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tresdem's review against another edition
4.0
While a little slow to begin with, really do you have to introduce us to the plot and characters every single book? I really liked this one. Ax's voice is fun, if a little supercilious at times--which fits in well with his Andalite nature. The main set up is a red herring to the meat of the action which bought back lots of continuity from earlier in the series, to paraphrase the Opinionated Animorphs Book Review. Aide from that, the tension was really great in this book. It had some really beautiful moments and really awesome tension. Plus a great ending.
ceruleanjen's review against another edition
4.0
Plot:
This book started off like it was going to be a plot really similar to ones done before, but it actually took an unexpected turn that kept me on my toes. It also shows just how dire the Yeerk invasion is becoming not only on Earth but in the entire universe as well.
Setting:
It was nice to see a setting outside of Earth though it was a little hard to picture. Though thinking back on it, it reminds me of the city from the Star Wars: The Gungan Frontier game I recall playing when I was younger.
Characters:
It seems like it's been a while since I've read from Ax's POV. There were times when I didn't much care for what he was thinking but for the most part I liked him. I especially found the beginning cinnamon bun situation extremely amusing.
The rest of the gang seem to be realizing just how more dangerous their situation is getting and it was nice to see their reactions to it.
Relationships:
I feel Ax's relationship with Jake became stronger in this one though I feel like the group as a whole will still resent him for choosing his people over them.
Writing/Voice:
Good, though I did have trouble imagining some of the settings and races.
Ending:
The chapters before the actual ending were intense and I liked that. I feel the actual ending could have been a little more stronger.
Overall, the series seem to be heading in a good direction and I'm intrigued to keep going.
ramiel's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
In Ax's first book, way way long ago, his personal identity crisis was set as the struggle between his life on Earth vs. his life on the andalite home planet, and growing up in the military. It culminated in a decision to not keep secrets from his human friends, even if telling them would go against every direct order he's ever been given.
We're very proud of him.
This book takes things a step further. Instead of Ax speaking to another andalite via space Zoom, Ax finds himself on a real andalite ship, face to face and in person with other andalite warriors. The same problem applies, only magnifies itself: should he listen to the andalites, locking his human friends away and excluding them from the mission as he's told? Will he try to return home with the andalites?
(The answers, of course, are yes and yes, but as Animorphs books usually do, what Ax thinks he wants ends up backfiring horribly on him.)
We're very proud of him.
This book takes things a step further. Instead of Ax speaking to another andalite via space Zoom, Ax finds himself on a real andalite ship, face to face and in person with other andalite warriors. The same problem applies, only magnifies itself: should he listen to the andalites, locking his human friends away and excluding them from the mission as he's told? Will he try to return home with the andalites?
(The answers, of course, are yes and yes, but as Animorphs books usually do, what Ax thinks he wants ends up backfiring horribly on him.)
My tail blade was at her throat before I knew it.
She stared at me with cool, blue human eyes. "What's the matter, Ax? Does the truth hurt? You blew us off so you could suck up to Captain Creep back there. If we go and find more Andalites, what happens? You tell us to go sit in a corner and be nice while you start yes, sir-ing ad no, sir-ing the next Andalite you see?"
Anyway, the details of this book are absolutely whack and 100% uses weird space-time nonsense to explain what's going on. If you remember from a previous book (I want to say it was a Rachel or Marco book), the kids found out that when they morphed into small animals, all their excess mass went into this place called Zero Space (where space means absolutely nothing). There's a chance that, if you morph something small enough, you'll end up popping into Zero Space instead.
It's supposed to be an impossibly small chance.
I looked around frantically. I turned my stalk eyes in every direction. I saw my own body, inside and out. An n-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, twisted so that I could see my own body.
Well... so is a space ship coming across you right as you're about to die in a Zero Space vacuum, but the kids are full of miracles these days.
We blame the Ellimist in this house.
