Things are moving quickly now. Politics have shifted among the alien Yeerks, the new Visser running the show blatantly attacks. No more subtletry. Luckily the Animorphs have this device Ax built (with a nod to Marco's father assisting) that can intercept the alien communication signals. They find out something big is going to happen out in the ocean. They steal a fighter jet to get there on time, deliberately crash it when they're close to the location- because of course they're being persued and about to be shot down. Find a very large, very busy aircraft carrier which they board as seagulls but before long are using their animal battle forms and even morphing other people (except Cassie who objects), without bothering to hide much. It doesn't matter anymore. They discover that the Yeerks are on the verge of instigating World War III, for their own ends. (Why the enemy just tells them his plans when they ask, I just don't know). There's fighting everywhere. Ax- the narrator in this book- who for all this time in the series has been subordinate to Jake, never much taking his own initiative- suddenly makes a decisive move to force the enemy's hand. But it could also endanger thousands of human lives. Driving another rift between the Animorphs, perhaps. Cassie doesn't say much in this book, and I'm with her. When all the others are talking over details of the fighter jets and the aircraft carrier (Jake knows a lot about its layout, helpfully) she just doesn't relate. Same here. So that was kinda a blur. Interesting to see that when the fight gets serious- Hork-bajir troops showing up to fight for the Yeerks- some of the sailors and Marines decide they're on the side of these animal-shifting kids. They must be in the know about the aliens and wanted to see resistance all along? Curious to see how that pans out in the next few books, maybe finally the Animorphs will have numbers on their side, instead of being a small secretive team.

from the Dogear Diary ( )

Well, that escalated quickly. FINALLY the series is getting on a roll with the alien invasion. Visser Three has been promoted to Visser One and, with a new toady as Visser Two, nothing stands in his way to escalate the Yeerk Invasion and defeat the 'Andalite Bandits' who've been such a thorn in his side.

Unfortunately, Ax, with a little help, has developed a way to monitor some encrypted Yeerk transmissions. The new intelligence arrives in time for the team to foil a mission that would bring about World War Three! Only a mad man would antagonize China....

That got a little real.

Anyway, the book is great and has Ax come out of 'Prince' Jake's shadow long enough to create a new dynamic to the team and show off some more of the rough edges the Animorphs' friendships have been developing.

Animorphs

Next: 'The Resistance'

Previous: 'The Revelation' ( )

The war is heating up. It asks the question how far are you willing to go to win. It was interesting to see what Ax decided. How will his decision affect him in books to come? ( )

A short comment for every book of the series until I get a chance to re-read them. All three of my sons and I loved this series and read every single book - I even bought every single book (most, but not all, used; some through school book sales). I'm excited to re-read them to see how the five main characters develop and to watch all the different transformations again.

The best books appeal to *readers* universally - not children versus adults. These may not be quite worthy of the adjective 'best' but they do have that crossover appeal. ( )