The Invasion / The Visitor / The Encounter / The Message (Animorphs #1-4)[January 1, 2024]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Yeerks kinda suck at blending in... (view spoiler)[Jake's brother says so many suspicious / brainwashy things about The Sharing...

Mr. Chapman just staring at the wall... (hide spoiler)]

[Katie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Katie wrote: "I love how everyone has their own favorite books from their childhood. Makes me smile~

Just got the first book yesterday from the library. My gosh. I'm so disappointed! This copy doe..."

I guess so? I'll have to check the date. The cover was even different. Bleh XD

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I think the original morphing covers are the best... and the Vietnamese covers are decent, since they commissioned their own different morphing covers... the other cover with the human head and bit of animal overlap, just isn't the same...

[Choko]

Yeah, the Yeerks, or the Jerks as I have renamed them in my mind, are not subtle at all!

Finished The Encounter #3 ... (view spoiler)[ This was Tobias' point of view and it managed to make me feel really sorry for him. He is having a rough time hanging on to his humanity and is feeling really isolated. He feels he can't really be a part of the gang, since he can't morph with them and can't participate in all of their activities... And it really felt horrible when the female hawk got killed:((( But his friends are trying and they are not letting him drift away.

The Yeerks are using the planet's resources and the kids were able to destroy, kind of by accident, the transport ship. It was a bit of a miracle all of them survived, but I am guessing this will be how it goes through the series. (hide spoiler)]

Not bad, and definitely addictive:) Jumping into the fourth and last one for the month:)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "Yeah, the Yeerks, or the Jerks as I have renamed them in my mind, are not subtle at all!

Finished The Encounter #3 ... This was Tobias' point of view and it managed to make me feel really sorry..."

(view spoiler)[Tobias is another tragic character (with a crazy ass backstory that will be revealed later, regarding his barely known parents)... things will improve, before too long... spoiler alert (view spoiler)[he regains the ability to morph by around book 13, but hawk remains his natural form, but also he also eventually gets the ability to morph back into his human form for 2hrs... staying longer would leave him stuck as a human again... (hide spoiler)]

I'd say, especially these early ones, they rely on surviving by the seat of their pants / skin of their teeth... they're entirely untrained, against an alien menace that has conquered multiple worlds (Taxxon, Hork-Bajir, etc)... the main thing they have going for them, is that Visser 3 assumes they are "Andalite Bandits", a guerilla fighting force of Andalites running around, only able to morph into humans and animals for 2hrs... so the kids kinda get away with hiding in plain sight...

The podcast I was listening to, kinda compared it to comic book villains, I think... (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Good to know! I love it that we have you as a guide in the series, Iain! As always:)))

[Choko]

Finished The Message #4 ... This was Cassie's introduction book. (view spoiler)[ We finally have all our friends morph into Dolphins! Yay! After Cassie and Tobias dreamed the same dreams of someone calling for help from the bottom of the ocean, the gang decided to go and see what's up. It turned out to be an Andalite youth, who was looking for his brother, the guy who died and gave the morphing powers to the kids. The Yeerks were after them, but they were able to pull it off by befriending a killer whale.

I think Cassie is my favorite character so far. She is all about the animals and doing the right thing, and I absolutely love the way she goes about it. And her and Jake obviously like like each other:))) Let's see how the author deals with that. (hide spoiler)]

The way the first four books were structured, I am guessing the next POV will be Marko's. I kind of wish we had that one scheduled for this month too, so we can get the feel of the full gang:)

[Nirkatze]

Choko wrote: "Finished The Visitor #2 ... I actually liked this better. It felt very intimate, being in the girl's head and the way she perceived the alienation of her friend's parents and how that affected her..."

Just finished #2 Visitor and I agree with everything you said, Choko--liked this one a lot more--perhaps because now that the premise is established, it means the story can be more focused. I really felt for Melissa, and I can see what @Ian was talking about, with Applegate wanting to write about PTSD...

I also really liked how the animals were treated in this book--but then, I'm a cat person... and I'm wondering if Applegate isn't too, considering how the cat was portrayed.

[Choko]

The cat was pretty awesome!!! They are so brave, they are almost stupid with it:) But I adore them!

[Nirkatze]

Gonna have to go troll petfinder for a while more now...

[Katie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "For the real childhood reading experience, here are the flip book gifs I found online... these were included in the bottom right corner of each page of the book and could be flipped to see the tran..."

omg thank you for this!!! I'm hoping the library has the og copies for the next issues :D

[Katie]

Finished book #1 in a day!! Such a quick read!! Now it will really just be how fast I can get the libarary books. haha.

