! I kill!
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Yes, but fans don't memorize details and follow a series for 64 books to have a totally random ending. Suddenly all those books of preparation are useless.
I do... I memorize facts just because I can...
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I think the fact that she started two other series kind of hints to the fact that she was losing interest in Animorphs. Otherwise, why wouldn't she finish Animorphs before starting multiple other series? Especially a series where books come out each month.
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*peeks in*
Just because she wrote it that way doesn't mean it is the best way. "Ram the blade ship" was cheap, like something you would get out of the RAFvending machine.
I think that she did it to piss people off. She was trollin' animorphs fans everywhere. Which is probably why some people think it fits.. ::)
The pointless mini-plots fit in the middle of the series, but not at the very end.
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I think the fact that she started two other series kind of hints to the fact that she was losing interest in Animorphs.
Or, you know, fulfilling a contractual obligation. She was probably signed on for however many individual books, and Animorphs was naturally drawing to a close narrative-wise, she still had books left over she was bound to write for the publisher. That's a much more likely scenario.
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I'd make a simple move that would have saved my two favorite secondary characters, Afran and Arbron.
Nothlits can reacquire the morphing technology, I mean it makes scientific sense (as much as any of this does :P ), if Tobias can be acquired then they should be able to obtain the technology too, it's their new body so yeah.
Afran could have morphed something not dependant on Kandrona rays, and joined the Animoprhs or the free Hork-Bajir, Arbron didn't need to end up getting killed in the rain forest. I consider being exiled to the ocean to be a terrible fate, I hated that. They took an experienced soldier and threw her away forever, she can't even hang with them after the war, they had no way to contact her, no way to make sure sharks or orcas hadn't done her in, they ignore the dozen or so other ways she could have been saved and just make her a whale. Woopty freakin' doo, nice one, Jake.
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Eh. There'd be no emotional investment that way. Who cares if they're a nothlit if they can just reset themselves and try again?
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Not really. If say Cassie became a Nothlit she's not Cassie anymore, she'd lose the morphs she had, she can become human again but she'd be a different human, not Cassie since that DNA was lost.
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Meh. It just doesn't sit right.
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one of the messages of animorphs was, how you look on the outside doesn't matter one bit...
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I think the fact that she started two other series kind of hints to the fact that she was losing interest in Animorphs.
Or, you know, fulfilling a contractual obligation. She was probably signed on for however many individual books, and Animorphs was naturally drawing to a close narrative-wise, she still had books left over she was bound to write for the publisher. That's a much more likely scenario.
So Scholastic made her start more series, just because animorphs was ending and she had more books that she was contracted to write? And she couldn't just start writing the extra books after finishing Animorphs? I didn't know publishers could do that.
Not being sarcastic, by the way. Unless you meant something else.
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I could be mistaken, but I think they get signed for a certain amount of books. So they probably signed her and Michael for 20-30 kid's series books, then renewed the contract or whatever after Animorphs became so successful. Eventually the Animorphs story was probably naturally drawing to a close, and it wouldn't need all of the books they were contracted for to wrap it all up, only some of them. The leftover books probably became Remnants.
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But did they make her start before Animorphs was finished? If not, why didn't she just wait?
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I don't really know. But Everworld had finished before she started Remnants, right? The timeline is getting a little fuzzy after so much time. But I think Everworld was well and truly over before the first Remnants came out.
If she lost interest in anything, it was Everworld. She's said herself she found that the most difficult to write. I don't think you can just pass off the fact you didn't like the ending as her "losing interest in her own story". Out of the three, it's pretty clear Animorphs was her baby, that's why she did the final arc.
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LOL, most of these topics seem to turn to the ending. Most of us seem to hate it. A few of us seem to like it, or at least feel a sense of loyalty to it. If that doesn't speak for how the fans really feel, and how the ending really was, I don't know what does.
EDIT: As far as what I'd change, I'd fix the KASUs, and write a book 55.
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In the words of the mighty Bad Religion, consensus is not a fact-based exercise.
Just because a sizable number of her (it must be said reasonably young) readership take issue with the way she ended the series, doesn't mean she was wrong in doing it that way. I mean, since when was popularity a credible barometer for quality? It usually isn't.
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There is no right or wrong ending. But there are good and bad ones. The end of Everworld = Bad.
The end of Animorphs = Could be better.
I didn't like The One at all. If she had never mentioned him it would have been better. I'm not saying its wrong or bad, but it could have been better.
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The ending of Everworld was bad, yes, because she'd given up on the series. She knew two books before that she didn't want to write them anymore.
Animorphs was a different situation. You can tell the final arc was pretty methodically planned, if anything. It's one thing to disagree with it and realize you would have written it differently, but to call it a "bad" ending within the context of the series, everything that came before, is factually inaccurate. There's just simply not an argument to be made for that.
