I liked this book for its momentum. After the more or less uneventful last book,
The Sacrifice feels like an authentic last boost in the series. With strong character moments and turning points in the story.
1. The big issue in this book is the fact that the Yeerks are rounding people up at gunpoint, forcing them onto the subway (which now leads to the Yeerk Pool) and infesting them en masse. I have two questions here. Firstly, how is this not getting noticed? I'm assuming the entirety of the police is not infested. Secondly, when the heck did this town get a subway system?
I always pictured they were right in the heart of downtown on this opener scene. Like when Marco ended up chasing Visser One/Eva in blonde curly wig disguise. Surely they had subway systems there.
Yeerk activity may have been noticed, but I believe the human police would have been most innefective, simply for having no experience in dealing with the Yeerk threat. A policeman that is firing at a menacingly-looking Hork-Bajirs or a disgusting-looking Taxxon, would have his back completly turned to an enemy that is virtually passing off a civilian. In this situation I think the Yeerks would have just executed the human armed forces. There is also the unquestionable difference in technology.
And the plan, to herd humans into subway stations that feed into the Yeerk pool, was a feasible one. Right up in character with the new leader of the Invasion. With no need for subtlety any more, it felt almost natural for the Yeerks to be doing this.
2. When Ax, Rachel and Tobias are doing recon they are attacked by several morph-capable Yeerks. One of the birds begs to be allowed to live and become a nothlit. This is the first direct instance that we see of the Yeerks choosing another way beyond parisitism. What do you think about this decision and its implications? Especially if it was the host, not the actual physical Yeerk, doing the morphing?
It's just plain wrong. And I like to think that Rachel would have done something about that.
I don't recall it being exactly explicit the Yeerks being inside morph-capable hosts. I lean more towards the hypothesis that the yeerks themselves were doing the morphing. Tom's Yeerk having revealed being subjected to the Cube in the next book, supports this, plus, I don't think the premise of 'Cassie's gamble' would have quite worked otherwise.
This is where the whole 'give the Yeerks the morphing guimmick' stunt made the series lose its touch for me. At this stage in the series it's morphing virtually became something else. If you note, the Yeerks themselves morph totally unninventively (ref. a flock of bald eagles and peregrine falcons; a buffalo, a polar bear and lionesses and pack of wolves; James was given a falcon morph, only to morph a red-tailed Tobias at the end of this story... it's like "ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!! Lost in repetition ghostwriters... What happened to morphing standards...").
3. After Cassie reveals to the group that she gave up the Blue Box Ax accuses her of traitorism. In fact, he goes so far to say:
An entire human race of Rachels - angry, merciless, aggressive, and equipped with Yeerk and Andalite technology. It was a terrifying specter.
But perhaps...perhaps I had been wrong.
Perhaps the real menace lay at the other end of the continuum - represented by Cassie. Humans who were softer. Kinder. Well-meaning.
And, ironically, infinitely more dangerous.
Do you think this is accurate? Are the Cassies of the world more dangerous than the Rachels?
Well, Cassie was a traitor to the Anis' cause. Plain and simple. She acted without fully consciously knowning what the results would be.
The road to hell is pathed with good intentions. History is filled with individuals who wanted to do good but end up perverting the whole cause. Hitler himself was said to have been a non-smoking or drinking, vegetarian. (please note: NOT THAT I AM COMPARING CASSIE TO HITLER IN ANY WAY!)
Rachel may have been bloodthirsty or what not, but she was also a multi-faceted warrior, who was somewhat open about her feelings. The so-called 'black sheep' of the team. Cassie could be considered her diametrical opposite. My point is, that, it's people that are too good to be true, that when left to their own devices can come up with some real shockers. And I think that's what Ax, as the alien, had conceived.
4. How long do you think Ax has been communicating with the Andalites in this way? Is this behind-the-back sort of reporting in character for Ax, who has spent so much time going back and forth on his loyalty?
On the other side of the margin, we have Ax doing potentially dangerous deals with the Andalites, judging the human condition, he falls back into his military Andalite ways again. Now that I think about it, this action can be considered sneakily traitorous, much like Cassie's, in his part. Only his is meticulous and calculated. But taking into consideration that only he could really use this new resource, his feelings in the escalation of the war and the clear deterioration of the resistance, it's not hard to understand why the Andalite felt the need to report to his people.
