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Animorphs #21
The Threat
There is a new Animorph. And he's arrived just in time, because the Yeerks are preparing their biggest takeover ever. The ultimate target: the world's most powerful leaders gathered together in one place. What better way to get into the minds of humans? Literally.
At first, David joins the fight with a vengeance. But there is definitely something wrong. Because he's starting to break the rules. Taking risks that could get them all captured. Or killed. The Animorphs don't know what to do. Because there was a time when the Yeerks were their greatest enemy. That's about to change. . . .
At first, David joins the fight with a vengeance. But there is definitely something wrong. Because he's starting to break the rules. Taking risks that could get them all captured. Or killed. The Animorphs don't know what to do. Because there was a time when the Yeerks were their greatest enemy. That's about to change. . . .
158 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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903 people want to read
About the author
K.A. Applegate
259Ìýbooks431Ìýfollowersalso published under the name Katherine Applegate
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November 14, 2015
What is this I can’t even.
#21: The Threat strips away any remaining pretensions that this is a “children’s� series. This is YA at its grittiest. Long before we had people volunteering themselves as tribute and running through mazes and choosing which Personality House they belong to, we had David the Traitor betraying the Animorphs because he is a terrible human being.
We’ve seen this theme before in the book. Applegate reminds us that humans have the capacity for great acts of courage (see: the Animorphs) and cowardice (see: Chapman in The Andalite Chronicles ). It’s this fluidity that fascinates and frightens us. And one of the most important realizations for the Animorphs in this novel is how incredibly lucky they were that Eflangor happened upon them. (Thanks, Ellimist.) I mean, yeah, they aren’t perfect—but it’s not like David is unique in his instabilities or psycopathy.
It makes so much sense that this is a Jake book, too. Marco was the perfect narrator for David’s introduction: naturally these two butt heads, because Marco’s role as the group clown means he is a keen observer of his fellow humans, and David sets off alarm bells from the start. But in The Threat, as it becomes clear that David is just not going to work out, it falls to Jake to deal with David’s betrayal.
I feel like Applegate is also finally dealing with a lot of issues that, until now, have been side-stepped or conveniently avoided. David is basically a great example of what not to do as an Animorph: don’t use your powers for personal gain; don’t be a jerk to your friends; don’t act like you’re better than everyone else; don’t get into unnecessary fights. There are some grounds for compassion here—unlike the other Animorphs, David no longer has a home to go to, nor can he return to school. He’s like Ax and Tobias, except he’s still in human form but can expect none of the creature comforts humans want and need. So some of his positions are understandable. Let’s remember he is still a kid, and maybe the remarkable thing here is not how much David freaks out about his situation but how the other five have managed to remain sane and on-task for this long.
That being said, David is a little shit, and he deserves what he has coming to him. And if you were in any doubt of that, then I will point at the last chapter of this book, and if you still want to argue, then come fight me IRL.
We end on yet another cliffhanger, and it’s tense. This is the first time the Animorphs have come to blows like this—and I know David never felt like an Animorph, but the fact remains that he’s a kid like them who has morphing powers like them and, for a very brief moment, was a member of the team. Bad idea or not, he is now their responsibility—Jake’s responsibility. As are all the actions David takes, including � yeah � Tobias. Wow.
And as much as that last chapter is a masterpiece—I’m eating my words about Applegate’s simplistic writing from my first few reviews, by the way—my favourite moment comes earlier in the book. As the Animorphs fly away from the resort after narrowly escaping Visser Three’s trap, David starts strutting his stuff and plumping his ego. And you can feel Jake’s feathers crawl. You share that sinking feeling in his stomach as he realizes that David is a Problem, and that he needs to find a Solution. And we get to watch as the other Animorphs pull away from David, surround him in a bubble supporting his fantasy. It’s incredibly powerful.
This is Applegate holding up a mirror to the Animorphs, saying, This could have been you. This is a watershed arc within the series. I mean, the supposed A-story of this book concerns the Animorphs trying to prevent infestation of world leaders—and that’s just completely subsumed by the David drama. Although David is the eponymous threat, in some sense this is a reminder of the fragility of the Animorphs� very existence as a guerrilla group. All it takes is one betrayal, or one innocent and well-intentioned misstep, and suddenly the Animorphs are exposed and vulnerable. And as we are going to discover, there are some things you can’t come back from.
Speaking of things you can’t come back from � next time, Rachel has to deal with the David Problem. Poor Rachel.
My reviews of Animorphs:
� #20: The Discovery | #22: The Solution �
#21: The Threat strips away any remaining pretensions that this is a “children’s� series. This is YA at its grittiest. Long before we had people volunteering themselves as tribute and running through mazes and choosing which Personality House they belong to, we had David the Traitor betraying the Animorphs because he is a terrible human being.
We’ve seen this theme before in the book. Applegate reminds us that humans have the capacity for great acts of courage (see: the Animorphs) and cowardice (see: Chapman in The Andalite Chronicles ). It’s this fluidity that fascinates and frightens us. And one of the most important realizations for the Animorphs in this novel is how incredibly lucky they were that Eflangor happened upon them. (Thanks, Ellimist.) I mean, yeah, they aren’t perfect—but it’s not like David is unique in his instabilities or psycopathy.
It makes so much sense that this is a Jake book, too. Marco was the perfect narrator for David’s introduction: naturally these two butt heads, because Marco’s role as the group clown means he is a keen observer of his fellow humans, and David sets off alarm bells from the start. But in The Threat, as it becomes clear that David is just not going to work out, it falls to Jake to deal with David’s betrayal.
I feel like Applegate is also finally dealing with a lot of issues that, until now, have been side-stepped or conveniently avoided. David is basically a great example of what not to do as an Animorph: don’t use your powers for personal gain; don’t be a jerk to your friends; don’t act like you’re better than everyone else; don’t get into unnecessary fights. There are some grounds for compassion here—unlike the other Animorphs, David no longer has a home to go to, nor can he return to school. He’s like Ax and Tobias, except he’s still in human form but can expect none of the creature comforts humans want and need. So some of his positions are understandable. Let’s remember he is still a kid, and maybe the remarkable thing here is not how much David freaks out about his situation but how the other five have managed to remain sane and on-task for this long.
That being said, David is a little shit, and he deserves what he has coming to him. And if you were in any doubt of that, then I will point at the last chapter of this book, and if you still want to argue, then come fight me IRL.
We end on yet another cliffhanger, and it’s tense. This is the first time the Animorphs have come to blows like this—and I know David never felt like an Animorph, but the fact remains that he’s a kid like them who has morphing powers like them and, for a very brief moment, was a member of the team. Bad idea or not, he is now their responsibility—Jake’s responsibility. As are all the actions David takes, including � yeah � Tobias. Wow.
And as much as that last chapter is a masterpiece—I’m eating my words about Applegate’s simplistic writing from my first few reviews, by the way—my favourite moment comes earlier in the book. As the Animorphs fly away from the resort after narrowly escaping Visser Three’s trap, David starts strutting his stuff and plumping his ego. And you can feel Jake’s feathers crawl. You share that sinking feeling in his stomach as he realizes that David is a Problem, and that he needs to find a Solution. And we get to watch as the other Animorphs pull away from David, surround him in a bubble supporting his fantasy. It’s incredibly powerful.
This is Applegate holding up a mirror to the Animorphs, saying, This could have been you. This is a watershed arc within the series. I mean, the supposed A-story of this book concerns the Animorphs trying to prevent infestation of world leaders—and that’s just completely subsumed by the David drama. Although David is the eponymous threat, in some sense this is a reminder of the fragility of the Animorphs� very existence as a guerrilla group. All it takes is one betrayal, or one innocent and well-intentioned misstep, and suddenly the Animorphs are exposed and vulnerable. And as we are going to discover, there are some things you can’t come back from.
Speaking of things you can’t come back from � next time, Rachel has to deal with the David Problem. Poor Rachel.
