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ramiel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-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
4.75
"I realized then that there is a very basic difference between Yeerks and humans. A human will fight even when he knows he can't win. Maybe our species is just a little crazy. But human history is full of cases where a handful of guys would fight an entire army. They'd get stomped, but they'd fight anyway."
Jake's books usually aren't my favorites to read, but this one is absolutely an exception. Not only is it my favorite Jake book, but it also probably takes place in some of my favorite books of the series overall. Past me rated it 2 stars and I'm rectifying that mistake right now immediately.
Jake's books most often focus on conflicts involving his brother, Tom. The first book of the series covered his mixed emotions and determination to fight when he realizes his brother is a Controller. This book takes it a step up and introduces us directly to Temrash, the first Yeerk controlling Tom's mind and, in this book, a Yeerk who ends up taking over Jake's mind as well. This is a book of firsts: the first time we see what the world is like through the eyes of a Controller, the first time we get to see the hardships Tom (the real Tom) faces as a Controller, and the first time we see even a glimpse of Yeerk culture and custom and personality and how it contrasts to that of humanity. This is, technically, also the first time we get to see the world of Earth through alien eyes (the next obviously being Ax's first narration). It's also, in a way, the first time we see a glimpse of the darker sides of these child soldiers - at the end of Temrash's life he calls Jake "a cruel little human" and, while I won't say Jake and his desire for revenge and his anger make him or any of the kids "evil" or "bad" at all (this is a series chock full of different shades of gray), it truly is cruelty. In this book Jake's cruelty is put on center stage, performing next to Temrash's own to make a fascinating internal battle.
That is: upon Jake boiling the jacuzzi of Yeerks alive.
I'm not certain if KAA meant for this to be such a significant piece of the series that I personally would claim it to be, nor am I certain if she knew what she was going to write later that ties together with this, but Jake's actions here in hindsight are a clear indicator towards the endgame. It also sets him up as a clear contrast against a young Elfangor. First reading this book, I'm sure I never even noticed this. In this book, Jake turns into a cockroach and nearly dies after being poisoned by bug spray - he tells us that he's been on the other side of the spray, killing insects and thinking "good, now that ugly pest is gone", but now that he's the one dying it puts everything into a different perspective. I bring this up because it's a good template for the action of killing the pool of Yeerks. At this point, the Yeerks are introduced as pure evil, disgusting, and I bet most children reading this book would barely think twice about Jake boiling the pool, have maybe seen slugs and snails die, have maybe eaten something similar. However, in later books this idea is put into a different perspective.
Alloran, Visser 3's host body, was an andalite known for being a war criminal during the Hork-Bajir planet's takedown by the Yeerks. He was known among the military as someone who would target innocents just to get a leg up on his enemies. He called for the death of all Hork-Bajir (an species desperately trying to fight for their freedom against the Yeerks, just as humans are now) in order to make certain any Yeerk on the planet would die as well. And, later, he tells a young Elfangor to do similar. He orders Elfangor (who was, at this point, probably around Ax's age now) to kill an entire pool of what Elfangor considers "defenseless" enemies. To this past Elfangor, though he has the same pure loathing as the rest of his people towards the Yeerks, the idea of killing an entire pool while none can fight back against him is repulsive. He refuses, because to him it would be criminal to do such a thing. (Interestingly, Elfangor's refusal is what leads to Alloran being captured while Jake's eagerness leads to HIM being captured.)
In the last two books Jake, in all of his anger, kills seventeen thousand Yeerks in this state again: a "defenseless" state, in a pool where they were unaware of what was going on and unable to fight back. Even three years post war we're told that this moment haunts Jake, he's called a war criminal in human court with this deed and it makes him reflect upon and realize what he did. It's a moment that disgusts him, that shames him.
Coming back to this book, so early in the series, with those two pieces of knowledge says a lot to the lenses at which we should be viewing things, and hints towards Jake's character growth as a child soldier thrust into the leadership position of a brutal war. ("Growth" of course doesn't always have to be positive, especially when the years of your life where you should be safely discovering your own identity - the teen years - is spent in a bloody, paranoid world of war.)
Further, this book offers us a look from a Yeerk perspective. We later meet Yeerks who seek out peace and alliance with humans and their other hosts, but Temrash is the first who's eyes we see through. His arrogance leading to his own downfall is something we see happen step by step, and even he is offered some form of "humanization", as nearer to the end his emotions and past are imprinted in Jake's mind forever. It's also the first look we get at the idea of the Yeerks believing what they do is "peaceful" and "good" compared to predators such as humans. It's absolutely fascinating to me to see the contrast of a sentient species of parasites means of survival vs our own, and it comes up again much later when we meet the first Yeerk who becomes a friend to the kids. Temrash and this later Yeerk (Aftran) hold one opinion together, and that is that their way is "kinder" than that of predators like humans, despite the fact that the majority of human, hork bajir, and andalite (just the One) Controllers express so often and desperately that they would rather die. It's a little look under the cover of Yeerk culture, either as propaganda or simply a manner of survival. I love Animorphs a lot because of the varied and different aliens shown and how their lives compare and contrast to that of humans, so this was a nice treat as well.
Finally, another reason I love Animorphs, which I know I've mentioned in previous reviews, is the way it portrays both Earth and humanity. Temrash greatly underestimates Jake and the kids, and he GREATLY underestimates the way Earth fights back all on its own. I've said before I wanted to keep a tally on how many times the kids were almost killed or taken out by THE EARTH ITSELF instead of any alien interference, and Temrash was given that special treatment while in morph. Knocked out by Cassie in owl form, having to run away from a wolf pack, nearly being ripped apart by ants, and having Tobias calmly tell him that, while he didn't want to kill Jake, if it was the only way to free him then he would, no question.
<You are fools,> the Yeerk said, having read my thoughts. <It is madness to fight when you cannot win.>
<Yes, it is foolish. It is crazy,> I agreed. <And it's why we will win.>
All of this breaks Temrash and decimates his pride just before he dies slowly of starvation (which, wow, talk about something I first read when I was like, eleven).
Another, final, first to go along with this book: the introduction of the Crayak! Kind of! More like the introduction of a super spooky eyeball who's properly a good many books later. Anyway, welcome to the fold, Satan.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Murder, and Xenophobia
We're introduced once more to very detailed, gory ant war violence like the last book, but only for a paragraph. A Yeerk is starved to death, which is greatly detailed, so - torture.
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