Book #1 Invasion thoughts
Honestly I really really liked it!! The nostalgia was strong with this one! I never finished the series, so I'm really interested to see where the kids go! I enjoyed Jake's monologue right at the start. Telling the viewers this could be your town and all that. It's such a good hook for young readers to really begin to question things. And to get you invested into the world of sci-fi and 'what-ifs'.

(view spoiler)[The kids are cool enough and each have their own unique tropey personalities. But more than that we already see some hints at their backstories and difficult family lives. Some of that even connecting to their chosen animal forms like Tobias and the hawk.

The morphing ability has always been my favorite. I love how the author doesn't shy away from the body horror and how unusual and disgusting the transformations really are. Hey, at least the kiddos don't have bones breaking like werewolves or the like. I like seeing how each animal is portrayed when they bond with those personalities. It must be so scary to try not to lose yourself within those animalistic behavior traits. Just reverting to the good boy puppo or the lizard who's just trying to survive. That's a lot! A huge mind shift for the kids! I wonder if the animal mental traits are specific to the animals they bonded or if they're generic. Like if an animal was specifically depressed or prone to rage....would the kids get that too??

You could totally tell that Jake's brother was in trouble right from the start, but I liked the plot and where it went with all that. A great intro to the terrible alien beings. The kids finally finding a reason to fight!

I totally remember the Tobias bit at the end. I wonder what they're going to tell his uncle T_T I hope they can help him too!!

I can't wait to find more about the alien beings and the space lore too! I forgot the one that was killed in the beginning was a prince! (hide spoiler)]

TV Show
I found the old tv show on YouTube too! So I watched it along the first book for funzies! They did a great job at matching things. If anything the intro was kind of changed to get a better feel for the characters and Homer. So it worked well! I noticed they switched up the roles a bit too. Making Tobias more to himself and loner like and Jake the leader moreso. Instead of in the books where Tobias was adamant at finding things out and helping the aliens.

The morphing is still so cool and wierd to see for a 90s show!! They did a great job at the alien costume design too! Gotta love it!!

They also added (view spoiler)[this plot about the alien giving the kid some device? Which wasn't in the book? Unless it's later? But that was a new key plot device to get the kids to go back to the scene of the crime. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I think (view spoiler)[ they get the morphing cube a bit later?… it’s key to sharing the morphing ability and building a bit of an army, at some point… (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Katie, thank you for the TV show fill in. I might look for it on YouTube, if I ever find a moment. And I completely agree with you on the book:)))

[Katie]

Choko wrote: "Katie, thank you for the TV show fill in. I might look for it on YouTube, if I ever find a moment. And I completely agree with you on the book:)))"

Sure thing! Here's what I found! I don't know if it's region locked :
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH...

[Katie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I think "

Why is it blank??? O.o

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Katie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I think "

Why is it blank??? O.o"

I wrote it from my phone and used 2x << in my spoiler tag, hiding everything in broken HTML... fixed now...

EDIT: I did a wiki search, and (view spoiler)[it's not recovered until book 20, when another kid finds it, and becomes the 7th Animorph for awhile... then other stuff happens, then they spend much of the rest of the series hiding it, until they start using it late-series to help in the war...

So the show made the change before the books recovered it, based on timing, I think... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Very cool analysis and thank you for sharing the youtube links!

[Saar The Book owl]

I haven't read the spoilers yet of book 1 'The Invasion', but I've started yesterday and I'm almost halfway. I regret nog having read them when I was young. I remembered the cool changing covers, but at that time I think I was 12 and reading Goosebumps, the Babysitters Club, Fear street...

Now somewhere in chapter 11:
(view spoiler)[I love the way the story is told and Jake as the storyteller. He sounds real and honest. Of course, if your parents warn you to not take that road, of course you do that and you bump into an alien! As a reader you get a good view of the 5 children about their character, their dynamics...So far, my favorite is Tobias. He's different than the others and I wonder what the Andalite has told him when he touched his forehead. But, in one of the chapters Jake tells that Tobias has sad eyes (or something like that) and that this is the last thing he remembers of him. Does this means that, in one of the parts, Tobias will die?
Also, does anyone have the urge, when the word' morph' is used, to say: 'It's morphing time!' , like in the Power Rangers? I'm sure that Jake's brother has been turned into a Yeerk. Morphing itself sounds really cool. I would just turn into a cat, like Tobias, but there are certain cat - things that I would take a pass for, like cat litter -stuf... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Saar The Book owl wrote: "I haven't read the spoilers yet of book 1 'The Invasion', but I've started yesterday and I'm almost halfway. I regret nog having read them when I was young. I remembered the cool changing covers, b..."

