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pavedwithbookss's review against another edition
4.0
The Animorphs accidentally travelled back to the Late Cretaceous age. If your dinosaur-related knowledge, like mine, is pretty much limited to T-Rex = scary, Littlefoot = herbivore, that is the last age of the dinosaurs. It wasn't difficult to guess where the story was heading, but I enjoyed getting there.
Also, this line made me laugh: 'We were all treated to the utterly bizarre sight of an osprey attempting to hug a dinosaur.' Ah Animorphs - so bizarre and yet so entertaining.
Also, this line made me laugh: 'We were all treated to the utterly bizarre sight of an osprey attempting to hug a dinosaur.' Ah Animorphs - so bizarre and yet so entertaining.
abilight's review against another edition
5.0
Pure fun - interesting ethical dilemmas when it came to the Mercora and the comet.
Update: okay this was pure fan service and I’m here for it!
Update: okay this was pure fan service and I’m here for it!
ahshlyn's review against another edition
3.0
excuse me, did Jake completely forget about everything that happened in book 11? whatever. also, Cassie, your animal friendly mentality is great and all but not when you are surrounded by giant intelligent meat eating animals. there is a time and a place for your vegan tendencies, and it isn't in dinosaur land. 😧
tresdem's review against another edition
2.0
Maybe I'm too old for this but man was this one annoying to read. It was like watching Jurassic Park on repeat, and only the jumpscare actiony bits. I hated the personification of the Tyrannosaur, even though it's filtered through the eyes of kids who have seen Jurassic Park. Like T-rexes I am sure had down time. Predators are really chill you know? Not raging titanic masses of fury 24-7.
Alsothe aliens were dumb. The we were meant to save history from these aliens are dumb. And a lot of it was just plain boring with no lasting consequence. I didn't like this book much.
Though I do like that Tobias made the hardcore decision at the end. That was pretty badass and tough and surprising and gave it an extra star. Otherwise it was boring as all get out
Also
Though I do like that Tobias made the hardcore decision at the end. That was pretty badass and tough and surprising and gave it an extra star. Otherwise it was boring as all get out
ramiel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Time for the kids to get traumatized... with dinosaurs!
<There is one other consideration,> Ax said. <We are here. Which means we were here, sixty-five million years in Earth's past. In other words, maybe our presence here is vital to the future. Maybe we did something that caused the future to happen the way it happened.>
First, I have to say I think this Megamorphs book works much better in the Megamorphs format than the first one did. The world and plot they have to explore in this book is absolutely too massive for one POV to fully display the scope of what's going on. It goes beyond their town and beyond their time. More than just being good for the setting - literally sixty-five million years in the past, exploring the world of the dinosaurs - the multiple POVs is also good for the moral dilemma the kids find themselves faced with in a world where human morals are millions of years from ever being born.
Along with moral dilemmas (and possible war crimes?), we're also faced with: body horror galore! the kids almost being eaten alive (Rachel and Tobias literally being digested!)! ant trauma! and cool alien species!
Also, broccoli is an alien species is canon.
I definitely found splitting up the kids so early on was a great idea, in that way allowing everyone to spread out and discover even more about the world. Tobias being the dinosaur expert on one side and Cassie being the survival expert on the other was a good divide. We even got the kids making shoes and stuff out of dinosaur leather like damn.
Which, I say having the multiple POVs was good for the story, but I think Tobias and Cassie especially shine in this one. Not only being the survival experts of their respective groups, but also being the main ones vocalizing the sides of the moral dilemma. That being: "we have the opportunity to stop the extinction of the dinosaurs AS WELL AS a sentient alien species who saved us from certain death and fed us, but then history would literally not happen properly".
For more detail: after having their dinosaur adventures and everyone getting a dinosaur morph, the kids meet two different sentient alien species. There's the Nesk, violent, ant-like aliens who claim the earth and all the dinosaurs belong to them... and the Mercora, crab-like aliens who escaped a collapsing sun and are generally more peaceful. The Nesk don't want to share the earth with the Mercora, so when the Animorphs kids come and beat the Nesk to grab a bomb, the Nesk divert a massive comet towards the earth in an "if I can't have it, nobody can" manner.