Not only does Ax struggle with his "Earth vs. Andalites" duality here, but we also continue to see the effects of, checks notes, indoctrinating children into the military. Because, Ax is a child soldier like the rest of the kids, yes... but Ax also takes it one step further than them: he was in the Andalite military, he was born and brought up with these ideas of the honorable warrior and noble death and sacrifice and shaming "cowardice" (at a certain point Ax faces off against Visser 3, an actual adult probably twice his size, and feels ashamed and guilty for wanting to run away, even though he didn't even run away - these kids keep doing this) and all the other things war very much isn't.
Ax's first book also went into comparing giving morphing technology to the humans to how Seerow gave space faring technology to the Yeerks. In this one, we see an Andalite betray his crew to the Yeerks, leading to a full on ritualistic suicide. Ax wonders if, by firmly choosing Jake as his only leader after this event, he's not doing the exact same thing.
He's not, I'm pretty sure that one's more of a stretch, because the Captain actually was chill with everyone dying, but it was still an interesting part of Ax's development this book.
The doubts he has even after he's firmed his resolve.
Aside from Ax's identity crisis and self-loathing over perceived cowardice slash desire to prove himself afterwards: we finally get to see Leera!
Honestly, the Leerans are some of my favorite aliens in the Animorphs universe (I say this about nearly every alien as we come across them but I can't help it if they're good). They're a major threat as enemies, being able to read minds, and the kids get very close to being found out... but it turns out the Leerans are a major threat to the Yeerks as enemies too, because they manage to break the control of their Yeerks long enough to teach the kids how to free them. And they don't even die if you bite the Yeerk out of them.
Other things I found interesting:
There's a moment where Ax admits that Elfangor broke the laws of Seerow's Kindness and gave the kids morphing technology. It's interesting to me that the person who defends his actions is the traitor... I don't think Ax touches back on this, but that could have sent him into a whole other spiral.
<Elfangor was my friend as well as my prince. I'll believe he broke the rules. I'll never believe he did wrong.>
I mentioned that this does tell me that Elfangor broke rules all the fucking time after he rejoined the military too. Yolo.
Part of the plot is that you can use blood to acquire a morph... I feel like this was probably retconned or forgotten later but that brings up so many questions. I'm pretty sure you can't acquire something that's already dead... but what's the limit on that? How long can blood be out of the body before you can't morph it? And etc.
Moments that annoyed me:
A HUGE plot point is that there's a traitor among the Andalites, which Ax starts suspecting when he sees Visser 3 morph a bird that can only be found on the Andalite home planet. This is considered THE PROOF that there's a traitor and that Visser 3 has been on the Andalite home world recently. But... Alloran had morphing powers before Visser 3 took his body, and the kafit bird is stated in this very book to be a popular species for young Andalites to morph. Why would your first instinct be to assume it was Visser 3 who acquired that morph and not a younger Alloran?
The plot starts out with the kids trying to acquire some government guy Chapman hit with his car for reasons. Visser 3 wants the government guy fixed, but he's in a coma, and the doctors who work under Visser 3 apparently express doubt at being able to save him because whatever happened, it affected his brain stem. The brain stem, which controls breathing and also serves as the gateway for your brain to send messages to the rest of your body. It could be a mild damage, but they describe this guy as being in a coma. Not only does this man wake up, he wakes up totally fine like he was just taking a nap and tries to slap some mosquitoes away. Which... its possible the Yeerks managed some magicscience there, but listen...
Other Little Animorphs Things:
Doctor Coaldwin, the andalite doctor who was absolutely mad scientist-esque, was probably one of my favorite one-off characters. He just gets so excited about the humans and the Zero Space weirdness.
Ax shows off that he's learning sarcasm and how to make jokes. The opening scene is also him going absolutely ham for some Cinnabons and trying to steal some from people still trying to eat theirs. Obvious mood whiplash moments.