My reviews of Animorphs:
� #20: The Discovery | #22: The Solution �
June 14, 2020
FIRST REVIEW / APR 1, 2015
The structure and pacing of the David trilogy is so unbelievably good. I think this review will vaguely spoil the gist of this arc in general (but then again, so do the taglines on the covers, so...), but not in specific. Taking a moment to look at how KAA constructed this:
The Discovery: It's so fitting that this one is narrated by Marco, the guy who gets along least with David -- because it also makes sense, because Marco has an abrasive personality that is likely to rub many people the wrong way. He's experienced the same thing David has, yet he's hardly likely to mollycoddle. He's also the most suspicious and analytical, picking up the earliest signs of something being wrong even as the others choose to give David a chance.
The Threat: The threat (duh) becoming more apparent, finally brazen and out there in the open and in their damn faces. Fitting that this is Jake's book, because he's the leader, he makes the calls, he has to decide how they start to deal with this situation which is rapidly going out of control -- it's becoming increasingly and increasingly important, too, how well the Animorphs know each other, how well they read each other, how well Jake knows them and can manipulate them and utilise their strengths & weaknesses, like picking the perfect tool from the shed for a given task:
The Solution: Well, you can guess what this one is. The solution to their problem, finding a way to quash the situation. Also so fitting that the POV would be Rachel's: the most bloodthirsty member of the Animorphs, and it's a wonderful examination of her dark depths, the lengths which she's willing to go to, the slope which she's sliding down. (More on this in my next review.)
The Threat is absolutely wonderful. Tense, taut, terrifying, disastrous: as they're backed into one of the most desperate corners they've ever been in, chasing down someone who is just as hard to catch and kill as they are. The betrayal hurts and stings; even almost 20 years after first reading this book, my disgust and frustration with David remained a palpable thing. He's a wonderful antagonist: somewhat understandable, but loathsome (and only moreso as time goes on)... and just human. Gross and human, in all his arrogance and boastfulness and cowardice and selfishness and psychopathy. Some of the scenes I highlighted while reading were outright eerie and terrifying: the image of the golden eagle perched in the wrecked bedroom, lit by the light of dead snow on the television, a bloodstained pile of feathers bleeding into the sheets beside him, Jake's realisation of what that means.
I love these books so much.
---------------------------------
SECOND REVIEW / MAY 21, 2020
Jake books remain my favourite books!! In addition to the desperate mission with the Yeerks targeting world leaders, and the escalating situation with David, there's also little touches like this family tragedy:
Much like how Cassie pointed out in #19, about how this war is making her feel less and less, the same thing is happening to Jake: his sense of empathy eroding and being replaced by cold practicality, the war looming so large that it drowns out everything else. And there's even chilling moments like when Jake threatens David, or when Jake gets furiously murderous by the end -- when that happens, more than anything, he reminds me so much of Rachel. Those similarities between the cousins coming out when it matters.
And when it all starts to fall apart, Jake's reaction just destroys me: I felt very weak. Helpless. How could this be? How could I have let it happen?
He immediately blames himself, immediately shoulders the responsibility and considers everything his own fault. Heavy is the head that bears the crown etc etc.
Favourite quotes moved to .
The structure and pacing of the David trilogy is so unbelievably good. I think this review will vaguely spoil the gist of this arc in general (but then again, so do the taglines on the covers, so...), but not in specific. Taking a moment to look at how KAA constructed this:
The Discovery: It's so fitting that this one is narrated by Marco, the guy who gets along least with David -- because it also makes sense, because Marco has an abrasive personality that is likely to rub many people the wrong way. He's experienced the same thing David has, yet he's hardly likely to mollycoddle. He's also the most suspicious and analytical, picking up the earliest signs of something being wrong even as the others choose to give David a chance.
The Threat: The threat (duh) becoming more apparent, finally brazen and out there in the open and in their damn faces. Fitting that this is Jake's book, because he's the leader, he makes the calls, he has to decide how they start to deal with this situation which is rapidly going out of control -- it's becoming increasingly and increasingly important, too, how well the Animorphs know each other, how well they read each other, how well Jake knows them and can manipulate them and utilise their strengths & weaknesses, like picking the perfect tool from the shed for a given task:
I didn't know David. I realized that now. I hadn't really had time to get to know him. It had been one crisis piled on top of the next since we'd first learned about David finding the blue box.
I knew each of the others. Name any situation. I could tell you exactly how Cassie or Marco or Rachel or Tobias or even Ax would react. But David remained unknown. Unpredictable.
The Solution: Well, you can guess what this one is. The solution to their problem, finding a way to quash the situation. Also so fitting that the POV would be Rachel's: the most bloodthirsty member of the Animorphs, and it's a wonderful examination of her dark depths, the lengths which she's willing to go to, the slope which she's sliding down. (More on this in my next review.)
The Threat is absolutely wonderful. Tense, taut, terrifying, disastrous: as they're backed into one of the most desperate corners they've ever been in, chasing down someone who is just as hard to catch and kill as they are. The betrayal hurts and stings; even almost 20 years after first reading this book, my disgust and frustration with David remained a palpable thing. He's a wonderful antagonist: somewhat understandable, but loathsome (and only moreso as time goes on)... and just human. Gross and human, in all his arrogance and boastfulness and cowardice and selfishness and psychopathy. Some of the scenes I highlighted while reading were outright eerie and terrifying: the image of the golden eagle perched in the wrecked bedroom, lit by the light of dead snow on the television, a bloodstained pile of feathers bleeding into the sheets beside him, Jake's realisation of what that means.
I love these books so much.
---------------------------------
SECOND REVIEW / MAY 21, 2020
Jake books remain my favourite books!! In addition to the desperate mission with the Yeerks targeting world leaders, and the escalating situation with David, there's also little touches like this family tragedy:
My mother said, "It's your cousin, Saddler. He was riding his bike and was hit by a car. He's alive, but the injuries are very severe. He's in intensive care."
I'm ashamed to admit that my first reaction was not "poor Saddler." Instead, I wondered what impact this would have on my plans.
Much like how Cassie pointed out in #19, about how this war is making her feel less and less, the same thing is happening to Jake: his sense of empathy eroding and being replaced by cold practicality, the war looming so large that it drowns out everything else. And there's even chilling moments like when Jake threatens David, or when Jake gets furiously murderous by the end -- when that happens, more than anything, he reminds me so much of Rachel. Those similarities between the cousins coming out when it matters.
And when it all starts to fall apart, Jake's reaction just destroys me: I felt very weak. Helpless. How could this be? How could I have let it happen?
He immediately blames himself, immediately shoulders the responsibility and considers everything his own fault. Heavy is the head that bears the crown etc etc.
Favourite quotes moved to .
January 22, 2022
Come check out my 4 hour 35 minute deep dive into reading every single Animorphs book for the first time on YouTube. I recap and review all of the books from the main series:
March 8, 2024
I stg Applegate if you actually killed Tobias I will quit reading these books
April 3, 2022
David is a loose canon who supports whoever he feels is the winning team at any given moment. He’s cold, cruel, and not to be trusted in any way.
In a particularly high stakes stand-off with Visser Three, we not only see his lack of loyalty and moral code highlighted but we also see a desire for dominance over those around him.
“Who do you think would win in a fight: a lion or a tiger?�
Keeping him on the team is a major risk but he’s even more dangerous unsupervised. There’s a new added layer to Jake’s responsibilities and Rachel is already prone to bloodshed as well as winning “by any means necessary.�
This team is falling apart, the ultimate betrayal has occurred, and Jake has reached his breaking point.
I’m losing my mind.
CW: war, slavery, violence, murder, death, animal cruelty
In a particularly high stakes stand-off with Visser Three, we not only see his lack of loyalty and moral code highlighted but we also see a desire for dominance over those around him.
“Who do you think would win in a fight: a lion or a tiger?�
Keeping him on the team is a major risk but he’s even more dangerous unsupervised. There’s a new added layer to Jake’s responsibilities and Rachel is already prone to bloodshed as well as winning “by any means necessary.�
This team is falling apart, the ultimate betrayal has occurred, and Jake has reached his breaking point.
I’m losing my mind.
CW: war, slavery, violence, murder, death, animal cruelty
Read
December 1, 2017Full review and rating of David Trilogy later. As a friendly reminder: this is a children's book series.
July 25, 2022
The world's most powerful leaders gathered together in one place. It’s a perfect time for the Yeerks to infest them all and conquer the planet. The Animorphs need to stop the Yeerks but they have a new member now and he likes to break the rules. Jake is the leader and he realizes that David is a problem. He’s their problem and they need to fix it.
