Group Re-Read: #49 The Diversion

[Terenia]

Summary
The Yeerks are finally starting to realize that the "Andalite bandits" are probably not aliens at all. They're finally starting to realize that maybe they've been dealing with humans all along. And no one -- especially the newly appointed Visser One -- is happy with this knowledge. Not happy at all. When Tobias, the other Animorphs, and Ax realize that the Yeerks are about to find them, it's by accident. But that doesn't make the discovery any less serious. Because in a war, one side wins. And one side loses...

Questions
1) In this book the Yeerks finally decide to start looking into the rumor that started way back in #4; that the Animorphs may be human after all. They do this through collecting blood left behind at battles and finding traces of human blood and comparing it to other samples throughout the city. Does this seem like a plausable plan? Clearly it works in the context of the novel, but should it have worked? Does the science there make sense? Is it the Yeerks best bet of finding the Animorphs?

2) Clearly the focus of this book is Loren's reintroduction. What do you think about adult-Loren, given what we know about her from TAC?

3) On a similar vein, what do you think about Loren's amnesia? It seems kind of...coincidental.. .that the human who had to have her memory modified by the Ellimist ends up completely losing her memory altogether only a few years later.

4) This book marks a clear turning point in the series. The Animorphs finally decide to tell their parents about the invasion and evacuate them to safety. Do you think that these scenes were well-done, or did they leave you wanting more? What did you think about the parent's reactions?

5) When they go to save Jake's family Jake is too late. His parents have both been made Controllers and Jake takes the risky move of morphing in front of them as a sort of 'in your face' moment. This scene is a turning point for Jake, because his purpose in the war (to save Tom) has been ripped from him. Do you think that Jake's reaction was appropriate? Do you think that this scene would have played out better if it were under Jake's narration?

6) Anything else?


Next time: #50: The Ultimate (duck morphs! At last!)

[Chad32]

I never got around to reading 49 like I should have. I don't remember much.

I believe Loren was just brought back to be a plot device. what makes it even worse is that eva could have been used as the same plot device, and we could have seen her take an active role in the final arc. That would have been better than giving Loren the morphing power then forgetting about her.

I think jake morphed just to kind of show his parents the truth.

I think it was kind of dumb for jake to save his folks for last, as well as going ahead with the attack instead of getting their families out before giving the Yeerks what they wanted.

[Alex Oiknine]

You know, I liked this book and I didn't like it.

I liked that Loren was reintroduced. (I thought it was really unrealistic that someone would get amnesia just to have a tragic accident later... I tend to think the Ellimist wasn't very honest about what he'd do with Loren.)

I thought plot-wise it was a bit silly to have the Animorphs wait until morning to hijack their parents. The Yeerks have a match, Marco's demorphed in front of them, and Jake goes "wait until morning."

I just didn't see him making a mistake like that in the series and it struck me as a plot facilitator, you know, to make sure he couldn't save Tom and his parents.

The narration works best with Tobias because we get to really see into some of what makes Jake a good leader in this story. It's not some super-human ability or prodigal intuition - it was what he had to fight for. Tobias gets some insight as to what makes Jake a leader over anyone else in the Animorphs - his motivation is probably the most single-minded of any of them. They all fight for family, but Jake has the most single-minded motivation in many ways (Marco being the second most single minded in this regard).

As for the parents' reactions... I think the kids' abilities to suspend disbelief was a bit exaggerated, as well as a parent's inability to accept enough to at least stay out of the way. Also, I didn't understand why they didn't just have the Chee watch the parents in their underground little wonderland. I mean, that's what I would have done. The problem is their programming seemed to go forward and backward in the series as to what they could or could not do as pacifist robots.

[Chad32]

I don't think the Anis ever considered Erek's house to be a kind of safehouse during the series, except when Marco dropped his dad off there in 45. They didn't bring David to stay in a guest room (without telling him the whole truth), and they sent their families to live in the woods with the Horks instead of in the underground facility that obviously the Yeerk technology can't detect.

[11:11]

I liked that Loren got reintroduced in the series and that Tobias finally found his mother and that there was actually sort of a reason why he was "abandoned" as a kid, but I dunno it really just wasn't the same Loren from TAC to me. I loved her character in TAC and in this book she just never reached the same standards. Obviously, she's older and there was the whole memory loss and she wasn't as much of a central character here as she was in TAC, but I dunno...

I always saw the amnesia and accident thing as part of The Ellimist's plan. Like yeah, my reasoning is a little off since she was pregnant when The Ellimist changed Elfangor's timeline but she had her accident after Tobias had been born, but still.

I wish, like all these books, that this one was longer. I loved the reactions from everyone's parents and how realistic they seemed. Just wish they had been longer.