The kids need the bomb they stole to get home (time travel shenanigans), but Cassie and Jake argue that they can't put their own lives above the Mercora and hand over the bomb.
Only to find that Tobias convinced Ax to disable the bomb before giving it back. So the comet would, in fact, crash into the earth.
"Tobias, what have you done?" I demanded.
<I did what had to be done, all right?!> Tobias yelled in a blaze of sudden anger. <I did what had to be done. I made the call, so that none of you would have to feel bad about it.>
Cassie, who's already had a crisis of faith when she lost control of her T. rex morph and attacked another dinosaur, is frustrated and furious.
One thing I like about the decision is that it's a burden on all of the kids, and while it's determined that this is the "right thing" (in terms of not actually interfering in history... by interfering in history? time travel shenanigans...) the moral part of the dilemma isn't solved. There are no easy answers, and sometimes there are no answers.
This book also deals a lot with the brutality of nature vs. human morality (especially with other humans being millions of years from existence). These are primarily Tobias's and Cassie's central plots (with Tobias being separated from humanity and Cassie being a very moral person but also very close to nature). Cassie reluctantly accepts the need for the comet to hit earth, and the need for time to remain consistent (I wonder if the canon of Cassie being an anomaly grounded in "correct timelines" was being considered at this point), also shows the need for her human side to mourn the loss of life and her own innocence in accepting the decision.
Not only is this a good character piece for both of her, it does also segue very well into the upcoming Cassie book (the best Cassie book).
Meanwhile, Tobias shows not only his willingness to protect the others' humanity/morality by making difficult decisions himself, in this combining his understanding of how brutal and cruel nature can be with his own human side. I mention on my Twitter that this also shows how well Tobias and Rachel complement each other, both being willing to shut down their own hearts to protect everyone else, as well as being the most accepting of the war itself.
Also: fuck ants.
I would say my main criticisms are more nitpicks than anything:
- Hey, why the fuck did morphing not cure Tobias's broken wing when it healed all the other kids wounds just fine and dandy and normal? That was weird!
- I wish we were given more information on the Nesk and Mercora, or that we met them a little earlier. The Nesk especially were mostly just hostile and then gone. Like, what even happened to them after the comet? Did they make it out? Are they still existing somewhere in the universe?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Animal death, Body horror, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Gore, Medical trauma, and Xenophobia
Minor: War, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Blood
This is about the last age of the dinosaurs so um, mass extinction?booksthatburn's review against another edition
4.0
Megamorphs #2 is stuck in a weird bind. It needs to be interesting and impactful, but also to not disrupt the main storyline in case someone misses it. The Animorphs end up in the past due to a Sario Rip and run from dinosaurs.
There's a truly horrifying sequence early on where Tobias and Rachel are inside a stomach being digested, skip that one if you're squeamish. But, really, it's not more gruesome than the main continuity, just more dense because it's a one-off. A lot of scientific details didn't age well in this, so if you only going to skip one you can make it this.
However, it does have an important moment for Cassie, with the theme of ethical dilemmas and moral center than has been developing for the last several books. You don't need to read this one to understand the next book, but it really helps set up the state of mind for Cassie that will contribute to events in book 19 (The Departure).
There's a truly horrifying sequence early on where Tobias and Rachel are inside a stomach being digested, skip that one if you're squeamish. But, really, it's not more gruesome than the main continuity, just more dense because it's a one-off. A lot of scientific details didn't age well in this, so if you only going to skip one you can make it this.
However, it does have an important moment for Cassie, with the theme of ethical dilemmas and moral center than has been developing for the last several books. You don't need to read this one to understand the next book, but it really helps set up the state of mind for Cassie that will contribute to events in book 19 (The Departure).
tachyondecay's review against another edition
5.0
I want to say that I don’t remember these books being as dark as they seem now, but I think that would be a lie. Young!Ben recognized the darkness—but for me, at that age, that wasn’t even the draw. I was more about the adventure and the heroism of these young characters—the science-fictional elements were really the coolest thing. Now when I read Megamorphs #2: In the Time of the Dinosaurs I’m focusing more on how messed up these situations are.
