Comment on Series to Be Rereleased by animorphs
Maybe I'm just too attached to the old style of covers, but I don't really like the new ones. I mean it's well established that it's icky, but I think it might be unappealing to a potential reader, and it's always far better to let your imagination fill in the blanks of what it should look like.
Unfortunately they probably won't improve the ending, but I can always hope.
I would love to see this series become an animated program rather than a live action. Every live action movie with effects made these days is always made with too much CG and not enough practical effects.
Unfortunately they probably won't improve the ending, but I can always hope.
I would love to see this series become an animated program rather than a live action. Every live action movie with effects made these days is always made with too much CG and not enough practical effects.
Animated series all the way! We really need to pitch something to YTV or somewhere!
Yeah, especially if this new re-release becomes popular. I will probably skim them to see if I'm okay with the changes, but I'm not sure if I'm going to want to go out and buy them all. I never got all of them in the first place because it was just too expensive. And, there's a decent chance the changes could offend my sensibilities as a more experienced reader. (The original series still holds up pretty well, despite my stance on the ending)
I have all but six (it really helps browsing second-hand), so it would be cool to get recognition for collecting them all or something.
I know what you mean about changes. Though, along with editing (I don't care about modern references so much) I would really like to take out the lengthy introductions that everyone knows.
I know what you mean about changes. Though, along with editing (I don't care about modern references so much) I would really like to take out the lengthy introductions that everyone knows.
OH MY GOD yes. I basically skimmed every one. I mean, just the warning that was on the back of the book ending in "Yeah, even you" was enough to give someone an idea of the invasion stuff.
I don't know where I stopped reading and several of the ones I knew I had were missing, I know I had them all up to #14 because that was when my aunt and uncle stopped buying them for me so I reread that one the most, and I know I got several more in the order later, but only a few of those remain in my collection, the rest lost to numerous moves and disorganized bookkeeping from the beginning.
Through the years I read a few here and there, I think I read the whole way up to #48 or so (I think that's the one with Marco's dad and the roach morph on the front) and then read #52, I think, on it's own and then didn't finish until earlier this year when I found this group and someone linked to the e-books.
I don't know where I stopped reading and several of the ones I knew I had were missing, I know I had them all up to #14 because that was when my aunt and uncle stopped buying them for me so I reread that one the most, and I know I got several more in the order later, but only a few of those remain in my collection, the rest lost to numerous moves and disorganized bookkeeping from the beginning.
Through the years I read a few here and there, I think I read the whole way up to #48 or so (I think that's the one with Marco's dad and the roach morph on the front) and then read #52, I think, on it's own and then didn't finish until earlier this year when I found this group and someone linked to the e-books.
Haha, totally. I skim them all the time now!
I have all of mine in a nightstand, and I really want to finish the collection! It's killing me!
I finished the entire series once, and I'm rereading them now. I should go online for the ones I don't have though, I keep forgetting I can do that.
I have all of mine in a nightstand, and I really want to finish the collection! It's killing me!
I finished the entire series once, and I'm rereading them now. I should go online for the ones I don't have though, I keep forgetting I can do that.
Would you be interested in a project to rewrite the ending? Or at least to contribute to the study of established facts and chronology of the series.
I think someone already came up with an interesting ending for a piece of fan fiction.
Well, I could pull resources from the books, but I don't know much more than that.
Well, I could pull resources from the books, but I don't know much more than that.
View all replies
I think it's kinda nice that they're updating the references. While I do love Marco always calling Rachel 'Xena' and referencing the X-Files, newer references will make it easier for new fans to relate.
*sigh* I suppose. I, myself, am a bit leery of it, but I've always been a tad bit suspicious of Applegate's artistic integrity. She's a pretty good writer, don't get me wrong, but she definitely is an employee of Scholastic before being an artist and it shows. I could probably get into a big argument over it, but I've always felt the last few books really pointed out her failings as a writer. Of course, all of the side projects also pushed towards this.
A great writer can incorporate all ideas into a single cohesive narrative and knows how they will end a series beforehand as well as what the point/theme of their work is. I think she probably didn't have very well fleshed out outlines, more just general brainstorming and ideas, and wrote the stories based on one idea and edited primarily for length, as she was a serial writer, and likely paid by the book and only had to end the series probably based on a contract deadline.