March 6, 2018
(Originally reviewed at )
Plot: This books picks up immediately where the last one ends: with half the team falling through the air as cockroaches. The situation is quickly handled by Rachel and Tobias swooping in to grab them from the air. They all land and demorph. But David, notably, doesn’t have a morphing suit yet. Tobias goes to steal some clothes from a near by shop, but Jake warns that they will need to pay them back. David goes on for a bit about how cool their abilities are and how they could probably steal anything they wanted. Jake is unsettled by this, but has to keep moving. They decide to morph gull to continue scouting out the resort. David is all too eager (again unsettling Jake) to morph his eagle and take down a gull for him to morph, but Jake has Tobias to it (not killing it), and both Tobias and David acquire the gull.
In morph, they team begin circling nearer the resort, but all they can see is security, security, and more security. They can’t see a single way in to this place. All of sudden, Jake is hit by an incredible flash of pain. They realize that one of the guards below is using his sunglasses to shock animals flying nearby with low level Dracon beams to scare off any Andalite bandits. Jake tells the others to take the hit, and then fly away like a real gull would. David does, but is sarcastic about thanking Jake when Jake compliments him on doing a good job.
They all head home, with David crashing in Cassie’s barn. At home, Jake finds out that his cousin Saddler (a kid he never got along well with) has been hit by a bike, and they’re not sure he’s going to make it. Jake is appalled to realize that his first thought is how this will affect the mission. Short answer, it plays out well since his parents leave town for a few days, freeing up Jake to focus on the world summit problem. That is until Cassie calls, cryptically warning Jake that “Dave� from “Letterman� is suddenly off the air: David is missing. Jake heads to the barn and meets up with Cassie and Rachel (Marco can’t get away that night), and decides to morph Homer to track David. Rachel, in owl morph, goes to fetch Tobias, but can’t find Ax. Owl!Cassie follows along. Jake is enraged to discover that David used his lion morph briefly, but then morphed eagle. Looking around further, and after asking Cassie what David talked about that evening (whining about missing TV), they discover a Holiday Inn with a broken window. Jake demorphs and barges in. He confronts David and says they don’t break the law or use their morphs for selfish reasons. David is rebellious and tries to tell Jake that sure, he’s the leader on Animorphs missions, but he doesn’t get to tell David what to do in the mean time. Jake knows that there is a line that needs to be drawn.
“No, that’s not what it’s like, David. I don’t want to come down on you, but the way it is is like this: You want to go around using your powers in selfish ways, then we can’t have you around. You’re just a danger to us. And you’re against what we stand for.�
His eyes widened. He rolled off the bed and stood up. “Are you threatening me?�
“No. Just telling you the way it is. We’re the only family you have now, David. The only people you can trust. The only people who can help you. We’re all you have. Deal with it.�
David sullenly goes with him. The next day, Cassie comes up with a plan of attack for getting into the resort. Jake morphs a dragonfly (the one bug they can think of that has good eye sight) and the others morph flea and jump on his back, having to bite into him to hold on as he flies. Tobias carries them as close as he can to the resort and then sends them off. To get in, Jake flies under a bellman’s hat, and manages to sneak into some air vents inside. By this point, they are all running low on time in morph (it took quite a while for the fleas to get on his back as they couldn’t aim their jumps very well). Jake gets caught in a spiderweb at one point, and David begins panicking and demorphing, risky crushing and exposing them all. At the last minute, Jake is able to escape and make it to an empty room that seems strange. They all demorph, right up against the time limit. All but Marco, who only makes it part way. Cassie, the fastest morpher, grabs him and begins calmly talking him through his demorph. He manages to finish it, and cries and hugs Cassie. Everyone is awed by Cassie’s abilities, even Ax, who says he’s always known she has a rare morphing talent, but this is almost miraculous.
They look around and discover they are in a hologramed pillar that contains a mini Yeerk pool. Jake goes out to look around and has to hide under a table when some people enter the room, arguing about the change in plans for the banquet. Jake realizes that the man they saw Visser Three acquire in the book wasn’t the President, but this man, the social coordinator for the White House who is now directing that all world leaders will need to pass behind the column when they go up for their speeches. They all eventually leave, and Jake sneaks back to the column. The only way out seems to be up through the hologram that is being projected through a hole that the Yeerks must have made in the ceiling. But before they go, Ax asks about the Yeerks in the pool. Jake says to leave them.
David volunteers to pull a fire alarm to distract everyone from a bunch of gulls emerging from the roof all together. He manages it, but trips on his way back. The others escape, but Jake rushes out to help David. David hides under a table and begins morphing lion, ignoring Jake emphatically mouthing “no� at him repeatedly. Jake frantically crawls towards him and just manages to grab him before he attacks a Controller who comes in to check the room. The Controllers decide that since the Yeerks in the pool are alive, it couldn’t be Andalites. Jake and David escape as dragonfly and flea once again. As they escape, David wonders aloud which would win, a lion or a tiger?
Back in the barn, they discuss the Yeerks� plans and Cassie hits the nail on the head, saying that the reason they didn’t simply infest the social planner guy all came down to character. Notably, Visser Three’s character and his need to be on the ground when his biggest success goes down. Jake thinks hard about what Cassie has said about character, evaluating how little he knows about David and going over in his mind some of David’s more questionable choices that hint to the fact that his moral compass isn’t quite pointed the same direction as the rest of theirs.
He mentions the situation with his cousin and is even more unnerved by the strange look of excitement in David’s eyes. Later, he talks to Cassie who also admits that she’s confused by David and that he doesn’t quite seem upset enough about losing his family and home (I mean the guy was whining about TV for Pete’s sake!!).
The group regather with plan in mind to disrupt the Yeerks� plot to infest the world leaders. That night, they all fly back to the resort. On the way, Cassie, the only one in owl morph with good eyes, thinks she spots the President wandering around near the pool in his shorts. But they fly on. They manage to get into the hologram above the building. From there they can spot three Controllers below them in the hologram pillar. Carrying fishing weights, they dive, release the weights, and knock them out. Rachel, carrying cobra!Marco, swoops down to join them.
They all get in place, ready to nab the passing world leaders and hopefully frantically convince them that the world is being invaded. But as the banquet ends and the speeches start, something is wrong: the world leaders are all walking directly to the stage, not behind the pillar at all. Jake realizes that it’s a trap, a hologram within a hologram, and sure enough Visser Three steps out from the hologram, and drops the facade all together, revealing an army of Hork Bajir surrounding them. Then, of course, he begins to gloat and threaten to kill them, but it doesn’t seem that he’s spotted Marco, still a snake on the ground.
As he continues to threaten to shoot them, David begins to break, calling out that he doesn’t care about the rest of them, and yes, he’ll demoprh. Wolf!Cassie grabs lion!David’s leg to stop him and they begin to fight.
I snapped. Rachel was on all fours. She half rose up to a sort of bear crouch. She reached out with her left paw and swung hard. She connected with David’s snarling, snapping jaw. David staggered. Cassie released David and jumped back.
Throughout this all, Jake’s been thinking. How did these Hork Bajir get in here when they could barely get in as one little dragonfly? He has Marco slither out, knowing that if he’s wrong, Marco will die. David continues to panic, yelling to Visser Three that they (the Animorphs) are threatening him and running towards him saying he’ll demorph and he’s on his side. Just them, Marco bites a Hork Bajir and it is confirmed that they are all holograms and it’s only Visser Three and a few human Controllers in the room. A fight breaks out, David quickly saying he can get Visser Three since he’s closest. It ends at a standoff after Cassie’s been shot and Ax has his tailblade at Visser Three’s neck. They all retreat, and the Animorphs fly back up and out of the hologram.
On the way home, Jake privately thought speaks with the rest, telling them not to confront David about his cowardice. David is busy telling them how it was all a trick anyways, that he was just trying to get close to Visser Three. As the others agree and nod along with him, he goes even further and starts bragging about how he could have taken Visser Three on his own and how he saved Cassie. (It’s all very intolerable and you can almost feel Jake’s skin crawling as he listens to it). In the end, Jake doesn’t trust David at all, but still wants to give him the benefit of the doubt; after all, he really could have been playing a trick.