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I would think differently. I'll always believe that she focused too much on the war itsself late in the series, as opposed to focusing partly on other things early in the series.
I don't think I ever countered a statement you made, but if popularity doesn't determine quality in a book series, then what does? Anything with the intent to sell is determined good or bad depending on how it sells, and what the consumer thinks of it.
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I dunno. I'm not fond with how the series ended (although I do totally dig the fact that it was pretty much the opposite of HP's ending- instead of having everything neatly tied up and concretely finished with the stated intention that no one else would ever be able to continue the series, KAA left it so no one really knows what happened in the end and inspired about eight-point-seven billion continuation fanfics...) but I respect that it had such a gray, no-one's-really-happy, we-survived-now-what kind of feel to it. I just feel, as I've noticed lossa posters seem to, like #54 should have been about seven times larger than it was. There were so many minor characters that are never mentioned again. We don't know what happened to them, how they dealt with the war ending, Rachel dying, whatever. Gafililan and Mertil? Chapman and Melissa? Naomi, Jordan, Sara, Dan? Nora? Estrid? Aftran and Karin? I'd have been happy with more from Esplin's trial, more about Toby and the Hork-Bajir's move to Yellowstone, something, maybe, about Ax's life after the war. =/ But it seemed so hurried, like she was just trying to get through it...
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I don't think I ever countered a statement you made, but if popularity doesn't determine quality in a book series, then what does? Anything with the intent to sell is determined good or bad depending on how it sells, and what the consumer thinks of it.
You want a blunt answer? Balls. Animorphs had balls. Think about it, have you ever read any other series aimed at children that included half of this stuff? Grey-area morality, shellshock, nightmares of battle, traitors, shifting alliances, complex uneasy relationships, allusion to swearing and gore? It's absolutely unheard of.
Your statement about commerce being the defining factor in a quality product is ridiculous. Miley fuggin' Cyrus sells a bazillion records a year, does she have artistic merit?
Animorph's absolutely defining feature was that Katherine and Michael weren't afraid to go places usually deemed inappropriate. She didn't talk down to anyone, didn't pull punches, didn't pretty it all up to make it a clean "good V.S. bad" story of triumph over evil. She wrote a dirty morally-compromising war story.
And, you know what? Her personal quality of not being afraid to piss off a major quantity of her readership goes along perfectly with that mindset. She had something to say, she had a point to make, and she MADE it, KNOWING there would be a backlash. That's admirable. It really seemed she sat there and thought "Okay, they're going to want Jake to save Tom, and Rachel and Tobias to be together, and the Visser killed. They're probably the three major payoffs the kids are wanting from this series." And she illustrated quite clearly that that type of thing very rarely happens in real life.
She made an effort to teach pre-teen/young teen children something, and it simply went over all of your heads. It's pretty ridiculous.
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I actually like Miley Syrus.
And the reason that kind of thing isn't done often is because that isn't what sells. You may be right that most kids just liked to see the morphing and stuff. They didn't mind the darkness, because there were other things for them to take. I'm really certain that if she had done something like the ending early in the series, she wouldn't have gotten far. Not with the demographic she was aiming for.
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But, hey, trying something different and a little more intellectually satisfying didn't get her far either, it would seem. God forbid someone not talk down to their audience and rather try to make them think. What a crime.
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There's nothing wrong with treating children like children. You're only a kid for a little while, so don't try to make them grow up too fast. Assuming one lives for the average 80-90 years, they have several decades to be adults, and learn the gray truths of the world. Treating someone like what they are is not talking down to them.
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There are a thousand other children's series out there catering to children as children. You're missing my point. Animorphs was unique in that it was what it was. It was a children's series, but in a lot of ways it really wasn't. It seems incongruous to expect a conventional ending for a series like this, since aside from the general pitch/concept ("turning into animals") it never really dealt in children's book conventions anyway.
I actually agree with your point about letting kids be kids. But there are so many other books out there that fulfill that. It's pretty hard to argue that Animorphs was ever one of them.
I mean, expecting a happy ending? For a series this BLEAK since about book #21? Seems odd.
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There are a thousand other children's series out there catering to children as children. You're missing my point. Animorphs was unique in that it was what it was. It was a children's series, but in a lot of ways it really wasn't. It seems incongruous to expect a conventional ending for a series like this, since aside from the general pitch/concept ("turning into animals") it never really dealt in children's book conventions anyway.
I actually agree with your point about letting kids be kids. But there are so many other books out there that fulfill that. It's pretty hard to argue that Animorphs was ever one of them.
I mean, expecting a happy ending? For a series this BLEAK since about book #21? Seems odd.
Amen, brother! I'm proud to be a fan of a children's book series that brought up suicide in book #3!