Though I think the way it had happened could have been better, and as sad as it is, I liked how things turned out story-wise with Jake's parents being made into Controllers. I think because of this (and the chances of ever saving Tom greatly slimmed) makes all the decisions Jake makes all the more difficult and ruthless, which makes for a far more interesting character. I think this scene could have worked had it been Jake narrating, but I'm glad someone like Tobias had instead. I liked how since the beginning (specifically in The Invasion) they were the first two who really got wrapped into the war both emotionally and with a purpose. Tobias had always had sort of hero-worshiped Jake and so I thought it made sense when Tobias compares his life and stuff to Jake's.


Also, isn't duck morphs book #51? I thought next time was the auxiliary Animorphs.

[JohnBlaze]

Okay, this was one of my favorite books...and shows why Tobias is the man. But it would have worked awesome if they had co-narratives at least during the confrontation with parents, but the reason they didn't was to set up Tobias, comparing everyone's family life to his life he never had, as well as his future confrontation with Loren.

I didn't read AC, so  I don't know how she was younger.

It should have been longer, and it would have been better if Jake was about to rescue them only for like a million Yeerk human/s hork bajir come in to take them away (dramatic effect, sorry).

Of course the Ellimist gave her amnesia, but she was able to SOMEWHAT remember a little, piece by piece. But yeah, Ellimist did all that.

I feel that Cassie's parents scene was great, and Rachel's mom scene was hilarious, and I saw it happeneing that way, except for a big grizzly fitting in their car.

And good points on the Chee....I don't know why they never used them as a place of refuge....it made so much sense and whatnot. I mean, I thought about that the WHOLE series. They used them wen they needed cover for curfew or wen Cassie was playin Kangaroo games, but can't use them at the most desperate time?

But yeah....otherwise this book is a 9.3/10 IMO

[RYTX]

ahh. 49
1) It makes sense to me; why it took this long to at leasting friggin try it idk, but to do it makes sense: The lack of andalite dna in most samples should have screamed human, but they'd should still be a little time if you consider that most them have at least one human morph. But I'm not biotech
2) Going through TAC (since when are we calling it AC people) I couldn't help but draw multiple comparsions between lauren and rachel, and I felt how she showed up here was a nice why to separate them I thought she'd grown up well but I really don't know if I like her gambit at saving Tobias in that one part, I never accept that relationship alone is a strong enough tie for her to behave in the same manner as the other parents
3) Agreed, I thought that was just a part of the ellimist tactic
4) I love this part, Cassie's parents were mildly entertaining, but Rachels family cracks me up to no end: "Oh my god, it swallowed you whole?" I think it was. And pok'e-Ax? love it freaking love it. I really liked that whole sect and I thought it was done just really well.
5) And this. It was done well in the total opposite way. At book one, everyone was fighting for a cause, but Jake was the only one who was and always has been fighting for a person, and that now he loses literally everything he had. And I love the morph: the message to his parents, the treat to his enemies-perfect reaction, perfect control, and I'm glad it was not in his point of view: I don't think he could give words that would give this moment more meaning, just knowing that this is what happens after all he's been through, it's a picture that needs no more than the description given.
6) Oh yes
Okay the waiting was mostly a stupid tact/plot device I admit, and I see ups and downs to sheltering through the chee as mention, but here's what I really what to get at now: This is favorite book of mine also: I feel it's well written, completely series relevant (i.e not filler) and had a lot of good stuff going on.
That said, I want to point out that it was ghost written. Most of us, self included, have taken shots at ghost writers, giving a lot of blame out for some lesser quality stories in the series, and by no means do I seek to absolve anyone for that, I want to give credit where credit is due. This book has a lot of meaning to me and is one of the best books I know, in and out of the series , and whether or not is was handled by the credited author, and I'm glad for it.
And I just had to say that for some unknown reason.

[Chad32]

Yes it is definitely a good ghostwritten book. We've all taken shots, and I'd like to believe that some of the worst ghostwritten books were not written by the same people that did the best ones. It has problems like Jake deciding to wait, but it's still quite plot relevant and good.

[Terenia]

You're right, ducks aren't until 51, my bad. We go owl next!


I also enjoy this book, and it sets up quite a bit of potential. I think my biggest beef isn't the book itself, but the fact that it produces so many possibilities that are never realized. We never see that much interaction between the Ani's and their parents (ESP. Marco/Eva and Tobias/Loren) and there is a lot that could be explored here. At this point, though, it was a race to the finish line as far as books were concerned. It's all about setting up the climax now.

[JohnBlaze]

Actually, it was first introduced to me as AC.....

just sayin

[SuperBlue]

1) In this book the Yeerks finally decide to start looking into the rumor that started way back in #4; that the Animorphs may be human after all. They do this through collecting blood left behind at battles and finding traces of human blood and comparing it to other samples throughout the city. Does this seem like a plausable plan? Clearly it works in the context of the novel, but should it have worked? Does the science there make sense? Is it the Yeerks best bet of finding the Animorphs?

