The Animorphs lived after 54, Confirmed by Michael Grant

[Dylan]

From the reddit ama with Micheal Grant

lyraseven:
Once and for all: fifteen years ago when I finished the last page of the Animorphs series something occurred to me that didn't, apparently, to most people: at one time in the past, Elfangor had in his turn rammed the Blade Ship and survived. Was the Rachel's maneuver a deliberate callback to this, a hint that the group would survive? Or was it really the implied suicidal-but-galaxy-saving last act many people took it to be?

themichaelgrant:
"Was the Rachel's maneuver a deliberate callback to this, a hint that the group would survive?"

It's gratifying when the penny drops.

This made my day

[NothingFromSomething]

Still pretty inconclusive.  He pretty much just says it's a throwback/parallel to Andalite Chronicles.

There's still the thing way back in the day where Katherine said as far as she's concerned it could go either way, too.  So yeah, flip a coin, it's a 50/50 thing.

[Dylan]

Still pretty inconclusive.  He pretty much just says it's a throwback/parallel to Andalite Chronicles.

...Well, Eflangor survived the ramming of the blade ship. I thought by Grant saying that he more or less was insinuating Jake, Marco, and Tobias also lived.

[NothingFromSomething]

Could be, though he doesn't actually say that.  On its own it looks that way, and maybe that's how he saw it.  Hardly definitive though, when you put it alongside what Katherine said on it years ago.  It's still sort of "they might have lived, they might not have", from that post it seems more like he's referring to it more just being a callback to TAC, that whole narrative "mirroring" thing.

[NickDaGriff]

"It's like poetry, it rhymes."

[TheWolfEmperor]

The Animorphs lived... on in the memory of Cassie, the only living Animorph.

The Animorphs lived... for five minutes until they all exploded in the vacuum of space.

The Animorphs lived... until their remains were diced and dispersed among the living machines known as the One.

Sure, the ending was a call back to the Andalite Chronicles. Doesn't mean they survived.

[YeerkSalad]

I don't really like any of those options.

[Dylan]

I like the option where they live and fight other battles in the universe
Applegate/Grant have expressed interest in wanting to do a sequel series so........... 

[NothingFromSomething]

They have?  When did that happen?

But yeah, TheWolfEmperor laid it out pretty clearly.  It's a possibility they survived, sure, but a remote one.  And while it's of course a callback/reference to Elfangor in TAC, that doesn't exactly mean it's the same outcome.  It's mirroring, the sort of thing Star Wars does all the time.  To use that narrative as an example, those "mirrored" sequences are quite often flipped, juxtaposed in the opposite with what they're referencing.

I actually agree that yeah, from what Grant said in that post it does give the impression they lived.  But he doesn't lay it out either way, it's still left up to interpretation.  And that's what Applegate's always said on the topic, it was left a 50/50 coin-toss so people could draw their own conclusions.

[Dylan]

They have?  When did that happen?

On Micheal's twitter/ in both  KA's and Micheal's ama they talked about wanting to do a sequel to animorphs

[NothingFromSomething]

Do you have the post, though?  Not doubting it, just seems that'd be pretty big news, I've never seen that before.

[Dylan]

themichaelgrant:
Hmmm. I don’t know about another Chronicles. I never know till I sit down to do it. We’ve thought about revisiting Animorphs, most recently when I was contemplating a new series (new as in I haven’t written it yet) where I saw I could either base it in the Animorphs universe or the Gone universe. The Gone universe worked better, and I no longer have much of a relationship with Scholastic, whereas I am very tight with Katherine Tegen, my publisher/editor at HarperCollins. As for the ‘controversial’ ending of Animorphs, we still think it’s right, but more right for us than it was for the readers.

The interest has been mentioned other times, dig through the amas

[NothingFromSomething]

Well, that's pretty interesting, thanks - was new to me.

But conversely, doesn't that very same quote kind of say it all?  The controversial ending feels "right" to them?  Sort of seems to me more Animorphs isn't happening, and not just because of his less-close relationship with Scholastic as a publisher these days.

And to be fair, he says he's contemplated books in that universe, not more Animorphs.  Could just as easily be a prequel or forward-jumping sequel, or even set entirely off-Earth.  In that scenario, the Animorphs could just as easily have died in #54.

[Dylan]

And to be fair, he says he's contemplated books in that universe, not more Animorphs.  Could just as easily be a prequel or forward-jumping sequel, or even set entirely off-Earth.  In that scenario, the Animorphs could just as easily have died in #54.

well true.

If there is a sequel, where Jake, Tobias, Marco, and Ax are dead, Applegate and him should at least throw Cassie (the only animorph left )in there

[TheWolfEmperor]

If Grant and Applegate talk about Animorphs, of course they're going to make vague responses like, "Yeah, we could revisit that universe."

But there was already an attempt to revise interest in the series on a commercial level and according to my last visit to the bookstore, it didn't seem to take. I don't know, personally I think they shouldn't have worried about taking the 90's out of the series, but the authors may not have had anything to do with that.

Even if they wrote something that allegedly takes place in the universe of Animorphs, it would have to be something so independent of the original series that you wouldn't be entirely lost if you didn't read Animorphs or the Chronicles.