As for one change, I'd like to see some inclusion of a little sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. They are American teenagers, after all, and the end of the series would have been the perfect time for Rachel to say to Tobias or Jake to say to Cassie "Hey, we could all die tomorrow. Do you wanna die a virgin? I don't think so".
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I would have more Andalites in it. I know that sounds dumb. Sorry.
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"Hey, we could all die tomorrow. Do you wanna die a virgin? I don't think so".
Recently watched Independence Day?
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If I was definitely going to die tomorrow, I'd make sure to settle some things first...
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i would change the covers of books 3, 23, 33 to look more like the cover of book 49. cuz Tobias has blond hair and hes not human in book 3 lol
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I quit reading around book 35. When it came out.
Over the past 3 weeks (I reordered every single book) I read it all. The most "exciting" to me were the last 5 books. I don't like how the end left me hanging. LIke I hate watching lawn and order svu.. and the end is some trial. It's not enough. I want to know what happened. I want another long book. I need an absolute ending, I guess.
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As for one change, I'd like to see some inclusion of a little sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. They are American teenagers, after all, and the end of the series would have been the perfect time for Rachel to say to Tobias or Jake to say to Cassie "Hey, we could all die tomorrow. Do you wanna die a virgin? I don't think so".
I agree. Not necessarily that blatant, but by the end of the series I was thinking "They're supposed to be sixteen? They still sound twelve."
Not a single mention of the transition to high school, nothing about learning to drive (16 is the age to get your G1 in the US, right?)... things like drinking, drugs, sex and all that is understandable. By that point, they didn't really have the chance to "be teenagers". But it would've been nice to see some of those things mentioned, so they didn't seem like 13-year-olds through the whole series.
Speaking of high school... Chapman VPs two schools at once? ::)
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I don't remember any mention of other schools. Maybe the middle school and highschool have the same people in charge. I don't know.
By the end, all the other stuff that doesn't have to do with the war fades away. Which is part of the reason I like the early times better. The books became too much about the war, and not as much about the characters. I mean it's the Animorphs series. Not the Yeerk Invasion series.
I would have liked to see a part where Marco drives to Jake's house, or they mention how different highschool is, or something.
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I'd make cassie dead instead rachel
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I wouldn't have killed anyone off. That was a d!ck move. I hated her for that. Poor Tobias, now what will become of his life? He has literally no one. Rachel was essentially the only reason he hung around.
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I would have more Andalites in it. I know that sounds dumb. Sorry.
yeah. I would have liked more Andalites too.
The ending was fine I guess a bit dark but yeah its a war and war is dark.
the whole The ONE thing was just a little to out of the picture though ..I wouldn't have added that.
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THE ENDING. I would also want more to do with the Auxillary Animorphs.
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The ending. Definitely the ending. It was traumatic and downright offensive to the dedicated readers. I neither picked up nor thought about an animorph book for at least 5 years afterward.
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OK, since the ending's been talked about to death, I offer this change:
No
Freakin
Helmacrons!
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I was not a big fan of the Helmacrons. They were amusing some of the time, but I feel they were more annoying than amusing.
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I would take out some of the filler books (here here to no Helmacrons!) and instead make the books that revolved around the plot longer, more meaty.
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I've never read a helmacron book so I can't judge that yet, and the ending's been done to death so....what would I change about the series....I would have liked for David to have stayed on the team a little while longer, maybe have a book where he narrates. Even though I didnt like him, David was a interesting character and it woulda been nice to see how long he'd last on the side of good. and then once he did turn bad I would have wanted to see him as more of a recurring villain. not really showing up in like every book but maybe every 5 to 10 books. just have him pop every now and then like drode and crayak
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I to would make it so none of the main characters die. I personally hate it when authers do that, I mean the only reason I'm reading what they wrote and buying their books is because I like the story and characters that they created. I know the argument is that its not realistic for no one to die in a book series, but you know what I have enough reality in my real life that's why I read books is to escape from reality! So yeah I dislike character death and there's a number of book I would change that in! (sorry that's my rant for the day) ;)
The only other things I would change about the series (besides the obvious I wish it would have been longer.) Is that I would update it to this century. For example change the referances to stuff like the playstation to playstation 3 and how cool would it be for Tobias to have a little MP3 player, I know if I could turn into a bird I'd want some flying tunes. lol Although it is interesting to read some of the references in the books and realise just how much technology has changed in such a short time.
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II would have liked for David to have stayed on the team a little while longer, maybe have a book where he narrates. Even though I didnt like him, David was a interesting character and it woulda been nice to see how long he'd last on the side of good. and then once he did turn bad I would have wanted to see him as more of a recurring villain.
I concur. There was soooooooooooo much she could have done with him. The forced trilogy seemed out of place.
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I wouldn't have killed anyone off. That was a d!ck move. I hated her for that. Poor Tobias, now what will become of his life? He has literally no one. Rachel was essentially the only reason he hung around.
