Group Re-Read: The Visser Chronicles

[Terenia]

Summary
He's the source of incredible destruction and evil throughout the galaxy. She's the leader of the Yeerk invasion of Earth...and Marco's Mother. This is their story.

Questions
1. What do you think about the dynamic between Visser's One and Three?

2. Edriss' initial opinions of Earth are quite interesting. For instance, she surmises that the most influential place on Earth is "El lay", among other things. What do you think of her initial opinions? Are they accurate? Or the result of cultural ignorance?

3. What do you think about Essam and Edriss' relationship? After all, Yeerks don't mate unless they are ready to die, and it is a union of three, not two. With this in mind, was their love for one another purely the result of their human hosts? Or something else?

4. What are your thoughts on Edriss' children?

5. This is the only time in the series where we see the Animorphs attack without knowing what planning led up to the attack firsthand. Any speculation (like why Cassie is in polar bear morph and not wolf, for instance?). Fanfic challenge: write the book that WOULD accompany this mission, if it existed.

6. What did you think about the conversation between Marco and Eva?

7. The Council pardon both Visser's, giving them a chance for redemption. Why do you think they did this? Do you think it was a smart move, politically speaking?

8. Overall opinions on the book? Favorite quotes, scenes, etc.

Next week: #36, The Mutation

[Chad32]

I think the love may have been mostly due to the hosts, especially since Edriss feels soemthing for her Human children. Something no Yeerk normally would, since there is no parent-child relationship in the Yeerk world.

I'm surprised the Council pardoned either one of them, or that they eventually promote Visser Three. It doesn't seem like a very Yeerk thing to do, since most high ranking Yeerk officers don't do compassion.

I don't remember Marco talking to Eva, or why cassie was in polar bear morph. I don't remember the book very well.

[AniDragon]

I don't remember Cassie in polar bear either, hmm...

I do remember the conversation between Marco and Eva, though. Talk about heart-wrenching.

[anijen21]

1. What do you think about the dynamic between Visser's One and Three?

Hahaha I love them. I love them so much. I love that they hate each other, and I love that the fact that they're trying to kill each other is just like an accepted part of Yeerk culture. I mean Visser Three gets owned by the end, but even during that part you can kind of tell everyone is thinking "hell I would have done it too..."

2. Edriss' initial opinions of Earth are quite interesting. For instance, she surmises that the most influential place on Earth is "El lay", among other things. What do you think of her initial opinions? Are they accurate? Or the result of cultural ignorance?

I thought it was a cute joke, but not much more than that. That's the problem with alien sci-fi, is that the aliens will never be as complex as human society. She had no reason to understand that media is only one facet of importance of humanity, and she just happened to focus on it, because it's really all she had access to. But come on, REAL aliens would probably realize what we put in our media does not necessarily represent what we are as a species.

3. What do you think about Essam and Edriss' relationship? After all, Yeerks don't mate unless they are ready to die, and it is a union of three, not two. With this in mind, was their love for one another purely the result of their human hosts? Or something else?

To be totally honest, this is what pissed me off about any Chronicles that came after TAC. They're too damn short. They're so dense and jam-packed, not only with lots of plot and characters, but with these awesome kinds of dilemmas that get glazed over for explosions and sound-effects. I think this is one of the most interesting dilemmas in the whole series, and we don't get much about the distinction between Yeerk and host. We know Allison finds Hildy (that's his name, right?) attractive, and we know Edriss misses Essam by the end, but besides that, HOW DID THIS UNION EVER HAPPEN? Who really loved who? Was Allison a consenting member of this marriage? Was Hildy? Or were the instincts the driving forces, and Essam and Edriss were kind of in the backseat? And we know Edriss is unwilling to kill the kid, but WOW I could have heard 50 more pages about that. UGH. Chop out the stupid, convoluted trial and GIVE ME THAT INSTEAD.

5. This is the only time in the series where we see the Animorphs attack without knowing what planning led up to the attack firsthand. Any speculation (like why Cassie is in polar bear morph and not wolf, for instance?). Fanfic challenge: write the book that WOULD accompany this mission, if it existed.

Haha that whole attack scene was kind of random. From what I recall, Tobias used Hork-Bajir morph too, right? That was sort of weird. I was actually kind of pissed when they showed up. I liked that the Chronicles books, except for the beginning and ending framing device, were entirely devoid of Animorph activity. So when they showed up I was like UGH can you just get this OVER with so we can get back to YEERK stuff?

