Elmer is finally home! And now Boris can go home as well.
Only to immediately run into trouble (his family has been trapped!) and fly all the way back to pick up the one friend he has (Elmer. Duh. 😄) and get the help he needs.
It’s a weird premise, but a fun enough book. The mathematical problem solving (and oh so prescient packing) comes to a head here, but it’s just as fun as ever to read in the time.
It’s the weakest of the bunch, but a decent end to the series.
The somewhat sillier (who’d have thought it possible) sequel to My Father's Dragon, wherein Elmer and Boris take an entire book to return home (and all sorts of strange things happen along the way).
It’s really the second half of the book (and if you read it as part of Three Tales of My Father’s Dragon it fits better)–and slightly weaker, especially without the first.
One thing to love about both the first and this book is the weird obsession with ‘inventory tracking’. He picks 38 tangerines. Then eats 15. Then 11 more. It’s a fun way for kids who’s minds work that way to track things, do math, all the while looking for that mistake they know must be there!
It’s also a nice touch that we stick around with the new characters we meet a lot better this time. The entire book is about Elmer, Boris, and the canaries, rather than a new animal puzzle each chapter. I like it.
Onward!
It’s a cute story, good for children.
A story about the narrator’s father’s adventures, gone fantastic. There are talking animals and a dragon and it’s never really clear how much if any of this might have happened… but in the end, does it matter?
It’s cute and teaches kids how to solve problems, make new friends, and rescue dragons. All lessons worth learning.
“You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.” A famous human named Rolling Stones said that. I thought it was very wise, for a human.
- From the Earth Diary of Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill
Our first point of view of Ax. Who’s an alien (oh so alien).
“Here, just take the box,” Marco said.
He handed me the box of popcorn. I quickly ate the rest of it.
“Not the box,” Marco wailed. “You don’t eat the box!”
“It tasted of salt and grease,” I pointed out.
It’s a fun look at cultural differences. I generally think that the series badly overdoes how he’s constantly reacting to things like speaking/eating/standing on two legs, but it’s fun to see it from his point of view.
Culturally, we do get a decent bit of interesting story building here. What makes humans interesting in this universe. What Andelite culture is built on. What families are like. Etc.
It’s a neat story.
I’m glad that the core conflict doesn’t (for the most part) get drug beyond one book. That would get tiring.
The first Megamorphs book–with the point of view switching each chapter rather than per book–and almost twice as long! (apparently it was originally published as two books?) It’s a neat concept and a good way to shake up the series.
Other than that, it’s summer time. The Animorphs are coming off a big win. So it’s time to relax.
Until a living tornado from Saturn comes to visit–seemingly focussed on finding and shredding our friendly neighborhood Animorphs.
Also, an amnesia plot. Which morphing for some reason didn’t heal?
It’s… fine? The other Megamorphs books are better.
Given how super formulaic these books are, I was actually really surprised with how good this one is. You have a (very) old arms family with a flare for the dramatic, the lost city (no, not that one, this one), killer … algae?, all the Edgar Allen Poe and The Island of Dr. Moreau references you could want (plus some!).
Man there are some awesome action scenes in this book (which is really a large part about why you read them). Escaping from the castle? Excellent. (Actually the whole castle scene leading up to it was delightfully creepy). Escaping from the island? Even better.
Overall, I had vaguely considered giving up on this series after the last few, but this one is more than good enough to keep me going for a while longer. Onward and NUMAward!
<Hi, Josep,>Â I said, using thought-speak.
“What the . . . Who? Who said that? I’m hearing voices!”
<Me,> I replied. <I said it. See, Josep, I am from the International Elephant Police. We have had some complaints about you.>
“This is crazy! This is crazy! What are you? Is this some sort of a joke?”
…
Right.
So… remember that big weird biomechanical appearance at the end of The Capture?
“I am an Ellimist,” he said, speaking with an actual voice, “as your Andalite friend guessed.”
Ax was shaking so badly he looked like he might fall down.
“Be at peace, Andalite,” the Ellimist said. “Look at your human friends. They do not fear me.”
<They don’t know what you are,> Ax managed to say.
The Ellimist smiled. “Neither do you. All you know are the fairy stories your people tell to children.”
I remember The Ellimist Chronicles being one of my favorite books of the series. I did not remember that they showed up quite so early. An interesting bit of worldbuilding, if nearing on an almost literal deus-ex-machina.
It’s a good book, but it’s tonally weird compared to any of the books thus far–quite a jump in scope/scale.
Although I do like Rachel’s cover / new combat morph though. Not quite as many size issues as she had with the elephant.
A look far deeper than anyone wanted into what it’s like to be a Yeerk/controller.
And some actual plans to take over some more high powered individuals than High School kids and Assistant Principals. 😄
It’s an intense book, only slightly weakened by a few ‘unlikely at best’ moments that are needed to drive the plot forward.
It’s a good one.
The one with Marco’s backstory.
Two years ago his mother died/disappeared at sea. In that time, his father has not really taken that well, leading to a somewhat rough home life.
Meanwhile, Ax tries to call home. This also goes poorly, although probably not how you’d expect.
Capture! A trip to SPACE! Power struggles among the Yeerks! And… a surprise visit from Visser One.
An interesting twist that. Doesn’t make any more sense than a random Assistant Principal being a high placed local Controller, but it works for the book.
Slightly weaker than The Encounter and The Message, but there’s potential for some interesting stories in the future.
“How about my dream of living long enough to get a driver’s license?”
And so we have upper bound on their current ages. They’re so young…
On re-reading this, I’d forgotten how early Ax was introduced. It’s such a neat story. The young alien left behind. Another child, just like them. And then you have the ocean morphs–dolphins!–and talking(ish) whales.
A lot to like about this one.