(view spoiler)[good catch on the eyes thing... it's not as bad as you think... you'll find out soon enough...

Maybe you could be one of those weird cats trained to use human toilets :D (hide spoiler)]

[Saar The Book owl]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Saar The Book owl wrote: "I haven't read the spoilers yet of book 1 'The Invasion', but I've started yesterday and I'm almost halfway. I regret nog having read them when I was young. I remembered t..."

Aha, I'll keep an 'eye' out for that :D
Hm, that's not a bad idea! I love weird and cats, so that's a good combi :)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Started #2: (view spoiler)[I feel like the muzzle shot dodge strategy might have been a bit unbelievable?... I know gunshots travel faster than sound, but what's the window for light vs bullet?...

Either way, stealing the gun/beer was fun/cool... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

#2, around 80%: (view spoiler)["I didn't notice you" -- Innis 226, Yeerk Invader / Genius... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I love how everyone's first instinct with this series is "I wish I'd found this as a kid"...

I feel like, as a kid, I was quick to move on to more adult books/shows... this was a bit of an exception...

[Choko]

Saar, I agree with everything:)

Iain, I felt exactly the same way as a kid! I wanted to be grown so badly, I was reading stuff way above my head... But I was very honest when I said, when I was growing up, apart from Mery Poppins, multi cultural fairytales, and one magazine full of comic books, there really weren't any books for kids where I grew up. This is why I feel like I am trying to make up for that time reading them with relish now...

[Choko]

Saar, I agree with everything:)

Iain, I felt exactly the same way as a kid! I wanted to be grown so badly, I was reading stuff way above my head... But I was very honest when I said, when I was growing up, apart from Mery Poppins, multi cultural fairytales, and one magazine full of comic books, there really weren't any books for kids where I grew up. This is why I feel like I am trying to make up for that time reading them with relish now...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I feel like I a bit critical of YA / Middle-grade storytelling, as an adult... but I still find hidden gems...

[Katie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Katie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I think "

Why is it blank??? O.o"

I wrote it from my phone and used 2x << in my spoiler tag, hiding everything in broken HTML... fixed now...

EDIT: I did a wi..."

Oh! Thanks Timelord! That makes sense that they changed the timeline a bit for the format of the show

[Katie]

So glad everyone is liking the book!! :D

[Nirkatze]

LOL loving everyone's comments... I've always wanted to try to train a cat to use the toilet, but then I'd have to leave all the bathroom doors open all the time, and the covers would have to be up all the time, and that just grosses me out... LOL the tangents we get on...

[Tonari no Emily]

Katie wrote: "I love how everyone has their own favorite books from their childhood. Makes me smile~

Just got the first book yesterday from the library. My gosh. I'm so disappointed! This copy doesn't even have..."

*Gasp* how awful! That's the whole appeal!

[Tonari no Emily]

Choko wrote: "Finished The Visitor #2 ... I actually liked this better. It felt very intimate, being in the girl's head and the way she perceived the alienation of her friend's parents and how that affected her..."

Just read this one. Wasn't expecting this to pull those heartstrings so much!

[Tonari no Emily]

I feel like a cat would need a more narrow seat to try to use lol
And it would never work for my cat who likes to drink any source of water she can find when she has a perfectly good water fountain 🙄
Ick!!

[Katie]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "*Gasp* how awful! That's the whole appeal!"

Right????

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I feel like a cat would need a more narrow seat to try to use lol
And it would never work for my cat who likes to drink any source of water she can find when she has a perfectly good water fountai..."

It's been so long since I saw that mini-video about domesticated cat toilets... I think dog toilets were a thing, too...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Katie wrote: "Tonari no Emily wrote: "*Gasp* how awful! That's the whole appeal!"

Right????"

I definitely did alot of flipping...

One aspect of the series I never think about much, is the viability of the slug getting to brain from ear canal... it creates a horrible visual, but I'd think there'd be blockages and/or busted eardrums involved... and them slugs seem enormous in the visual flip book aspect... I posted a gif in one of the later threads, I think...

[Nirkatze]

Read #3 The Encounter through Chapter 12--(view spoiler)[I wasn't expecting to get Tobias's POV, but I am glad we are, and earlier rather than later. Even though he's stuck in a hawk, he isn't being abandoned and is still an integral part of the team.

It kind of makes me think of a Peter Dickinson book I read a long time ago--Eva... half of the story was a young girl whose consciousness was copied into a chimpanzee's after a car accident and her body died... (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Katie wrote: "Tonari no Emily wrote: "*Gasp* how awful! That's the whole appeal!"