I don't know some of these facts for sure, but having re-read some of the books and finished the series as an adult with a bit more in depth knowledge of writing, I can critique it more thoroughly and give an informed and honest opinion rather than a childhood infatuation.
Still, I love her writing style and became very attached to the characters, and the powerful themes which is likely why the ending bothered me so much, while some of it fit well with a tone that had been established, I felt like some of the integrity of the characters and story had been compromised, I feel because she felt the pressure to end the books in a hurry and was unable to give them enough thought and consideration.
A great writer can incorporate all ideas into a single cohesive narrative and knows how they will end a series beforehand as well as what the point/theme of their work is. I think she probably didn't have very well fleshed out outlines, more just general brainstorming and ideas, and wrote the stories based on one idea and edited primarily for length, as she was a serial writer, and likely paid by the book and only had to end the series probably based on a contract deadline.
I don't know some of these facts for sure, but having re-read some of the books and finished the series as an adult with a bit more in depth knowledge of writing, I can critique it more thoroughly and give an informed and honest opinion rather than a childhood infatuation.
Still, I love her writing style and became very attached to the characters, and the powerful themes which is likely why the ending bothered me so much, while some of it fit well with a tone that had been established, I felt like some of the integrity of the characters and story had been compromised, I feel because she felt the pressure to end the books in a hurry and was unable to give them enough thought and consideration.
I thought I was the only that felt this way. I do love KA Applegate. She's part of the reason I became a writer and her books are a HUGE part of my childhood. But when last I read through some of the books I wasn't as impressed. The writing could have been better. (Of course, it should be noted that the intended audience was children.) I was also bothered by the use of ghost writers near the end of the series. I think that if she hadn't used ghostwriters at the end, the last part of the series would have been better. For one thing, it seemed like she really just wanted to kill Rachel. There didn't really seem to be a point to her going after Tom. Jake wasn't the type to seek revenge and there was no chance she could have succeeded anyway.
The fact it was written for children is also why it's a little off putting that the book handled so much violence and morality issues. The only thing missing was sexual tension, which is the one thing I want to do differently in my writing. It was the one place where her teenagers weren't acting like teenagers.
There were Ghostwriters eh? That explains a lot. Yeah, I really got that vibe too, and a lot of the plans really seemed to have serious logical inconsistencies any of the characters could have pointed out. I don't remember exactly if there was a reason Tobias needed to be with the rest of the group, but he should have been sent with Rachel.
Sure the group had a lot of lucky breaks before then, but never did they come to rely upon them, and it was a pretty definite suicide mission to send Rachel alone into battle against several powerful morph capable military officers. I'm surprised Tobias didn't show a more pronounced inaversion to killing, considering he had entered the natural predator prey cycle and would have had a very strong pressure to understand that killing is necessary. It also would have made the romance between Tobias and Rachel have a bit stronger of a connection, and another part of how they could have felt more like outsiders.
For that matter pretty much everyone of those characters was pretty okay with killing for some amount of time. Even Cassie, the bleeding heart, often accepted killing and rationalized it herself. Quite graphically we went into the details of the numbers of hork-bajir, taxxon and human controllers they wiped through violently killing and maiming. Maybe I should go back through and see if I can make an accurate kill count.
While I understand that they were trying to show how shook up over the loss of his family he was, the jump in character was just entirely too drastic, especially in light of how well most of the other characters ended up having to deal with horrifying life experiences.
I've got a plan to rewrite the ending to be more logical in outcome, more true to the series, but I keep hitting dilemmas. My first idea was have Crayak involved, telling Jake he could save his family if there was a sacrifice/exchange, and thinking it meant him accept it, but instead it be Cassie because she's the one who screwed up the timeline the last time Crayak tried to do that for Jake, but the same problem appeared, and so it wouldn't work. Even if she got killed she'd just pop back up again because that wasn't supposed to have happened.
I'm trying to decide how much of the details are salvageable, and how to bring the characters back in-character while keeping some of the same plot lines.