Marco and Rachel ganging up on Ax again just like in the last book because they're ruthless is still one of my favorite things.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, War, Grief, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide, Body horror, Slavery, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation
booksthatburn's review against another edition
4.5
Wherein Ax discovers that not all traitors are Controllers, and commits to Jake as his Prince. Plus cool Z-space stuff, the Leerans, and cinnamon buns. This series is directly responsible for my love of Cinnabon, as I didn't frequent the mall.
This is a turning point where Ax goes from temporarily aligned with the humans until he can leave, to accepting them as his own. I really love how this is handled, especially since this paradigm shift would take a long time even if little moments can be responsible for large chunks of it. The Z-space theory is great and the snapback effect give a nice sense of urgency to the pacing.
This is a turning point where Ax goes from temporarily aligned with the humans until he can leave, to accepting them as his own. I really love how this is handled, especially since this paradigm shift would take a long time even if little moments can be responsible for large chunks of it. The Z-space theory is great and the snapback effect give a nice sense of urgency to the pacing.
tachyondecay's review against another edition
5.0
I have a real soft spot for The Decision, because it is so awesome.
I remember the “Animorphs get pulled into Z-space” book from my childhood reading of the series—but I didn’t remember it coming so early. I loved the whole concept. Indeed, while not quite as long as the Megamorphs books, I’d argue that the plot of The Decision is just as cinematic and huge as any of those books—and maybe superior to some of them.
We finally get Ax’s second turn at narrating. Applegate spaces out his books more than the others, at least at the front end of the series, probably because for the moment his perspective is the most alien. That makes it harder to write for longer periods, and also harder to read. There’s only so much you can do with the “I’m an alien and boy do I think humans are the weird ones” stand-up schtick … but hey, Applegate nails it.
After an opening with Ax in human morph going all out on cinnamon buns that can only be described as hilarious, he continues to deliver zinger after zinger in his observations about the other Animorphs, or about human society in general. Whereas #8: The Alien is generally an introduction to Ax and Andalite society, The Decision is about the ways in which we prosecute war. Ax was briefly in contact with the Andalite homeworld in his first book, but his role was largely one of passive soldier who received orders and followed them. Here he has a more active role, one in which he has to choose loyalties. Because that’s the kicker in war: sometimes it’s not even clear if the “good guys” are all on the same side.
There are so many reasons to give this book five stars, but the moment that clinched it for me comes when Leeran-Controllers start shooting at the Animorphs, who are in hammerhead morph:
Think about that for a moment. To an adult reading this book, the reference makes perfect sense. But I don’t know about you—as a Canadian growing up in the 1990s, I didn’t know much about the Vietnam War. I knew it was a thing that happened over the 1960s and most of the 1970s. I knew there was a draft, and that Canadian had not only stayed out of the war but welcomed the “draft dodgers.” But the moral complexity and ambiguity surrounding Vietnam escaped me at the time. I have no doubt this allusion went over my head when I read The Decision as a child.
So Applegate’s inclusion of this reference speaks to the subtlety and layers she builds into these books. For those kids who get it, it’s an added bonus. For those who don’t, maybe it makes them wonder what Marco means by this comment. These are not just fluffy adventure books: war is serious; war is hell; and Applegate is not sugar-coating it. A whole ship of Andalites dies in these pages.
Ax’s need to choose between his loyalty to the Andalite command and his loyalty to the Animorphs underlines this idea that war is ambiguous and messed up. We also get a good sense of why the Andalites are losing this war: it’s not that the Yeerks are superior so much as they are less picky. The Andalites’ morality is slipping, as we saw from the revelations about Alloran and the Hork-Bajir in The Andalite Chronicles; even so, their arrogance is getting the better of them. “We are stronger fighting alone” is the most BS thing I have ever heard, and younger!Ben would definitely have picked up on that. (And even if he didn’t, the tactical officer’s change of heart prior to sacrificing the ship would have hammered it home—sometimes you don’t need to be subtle.)