6. What did you think about the conversation between Marco and Eva?

OH I READ THAT WRONG I thought it said "between Eva and Edriss" UGH NO I DIDN'T CARE THEY HAD ENOUGH ANGSTINESS I DIDN'T CARE I WANTED TO CUT OUT THAT WHOLE CHAPTER AND SPEND MORE TIME ON EDRISS/ESSAM, or maybe Edriss' apprenticeship to that councilman that questioned her, that would have been an interesting dynamic to explore too.

7. The Council pardon both Visser's, giving them a chance for redemption. Why do you think they did this? Do you think it was a smart move, politically speaking?

No. I don't think the Yeerks are very smart politically. Visser Three is a maniac and Visser One seems to care more about making him look bad than doing anything productive for the Empire. Of course any other high-ranking Yeerk we meet is just sycophantic and stupid, so idk, maybe these two really are the cream of the Yeerk crop.

8. Overall opinions on the book? Favorite quotes, scenes, etc.

I liked it, but again, I wish we could have just gotten a normal backstory rather than the trial. I would have liked to hear more about the Council, too, but I guess our narrator really couldn't tell us much more than she did. And I guess I'm a little upset about what the Anibase says about this book--that the reason V3 is on the cover is that it was supposed to be a joint book, between him and Edriss, and AppleGrant just got caught up in the Edriss storyline. It made a good story, but I would have loved to delve a little deeper into the V3 character, especially since he was so interesting in THBC and only got 1/3 (actually less) of that book.

[Terenia]

2. Edriss' initial opinions of Earth are quite interesting. For instance, she surmises that the most influential place on Earth is "El lay", among other things. What do you think of her initial opinions? Are they accurate? Or the result of cultural ignorance?

I thought it was a cute joke, but not much more than that. That's the problem with alien sci-fi, is that the aliens will never be as complex as human society. She had no reason to understand that media is only one facet of importance of humanity, and she just happened to focus on it, because it's really all she had access to. But come on, REAL aliens would probably realize what we put in our media does not necessarily represent what we are as a species.

Actually, I think that Edriss' initial opinions are pretty accurate, considering how LITTLE time she has spent at this point involved with Earth. She had had only one host, an uneducated Arabic man, and only briefly. If you went to a completely alien world and all you had was a bunch of tv shows, you might get a slightly off impression too.

3. What do you think about Essam and Edriss' relationship? After all, Yeerks don't mate unless they are ready to die, and it is a union of three, not two. With this in mind, was their love for one another purely the result of their human hosts? Or something else?

To be totally honest, this is what pissed me off about any Chronicles that came after TAC. They're too damn short. They're so dense and jam-packed, not only with lots of plot and characters, but with these awesome kinds of dilemmas that get glazed over for explosions and sound-effects. I think this is one of the most interesting dilemmas in the whole series, and we don't get much about the distinction between Yeerk and host. We know Allison finds Hildy (that's his name, right?) attractive, and we know Edriss misses Essam by the end, but besides that, HOW DID THIS UNION EVER HAPPEN? Who really loved who? Was Allison a consenting member of this marriage? Was Hildy? Or were the instincts the driving forces, and Essam and Edriss were kind of in the backseat? And we know Edriss is unwilling to kill the kid, but WOW I could have heard 50 more pages about that. UGH. Chop out the stupid, convoluted trial and GIVE ME THAT INSTEAD.

Yeah, I agree. I would have LOVED to read more about that, although I did find the Council angle interesting. I just think the book overall could have been longer.

8. Overall opinions on the book? Favorite quotes, scenes, etc.

I liked it, but again, I wish we could have just gotten a normal backstory rather than the trial. I would have liked to hear more about the Council, too, but I guess our narrator really couldn't tell us much more than she did. And I guess I'm a little upset about what the Anibase says about this book--that the reason V3 is on the cover is that it was supposed to be a joint book, between him and Edriss, and AppleGrant just got caught up in the Edriss storyline. It made a good story, but I would have loved to delve a little deeper into the V3 character, especially since he was so interesting in THBC and only got 1/3 (actually less) of that book.

omg, yes. I would have LOVED to see more from V3's POV. I'd like to know what he's thinking since his actions are no longer representative of the Yeerk he was in HBC. He's gotten a bit crazy since then.

