My name is Dylan. That's my first name; I can't tell you my last name. I can't tell you where I live, where I go to school, or who my parents are. It's too dangerous.
The Yeerks are everywhere. The Controllers could be anyone.
Katherine Alice Applegate published the first novel in the series, The Invasion in 1996 and the final novel, The Beginning in 2001. The main series is made up of 54 novels which move in chronological order by publication date with each novel being narrated by one of the five (later six) main characters. In addition, there are four longer "Megamorph" novels which shift between narrators by chapter, and four "Chronicles" novels which deliver important backstory on various alien species in the universe. There is also a pair of Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style novels that take place outside the main canon, which I will not be reading.
The premise goes...
In a non-specific year in the 90s, a group of five teenagers are walking home through the mall and decide to take a shortcut through an old construction site. As they do, an alien ship lands and a dying alien tells them that Earth is being invaded by alien slugs with the power to crawl in your ear, wrap around your brain, and control you like a puppet. The teens are given the ability to Morph, to absorb the DNA of any animal they touch, and decide to fight and delay the Yeerks until the Andalites can arrive.
What a premise.
In the hands of a lesser author, the series might have turned into another young-adult group of teenagers save the world affair, and it would have faded into obscurity. Instead what Applegate gave us was a harrowing war story featuring unwilling, but ultimately heroic, child soldiers embroiled in a conflict no one should have to endure. There's pervasive paranoia, intense bloodshed, and a relatively realistic portrayal of warfare, invasions, and the effect that such a conflict can have on the human psyche.
The novels are far more graphic than expected, with limbs being mangled, removed, incinerated, eaten, crushed and more. Applegate doesn't shrink back from the horrible realities of combat, and the villains regularly aim to capture, torture, and kill the protagonists. There are shades of grey throughout, as the revelation of just how serious the kid's situations are becomes ever more clear. It ultimately morphs from being about a group of kids to being a war story played straight.
In addition, the setting also expands in a similar way, slowly involving more and more elements until the setting becomes an undeniable space opera, with some of the craziest, coolest aliens around.
I don't mean to oversell the series. While it is good for the most part, not every novel is of the same quality. Roughly half of the series was ghostwritten, and though the outlines were written by Applegate herself, the quality of the prose or story doesn't always hold up. The novels are usually pretty short; several run slightly under 100 pages, and few exceed 200, so some of the shorter novels can feel a little rushed.
However, these quality issues can be overlooked if you take in the whole, and that's what I intend to do. There's a reason that most people who read this series have fond memories of it, and it's not all just nostalgia.
Between 1998 and 2000 the series was adapted into a live-action Nickelodeon series, which has been widely panned for multiple reasons, including the writing quality, acting, special effects, and general production. I remember watching it and, though I had that exuberance only kids can have, I specifically remember a vague sense of disappointment. There were also some video games made, but I never even bothered.
In 2010 Scholastic announced a rerelease with fancy covers, updated pop culture references, and various smaller changes. Unfortunately it only lasted eight books before they stopped due to poor sales, which is a real shame.
I am going to read all 62 canon Animorphs books in chronological, published order, with some minor exceptions. I'll be putting up posts about the books, which will be part review, part summary, and part miscellaneous thoughts or things I've noticed. There will be no regard given to spoilers, so if you're worried about them...sorry.
I'll also be doing a kill count for each of the six main characters, and the primary antagonist, Visser Three. You'll soon see why.
Coming up next, The Invasion
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