Book #277 of 2021:
The Discovery by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #20)
Well, I’ve been wanting the Animorphs series to grow more serialized, and it’s hard to beat the introduction of a new member, for the first time since Ax’s arrival in #4 The Message. (That would ordinarily be a bit of a spoiler, as David doesn’t officially join the team until pretty late in this novel, but given how it’s mentioned right there on the cover, I think it’s fair game to discuss in a review.)
On the other hand, there’s a difference between contributing to a larger ongoing story and neglecting to tell a wholly compelling immediate plot, and that’s where this volume falters for me. It has plenty of great elements, like the idea of a classmate finding the Andalite device that bestows morphing powers or the red flags which begin to foreshadow that he might not be as worthy of the accompanying responsibility as our original heroes. But it’s also an adventure that cuts off on a sudden cliffhanger, with no resolution to any of its episodic concerns. We don’t even get to learn what battle morph David picked out at the Gardens! Although the immature recruit arc probably benefits from playing out over the space of several titles, the mission to infiltrate and protect a nearby political summit doesn’t feel nearly as important, especially when all that happens for now is Visser Three acquiring the DNA of someone who might be the president. (Insert the same complaint I’ve made before, that the narrators taking pains to avoid mentioning the name of their hometown is absurd if they’re going to be so upfront about major events occurring there.) Overall this seems like the sort of outing normally knocked out in a few chapters, not stretched across multiple releases.
But back to New-boy, as Marco unaffectionately calls him. This is a character we’ll get to know a lot better later on, but there’s already something plainly off about the kid, which really drives home how risky it is for the Animorphs to trust him with their secrets and their shapeshifting ability. Once they do, and he starts pushing back against the best practices they’ve developed to keep themselves safe from the Yeerks, there’s a lurching feeling of guardrails dropping away from the premise. David is unpredictable as a would-be ally, and that’s a specific danger that’s altogether new for the franchise.
It’s a little frustrating too, though I assume intentional on author K. A. Applegate’s part, how the group doesn’t take the situation with the cube’s discovery particularly seriously at first. They realize it’s a threat and a potential aid for their enemies in the hands of a civilian, but they’re repeatedly careless with how they attempt to retrieve it, to rather disastrous effect for David and his family. We’ve previously seen these teenagers act a lot smarter than this, and while I understand it makes narrative sense to give the newest morpher a grievance to eventually resent them for, I don’t enjoy watching those blunders happen in real-time and I wish the issue could be raised here instead of being left to fester in the subtext until the sequel.
Ultimately, then, this is a flawed opener to a storyline that will go to some truly unpleasant places, functioning primarily as setup for the twists ahead. It’s ambitious and worthwhile for what/who it introduces, but as an individual book, it’s regrettably thin.
[Content warning for body horror and gun violence.]
★★★☆☆
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