[dolphin4077]

5.  For me, one of the differences between KAA written book and the ghostwriters was how morphs were utilized.  The ghostwriters tended to use the same morphs over and over again, especially for battle.  KAA threw in a little more variety.  For example,  Marco used the wolf morph during the opening battle in #19.  I liked that Cassie used the polar bear morph (and why shouldn't she use it?) because I thought the polar bear, elephant, and rhino morphs were really underused. 

[wolfev]

There's a flaw in this book though. Visser one says she was the first human controller and found the class 5 species. Visser three or the yeerk that infested Loren was the first human controller since Visser one says that she searched for Earth after Loren and Chapman showed up on the Taxxon home world. Also, if Visser three infested Chapman, shouldn't he have figured out that humans were a class five species? I really like how Visser one created the sharing though.

[Cloak]

Yes, I concede that that is a bit of an inconsistency, but a possible explanation for Visser One's claim is because she may not known that Visser Three took a human host.

[anijen21]

that inconsistency is covered, but not really well. Edriss mentions the report that Visser Three made about humans, but says that the Council ignored it out of "stupidity, not conspiracy," which is why she took it upon herself to go see what all the fuss was about here on good ol' Earth.

[rocklobster]

1. What do you think about the dynamic between Visser's One and Three? I think their rivalry is probably the thing that damaged the Yeerk's chances the most.  But then, they're evil.  You can never expect evil to act civilly.

2. Edriss' initial opinions of Earth are quite interesting. For instance, she surmises that the most influential place on Earth is "El lay", among other things. What do you think of her initial opinions? Are they accurate? Or the result of cultural ignorance? I expected an alien's first encounter of the human race to be like that.  And like it or not, the media do shape our culture.  Look how well Obama did in the presidential election.

3. What do you think about Essam and Edriss' relationship? After all, Yeerks don't mate unless they are ready to die, and it is a union of three, not two. With this in mind, was their love for one another purely the result of their human hosts? Or something else? I think Allison was actually trying to show Edriss what
love is like.  I was kind of surprised Edriss had never experienced it.
4. What are your thoughts on Edriss' children?
I wish we had gotten to see them in another book.  I hate that loose end.
5. This is the only time in the series where we see the Animorphs attack without knowing what planning led up to the attack firsthand. Any speculation (like why Cassie is in polar bear morph and not wolf, for instance?). Fanfic challenge: write the book that WOULD accompany this mission, if it existed.
I was actually surprised the plan worked.  usually Marco plans things better
6. What did you think about the conversation between Marco and Eva?
I was amazed at how well Marco kept his cool.
7. The Council pardon both Visser's, giving them a chance for redemption. Why do you think they did this? Do you think it was a smart move, politically speaking? I think it was smart.  She has made some progress with Earth.

[EscafilDevice]

I thought that both interactions with Marco were some of the best moments of the book, if not the entire series.

"Your mother loves you Marco."
"I know my mother loves me Yeerk, STFU."

It was perfect.


There was another spot of the book that I thought was particularly interesting and I actually didn't catch it the first time around. It was about Essam's first host - Mr. Lowenstein - and Edriss was contrasting his strength with the weakness of Jenny Lines. I actually thought all of the minor human characters they came in contact with were interesting: the uneducated soldier, the drug addict wannabe, the aging Holocaust survivor, and the intelligent and independent woman.

[RYTX]

3) I think of all the things done and not done in Animorphs, the one that should have been done was simple Yeerk Chronicles.
I fail to understand Yeerk relations. I think it says something about host effects in that Hildy and Allison did come to love each other and that effected the Yeerks, but recall book 8, there was a yeerk p.o. that his sweetheart died, and who knows how the host relation was b/w those two. Simply don't know
And more or less in response to 7)
At the time of TAC there 40 some vissers in the empire. I for one am inclined to think that number probably didn't shrink b/w then and now, more likely it grew and so I rant:
With 40 plus leaders of the yeerk army, only these two were capable of handling the two big jobs?!
Granted they had distinguished them selves of course, but knowing some of the things they've done, these are really the only ones able to had Earth and the Anati set up? I can't believe that.
It was interesting to keep them alive and in those positions yeah, but I can't believe that it was there most practical option.
And I'm nothing if not practical

[Hylian Dan]

I love this bit of powerful social commentary from the book:

And, once I had the seed money, several hundred million, I began to create The Sharing.