5. What was your reaction when you realized that the Andalites planned on putting Earth in 'quarantine', essentially giving up all hope of saving the human race? Is it typically Andalite? From their POV, was it the right move strategically? Are the humans expendable?
I think even Ax was shocked to hear that the Andalite military intended on pulling the same Hork-Bajir homeworld stunt. The military can always justify their moves, but are incapable of seeing the micro-details in the big picture. They call Alloran The Abomination, but here the military was about to do the exact same thing. It only spells one word to me: Hypocrisy.
Still, I wish this had been delivered to us readers more surprisingly/shocking. Like when in #54 Erek is found to have been draining the Dracon cannons in a crucial moment... I was shocked then! Here I was more like, "Oh, no you didn't, Ax!".
6. Cassie raises objections about blowing up the Yeerk Pool, and perhaps rightfully so, but eventually relents and decides to follow the group. Rachel mocks her, adament that they must destroy as many Yeerks as possible, regardless of who gets in the way. Do you think that they are being kept in character here?
Of course she raised objections, she is Cassie. Though I don't remember Rachel mocking her.
This is exactly where they were in
The Test, only they could no longer afford NOT TO DO IT anymore.
7. When the first major battle breaks out in the subway the Yeerks begin morphing. Rachel insists that they attack while the Yeerks are in midmorph, but Jake tells her to stop, saying that they deserve a fair fight and that they aren't going to stoop to the same level as the Yeerks. Is this a smart decision, on Jake's part?
This translates kinda like the scene where Rachel taunts the Yeerk in falcon morph. Personally, I don't think Rachel was outta line pulling those lines on the frightened Yeerk. You have to look at it in the context of a war. The bad guys, who at this stage have all the cards and are still likely to win, are getting lesson one in morphing, which the Anis have transcended through many times early in the series. To have Rachel speak such things to the enemy coward was like putting words in reader's mouth. Kinda like when Marco told David something along the lines of 'when you've kicked as many Yeerk-butt as I have, then you come and talk to me'...
Had she done this outside that battle situation (say she assaulted a yeerk couple that was had their first morphing-date in a suburbian park in dog morphs), or had the war not unfolded the way it did, I would have disapproved, but I can totally see the character getting stuck in the moment we are confronted with, and so , to me, it felt realistic and justified.
...LOL I woulda made that call in a heart beat. Kid's gloves should have been off the minute the Yeerks could morph. If I were the leader it woulda gone somethin like this
Animorph: Whoa! The Yeerks are morphing, what should we do?
Me:...What do you mean, "what should we do?" They're in mid-morph and I can almost garuntee it's like their first or second time so they're gonna be a while. Let's kick some ass!
It's kinda messed up but my morals go out the window if my life is on the line...
Yeah, man, totally hear ya here, kids glove should have been off. The Anis could still lose the war, the Yeerks were still in their greater numbers, with the added fact that they were morph-capable. At this stage, morphing experience was the Anis' only advantage. Jake completely overlooked this for the sake of being morally righteous and all. I can understand what he was trying to do, but damned if I agree with it.
This scene kinda bugs me because it felt like it was more about ONCE AGAIN emphasizing how Rachel was the one too keen on doing whatever-it-takes-violence to win at any cost. And Jake was trying to differenciate himself. But to me it kinda backfired, personally, Jake comes across unnecessarily-naive here (given the decisions he will be making in
The Answer), and Rachel's, completely justified.
8.The climax to this book is the blowing up of the Yeerk Pool, an act that eliminates half of the downtown area and also leads to Visser One uncloaking his Blade Ship for all to see. Any commentary on this final scene?
It was very compelling because of the fact that not everyone (morph-capable or not) would have made it out of that alive. Other than the fact that the decision to go ahead with the timer felt more like an emotional one than a strategic one, after that dragged out fighting scene in train, and, the Visser unnecessarily morphing that random abstract monster in the pool felt repetitive, it was well written.
9. Anything else?
So, there were some Jake scenes, Rachel scenes, Cassie scenes along with Ax's moments. Never seen so much content in one Ax book!