They all head home, but after rigging his bed to look like he’s sleeping, he heads back with Tobias and Ax to watch Cassie’s barn. If David stays there, maybe things will be ok. Of course, he doesn’t, leaving in the middle of the night in golden eagle morph. Jake has Tobias follow him while he and Ax morph bird to join. They lose track of them, and as they’re flying Jake becomes more and more worried, unable to contact Tobias. He tells Ax to keep an eye out, not in the sky, but on the ground.
They head to David’s house, thinking that must be where he is heading. Ax wonders what they will do if David is truly joining the other side, and Jake doesn’t know. Outside David’s home, they spot a truck and know that there are likely Hork Bajir stationed there in case David returned. Jake has Ax go to the back of the house and demoprh to provide back up. He heads to David’s room, still in falcon morph. Eagle!David is watching TV (what is with his obsession with TV, btw??), and beside him there is a bloody, brown mass of bird.
Jake is stunned, frantically calling to Tobias and trying to listen for a heart beat. David goes into a whole speech about his having no choice, that the Animorphs were just like cliques at school and would never accept him. He has no life, but now he has this power and he’s going to use it to create one for himself, morphing some other human and making his own way.
I yelled.
David says Tobias was just a bird. And so is Jake right now. He attacks. Jake, more familiar with his morph than David is with his own, manages to escape to under the bed, and then when David begins to demorph to try and grab him out, Jake flies at his face, scratching him up. The commotion draws the Hork Bajir and they both escape out the window. Ax scoops up Jake and runs away. Jake tells Ax to go get Rachel who lives the closest, and takes off after David.
David leads him to roof of the mall and Jake knows what he wants, a showdown between his lion and Jake’s tiger. The two morph and fight, with Jake struggling against the lion’s mane. They end up on the skylight and break through. As they fall, Jake feels the lion bite him on the neck. End scene!
Our Fearless Leader:
This is the perfect book to illustrate the many, many strengths that Jake brings to the team as the leader. He has to make tough calls, he’s the first to realize that they’re being tricked by Visser Three in the resort, and, most importantly, we see how crucial his understanding of his team is to their success.
I knew each of the others. Name any situation. I could tell you exactly how Cassie or Marco or Rachel or Tobias or even Ax would react. But David remained unknown. Unpredictable. He’d been brave, mostly. He’d done what he had to do, mostly. But there had been things . . . the way he’d been in eagle morph and attacked some passing bird for no reason. The way he’d gotten weird in the lion morph. And the thing with breaking into the hotel room. All totally understandable. Nothing really awful. Not given how his entire life had been ripped apart.
Throughout it all, he’s off balance with David, something that isn’t helped at all by David’s erratic behavior and his tendency to get on the wrong side of everyone else on the team (yes, the biggest one is Marco, but there is at least one example of him coming up against the wrong side of every single member of the group in this book).
There are probably two big moments for Jake in this book, leadership-wise. The first is how he handles David’s break-in to the hotel. He knows that coming down on him will change their relationship forever, but Jake knows his role and that protecting the group, and enforcing these rules, is crucial to their survival. He doesn’t really have an option to be soft on David. And, importantly, he walks a fine line with this confrontation. He’s not soft, but he also isn’t needlessly cruel. One can only imagine what Marco or Rachel’s responses would have been. Jake is firm, leaving no room for questions, but he also doesn’t shame David.
And second, after David turns coward, he knows that he must go into damage control mode. By silently contacting all the others, he lays out their game plan, making sure to leave room for the shrinking possibility that David really was trying to play a trick. It’s clear that Jake doesn’t really believe this, but his actions here prove why he’s the leader. He wants to be as optimistic as Cassie, and knows that he can’t be as harsh as Marco and Rachel. So instead, he lays the groundwork to test David’s character by letting him think they all believe him, then gathering a select group to spy on him, knowing that if he leaves the barn, they have real problems.
And then, once David “kills� Tobias, Jake doesn’t hesitate to call in the big guns, sending Ax to go get Rachel in case they need to do something drastic. But Jake doesn’t back away from fighting David himself, either.
Xena, Warrior Princess: Like Marco, Rachel has a hard time not blowing up at David. She immediately comes down on him when he tries to turn himself over to Visser Three, calling him a spineless coward. David later rants about this, trying to say that maybe Rachel is the real coward. As we’ll see in the next book, these two’s power struggle is being set up in this book for a big pay off later. When they’re flying back, Jake has to very firmly hold Rachel back from continuing to come down on David.
And, in one of the most important moments for Rachel in the entire series, likely, Jake tells Ax to get Rachel after he thinks David has killed Tobias. He notes that Rachel lives the closest, but that is clearly only an excuse.
Jake knows his team well, and this is the right call. But we, as readers, know how much this decision, and the action of the next book, will ultimately mess up Rachel.
A Hawk’s Life: Tobias is along for most of the missions in this book, but doesn’t have a lot of stand out episodes of his own. At one point early in the book, Tobias makes a comment about gulls being like rats of the sky, and David says that Tobias must be really into this bird stuff and says he’s kind of a “bird racist.� Cassie is quick to jump on this and point out that birds are different species, unlike people. David just answers with a sulky “whatever.� (A good example of David casually saying stuff that gets him on the wrong side of members of the group, this time both Tobias and Cassie).
Later, when he’s raging at Jake in the hotel room about what the long term plan is for him (and how much he misses TV, I’m sure), he mentions that he’s not like Tobias who isn’t human. In some ways, yes, this is factually correct that in his current form, Tobias is better equipped to live out in the woods. But it is also another disturbing little reminder of David’s skewed way of looking at the world and serves as some pretty dark foreshadowing for David’s main justification for becoming a murdering psychopath. Tobias was a bird; it wasn’t “murder� to kill him.
Peace, Love, and Animals: Cassie has some big stuff in this one. Not only does Ax essentially admit that her being able to talk Marco through almost getting stuck in morph is a feat of talent virtually verging on the miraculous, but she comes up with the entire plan to get in to the resort in the first place. This has to be one of her biggest ongoing contributions to the group, her ability to think creatively about the animal kingdom and then neatly pair morphs with the unique challenges of any given mission. Usually, they’re super gross solutions, but hey, that’s out of her control.
“You’re a very disturbing person sometimes, Cassie,� Marco said [in response to her suggestion of the dragonfly-carrying-fleas idea.]
Jake also specifically seeks Cassie out to get her take on David, saying that he trusts her judgement of people more than anyone. This is a fine line between Cassie and Marco. Marco, too, is a good judge of character, but Jake knows that he falls on the suspicious side of things. But Cassie, as seen in a couple of scenes in this book and the first in the trilogy, can also fall on the optimistically naive side of things, too quick to believe David’s lies and wanting to think the best of him. A balance between the two points of view would probably give the clearest answer.
And then, when David tries to give them up to the Yeerks in the resort, Cassie is the quickest to act, biting lion!David’s leg and preventing him from running off. Jake notes this with surprise, but it’s a nice example of Cassie also understanding the stakes involved with this new member and quickly seeing and doing what needs to be done.
The Comic Relief: Early in the book, Jake worries about Marco and David’s interactions. At first he chalks it up to the fact that Marco often doesn’t mix well with new people and that it will probably blow over. But as things progress, he becomes more concerned that it is an issue that he is going to have to deal with. And then, as the book goes on even further, I think he begins to understand that Marco may have simply been on to something the rest of them were late to see (which we, having read Marco’s book, know to be true). Marco misses out on some of the action in this book due to his Dad’s dating life. But that’s mostly the mission to retrieve David from the hotel, and given that even level-headed Jake lost his temper on that one, it’s probably for the best that Marco wasn’t there.
Marco, along with Rachel, also has the hardest time biting his tongue in the end of the book when they’re flying away from the disaster at the resort where David tried to give them up.
(I ran out of word count on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, check out the link for the rest!)