So in this, our second blockbuster-style Animorphs novel, K.A. Applegate is all, “Oh, you want a longer book with a punchier plot so you can sell it for a couple dollars more and market the hell out of it? OK, then. Be careful what you wish for!” The Animorphs go back in time (again), 65 million years to be (more or less) precise. Indeed, they conveniently arrive just before the comet that triggers the extinction of the dinosaurs hits the Earth. (Well, whether the comet would have hit the Earth if the Animorphs hadn’t shown up is another question.)
It’s worth noting that there is not a Yeerk in sight in this book. The Animorphs go play superhero to help rescue people from a sunk nuclear submarine, and that precipitates their temporal incursion. (There is literally no debate about risking exposure by playing superhero like there has been in the past.) Once thrown back in time through that ol’ pal of theirs, the Sario Rip, the Animorphs scrabble to survive amidst dinosaurs and two alien species fighting for dominance of the planet.
Let’s be perfectly clear here: if I were an Animorph, I would not survive in this book. Can we count the ways I would not survive?
I mean, I always talk about how badass Rachel is, and that’s the common refrain among her friends. But she is literally swallowed by a prehistoric sea creature in this book, demorphs into a human, and then morphs into a grizzly bear to fight her way out of the creature’s stomach. While being dissolved by stomach acid.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Animorphs—who are still, let’s remember, kids—are forced to walk through a prehistoric jungle in bare feet, with just leotards and T-shirts and tight shorts, surviving without any technology or survival gear. I would not survive this. Unless you are Bear Grylls, I’m going to go out on a limb and say you would probably not survive this either. These kids are tough. Ford wishes their trucks were built as tough as these kids.
And that’s just the physical trauma. There’s also plenty of psychological trauma to go around in this book.
Tobias almost eats grizzly Rachel when he morphs a deinonychus.
Cassie gets overpowered by a T-rex morph and freaks out, kills a triceratops, and loses her shit.
Oh, and Tobias and Ax sabotage a nuclear bomb in order to preserve the future, even though it makes them all complicit in wiping out a sentient species that was kind enough to help them obtain the bomb in the first place so they could get back to their own time.
I love that whole doublecross and the way Applegate reveals it. The Mercora show up and ask for the bomb, and Jake asks them for time to make a group decision. The group votes to give them the bomb—and then Tobias reveals what he did. It is a betrayal of everyone. Until now the group has been united in how it proceeds—either by vote or by Jake’s leadership. Tobias acted unilaterally (albeit with assistance from Ax) because he felt it was “the right thing to do.” This was a dangerous, perhaps even reckless act, despite being necessary from the perspective of someone who wants to get back to their own time.
But it has such an element of classical tragedy to it. The whole idea of Tobias taking this guilt on his own shoulders, and the fact that the rest of the Animorphs have to live with the burden of this knowledge. There are definite, if unspoken, comparisons to Yeerk behaviour here. Applegate wants her readers to think about how our decisions affect other lives, and how very often we rationalize something as being “noble” or “right” when in reality it’s just preferable for our survival. Marco is more correct than he knows, earlier in the book, when he speaks the harsh truth about this being a struggle for survival.
Damn, these psychological scars are piling on faster than Lindsay Lohan’s court appearances. I sure hope it doesn’t cause one of the Animorphs to want to quit….
Next time, Cassie quits!
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #18: The Decision | #19: The Departure →
So in this, our second blockbuster-style Animorphs novel, K.A. Applegate is all, “Oh, you want a longer book with a punchier plot so you can sell it for a couple dollars more and market the hell out of it? OK, then. Be careful what you wish for!” The Animorphs go back in time (again), 65 million years to be (more or less) precise. Indeed, they conveniently arrive just before the comet that triggers the extinction of the dinosaurs hits the Earth. (Well, whether the comet would have hit the Earth if the Animorphs hadn’t shown up is another question.)
