Ellimist Chronicles Revisited

[wotw2112]

I remember having like the Ellimist Chronicles the first time I read it (ages ago).  I think that was because I didn't understand it.  I read it again today on a whim and wow...it is so out there.  I mean, some of it is interesting and other ideas are philosophical quandries I've pondered but on the whole...just wow.  In my opinion it went so far off base as to be ridiculous.

So, two thoughts for conversation:

1. Did the ending seem to be a bit dark?  Rachel dies and "A small strand of space-time went dark and coiled into nothingness."  I mean wow.  That seems depressing and somewhat fatalistic.

2. Was the death of Rachel just an excuse to write the Ellimist Chronicles?  It seems like her death was a way to legitimize the telling of the tale.

[Chad32]

It is a bit sad. Not only does a character die, but the Ellemist is pretty much stuck playing with people's lives because the alternative is total galactic destruction. Just what Crayak wants.

Though when I first read it, I made myself believe that the character dying was just dying of old age or something. That KA wasn't really going to kill off a character. Obviously, I was wrong.

The EC is a bit wierd. There were some good things, and it answered some questions, but there was no mention of the Time Matrix. Nor did it go much into Crayak's history.

[ThinkAgain]

I always hoped for a Crayak Chronicles. Oh well.

I really like the Ellimist Chronicles. It was extremely different and technically had nothing to do with the Animorphs, and was refreshing to read.

I didn't read the Ellimist Chronicles until after I read the linear series, so I already knew it was Rachel who died. Sigh.

[wag117]

(First Post, hi boards.)

I enjoyed all of the chronicles books.  Personally, I enjoyed the Ellimist Chronicles as a breath of fresh air. To me, it was a way of writing something completely different for K.A., and still tying it into the Animorphs universe.  I mean, how else do you explain an almost omnipotent being without getting religious, and keeping it in an almost sci-fi setting?  That's a tall order if you ask me. 

[ThinkAgain]

First of all, hello and welcome to the forum wag, why don't you introduce yourself here: http://animorphsforum.com/forum/index.php/board,7.0.html

I completely agree with you though. It was a good, self contained story that was thoroughly entertaining and still relevant, which is why I liked all of the Chronicles books. I also liked how it brought a nearly all-powerful being back to beginnings and into a form that could be related to. A common under-achieving gamer? It doesn't get more common and understandable than that.

[anijen21]

I liked all of the Chronicles, but this was the one where she really let loose with the sci-fi. I think I've read it three times and I still can't exactly picture what a Ket is supposed to look like, or how their society really works.

That said, yeah, the ending is sort of sad, but wasn't there a whole "But perhaps I am just a puppet in some even higher being's game, and who knows what happens next?" part to it too? So yeah, Rachel left *our* space time continuum, but that doesn't mean it's hopeless.

I guess.

[Mr. Guy36]

The chronicles were some of my favorites as well. I loved the whole idea of Ellimist as an ascended fanboy. And as dark as it was, the ending was amazing in my opinion. So cool to see Rachel from his perspective, merely a single line in a void.

[wotw2112]

I mean, how else do you explain an almost omnipotent being without getting religious, and keeping it in an almost sci-fi setting?

One might argue there were some religious undertones in it...  But I'm not gonna get into that.

I loved the whole idea of Ellimist as an ascended fanboy.

Yeah, that was kinda a cool idea and a fairly solid plot device.

So cool to see Rachel from his perspective, merely a single line in a void.

Depressing!

[AlothAssassin]

It's not really that out-there.

I loved the explanation of the regular sentient life-form into n-dimensional-space-plane uber being.  That was pretty rad, how it spanned so many millennia, showing how Toomin went from dorky videogamer into basically...God.

[anijen21]

It's not really that out-there.

can you draw a ket for me

[wotw2112]

dorky videogamer into basically...God.

I found it curious that an anti-elimist just "appeared".  Such an unusual confluence of events went into making the Ellimist what he eventually became...how exactly would that happen twice?  What are the odds the other instance would be an exact antithesis?  In such a massive universe how did they run into each other?  It seems to imply a general belief in fate and balance.  I would really have liked to hear more about Crayak (as someone mentioned above).

[AlothAssassin]

Well, if an organism like "Father" exists, it's really not that much of a stretch to suggest other such occurrences could happen.  Or for an N-dimensional being to evolve in other ways.

If Ellimist came into being as he did, there's nothing to say there can't be other similar beings out there, like Crayak and the big badass who banished him.

[Alic]

I actually really enjoyed it. It was one of my favorites

[Hunter]

i havent read the book in a while (this thread has made me wanna re read it!) so when i've finished the books i'm reading atm, i'll reread the EC and get back to ya

[wotw2112]

i havent read the book in a while (this thread has made me wanna re read it!) so when i've finished the books i'm reading atm, i'll reread the EC and get back to ya

Haha, always happy to promote rereads.

Well, if an organism like "Father" exists, it's really not that much of a stretch to suggest other such occurrences could happen.  Or for an N-dimensional being to evolve in other ways.

If Ellimist came into being as he did, there's nothing to say there can't be other similar beings out there, like Crayak and the big badass who banished him.

I guess (it is a big universe after all) but I'd like to know a little more about it.  It just seems awfully coincidental.