Plot: This books picks up immediately where the last one ends: with half the team falling through the air as cockroaches. The situation is quickly handled by Rachel and Tobias swooping in to grab them from the air. They all land and demorph. But David, notably, doesn’t have a morphing suit yet. Tobias goes to steal some clothes from a near by shop, but Jake warns that they will need to pay them back. David goes on for a bit about how cool their abilities are and how they could probably steal anything they wanted. Jake is unsettled by this, but has to keep moving. They decide to morph gull to continue scouting out the resort. David is all too eager (again unsettling Jake) to morph his eagle and take down a gull for him to morph, but Jake has Tobias to it (not killing it), and both Tobias and David acquire the gull.
In morph, they team begin circling nearer the resort, but all they can see is security, security, and more security. They can’t see a single way in to this place. All of sudden, Jake is hit by an incredible flash of pain. They realize that one of the guards below is using his sunglasses to shock animals flying nearby with low level Dracon beams to scare off any Andalite bandits. Jake tells the others to take the hit, and then fly away like a real gull would. David does, but is sarcastic about thanking Jake when Jake compliments him on doing a good job.
They all head home, with David crashing in Cassie’s barn. At home, Jake finds out that his cousin Saddler (a kid he never got along well with) has been hit by a bike, and they’re not sure he’s going to make it. Jake is appalled to realize that his first thought is how this will affect the mission. Short answer, it plays out well since his parents leave town for a few days, freeing up Jake to focus on the world summit problem. That is until Cassie calls, cryptically warning Jake that “Dave� from “Letterman� is suddenly off the air: David is missing. Jake heads to the barn and meets up with Cassie and Rachel (Marco can’t get away that night), and decides to morph Homer to track David. Rachel, in owl morph, goes to fetch Tobias, but can’t find Ax. Owl!Cassie follows along. Jake is enraged to discover that David used his lion morph briefly, but then morphed eagle. Looking around further, and after asking Cassie what David talked about that evening (whining about missing TV), they discover a Holiday Inn with a broken window. Jake demorphs and barges in. He confronts David and says they don’t break the law or use their morphs for selfish reasons. David is rebellious and tries to tell Jake that sure, he’s the leader on Animorphs missions, but he doesn’t get to tell David what to do in the mean time. Jake knows that there is a line that needs to be drawn.
“No, that’s not what it’s like, David. I don’t want to come down on you, but the way it is is like this: You want to go around using your powers in selfish ways, then we can’t have you around. You’re just a danger to us. And you’re against what we stand for.�
His eyes widened. He rolled off the bed and stood up. “Are you threatening me?�
“No. Just telling you the way it is. We’re the only family you have now, David. The only people you can trust. The only people who can help you. We’re all you have. Deal with it.�
David sullenly goes with him. The next day, Cassie comes up with a plan of attack for getting into the resort. Jake morphs a dragonfly (the one bug they can think of that has good eye sight) and the others morph flea and jump on his back, having to bite into him to hold on as he flies. Tobias carries them as close as he can to the resort and then sends them off. To get in, Jake flies under a bellman’s hat, and manages to sneak into some air vents inside. By this point, they are all running low on time in morph (it took quite a while for the fleas to get on his back as they couldn’t aim their jumps very well). Jake gets caught in a spiderweb at one point, and David begins panicking and demorphing, risky crushing and exposing them all. At the last minute, Jake is able to escape and make it to an empty room that seems strange. They all demorph, right up against the time limit. All but Marco, who only makes it part way. Cassie, the fastest morpher, grabs him and begins calmly talking him through his demorph. He manages to finish it, and cries and hugs Cassie. Everyone is awed by Cassie’s abilities, even Ax, who says he’s always known she has a rare morphing talent, but this is almost miraculous.
They look around and discover they are in a hologramed pillar that contains a mini Yeerk pool. Jake goes out to look around and has to hide under a table when some people enter the room, arguing about the change in plans for the banquet. Jake realizes that the man they saw Visser Three acquire in the book wasn’t the President, but this man, the social coordinator for the White House who is now directing that all world leaders will need to pass behind the column when they go up for their speeches. They all eventually leave, and Jake sneaks back to the column. The only way out seems to be up through the hologram that is being projected through a hole that the Yeerks must have made in the ceiling. But before they go, Ax asks about the Yeerks in the pool. Jake says to leave them.
David volunteers to pull a fire alarm to distract everyone from a bunch of gulls emerging from the roof all together. He manages it, but trips on his way back. The others escape, but Jake rushes out to help David. David hides under a table and begins morphing lion, ignoring Jake emphatically mouthing “no� at him repeatedly. Jake frantically crawls towards him and just manages to grab him before he attacks a Controller who comes in to check the room. The Controllers decide that since the Yeerks in the pool are alive, it couldn’t be Andalites. Jake and David escape as dragonfly and flea once again. As they escape, David wonders aloud which would win, a lion or a tiger?
Back in the barn, they discuss the Yeerks� plans and Cassie hits the nail on the head, saying that the reason they didn’t simply infest the social planner guy all came down to character. Notably, Visser Three’s character and his need to be on the ground when his biggest success goes down. Jake thinks hard about what Cassie has said about character, evaluating how little he knows about David and going over in his mind some of David’s more questionable choices that hint to the fact that his moral compass isn’t quite pointed the same direction as the rest of theirs.
He mentions the situation with his cousin and is even more unnerved by the strange look of excitement in David’s eyes. Later, he talks to Cassie who also admits that she’s confused by David and that he doesn’t quite seem upset enough about losing his family and home (I mean the guy was whining about TV for Pete’s sake!!).
The group regather with plan in mind to disrupt the Yeerks� plot to infest the world leaders. That night, they all fly back to the resort. On the way, Cassie, the only one in owl morph with good eyes, thinks she spots the President wandering around near the pool in his shorts. But they fly on. They manage to get into the hologram above the building. From there they can spot three Controllers below them in the hologram pillar. Carrying fishing weights, they dive, release the weights, and knock them out. Rachel, carrying cobra!Marco, swoops down to join them.
They all get in place, ready to nab the passing world leaders and hopefully frantically convince them that the world is being invaded. But as the banquet ends and the speeches start, something is wrong: the world leaders are all walking directly to the stage, not behind the pillar at all. Jake realizes that it’s a trap, a hologram within a hologram, and sure enough Visser Three steps out from the hologram, and drops the facade all together, revealing an army of Hork Bajir surrounding them. Then, of course, he begins to gloat and threaten to kill them, but it doesn’t seem that he’s spotted Marco, still a snake on the ground.
As he continues to threaten to shoot them, David begins to break, calling out that he doesn’t care about the rest of them, and yes, he’ll demoprh. Wolf!Cassie grabs lion!David’s leg to stop him and they begin to fight.
I snapped. Rachel was on all fours. She half rose up to a sort of bear crouch. She reached out with her left paw and swung hard. She connected with David’s snarling, snapping jaw. David staggered. Cassie released David and jumped back.
Throughout this all, Jake’s been thinking. How did these Hork Bajir get in here when they could barely get in as one little dragonfly? He has Marco slither out, knowing that if he’s wrong, Marco will die. David continues to panic, yelling to Visser Three that they (the Animorphs) are threatening him and running towards him saying he’ll demorph and he’s on his side. Just them, Marco bites a Hork Bajir and it is confirmed that they are all holograms and it’s only Visser Three and a few human Controllers in the room. A fight breaks out, David quickly saying he can get Visser Three since he’s closest. It ends at a standoff after Cassie’s been shot and Ax has his tailblade at Visser Three’s neck. They all retreat, and the Animorphs fly back up and out of the hologram.
On the way home, Jake privately thought speaks with the rest, telling them not to confront David about his cowardice. David is busy telling them how it was all a trick anyways, that he was just trying to get close to Visser Three. As the others agree and nod along with him, he goes even further and starts bragging about how he could have taken Visser Three on his own and how he saved Cassie. (It’s all very intolerable and you can almost feel Jake’s skin crawling as he listens to it). In the end, Jake doesn’t trust David at all, but still wants to give him the benefit of the doubt; after all, he really could have been playing a trick.
They all head home, but after rigging his bed to look like he’s sleeping, he heads back with Tobias and Ax to watch Cassie’s barn. If David stays there, maybe things will be ok. Of course, he doesn’t, leaving in the middle of the night in golden eagle morph. Jake has Tobias follow him while he and Ax morph bird to join. They lose track of them, and as they’re flying Jake becomes more and more worried, unable to contact Tobias. He tells Ax to keep an eye out, not in the sky, but on the ground.