It’s worth noting that there is not a Yeerk in sight in this book. The Animorphs go play superhero to help rescue people from a sunk nuclear submarine, and that precipitates their temporal incursion. (There is literally no debate about risking exposure by playing superhero like there has been in the past.) Once thrown back in time through that ol’ pal of theirs, the Sario Rip, the Animorphs scrabble to survive amidst dinosaurs and two alien species fighting for dominance of the planet.
Let’s be perfectly clear here: if I were an Animorph, I would not survive in this book. Can we count the ways I would not survive?
I mean, I always talk about how badass Rachel is, and that’s the common refrain among her friends. But she is literally swallowed by a prehistoric sea creature in this book, demorphs into a human, and then morphs into a grizzly bear to fight her way out of the creature’s stomach. While being dissolved by stomach acid.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Animorphs—who are still, let’s remember, kids—are forced to walk through a prehistoric jungle in bare feet, with just leotards and T-shirts and tight shorts, surviving without any technology or survival gear. I would not survive this. Unless you are Bear Grylls, I’m going to go out on a limb and say you would probably not survive this either. These kids are tough. Ford wishes their trucks were built as tough as these kids.
And that’s just the physical trauma. There’s also plenty of psychological trauma to go around in this book.
Tobias almost eats grizzly Rachel when he morphs a deinonychus.
Cassie gets overpowered by a T-rex morph and freaks out, kills a triceratops, and loses her shit.
Oh, and Tobias and Ax sabotage a nuclear bomb in order to preserve the future, even though it makes them all complicit in wiping out a sentient species that was kind enough to help them obtain the bomb in the first place so they could get back to their own time.
I love that whole doublecross and the way Applegate reveals it. The Mercora show up and ask for the bomb, and Jake asks them for time to make a group decision. The group votes to give them the bomb—and then Tobias reveals what he did. It is a betrayal of everyone. Until now the group has been united in how it proceeds—either by vote or by Jake’s leadership. Tobias acted unilaterally (albeit with assistance from Ax) because he felt it was “the right thing to do.” This was a dangerous, perhaps even reckless act, despite being necessary from the perspective of someone who wants to get back to their own time.
But it has such an element of classical tragedy to it. The whole idea of Tobias taking this guilt on his own shoulders, and the fact that the rest of the Animorphs have to live with the burden of this knowledge. There are definite, if unspoken, comparisons to Yeerk behaviour here. Applegate wants her readers to think about how our decisions affect other lives, and how very often we rationalize something as being “noble” or “right” when in reality it’s just preferable for our survival. Marco is more correct than he knows, earlier in the book, when he speaks the harsh truth about this being a struggle for survival.
Damn, these psychological scars are piling on faster than Lindsay Lohan’s court appearances. I sure hope it doesn’t cause one of the Animorphs to want to quit….
Next time, Cassie quits!
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #18: The Decision | #19: The Departure →
aoutrance's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely my favorite Megamorphs of all time. I read this deep into my "I want to be a paleontologist" phrase, so I was captivated by the descriptions of the landscapes and creatures. I vividly remember the scene where Rachel and Tobias have to run, in "regular form", away from a pack of predatory deinonychus. I knew what those were! I could picture them in my mind! How terrifying! It really got the ol' heart pumpin'.
breakaway71's review against another edition
4.0
Dark, gritty, violent, and basically everything the first Megamorphs book is not. It isn't perfect - the constant shifting POVs are hard to keep up with sometimes, and Cassie's is more jarring than normal butted up against the others (her morality is SO GRATING here). But this had a few things going for it I absolutely love. The Tobias&Rachel adventure for a good chunk of the book. The new aliens we meet. The DINOSAURS (although this has become quite outdated). Overall, just a lot of fun and a fantastic jumbo-sized installment of the Animorphs adventures.
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