Okay, now my eyes are tearing up. You're totally right. That's easily something I would change from the series. Reading about Rachel practically killed me. This was a series that taught us that war is Hell, but I think KAA drove the point too much. The Animorphs lost so much. I read book #54 when it came out in... 2001, was it? I haven't touched it since. It's too painful. That was probably the worst book ever written. It did need to be about five times longer. Why read over 50 books featuring characters you love, only to read that they die, and you don't really find out what happens to the rest of them? :'(
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I would have had that the animorphs greaved rachels death, and moved on, became succesful and more happy, you know?
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Jake and Tobias seem to be the only ones who grieved. Though Jake showed signs of moving on by taking a job. Marco and Ax were the least close to Rachel. I don't know what Cassie's thing was. I guess she was just trying really hard to separate herself from the past three years.
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Jake and Tobias seem to be the only ones who grieved. Though Jake showed signs of moving on by taking a job. Marco and Ax were the least close to Rachel. I don't know what Cassie's thing was. I guess she was just trying really hard to separate herself from the past three years.
Marco the least close to Rachel? He only had the biggest crush on her, remember the dream he had in which she begged him to marry her?
Ax I could believe. Ax was afraid of her. Marco and Cassie, not so much.
When you think about all of the tiny things like this put together, then you really get into how horrible the last book was.
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He wasn't really in love with her, like Tobias was, or related to her, or her best friend. Not saying he wasn't close. Just that he was one of the least closest.
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When you think about all of the tiny things like this put together, then you really get into how horrible the last book was.
Yep, that's why I was so pissed.
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To drift away from the ending, something I would do differently had I wrote the series...
I would not have let Visser Three turn into a joke. The first books really gave you the scope of it. He's an alien warlord who can, at will, turn into some of the most lethal and brutal creatures in the galaxy, and has nothing on his mind but the completion of his goals. He was untouchable. His presence instilled fear, and it very well should. His voice sent chills down the Animorph's spine.
Yet, he decayed to a buffoon. With all his power and all his morphs, he was barely even registered as a threat to the Animorphs by the end. A creature, who through study, intelligence, and unconquerable will gained his position over the course of decades... is easily and consistently outsmarted by a handful of teenagers. That was what bothered me the most.
In all his power and (originally) intelligence, with all his lethal morphs, he is regarded as a joke by a handful on teenagers who can turn into things with sharp claws and teeth.
The grape juice, the oatmeal... I would not have set that up the way it was.
For what I would change... I would maintain Visser Three as the one who the Animorphs ran from at the mere sight of him. He would maintain his intelligence and status, and not be the ignoramus who could not create simple plans to capture six people. As is common with this many books, decay is unavoidable if the heroes are to survive and keep winning. Fine.
Put him in less books. One out of six, ten books, it doesn't matter. He needs to maintain his status. To replace his decay, give him a subordinate or two. Visser Five, Sub Visser Four; it doesn't matter. Let the other be the one, who, while seemingly intelligent, and also has some sort of power, that the Animorphs consistently defeat. Let another be the one to decay.
Visser Three needs to maintain his threat simply because there is no replacement. If you bring in Visser Two earlier, and make him a genius, make his plans, while few, infallible; it won't matter. He won't have the only Andalite Controller in the galaxy, who can morph into creatures that can kill anyone instantly without challenge, on a whim.
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The villain decay is the main reason if I started writing my own version of the series, I would start early. As opposed to book 27, where I'd bring David back.
One good thing to do is change up the second in command after every time Visser Three shows up. Which would just be once in a while, due to him being busy across the globe. This is because the new second in command has failed him for the last time. To make the ending more dramatic, Tom's yeerk will become second in command eventually.
That's another thing. Tom needs to be involved in more battles, to add drama. I wouldn't kill him off in the end, though. Main and secondary characters don't die permanently. That's pretty well established during the course of 99% of the series.
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First post here, and at the risk of everyone hating me already, I have to say that I didn't mind the ending (which I finished reading for the first time a matter of hours ago. Maybe I'll hate it once it's had more time to sink in :P) At the very least, the 'where are they now' chapters at the end were far superior to Harry Potter's short one. But I get the feeling you've all probably gone over this time and time again, so I'll say no more :P
Anyway, I posted to agree completely with Think Again. Visser Three becoming a joke was completely at odds with the aura of evil that he was supposed to be giving off. Having just re-read the series (because I finally managed to get my hands on the last book), Visser Three does appear too regularly, in my opinion, and having a lower ranking yeerk being constantly outsmarted (probably a Visser or Sub-Visser that he couldn't execute for some reason, to explain why he was still alive after so many failures :P) would have left the Visser to be the terrifying adversary he was supposed to be.