They head to David’s house, thinking that must be where he is heading. Ax wonders what they will do if David is truly joining the other side, and Jake doesn’t know. Outside David’s home, they spot a truck and know that there are likely Hork Bajir stationed there in case David returned. Jake has Ax go to the back of the house and demoprh to provide back up. He heads to David’s room, still in falcon morph. Eagle!David is watching TV (what is with his obsession with TV, btw??), and beside him there is a bloody, brown mass of bird.
Jake is stunned, frantically calling to Tobias and trying to listen for a heart beat. David goes into a whole speech about his having no choice, that the Animorphs were just like cliques at school and would never accept him. He has no life, but now he has this power and he’s going to use it to create one for himself, morphing some other human and making his own way.
I yelled.
David says Tobias was just a bird. And so is Jake right now. He attacks. Jake, more familiar with his morph than David is with his own, manages to escape to under the bed, and then when David begins to demorph to try and grab him out, Jake flies at his face, scratching him up. The commotion draws the Hork Bajir and they both escape out the window. Ax scoops up Jake and runs away. Jake tells Ax to go get Rachel who lives the closest, and takes off after David.
David leads him to roof of the mall and Jake knows what he wants, a showdown between his lion and Jake’s tiger. The two morph and fight, with Jake struggling against the lion’s mane. They end up on the skylight and break through. As they fall, Jake feels the lion bite him on the neck. End scene!
Our Fearless Leader:
This is the perfect book to illustrate the many, many strengths that Jake brings to the team as the leader. He has to make tough calls, he’s the first to realize that they’re being tricked by Visser Three in the resort, and, most importantly, we see how crucial his understanding of his team is to their success.
I knew each of the others. Name any situation. I could tell you exactly how Cassie or Marco or Rachel or Tobias or even Ax would react. But David remained unknown. Unpredictable. He’d been brave, mostly. He’d done what he had to do, mostly. But there had been things . . . the way he’d been in eagle morph and attacked some passing bird for no reason. The way he’d gotten weird in the lion morph. And the thing with breaking into the hotel room. All totally understandable. Nothing really awful. Not given how his entire life had been ripped apart.
Throughout it all, he’s off balance with David, something that isn’t helped at all by David’s erratic behavior and his tendency to get on the wrong side of everyone else on the team (yes, the biggest one is Marco, but there is at least one example of him coming up against the wrong side of every single member of the group in this book).
There are probably two big moments for Jake in this book, leadership-wise. The first is how he handles David’s break-in to the hotel. He knows that coming down on him will change their relationship forever, but Jake knows his role and that protecting the group, and enforcing these rules, is crucial to their survival. He doesn’t really have an option to be soft on David. And, importantly, he walks a fine line with this confrontation. He’s not soft, but he also isn’t needlessly cruel. One can only imagine what Marco or Rachel’s responses would have been. Jake is firm, leaving no room for questions, but he also doesn’t shame David.
And second, after David turns coward, he knows that he must go into damage control mode. By silently contacting all the others, he lays out their game plan, making sure to leave room for the shrinking possibility that David really was trying to play a trick. It’s clear that Jake doesn’t really believe this, but his actions here prove why he’s the leader. He wants to be as optimistic as Cassie, and knows that he can’t be as harsh as Marco and Rachel. So instead, he lays the groundwork to test David’s character by letting him think they all believe him, then gathering a select group to spy on him, knowing that if he leaves the barn, they have real problems.
And then, once David “kills� Tobias, Jake doesn’t hesitate to call in the big guns, sending Ax to go get Rachel in case they need to do something drastic. But Jake doesn’t back away from fighting David himself, either.
Xena, Warrior Princess: Like Marco, Rachel has a hard time not blowing up at David. She immediately comes down on him when he tries to turn himself over to Visser Three, calling him a spineless coward. David later rants about this, trying to say that maybe Rachel is the real coward. As we’ll see in the next book, these two’s power struggle is being set up in this book for a big pay off later. When they’re flying back, Jake has to very firmly hold Rachel back from continuing to come down on David.
And, in one of the most important moments for Rachel in the entire series, likely, Jake tells Ax to get Rachel after he thinks David has killed Tobias. He notes that Rachel lives the closest, but that is clearly only an excuse.
Jake knows his team well, and this is the right call. But we, as readers, know how much this decision, and the action of the next book, will ultimately mess up Rachel.
A Hawk’s Life: Tobias is along for most of the missions in this book, but doesn’t have a lot of stand out episodes of his own. At one point early in the book, Tobias makes a comment about gulls being like rats of the sky, and David says that Tobias must be really into this bird stuff and says he’s kind of a “bird racist.� Cassie is quick to jump on this and point out that birds are different species, unlike people. David just answers with a sulky “whatever.� (A good example of David casually saying stuff that gets him on the wrong side of members of the group, this time both Tobias and Cassie).
Later, when he’s raging at Jake in the hotel room about what the long term plan is for him (and how much he misses TV, I’m sure), he mentions that he’s not like Tobias who isn’t human. In some ways, yes, this is factually correct that in his current form, Tobias is better equipped to live out in the woods. But it is also another disturbing little reminder of David’s skewed way of looking at the world and serves as some pretty dark foreshadowing for David’s main justification for becoming a murdering psychopath. Tobias was a bird; it wasn’t “murder� to kill him.
Peace, Love, and Animals: Cassie has some big stuff in this one. Not only does Ax essentially admit that her being able to talk Marco through almost getting stuck in morph is a feat of talent virtually verging on the miraculous, but she comes up with the entire plan to get in to the resort in the first place. This has to be one of her biggest ongoing contributions to the group, her ability to think creatively about the animal kingdom and then neatly pair morphs with the unique challenges of any given mission. Usually, they’re super gross solutions, but hey, that’s out of her control.
“You’re a very disturbing person sometimes, Cassie,� Marco said [in response to her suggestion of the dragonfly-carrying-fleas idea.]
Jake also specifically seeks Cassie out to get her take on David, saying that he trusts her judgement of people more than anyone. This is a fine line between Cassie and Marco. Marco, too, is a good judge of character, but Jake knows that he falls on the suspicious side of things. But Cassie, as seen in a couple of scenes in this book and the first in the trilogy, can also fall on the optimistically naive side of things, too quick to believe David’s lies and wanting to think the best of him. A balance between the two points of view would probably give the clearest answer.
And then, when David tries to give them up to the Yeerks in the resort, Cassie is the quickest to act, biting lion!David’s leg and preventing him from running off. Jake notes this with surprise, but it’s a nice example of Cassie also understanding the stakes involved with this new member and quickly seeing and doing what needs to be done.
The Comic Relief: Early in the book, Jake worries about Marco and David’s interactions. At first he chalks it up to the fact that Marco often doesn’t mix well with new people and that it will probably blow over. But as things progress, he becomes more concerned that it is an issue that he is going to have to deal with. And then, as the book goes on even further, I think he begins to understand that Marco may have simply been on to something the rest of them were late to see (which we, having read Marco’s book, know to be true). Marco misses out on some of the action in this book due to his Dad’s dating life. But that’s mostly the mission to retrieve David from the hotel, and given that even level-headed Jake lost his temper on that one, it’s probably for the best that Marco wasn’t there.
Marco, along with Rachel, also has the hardest time biting his tongue in the end of the book when they’re flying away from the disaster at the resort where David tried to give them up.
(I ran out of word count on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, check out the link for the rest!)
April 16, 2022
It was nice to get someone else's perspective on David. Who would have thought one 14 yr old boy could be so much trouble. Just endangering the entire human race, no biggie right? At first I felt bad for him and his predicament, but how he acts toward those trying to help him, and his selfishness just make me sick. That cliff-hanger of an ending! Wow that was dark!
May 16, 2013
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Things with the newest Animorph, David, aren’t going so well. He’s reckless, unmoral, and a coward. He’s also the biggest threat to the Animorphs since they started their war. He knows their secret, and he has their power�
I absolutely love the David trilogy. David is unlikeable from the first time we meet him in The Discovery. Even though this novel is short, his character growth is phenomenal. He grows from a little reckless, quite frightened by morphing, possibly a liar and having problems listening to authority to full on psychopathic murderer, able to see the world in complete black and white, with utterly no respect for anyone and quickly using morphing for his own gain, not just to fight the war. And that’s not all, ladies and gents, because in the next book it gets worse.