Right????"

I definitely did alot of flipping...

One aspect of the series I never think about much, is the viabil..."
I'm not sure if I want to dwell on that mental image for too long lol

[Nirkatze]

Wow these go by so fast... Finished #3 The Encounter... (view spoiler)[the themes were solid, throughout, a good chunk of action, saved in the nick of time.

Pretty similar to the other two books so far in pacing and structure. And it kind of feels like we're back at square one again, without quite managing to achieve what they set out to do--no evidence, no further help--but at the same time, they managed to escape in each, and the positives for each have also increased, if not exactly reaching their goal--they saved the girl in book 2, and they crashed some ships in 3.

Tobias finding balance between the Hawk and Human was very impactful. I was sad to see the ladyhawk die--though it was also weird seeing Tobias crush on her... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'd definitely say the early books stick to the formulaic, without making too too much forward progress... for the overarching plot, alot of the momentum happens in books 30-50, I think... not that I would 100% know, since I never made it to the end...

The early books about the kids finding their way, and slowly gaining some new allies/knowledge that will be useful later on...

The shortness of the books helps with making the monster of the week nature of some / most of the early installments easier to handle, on re-read / as an adult, I think?... I didn't mind as a kid...

With the length of the stories, there's time for intro/recap, some planning, a mission, and a smidge of forward momentum/success... the end, in each book...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Reading Encounter now...

Tragic from the start (view spoiler)[ weeks as a hawk, and already forgetting his human features...

clearly the author didn't know, either... book says Tobias was blonde, but the cover is brunette/black haired...

EDIT: reddit says the author says the cover model dyed his hair between selection and the photo shoot, leading to the discrepency on every Tobias cover from 1-42... new younger model for 43-54 has blonde hair... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Smidge further: (view spoiler)[Cassie is the moral compass of the group... altho, after awhile, it's a bit like Blays in the Cycle of Galand... token comment, before group majority takes precedent, and the plot continues onward... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Book flies by so fast... (view spoiler)[from Car Dealership, to eating a rat/mouse... to suicidal thoughts... the mall... saved by Rachel & Marco... days/weeks of depression/devolution into hawk mind... return to consciousness... incident with the Hork-Bajir & human prety around the lake... and final sequence with the fish morph and the Yeerk ship...

Once I got to the lake I was like "there's only 40 minutes in this 3hr audiobook left, already?"... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Read #3 The Encounter through Chapter 12--I wasn't expecting to get Tobias's POV, but I am glad we are..."

(view spoiler)[Reminds me of Dimension 20, Fantasy High... the DM was really weirded out by the party's fixation on creating a Sexy Rat summon/illusion:



They did it to lure out the pet rat of the villain at the time, but the DM wasn't having it, and had it scooped up and eaten by a nearby bird, like 5 seconds later... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

There's a line in here (#3) (view spoiler)[where Tobias tried to tell Cassie he loved her, I think, when he was about to die... and she totally Han Solo'd him, with an "I know" to cut him off from fully saying it...

Not sure if this is ever mentioned again in the series...

With Tobias stuck in hawk form, Jake+Cassie is the more pushed pairing... and nobody else really gets a pairing... (hide spoiler)]

EDIT: And I misheard the whole thing, and misattributed it to the wrong character... (view spoiler)[it was Tobias and Rachel... that makes more sense... and the more I look into it, the more I find that that actually becomes a thing later on...

Between Tobias's growing hawk instincts, and Rachel's own dangerous instincts/attitudes, they mesh together well and grow close...

In the end, what I said before was wrong...

There's Jake/Cassie... Tobias/Rachel... and later on, a Marco/SPOILERs bromance to round out the team... (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Reading Encounter now...
..."

heh interesting bit about the cover model!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I find cover art discrepencies interesting... like the hats on the Dresden books...

Also, naming conventions... like how Dresden has 2 word titles of equal length (4 letter, 4 letter... 6 letter, 6 letter, etc)... or The Hollows replaces a Fantasy word in Clint Eastwood movie titles...

Fool Moon
Storm Front
Summer Knight

Dead Witch Walking
The Good, the Bad, and the Undead
The Outlaw Demon Wails
A Fistful of Charms

[Nirkatze]

Really interesting background--from the model, to the pair-ups... and the sexy rat lol...

[Tonari no Emily]

The sexy rat looks familiar... Have you posted that here before somewhere Iain? LOL

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "The sexy rat looks familiar... Have you posted that here before somewhere Iain? LOL"

I might have... I post alot of things :D
Then I go on an image spree in a half dozen threads...
I definitely mention tabletop RPG show content a fair bit...