That's what they did!? I thought they got their blood while morphed and somehow the morphed blood showed traces of their human blood! What you just said made a lot more sense but when did they ever bleed while in Human morph? The only time they were human in one of their daily epic Yeerk battles was when they needed to heal and then about 2 minutes later they're back in their Animal forms

2) Clearly the focus of this book is Loren's reintroduction. What do you think about adult-Loren, given what we know about her from TAC?

Didn't read TAC and Loren never did anything after this book so I really could care less about her

3) On a similar vein, what do you think about Loren's amnesia? It seems kind of...coincidental.. .that the human who had to have her memory modified by the Ellimist ends up completely losing her memory altogether only a few years later.

Yeah it seems like KA gave Loren an amnesia overload. First she doesn't remember her husband and then she doesn't remember her son. She's all kinds of f[beep]ed up!

4) This book marks a clear turning point in the series. The Animorphs finally decide to tell their parents about the invasion and evacuate them to safety. Do you think that these scenes were well-done, or did they leave you wanting more? What did you think about the parent's reactions?

Meh we didn’t really get to know most of the parents enough to have felt that their reactions were a bit off. Although I really wished we could have known what happened to Rachel’s dad. And is it just me or does the older of Rachel’s little sisters seem a little too old or mature to believe Ax is a pokemon? Wasn’t it stated that her and Rachel weren’t that far apart? so rather than thinking she could stuff him in a pokeball, wouldn’t she do what’s expected of somebody older and run away screaming? Don’t get me wrong I thought that part was hilarious but it didn’t seem very realistic(or as realistic as a story of teens becoming animals to fight aliens could be)

5) When they go to save Jake's family Jake is too late. His parents have both been made Controllers and Jake takes the risky move of morphing in front of them as a sort of 'in your face' moment. This scene is a turning point for Jake, because his purpose in the war (to save Tom) has been ripped from him. Do you think that Jake's reaction was appropriate? Do you think that this scene would have played out better if it were under Jake's narration?

Yeah his actions were appropriate. The Yeerks already knew who he was, why bother morphing behind a bush or something? The Yeerks knowing who the Anis were was probably one of the Animorphs’ biggest avantage because now they could morph or demorph without having to waste time finding a safe spot to not be seen(which could come in handy when they need a quick mid-battle heal)  Plus it was a nice way of letting Jake’s family know that there was still hope(well…not for Tom)

6) Anything else?

I’m a little upset that this is pretty much the last we see of Loren. These last few books, especially 54, was a perfect way to have things actually end well for Tobias now that he found somebody that could have loved as much as Rachel did. But instead KA decided it’d be best that Tobias go into his emo phase after Rachel’s death rather than finding a relative who actually cared about him and could have gotten him through that difficult time. And since we're on the topico f mothers, WTF happened with Marco and Eva? Marco finally got what he wanted and had his mom back but they almost never really interacted!  But w/e what’s done is done

[11:11]

And is it just me or does the older of Rachel’s little sisters seem a little too old or mature to believe Ax is a pokemon? Wasn’t it stated that her and Rachel weren’t that far apart? so rather than thinking she could stuff him in a pokeball, wouldn’t she do what’s expected of somebody older and run away screaming? Don’t get me wrong I thought that part was hilarious but it didn’t seem very realistic(or as realistic as a story of teens becoming animals to fight aliens could be)

I thought about that too. I think I remember reading somewhere that Jordan was like two years younger than Rachel. And if Rachel was, presumably, 16 at this point in the series that would have made Jordan around 14 which was like a year older than when Rachel and the other Animorphs were when they had first met Elfangor...

[SuperBlue]

14!? I thought she was like 11. That makes it even worse

[RYTX]

I'd like to believe that some of the worst ghostwritten books were not written by the same people that did the best ones.

Yeah wouldn't we all, but according to Wikipedia, which I trust with everything short of my life, this book was brought to us by Lisa Harkrader,
who is also credited with book 44
Obviously not the case then

p.s. yes! when did this get a sub board, I was gonna recommend just that once this was over, you know, for when we do it next time , but nows cool too

[Terenia]

1) In this book the Yeerks finally decide to start looking into the rumor that started way back in #4; that the Animorphs may be human after all. They do this through collecting blood left behind at battles and finding traces of human blood and comparing it to other samples throughout the city. Does this seem like a plausable plan? Clearly it works in the context of the novel, but should it have worked? Does the science there make sense? Is it the Yeerks best bet of finding the Animorphs?

That's what they did!? I thought they got their blood while morphed and somehow the morphed blood showed traces of their human blood! What you just said made a lot more sense but when did they ever bleed while in Human morph? The only time they were human in one of their daily epic Yeerk battles was when they needed to heal and then about 2 minutes later they're back in their Animal forms

I'm pretty sure that they got the blood from their animal morphs, which is why I'm not entirely sure that the science works. How much human DNA of Jake would be floating around in the blood of a Siberian Tiger that he's morphed? idk....seems like a stretch.




And yes! Sub-board! I was going to wait until the end of the re-read as well, but goom thought that it would be better to go ahead with it now. So we can get cozy here. We now have our very own space.