1) Do you blame Jake for taking the Drode up on his offer to alter the timeline? Do you think it was selfish, or understandable?
No, I actually think they did a really good job setting up exactly why this was the moment he finally cracked. That first chapter was a dark, depressing, KA Applegate breath of fresh air after a quagmire of ghostwriters.
Anijen summed it up pretty well for me. It was understandable and nicely written in a way that didn't really feel like Jake was truly giving in.
What's really surprising is how Jake held it well for that long!
It begs the question of where exactly this story falls in the series. If you think about it, this could have taken place ANYWHERE AFTER the Anis meet The Cryak.
2) This book gives us an interesting look at the first few books in the series. While everything is, of course, different, I think that the whole Ax-in-the-ocean thing is pretty reliable. It says that Cassie starts hearing Ax's "cries" for help on day seven, only one week after they would have received the morphing power a la normal timeline. And Ax escapes somewhere between day 24 and day 31. Does this jive with your concept of the first few books, or do you think it's off? Why do you think it changed?
I think it's sound. Given that Jake's decision caused a change in everything the Anis would have normally experienced as we learnt through the series. Cassie still being able to 'hear' Ax's Mirrowave calls, plays right into the character, suggesting that it wasn't the morphing power that made her para-sensitive.
3) Any thoughts about Rachel and Marco as a couple?
It was the lighter note of the story, wasn't it?! Something really humorous about Rachel and Marco chasing after Marco's 'dead' mum on their long-awaited date.
4) Keeping in mind that this timeline is distorted thanks to good old Cassie, if it were real do you think it is likely that Tobias would have joined The Sharing and possibly even become a voluntary Controller?
Sadly, yes. He went down a really dark path in the story, yes. I think his story here was very accurate. But with or without Cassie, Tobias was a fragile individual who was going through some tough circumstances, and the Yeerks were growing strong in his city, so he would have ultimately been led there.
5) What do you think was different about this timeline that pushed Visser Three into open war so quickly - something that never happened in the real timeline?
Well, an Andalite survivor was operating in the open, jeopardizing their Infiltration. With the humans aware, there was no point doing a slow and sneaky invasion, really.
6) What do you think about learning that the Ellimist essentially "stacked the deck", as Drode puts it?
This is a development that really put me off. I don't like the idea of these powerful beings having all these moves planned when it comes to human beings and dealings. I think humans are a lot more complex and unpredictable than these big guns in the Universe think.
...it's clear the Ellimist set it all up however long ago, and that I don't like it. This is some mysterious suprahuman being saying I'm gonna put person A and see to it that they live out life this way. It's destiny, it's fate, it's divine will, whatever you call it, it is not what it was promised to be for 4 years up to this point; 5 random kids out saving the world. It's the Ellimist wonder team of selected beings because they are "special" even before this begins. Everyone has a purpose that is preordained and I do not like that. Up till this point, I always liked the Ellimist and how he was used, but at the end of this book he is given too much influence and really, it breaks my heart, cuz it says there's always someone out there setting the path, and even if they can't help you get to the end, they make sure you walk it till you're done. I don't like that. To me, that's irradication of freewill more total than anything the Yeerks could do.
Agreed! Personally, I liked thinking that the Anis were a natural, but random coincidence all along. As the Ellimist put it to Rachel: "A contribution of the human race." Otherwise it makes the big scheme of things just plain absurd.
7) Thoughts about Cassie being an anomaly?
It kinda makes sense to have this uniqueness within Cassie. I know it's some heavy stuff we are lead to believe here. But I thought this concept added depth to the character, whom some readers might have been otherwise been taking her as the most wimpy and weak of the Anis. Suddenly she's got a lot to contribute to the team. If it wasn't for Cassie in this story, it would have been the end of the Anis and victory for the Yeerks, really.
...I'd argue that horse saying chad; I problem is that their set up, what they do once they're set up is irrevalent, the fact that they're set up, and that Cassie's anomaly guarantees that they have to be set up, I can only see that as being a pawn. Dance around in circles on you're square all you want, you ain't movin till the big hand decides, and that's bad enough to me
Beautiful,
RYTX! You are verbalizing my thoughts! I LIKE THE WAY THIS DUDE THINKS!
8 ) Anything else?
It would have been interesting to have been given a little further insight into other characters in the series (eg:. The Chee, Chapman, Jara-Hamee, and even Visser One) whose point of views in this story wouldn't have been altered, given that Jake's decision wouldn't have had a direct impact in their agenda in the series.
