Ok, some of you on here might have seen my other posts where I claim that KA Applegate based her series on the ever-popular Star Trek franchise, but I've never actually given any actual evidence to support my claims. Thus, I present to you this thread, where I will discuss said evidence.
The first indication that KA based her series on Star Trek comes from their weapons: They're not just ray guns or lasers - oh no, that would be too simple! No, they're frickin' vaporizing beams! As anyone with a rudimentary understanding in science knows, a vaporizing beam couldn't work in real life because the subject matter being disintegrated would generate all sorts of ill side effects. I could discuss the inconsistencies of Dracon beams and shredders till the cows come home, but that's neither here nor there for my discussion.
The second piece of evidence comes in their ground forces. You'd think that with all of their advanced technology, the Yeerks and the Andalites would invest in the development of some form of body armor or personal force fields to repel weapons fire. But no, Andalites and Yeerks eagerly rush into battle unarmored, NAKED in the case of the Hork-Bajir, Taxxons, and Andalites, with only their sidearms, and NO support fire from things like artillery, mortars, armored vehicles, etc. Their only defense comes from air support or space. As anyone who's ever watched Star Trek knows, the Federation (hell, EVERY power in the Star Trek universe) HAS no ground forces. This is beyond the impossible, because as advanced as technology can get, there is no supplement for the basic ground soldier and support weapons. Sure, you can easily destroy a city from orbit, but capturing a city and holding it falls on the shoulders of the solder. This to me speaks volumes about the Andalites and the Yeerks in general, and gives support to my theory that more than anything the Yeerks and the Andalites were based on Star Trek.
My third piece of evidence is not anything technologically related, in fact, it is BEYOND technology; my third piece of evidence is the Ellimist himself. He is without a doubt based on the omnipotent Q in Star Trek, only much cooler. You could argue that he was based on other such beings, if you can prove to me that such ones exist. Since we already know KA watches Star Trek, it can be safely assumed that the Ellimist was definitely based on Q, although giving him a personal nemesis was a stroke of genius that moved him beyond the Q.
Oh, and that's not even mentioning the constant Star Trek references made by Marco and others throughout the series, and Temrash's infamous "Resistance is Futile" cliché used by the Borg.
Yup, I think it's safe to say KA Applegate based her series (not only, but primarily) on Star Trek.
She would have done better to have based it on Star Wars. Yup, I'm a Warsie, I should get that into the open right now, and as such I have a fairly dour view on those who claim the Federation (or similar powers) could beat the Empire in a straight-up, mano a mano fight. But on the plus side, at least KA restricted herself from using the technobabble that became so infamous on Star Trek. At least Star Wars has more basis in realism...
And that is my two cents! Anyone care to tear my review down to shreds, stomp on its piece, burn them, and then EAT THEM?