The Decision is nothing short of beautiful. I first gave five stars to #6: The Capture because it is terrifying. And while Applegate continues to show us the horrors and things that go wrong with war in this book, she also underscores the values of cameraderie, loyalty, friendship, and trust. She combines the “alien moved by humanity’s passion” and “war buddies” tropes and makes something wonderful.
Next time, it’s the second Megamorphs instalment, and you know what that means: time travel and dinosaurs. Off the chain!
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #17: The Underground | Megamorphs #2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs →
I remember the “Animorphs get pulled into Z-space” book from my childhood reading of the series—but I didn’t remember it coming so early. I loved the whole concept. Indeed, while not quite as long as the Megamorphs books, I’d argue that the plot of The Decision is just as cinematic and huge as any of those books—and maybe superior to some of them.
We finally get Ax’s second turn at narrating. Applegate spaces out his books more than the others, at least at the front end of the series, probably because for the moment his perspective is the most alien. That makes it harder to write for longer periods, and also harder to read. There’s only so much you can do with the “I’m an alien and boy do I think humans are the weird ones” stand-up schtick … but hey, Applegate nails it.
After an opening with Ax in human morph going all out on cinnamon buns that can only be described as hilarious, he continues to deliver zinger after zinger in his observations about the other Animorphs, or about human society in general. Whereas #8: The Alien is generally an introduction to Ax and Andalite society, The Decision is about the ways in which we prosecute war. Ax was briefly in contact with the Andalite homeworld in his first book, but his role was largely one of passive soldier who received orders and followed them. Here he has a more active role, one in which he has to choose loyalties. Because that’s the kicker in war: sometimes it’s not even clear if the “good guys” are all on the same side.
There are so many reasons to give this book five stars, but the moment that clinched it for me comes when Leeran-Controllers start shooting at the Animorphs, who are in hammerhead morph:
<Hey, great war! You can’t tell who’s on what side!> Marco yelled. <What is this, Vietnam?>
Think about that for a moment. To an adult reading this book, the reference makes perfect sense. But I don’t know about you—as a Canadian growing up in the 1990s, I didn’t know much about the Vietnam War. I knew it was a thing that happened over the 1960s and most of the 1970s. I knew there was a draft, and that Canadian had not only stayed out of the war but welcomed the “draft dodgers.” But the moral complexity and ambiguity surrounding Vietnam escaped me at the time. I have no doubt this allusion went over my head when I read The Decision as a child.
So Applegate’s inclusion of this reference speaks to the subtlety and layers she builds into these books. For those kids who get it, it’s an added bonus. For those who don’t, maybe it makes them wonder what Marco means by this comment. These are not just fluffy adventure books: war is serious; war is hell; and Applegate is not sugar-coating it. A whole ship of Andalites dies in these pages.
Ax’s need to choose between his loyalty to the Andalite command and his loyalty to the Animorphs underlines this idea that war is ambiguous and messed up. We also get a good sense of why the Andalites are losing this war: it’s not that the Yeerks are superior so much as they are less picky. The Andalites’ morality is slipping, as we saw from the revelations about Alloran and the Hork-Bajir in The Andalite Chronicles; even so, their arrogance is getting the better of them. “We are stronger fighting alone” is the most BS thing I have ever heard, and younger!Ben would definitely have picked up on that. (And even if he didn’t, the tactical officer’s change of heart prior to sacrificing the ship would have hammered it home—sometimes you don’t need to be subtle.)
The Decision is nothing short of beautiful. I first gave five stars to #6: The Capture because it is terrifying. And while Applegate continues to show us the horrors and things that go wrong with war in this book, she also underscores the values of cameraderie, loyalty, friendship, and trust. She combines the “alien moved by humanity’s passion” and “war buddies” tropes and makes something wonderful.
Next time, it’s the second Megamorphs instalment, and you know what that means: time travel and dinosaurs. Off the chain!
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #17: The Underground | Megamorphs #2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs →
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