Book #253 of 2021: The Underground by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #17) On the one hand, raids on the Yeerk pool already seem like the most generic and frequent Animorphs plots by this point in the series. On the other hand, this is the novel that gives us a specific variety of oatmeal as a …
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Book #249 of 2021: The Gap Into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises by Stephen R. Donaldson (The Gap Cycle #3) After a curious series debut and a more promising immediate sequel, this third Gap volume lands somewhere in between, delivering a decent yet slightly perfunctory follow-up. As is often the case for the …
Book #247 of 2021: The Warning by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #16) The internet stuff in this novel is fairly dated, with AOL-style chat rooms and explanations of screen names and browser cookies, but only because the technology has moved on in the decades since 1998, never in a way that seems like author K. …
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Book #241 of 2021: The Escape by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #15) This is one of the more straightforward Animorphs missions — they basically just sneak onto an enemy base, sabotage it, and then do as the title says and escape — but it does offer minor developments for the larger series and some creative …
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Book #236 of 2021: The Gap Into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge by Stephen R. Donaldson (The Gap Cycle #2) This sequel is a major improvement over its predecessor, deepening the worldbuilding of the space opera setting and populating it beyond a simple archetypal trio. We also switch our focal protagonist from the rapist lowlife Angus Thermopyle …
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Book #235 of 2021: The Unknown by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #14) It’s hard to pick the single goofiest element of this story. Is it the Yeerks infesting wild horses — the first earth animal hosts we’ve seen — to sneak into the setting’s equivalent of Area 51 and discover what the government is hiding …
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Book #229 of 2021: The Andalite Chronicles by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs Chronicles #1) I’m still too early in my Animorphs reread to definitively call this prequel my single favorite entry, but it is certainly a strong contender for that eventual claim. In its first half in particular, it’s a sweeping space opera that takes …
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Book #224 of 2021: The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story by Stephen R. Donaldson (The Gap Cycle #1) This is a difficult book to read, putting us into the mind of one of the vilest science-fiction protagonists ever created. Angus Thermopyle is not an interstellar pirate in the charming rogue sense; he’s an amoral …
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Book #223 of 2021: The Change by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #13) True to its title, this is one of the most consequential early Animorphs novels, coming just late enough in the franchise (around a quarter through) that the disruption to the prior status quo is completely unexpected and thrillingly carried off. That element is …
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Book #217 of 2021: The Reaction by K. A. Applegate (Animorphs #12) Another goofy one-off premise, this time involving Rachel’s allergic reaction to the DNA of a crocodile she acquires. (At least the Sario Rip of the previous novel’s time-travel eventually comes up again; the idea of a morphing allergy and the ensuing ‘hereth illint’ …
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