1) I think that this book is a favorite amongst quite a few people. What makes this book different from so many of the others? Is it the off-world experience? The action?
I'mma be honest, I'm not as big on this book as a lot of people. I... I'm really not fond of the whole we're-just-pawns-of-these-otherworld-beings angle, and I feel like Crayak and Ellimist are just... way too easy for KAA to use as an excuse when she writes herself into a corner. I don't think she overuses them too much, I just... I'm not a big fan of semi-deities being characters in action stories. They sap the fun out.
That said, I DO really like the whole manipulative side of Erek. It's makes a previously squeaky-clean pacifist take on three dimensions, and brings Erek the android down to our flesh-and-blood, morally ambiguous, mortal organism level. It also kind of shows the intense loyalty that, even after so long, the Chee have for their creators- after all, Erek isn't ever going to forget what he did on the Iskoort homeworld; he's never going to get over the guilt of what happened there- but he did it in hopes of getting revenge for the people who created his kind. It's poignant, in a way.
2) We first saw Crayak in #6, when Jake's Yeerk died. Why do you think KA waited so long to re-introduce him as a character?
I s'pose there wasn't any reason to until now. I imagine he was tossed into #6 for foreshadowing purposes, and then revived as needed.
3) What do you think about the Iskoort and their symbiotic relationship? What about their odd habits?
I love the concept of them. And the design for their world! xD Hardcore.
4) Cassie and Jake finally kiss in this book. Do you think that this is a turning point for the dynamic in their relationship? Or do things basically remain the same?
A big reason why I'm not a big Jake/Cassie shipper is because there really isn't a turning point in their relationship, as far as I can see. ^^() I'm sure other people's opinions differ, but from where I'm reading... they like (as in, like) each other from Book 1. They hold hands occassionally. They hope no one notices, but everyone does. They kiss once, or maybe twice. And then... well, we know what happens as the series ends. It never really deepens or develops. It's obvious they care about each other, but it never gets to the semi-obsessive level that Tobias and Rachel feel for each other, where they go from not really knowing each other to being the only thing keeping each other human. R/T changes as time goes on; J/C doesn't really. Sure, Cassie lends Jake strength and it could be argued he wouldn't be able to have stayed as the leader of the war effort without her, but it's never as potent, and the dynamic never really changes.
5) What do you think about the Howlers? How about the way that Jake and the others finally defeated them?
I love the Howlers. I love the idea of this monstrous race that never feels guilty or upset over killing other sentient creatures because it thinks it's playing a game with them- I love the idea of the ultimate weapon in the universe basically being children. Too self-absored and insufficiently empathic to know any better.
The ending of that battle was also awesome.
6) Why don't you think Jake ever re-uses his Howler morph?
As I mentioned a few days ago on the LJ community, their whole 'avoiding morphing sentients' thing mostly stemmed, as far as I can tell, from not wanting to create potentially sentient brains just to dispose of them when they were done using them.
It was possible that the Howlers' brains were so similar to those of human children that the idea of creating them, controlling them and then destroying them as he used the Howler morph disturbed Jake.
7) Any thoughts about Crayak and the Ellimist's roles in this book? This is when we first meet Crayak. What do you think about him??
Again, I'm not big on using deities as plot devices. It feels like cheating. D=
