SummaryThere is a chance for the free Hork-Bajir on Earth to start their own rebellion against the Yeerks. They have the numbers, but they don't have the weapons. And they've learned from the last surviving Arn -- the race that created the Hork-Bajir -- that Aldrea, daughter of Prince Seerow, knew the location of a stolen Yeerk vessel. Unfortunately, the only way to recover the ship is to ask Aldrea herself -- and she's dead. But the Arn has Aldrea's persona stored. And Cassie, Rachel, or Toby Hamee are the closest match. The only problem is that once Aldrea gets into one of their minds, she may not want to come out...
Questions1. The entire concept for this book is a little bizarre. Let's take it piece by piece. What do you think of the concept of Aldrea having her 'persona' stored in an Ixcila? What about the Ceremony of Rebirth?
2.This book is the second time that the Animorphs voluntarily go off-world (the first being #26 The Attack), yet they seem rather...blase about the whole thing. As if it is no big deal that they suddenly have access to space travel. Thoughts?
3. What do you think about the fact that Aldrea chose Cassie's mind to share? What about their dialogue throughout the book?
4. The climactic scene of this book is where Cassie is morphing over the Yeerk Pool. She morphs from osprey to human to whale somehow
keeping her osprey wings through the morphs. Is Cassie THAT good of a morpher? Or is this a KASU?
5. Because of the actions of Cassie et. al. thousands of Yeerks met their death. We see instances of this further along in the series (most notable Jake in #54) with huge emotional consequences. But in this case the repercussions for this vast amount of death is given barely a line. How do you think Cassie and the others regard their missions success and the resulting deaths?
As a note, here's the quote accompanying #5:
The water continued to drain. The Yeerks in
host bodies might be able to save some of their
brothers and sisters. Not many. Not all. Thousands
of Yeerks would lie there, dying a slow
death of dehydration as the water left them
stranded, or asphyxiation as they sank, helpless,
into the mud.
Because of me.
And finally, this book has one of my favorite quotes in the entire series, so I thought that I would post it just as food for thought:
So far our freedom here, in this valley,
on this planet, has been bought and paid for
by these humans, our friends. But freedom can't
be given. It must be taken and held and defended.
Our freedom has to be our own creation.
-Toby Hamee
Next week: #35 The Proposal
