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.
I know this has gotten a bit debatish, just judging from the few posts I've read. (Because I am honestly too lazy to read through 20thousand or so posts to see what's been going on.)
But I have to say I agree with xoxogabyxoxo. I do tend to read books to escape reality. That's why I like fiction.
However, my reasons behind not liking the Animorphs series don't simply stem from that. I've read plenty of books where characters die. And, yes, while I may get annoyed or cry or whatever, if the story's still good, I'm going to keep reading it. (F.E. Death Note)
But, I'm saying this now. After 18 years of life, I've realized that the world isn't full of rainbows and idealistic things from childhood. I didn't quite have the same understanding roughly 7-8 (maybe more, I honestly don't remember exactly how long ago it ended) years ago, when the series ended.
I was upwards of 11. You know the time. When you're full of optimism (despite the fact that you are, in fact a pessamist). When you think that everything is going to have a happy ending. When you get overly upset when it doesn't. (Old Yeller. A.I.) You don't really understand things like war tearing apart people, tearing apart relationships, tearing apart families. You think that everyone will survive and be happy. You think, incorrectly, that Jake and Cassie are going to get married. Or you're expecting Cassie to die, since it was constantly forshadowed. You think that Tobias and Ax and Rachel and Marco will all be happy doing something.
You don't expect to get harshly dumped into reality at the end of the series when everything else seemed to be, well, formulaic. There's a problem, problem gets worse, an Animorph or more may get captured, everyone gets out alive, everything's at least marginally ok. You expect that in the end of the series everyone will be fine. No one will die and everyone will be happy. Yes, you'd be ok with maybe a hint that the Yeerks are still out there. That maybe others will have to fight them.
You do not expect "Ram the Blade Ship" to be the last thing you read. To be left with everyone pretty much going to die, in your opinion, except Cassie, who is going to marry some guy you don't care about because she's suppose to marry Jake. Right?
Only nothing happens the way you expect. And you find yourself sitting in your room, crying.
And then you read the letter from K.A. herself. The letter that, in your opinion, sounds more like a cop-out. Like "sorry guys, but I couldn't think of a good ending, so I'm going to leave it up to you."
No one has to agree with my opinion. (And I'm honestly not sure what made me switch from first person to second, but once I started I couldn't stop.) This is just what I feel.
About the letter at the end: that's honestly all I can remember of it. It may be completely wrong, but considering I haven't touched that book since, except to shove it in a plastic bag for donation, I'm having to work from very faulty memory. And I really mean no offense to K.A., but that's just what it felt like. To me.
You can agree, you can disagree. I just felt that I needed to get it out. Mostly because if I didn't, my mind would bug me about it for the next couple of months until I did.
And as for K.A. not writing all of the books...Oh. I didn't know that. Well, actually I sort of read something about ghostwriters on the forum earlier, but I guess it's just that stupid 11-year-old in me going, "lalalalala I don't want to hear it lalalalalala".