Questions
1) Why do you think that Cassie does not contract the Yamphut?
I like to think that she did, but later on, ala old tv shows when the character who nurses everyone else back to health gets sick at the very end of the episode and ends up being twice as demanding as the others were whilst being nursed.
2) What do you think about Cassie performing brain surgery? Is it at all realistic? Additionally, do you think the Chee could have/should have been more help?
Realistic? No, but then again I might just be extra harsh on this book. I think the Chee should have done more but to be honest this was one of the times that I actually really liked Cassie, like I say the whole surgery thing wasn't realistic . . . but it was
so cool.
3) How does Cassie do on a mission alone?
All things considered? She gets really lucky in some places, but I think she did well. Wierd I know, since I hated this book so much, but this was, as I said above, one of those times I really liked Cassie.
4) Cassie saves Aftran
HAH! 
and is faced with her dying of Kandrona starvation. Instead of letting her suffer, they allow her to use the Escafil Device to morph whale permanently.
As they say in the books "And [JFalcon] said some things I can't repeat"
This ends up being the same motive that moves Cassie to steal the cube later on. My question is: How did Cassie not see the answer to the Yeerk problem then and there? Why did it take another 15 books or more?
Because Aftran's whale morph wasn't a gift it was an execution, they took an experienced soldier, one with the resources and charisma to found a resistance in the enemy's army, and
throw her into a bigger Yeerk pool (Coming soon, The Ocean: the bigger, better Yeerk pool experience, no infestation vacation, no leaving to explore the land, no friends ever . . . now comes with free predators and polution. But hey, you won't die if you reproduce so live it up girl! Go get together with a being who's level of sentience is entirely different from your own, leaving you as stated before, truly and wholly alone in that big blue yeerk pool devoid of the colors you fell in love with) Aftran probably agreed because hey, guess what, the alternative was death and we know how Yeerks are about that, they say
she chose whale but that's an incredibly out of character moment for her, I call it a lie on Cassie's part to make up for the fact that Aftran was screwed royal. Frankly I think the reason it didn't occur to them to let the Yeerks use morphing technology right then and there had to do partially with the fact that a Yeerk would have to be really desperate to agree to it, I mean it's like saying "hey, you there, stop being human, it is bad for you and everyone else, be a dolphin, they are fun loving hapiness machines who never experience a violent thought--except when there are sharks around!" you'd stare at the person saying that, shake your head, mutter something under your breath and walk away, some people would be all for it, just as some Yeerks were all for it, but the Yeerks didn't take "one-time-morphing" as a savior to their race, in fact it nearly wiped out their race, forced them to become "lesser" beings with (it's implied in the case of humans) shorter life spans. They took to it as part of the terms of their losing the war, they essentially had the option of morphing once and forever, or being confined to a yeerk pool for all existence, even if Cassie had had the thought then it wouldn't have come to anything, the Yeerks still had enough power to do things their way and I say bully for them!
7) How do you feel about the character of Tidwell/Illim?
I like him, we go out for [non-alcoholic] drinks sometimes . . . he decided to become a grizzly bear notlit, makes for some interesting outings. I mean if you havent seen a bear bowling you haven't lived, and clubs? Man forget clubs, when you go in with a bear, every girl wants to know your story and no bouncer can kick you out.
6) Anything else? Funny moments? Sad moments? Intense moments?
Honestly the book itself is overshadowed by my shameful bias towards the ending, I consider the entire ending an intensely sad moment because I hated, I
hated how Aftran's involvement in the story ended, I'd rather she had died, been given that level of
dignity, instead it was like they were punishing her for being one of the few yeerks with a concience. Being confined to a larger more dangerous Yeerk pool isn't a reward, seeing only the dark depths of the ocean wouldn't have been a reward for her either, what did Aftran value? Colors, eyesight, freedom from the Yeerk pool all things she gave up due to her deal with Cassie in book 19, not because being without them was her personal prefrence. There is a multitude of ways she could have been kept in the story, the Chee spring to mind right away, or if she had to become a nothlit she could have been a bird of prey like Tobias, that would give Tobias some company, give the group another lookout, give Aftran the freedom and eyes she'd value, and let the group ease up on forcing Ax to explain everything since Aftran could probably do it better and without the anti-yeerk bias. I would have much preferred her joining the cast, she could have shared a book slot with Cassie the way Tobias and Ax did, instead they flush her down the toilet because she would have brought about that most hateful of wonderful things: change! Honestly though its one of the few Cassie books that I really really enjoy from beginning to near end (the only other to spring to mind is number four which is probably one of my favorite books in the series all together) I despise the actual ending of this book so much, so very very much. Part of me likes to pretend it ended very differently, but I won't go into any more painful ranting detail, I'm sure I've irritated enough people today.