But we’re talking about this book. David thinks he’s smarter than any of the other Animorphs, but six brains will always be better than one. And the Animorphs have a secret weapon in the form of gentle tree hugging Cassie. Cassie, who leaps to stop David when he cowardly switches sides facing down Visser Three, then pretends it was his plan all along. This is when Jake starts to get suspicious, but he also recognises the danger David could put all the Animorphs in.
Eventually Jake lays a trap that David falls for, and the wayward sixth Animorph crosses the line. Thinking Tobias is dead, Jake knows he needs to take drastic action. He sends Ax for Rachel and confronts David himself. It’s lion versus tiger, and the fight isn’t going well for Jake�
Oh yeah, and there’s more shenanigans to do with the ‘biggest mission� the Animorphs have ever faced. Some crap about not letting the most important Heads of State get slimy parasites in their brains. But hey, that’s not half as much fun as the David stuff.
I do understand a little where David is coming from. He’s new to the group, and has always been the new kid what with moving around so much. He doesn’t take kindly to people pushing him around. He wants his old life back. He can’t adjust the way Tobias did when he had nothing left. But David is also a psychopath and a megalomaniac. It’s not that he doesn’t like people pushing him around, he doesn’t like being told what to do, period. He doesn’t respect Jake. He doesn’t think Marco is funny. He doesn’t interact with Ax at all. I mean come on, Ax is a freaking alien. He’s so cool he makes my fingers ache. He thinks Tobias is expendable because he’s got a bird’s body. And he accuses Rachel of being a coward. David is so busy building up walls that he pushes all the Animorphs away in his delusions of grandeur. He could have been a great new member of the team�
Except that he was never meant to be. David was meant to show the audience the disaster of what would happen if the Animorphs picked the wrong kind of person, and give them a reason to keep fighting as a guerrilla army of six.
Overall don’t freaking miss this book. It’s the middle part of the trilogy and it’s by far one of the best Animorphs books in the series.
April 26, 2019
This was, by far, the strongest book in quite some time! David really makes this book.
We pick up right where we stopped off.
David is unlikeable from the first time we met him in the last book. Seeing real conflict was nice vs it being something simplistic like with the other animorphers.
Even though this novel is short, David's character growth is pretty amazing. I appreciated the conflict and how it seemed to be David vs the others. The action was intense and the climax left me wanting MORE!
Looking forward to the conclusion of the david trilogy.
We pick up right where we stopped off.
David is unlikeable from the first time we met him in the last book. Seeing real conflict was nice vs it being something simplistic like with the other animorphers.
Even though this novel is short, David's character growth is pretty amazing. I appreciated the conflict and how it seemed to be David vs the others. The action was intense and the climax left me wanting MORE!
Looking forward to the conclusion of the david trilogy.
January 23, 2024
Truthfully, I think this trilogy is where my fondness for this book series comes from. I don't remember too many books beyond this, and I didn't really remember how these turned out, but the moral complexity of the "David Trilogy" and its effects on the characters is fantastic. Jake really dealing with being a leader and having made a wrong decision, using his teammates, dealing with a foe of their own making? Fantastic.
February 8, 2024
Hot damm this had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Didn't even care about the president stuff, it's all about David for me. Is he a serial killer? Just a run of the mill punk? Secretly a controller? Wtf is going on with this kid??
Applegate really pushes the envelope here and it is masterfully done. I cannot wait for the next one, the propulsive force here is amazing.
Applegate really pushes the envelope here and it is masterfully done. I cannot wait for the next one, the propulsive force here is amazing.
December 12, 2022
This one is so good! The pyschopath David arc is riveting.
September 15, 2022
HOLY SHIT
One of the saddest but also funniest books in the series so far
One of the saddest but also funniest books in the series so far
December 28, 2023
The story immediately continues from the previous book.
Plot?
Well, there is a new Animorph, David, on one hand, this may work in the Animorphs' favor or prove to be at the absolute worst timing ever as the Yeerks are preparing their biggest takeover ever. Yeerks' ultimate target: the world's most powerful leaders gathered together in one place that could immediately doom everyone on Earth!
At first, David joins the fight with a vengeance. I mean who can blame the kid? His parents were forcibly turned into Yeerks and the enemy knows who David is and what he looks like, so he doesn't have a home to go back to, like the others, plus being the new kid and new dynamics in an already established group, it's bound to butt heads.
But there is a HUGE but in there!! Something is WAY wrong!!! Red flags so to speak! Because he's starting to break the rules. Taking risks that could get them all captured. Or worse killed. The Animorphs don't know what to do. Because there was a time when the Yeerks were their greatest enemy. But now they've got an enemy within, what are they gonna do?
Ethics, Characters and Relationships
Without giving too much of the book's events away to those who haven't read it. Let's begin:
This stands out the most, a quote by Jake, he's never had to pull rank before, like in the past he has never had to put his foot down as the others already existing relationships with each other and there's respect and trust among them, yeah sure, Jake tells Marco and Rachel to cool it occasionally with their clashing personalities that are so alike in many ways but at least the OG Animorphs cohesively work well together.
Here, you have Jake laying down the law and showing the audience, why he's the leader that the group elected, he will be the one to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.
But all this time Jake had been taking a step back observing David's behaviour and it hadn't been good, even the others especially Cassie was unsure of David's true loyalties as there had been too many red flags ie; David's refusal to respect the rules that are in place for a reason and abusing his ability to morph for selfish means and by breaking them continuingly he would be labeled a danger and a high risk to the Animorphs and thus subsequently dealt with, and forces David to return to the barn.
Tobias steals clothing for David from a beach shop, citing that it was not a crime since he is a bird. Later that night, David, tired of living at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic and eating chips that Cassie gives him, decides to use his eagle morph to use a rock to dive-bomb the glass at a Holiday Inn. When confronted by Jake, David uses Tobias' logic, that it was not a crime since he committed the crime as a bird.
I sympathize with David, the kid lost everything important to him and is essentially homeless and searching for some illusion of normalcy that the others possess and we forget sometimes that he's still a kid. But also on one hand, the darker aspects of David's personality are starting to rear its ugly head, his willingness to abuse his abilities not to help others like the others have been doing but for self-serving which makes David unpredictable.
I know I've left out the majority of the events of the book very vague especially how these moments transpire, I did that on purpose, but I thoroughly enjoyed Jake's journey as his leadership qualities continued to grow here as he had to make some tough calls in regards to their mission all the while juggling with a new person within the group, who everyone essentially KNOWS nothing about and there is tension, distrust and hostilities bubbling within the group because of the new variable that is David.
Even Jake, even though he sympathizes with David's situation, Jake is still the leader, they have a job to do, but even Jake questions the success of the mission as he doesn't know how David will react during the mission compared to the others.
Jake delegates tasks to the group to complete their mission plan, and yet there are complications with David as he doesn't bend, tries to switch sides, later lies saying it was all a fakeout and then goes rogue, but also highlights Jake's character, he's learned from past mistakes and is prepared, he alerts the others' not to challenge David's actions in the lastest mission, as to not tip him off, but to give Jake time to determine David's true motives and allegiance: to the Animorphs? The Yeerks? or David himself?
Jake's next actions are to minimize the threat: David and get the shock of their lives when Jake realizes Tobias has been supposedly killed by David, but he argues that this isn't murder, like holy crap dude!! Preluding much to David's psychopathy nature?!?! as it happened while in animal morph, and then he tries to murder Jake while they fight in their battle morphs.
Of course, a huge fight breaks out, Jake orders Ax to get the big guns - Rachel, his initial argument is because she lives the closest but I see the real reason. One: in the past, they have used Rachel for tasks that the moral members won't even consider. Two: we know as an audience, that this is a good call, as when it comes down to it Rachel won't hesitate, but in the future, it just shows how much the Animorphs abuse Rachel's bloodthirsty and warrior nature to accomplish tasks, even murder, when they won't and how deeply those actions will affect Rachel's psyche later on.
