K.A's response to the final book criticsm.

[esplin]

lets stay on topic
i was "satisfied" with then ending of animorphs because it was like 80% ok
but certian things could have been diffrent

[Duff]

Umm... about this:

Yes, I agree with "a little", like the One part.... but other than that, not much of a bad ending. I mean, no one is perfect, right? And you can't satisfy everyone either. 

I think it's safe to say that the vast majority of Animorphs fans weren't satisfied with the ending.

I can't agree with this. I don't see much people that weren't "satisfied" with the ending. not much. I mean, I don't see Estelore and morfowt fending of every member of RAF in the K.A defense debate LOL. Maybe there were some points a vast majority of the fans didn't like, but not necessarily "not satisfied".

I didn't like some points, but I am "satisfied". I like the ending. Sure, mighty morphing kids aren't realistic, but that doesn't mean their motives, actions, and thoughts should be unrealistic as well.

You have to consider this forum's target demographic. Everyone on here is a serious Animorphs fan.

Pretty much everyone has seen Star Wars, but only about 10% of them are serious fans who buy all of the merchandise and go on websites and spend a fortune on action figures they never take out of the box. Most people know Darth Vader, Chewbacca, and Emperor Palpatine, but only a few people could rattle off the names of every character you see for 3 seconds as the camera passes over them on the streets of Coruscant.

The average person isn't going to be satisfied with a Debbie Downer ending, regardless of the genre. I'd say that the only genres that unhappy endings typically work for are historical fiction (depending on the event) and love stories. And even then it depends on how it's done - The English Patient was much better than Becoming Jane.

Regardless of whether or not you thought it was justified, the average person who isn't an expert on the series isn't going to like it.

I have my own reasons for not liking it, but the fact that it would be so hard to sell just sticks out in my mind as well. I think that the books would've stayed around longer if it ended on a better note.

People who arent fans of the series cant have an opinion on the subject lol

I wouldnt call an animorphs fan an average reader either, they were prepared for a realistic ending like that the entire series

Id say a fair amount of people didnt like the ending, maybe even half, but actually hated it, small percentage

I think I'm in the very small minority of people that absolutely loved the ending lol I wouldnt have wanted them to do a single thing differently

[rossabo]

I don't care that the ending was somewhat depressing, as that adds more realism. The main reason why I hated the ending was because it wasn't really an ending at all. They were going to be thrown into a battle that could haven been expanded into another series. We don't know if Ax survived or not, nor do we know what will happen to the others. It would be one thing if we were left with two possible yet definite endings, such as if either all of them died or they rescued Ax and returned home. But there were just too many factors.

[Chad32]

If KA wanted to go into a new series of books that happened after the liberation of Earth, then it would be easier to have them try to liberate the HB Homeworld. I always figured the start of the Free HB Valley was forshadowing something that could happen after earth was saved.

[xoxogabyxoxo]

this isnt going to change my opinion... Animorph has always been science fiction... why choose the ending to be realistic.
I think the people who choose to read fiction books want to escape from the real world, not having a sad ending reflecting what maybe teir trying to escape.

[XenomorphLV426]

Can't you have both?  Believable reality-grounded science-fiction?

The complaining about the ending is ridiculous/

[Kitulean]

So don't talk to people about it? People are allowed to have their own feelings about the ending of the series. If you don't want to discuss it, then don't. But stop trying to tell people they're wrong or bad because they feel differently than you.

[morfowt]

although I have to agree with xenomorph on this one. the complaints and the arguing are getting ridiculous.

[XenomorphLV426]

Yeah, that's a fair enough expectation.  People shouldn't have to tolerate bashing of their opinions.  I suppose I just wish people could be a little more specific with reasons and supporting logic when they say things, rather than "t3h ending suxx0red like cuz Rayshul died, lolol".  It honestly infuriates me.

[Kitulean]

Fair enough, how about if I say I disliked the ending because it seemed horribly rushed and that the big confrontation at the end of a 54 book series shouldn't amount to Visser 3 going "Oh ****, you guys were serious? I surrender."

[XenomorphLV426]

But...that's exactly what happens in war.  It's not about grand epic confrontations and pose-striking, people do give up, things do end without big dramatic finales.

The ending basically illustrates that perfectly.  It's like the anti-action movie.  Plausible, grounded.

[Kitulean]

I'm just saying 54 books of build-up should have had a better payoff than Visser Three throwing his hands up and going "Oh this is YOUR planet, ****, our bad."

[XenomorphLV426]

...He didn't.

[Kitulean]

Again, I'm saying that's how it seemed to me. Visser 3 just gave up. You may like it, I don't happen to. I'm glad you do. That doesn't make me wrong, because it's my own feelings on the book.

[XenomorphLV426]

But the book shows that he didn't give up, and that's what I take issue with.  Everyone's entitled to an opinion, except for when there's hard evidence to counteract it.

Like, I could say "in my opinion Katherine Applegate wrote these books all on her own!", but there's pretty concrete evidence to say that's not the case.

Just like the fact that the Visser could either surrender or be certainly killed, and the Visser's established personality, and the fact that the book's canon establishes that Yeerk's won't fight when they have no chance of winning, that all points to Visser Three not "giving up", rather being beaten.

Opinion's all well and good, just not when there's no grounds to hold it.