Perhaps it should be a collaborative effort with other fans. I need to reread the entire series from beginning to end again taking notes, making outlines, searching for themes and strong character points and other various details before going into the effort for even rough drafts. And of course all of the side books (thank god it's all online, at least for now, the downside of the reboot is they might take the site down)
There were Ghostwriters eh? That explains a lot. Yeah, I really got that vibe too, and a lot of the plans really seemed to have serious logical inconsistencies any of the characters could have pointed out. I don't remember exactly if there was a reason Tobias needed to be with the rest of the group, but he should have been sent with Rachel.
Sure the group had a lot of lucky breaks before then, but never did they come to rely upon them, and it was a pretty definite suicide mission to send Rachel alone into battle against several powerful morph capable military officers. I'm surprised Tobias didn't show a more pronounced inaversion to killing, considering he had entered the natural predator prey cycle and would have had a very strong pressure to understand that killing is necessary. It also would have made the romance between Tobias and Rachel have a bit stronger of a connection, and another part of how they could have felt more like outsiders.
For that matter pretty much everyone of those characters was pretty okay with killing for some amount of time. Even Cassie, the bleeding heart, often accepted killing and rationalized it herself. Quite graphically we went into the details of the numbers of hork-bajir, taxxon and human controllers they wiped through violently killing and maiming. Maybe I should go back through and see if I can make an accurate kill count.
While I understand that they were trying to show how shook up over the loss of his family he was, the jump in character was just entirely too drastic, especially in light of how well most of the other characters ended up having to deal with horrifying life experiences.
I've got a plan to rewrite the ending to be more logical in outcome, more true to the series, but I keep hitting dilemmas. My first idea was have Crayak involved, telling Jake he could save his family if there was a sacrifice/exchange, and thinking it meant him accept it, but instead it be Cassie because she's the one who screwed up the timeline the last time Crayak tried to do that for Jake, but the same problem appeared, and so it wouldn't work. Even if she got killed she'd just pop back up again because that wasn't supposed to have happened.
I'm trying to decide how much of the details are salvageable, and how to bring the characters back in-character while keeping some of the same plot lines.
Perhaps it should be a collaborative effort with other fans. I need to reread the entire series from beginning to end again taking notes, making outlines, searching for themes and strong character points and other various details before going into the effort for even rough drafts. And of course all of the side books (thank god it's all online, at least for now, the downside of the reboot is they might take the site down)
I think it was around ten books before the last four or so that were written by ghost writers. None of the ghost writers agreed with each other, and then when KA came back for the last four, nothing they had said agreed with her. (One said they'd learned to morph shoes, another clothes, etc.)
There are so many problems with the ending. You're idea sounds very interesting. An ambitious project, but sounds like it could be a lot of fun.
There are so many problems with the ending. You're idea sounds very interesting. An ambitious project, but sounds like it could be a lot of fun.
Yeah... 
Yep. It's the kind of thing fandoms are good for. It's been awhile since I got super involved in a fandom (the last was FFVII, and we were developing a set system of timelines/physics/science) so this might be the time.
Yep. It's the kind of thing fandoms are good for. It's been awhile since I got super involved in a fandom (the last was FFVII, and we were developing a set system of timelines/physics/science) so this might be the time.
I've never really gotten into a fandom. I've only recently started doing more with this club. Trying to breathe some life into it because Animorphs deserves the attention.
View all replies
I always got Xena and X-Files references, even if I never actually watched them. I was reading one where they went to a Star Trek movie, and I think it was brilliant considering we had a new one come out fairly recently. I wonder if we can trade in our old books for new ones?
Oh, I got them too. And the Star Trek bit was great. (#8 The Alien) But, updating the references will make it possible for new, young audiences to pick up the series. (Current fourth graders and the like.) I hope the rerelease does well. These books are so brilliant, more people need to know about them.
I suppose. I really wish she would compile the whole set into one MEGA-book for the long-time readers that don't need the introductions every book. She can have the rerelease, and then I REALLY want a mega-book!
That would be kinda nice. The intros got to be pretty obnoxious over time. Especially when it was book 40 or whatever. Who would honestly try to pick up a series in its 40th book? Even with the little intro you couldn't possibly hope to understand everything. You'd get the premise, but that would be it.
I totally want to go comment to KA Applegate and request a mega-book, maybe after all the new ones come out. Oh! I better suggest shrinking the intros too!
Good idea.