It would cater to one of the most fundamental human weaknesses: the need to belong. The fear of loneliness. The hunger to be special. The craving for an exaggerated importance.

I would make a haven for the weak, the inadequate, the fearful. I would wrap it up in all the bright packaging that humans love so much.

The Sharing would never be about weak people being led to submit to a stronger will, no, no, it would be about family, virtue, righteousness, brotherhood and sisterhood. I would offer people an identity. A place to go. I would give them a new vision of themselves as part of something larger, erasing their individuality.

I needed only one thing before I could go to the Empire, call the Council of Thirteen, and present them with my accomplished fact: I needed one human, just one, to submit voluntarily.

If I could show them one human who had surrendered his or her will and freedom, without threat of violence, I could convince the Empire to follow my path. The way of infiltration.

The first meeting of The Sharing took place on a Saturday. Thirty-five people attended.

I had done a tremendous job in a very short time. I had studied human history, supplementing what Allison Kim already knew. I studied every cult, every movement, every great, mesmerizing leader that had ever held sway over humans.

And by the time those thirty-five humans came into the rented hall, I had adorned the walls with symbols and flags and icons. All the visual nonsense that moves the susceptible human mind.

They filed in, some in small groups, but most alone. They were stirred by the inspirational music. Flattered by the attention paid them by attendants I’d hired from a temp agency. Impressed by the expensively produced booklets we handed out. Awed by the pictures and symbols that draped the walls.

I spoke to them from the stage. Not as Allison Kim, of course, because all my links to Allison Kim would have to be concealed before my fellow Yeerks arrived.

I had carefully picked a human host for just this one purpose. His name was Lawrence Alter.

A real estate salesman. I changed his name to Lore David Altman. Three name combinations were popular then.

He was a charismatic man with a loud, deep voice and an abundance of hair. Just the sort of face that humans respond to, though his brain was a wasteland compared to Allison’s.

Allison Kim had been left handcuffed to a radiator in a hotel room, awaiting my return.

Later, after it was over, I found I couldn’t recall exactly what I’d said to this first meeting of The Sharing, not the specific words. A lot of high-flown rhetoric touching on the themes humans love to hear: that they are special, superior, a chosen few. That their failures in life are all someone else’s fault. That mystical, unseen forces and secret knowledge will give them power.

The next Saturday there were more than twice the number of humans. And already I had begun to explain that there was an “Outer” Sharing, and an “Inner” one. The humans in the “Outer” Sharing were wiser, better, more moral, superior to the average human, but not as superior as those lucky few who had entered the “Inner” Sharing.

Of course at that point there was no “Inner” Sharing. Just seventy or eighty humans sitting in plush chairs and being fed an endless diet of words that had no clear meaning.

The Inner-Sharing, that was the test of true greatness. And all a human had to do to enter was to surrender their will.

This was what Essam, who had infested only Lowenstein and Hildy, would not credit: that humans would surrender their freedom in exchange for empty words. But I had infested the lost soldier, and the even more lost Jenny Lines. I had tasted human defeat and superstition and weakness.

I knew.

Finally, when I judged the time was right, I eliminated Lore David Altman. Humans will
tear down a living leader but revere a dead one. I left behind sufficient writings…vague
nostrums, platitudes, absurdities, prophecies, the sorts of transparent nonsense that humans
pore over so endlessly.

Considering the ridiculous fuss many Christians made about Harry Potter, it's amusing that these themes in Animorphs (powerful social organization placing worms in people's brains) slipped by unnoticed by the Church.

[anijen21]

yeah, it's pretty cool she started commenting on all that cult/Scientology stuff before Tom Cruise went crazy. But there was Jonestown and Waco before then, I guess. All the same, doesn't this sound a little different than the Sharing that we knew before Visser came out?

[Terenia]

It's a bit different, but that's because time had passed and the audience is different
The Sharing that Edriss started was focused towards primarily adults who felt insignificant. In the main series, we see The Sharing as it is focused primarily towards an even weaker sub-group: angsty teenagers.