David
Up until this point, Cassie has been a natural with morphing but by the end of the book, Jake discovers at the worst possible time that David has proven to be skilled at the morphing process too.
Shows David's singular determination, and reclusive nature by having taught himself to morph clothing without assistance and managing multiple morphs in a row.
Worth mentioning that in the beginning, the Animorphs struggled with rapid morphing, hence why Cassie was chosen to defeat the Veleek in , as she had the tolerance to pull it off.
Yet David, even though he lacks their practice and experience, can handle it relatively well, and has also shown, except the golden eagle, to not lose himself to the morphed animal's instincts. which the others have struggled with, the thought doesn't cross Jake's mind yet, but as an audience we know that this is gonna be a problem for the Animorphs down the track.
Cassie and Marco
I like how Jake approaches Cassie to see where she stands on the David problem and trusts her judgment before he acts. I can understand why he wouldn't approach Marco, despite Marco showing good judgment of character in the past, however, I've noticed once Marco doesn't like someone, it may be for a good reason, it's more instinctual but he comes across as antagonistic, suspicious and what Jake is trying to achieve, determining David's character and his relationships with the others is put on a very fine line to imploding when it doesn't need to.
Despite Cassie, being optimistic and naive such as being too quick to believe David’s lies and wanting to think the best of him. Yet, I wasn't surprised when it was her being the first to react and put a stop to David's betrayal by biting LionDavid and preventing him from running off. A nice callback to Cassie being able to understand the risks at hand, a very rare occurrence in using physical force to manhandle the newest member, to pulling him into line with Rachel's help though the downside Visser Three witnessed dissent within the Animorphs.
Overall
Thoroughly enjoyed it!!!
Plot?
Well, there is a new Animorph, David, on one hand, this may work in the Animorphs' favor or prove to be at the absolute worst timing ever as the Yeerks are preparing their biggest takeover ever. Yeerks' ultimate target: the world's most powerful leaders gathered together in one place that could immediately doom everyone on Earth!
At first, David joins the fight with a vengeance. I mean who can blame the kid? His parents were forcibly turned into Yeerks and the enemy knows who David is and what he looks like, so he doesn't have a home to go back to, like the others, plus being the new kid and new dynamics in an already established group, it's bound to butt heads.
But there is a HUGE but in there!! Something is WAY wrong!!! Red flags so to speak! Because he's starting to break the rules. Taking risks that could get them all captured. Or worse killed. The Animorphs don't know what to do. Because there was a time when the Yeerks were their greatest enemy. But now they've got an enemy within, what are they gonna do?
Ethics, Characters and Relationships
Without giving too much of the book's events away to those who haven't read it. Let's begin:
“No, that’s not what it’s like, David. I don’t want to come down on you, but the way it is is like this: You want to go around using your powers in selfish ways, then we can’t have you around. You’re just a danger to us. And you’re against what we stand for.�
His eyes widened. He rolled off the bed and stood up. “Are you threatening me?�
“No. Just telling you the way it is. We’re the only family you have now, David. The only people you can trust. The only people who can help you. We’re all you have. Deal with it.�
This stands out the most, a quote by Jake, he's never had to pull rank before, like in the past he has never had to put his foot down as the others already existing relationships with each other and there's respect and trust among them, yeah sure, Jake tells Marco and Rachel to cool it occasionally with their clashing personalities that are so alike in many ways but at least the OG Animorphs cohesively work well together.
Here, you have Jake laying down the law and showing the audience, why he's the leader that the group elected, he will be the one to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.
But all this time Jake had been taking a step back observing David's behaviour and it hadn't been good, even the others especially Cassie was unsure of David's true loyalties as there had been too many red flags ie; David's refusal to respect the rules that are in place for a reason and abusing his ability to morph for selfish means and by breaking them continuingly he would be labeled a danger and a high risk to the Animorphs and thus subsequently dealt with, and forces David to return to the barn.
Tobias steals clothing for David from a beach shop, citing that it was not a crime since he is a bird. Later that night, David, tired of living at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic and eating chips that Cassie gives him, decides to use his eagle morph to use a rock to dive-bomb the glass at a Holiday Inn. When confronted by Jake, David uses Tobias' logic, that it was not a crime since he committed the crime as a bird.
I sympathize with David, the kid lost everything important to him and is essentially homeless and searching for some illusion of normalcy that the others possess and we forget sometimes that he's still a kid. But also on one hand, the darker aspects of David's personality are starting to rear its ugly head, his willingness to abuse his abilities not to help others like the others have been doing but for self-serving which makes David unpredictable.
"What was it you said? Something like: "If you go around using your powers however you want, we can't have you around. You're a danger to us." You think I don't know you were threatening me, Jake? I'm not spending the rest of my life taking orders from you." [...]
"If the Yeerks don't get you, we will."
"Yeah, I know. But already there used to be six of you and now there are just five. Pretty soon, Jake, it'll be four."
―David and Jake
I know I've left out the majority of the events of the book very vague especially how these moments transpire, I did that on purpose, but I thoroughly enjoyed Jake's journey as his leadership qualities continued to grow here as he had to make some tough calls in regards to their mission all the while juggling with a new person within the group, who everyone essentially KNOWS nothing about and there is tension, distrust and hostilities bubbling within the group because of the new variable that is David.
Even Jake, even though he sympathizes with David's situation, Jake is still the leader, they have a job to do, but even Jake questions the success of the mission as he doesn't know how David will react during the mission compared to the others.
Jake delegates tasks to the group to complete their mission plan, and yet there are complications with David as he doesn't bend, tries to switch sides, later lies saying it was all a fakeout and then goes rogue, but also highlights Jake's character, he's learned from past mistakes and is prepared, he alerts the others' not to challenge David's actions in the lastest mission, as to not tip him off, but to give Jake time to determine David's true motives and allegiance: to the Animorphs? The Yeerks? or David himself?
Jake's next actions are to minimize the threat: David and get the shock of their lives when Jake realizes Tobias has been supposedly killed by David, but he argues that this isn't murder, like holy crap dude!! Preluding much to David's psychopathy nature?!?! as it happened while in animal morph, and then he tries to murder Jake while they fight in their battle morphs.
Of course, a huge fight breaks out, Jake orders Ax to get the big guns - Rachel, his initial argument is because she lives the closest but I see the real reason. One: in the past, they have used Rachel for tasks that the moral members won't even consider. Two: we know as an audience, that this is a good call, as when it comes down to it Rachel won't hesitate, but in the future, it just shows how much the Animorphs abuse Rachel's bloodthirsty and warrior nature to accomplish tasks, even murder, when they won't and how deeply those actions will affect Rachel's psyche later on.
David
Up until this point, Cassie has been a natural with morphing but by the end of the book, Jake discovers at the worst possible time that David has proven to be skilled at the morphing process too.
Shows David's singular determination, and reclusive nature by having taught himself to morph clothing without assistance and managing multiple morphs in a row.
Worth mentioning that in the beginning, the Animorphs struggled with rapid morphing, hence why Cassie was chosen to defeat the Veleek in , as she had the tolerance to pull it off.
Yet David, even though he lacks their practice and experience, can handle it relatively well, and has also shown, except the golden eagle, to not lose himself to the morphed animal's instincts. which the others have struggled with, the thought doesn't cross Jake's mind yet, but as an audience we know that this is gonna be a problem for the Animorphs down the track.
Cassie and Marco
I like how Jake approaches Cassie to see where she stands on the David problem and trusts her judgment before he acts. I can understand why he wouldn't approach Marco, despite Marco showing good judgment of character in the past, however, I've noticed once Marco doesn't like someone, it may be for a good reason, it's more instinctual but he comes across as antagonistic, suspicious and what Jake is trying to achieve, determining David's character and his relationships with the others is put on a very fine line to imploding when it doesn't need to.
Despite Cassie, being optimistic and naive such as being too quick to believe David’s lies and wanting to think the best of him. Yet, I wasn't surprised when it was her being the first to react and put a stop to David's betrayal by biting LionDavid and preventing him from running off. A nice callback to Cassie being able to understand the risks at hand, a very rare occurrence in using physical force to manhandle the newest member, to pulling him into line with Rachel's help though the downside Visser Three witnessed dissent within the Animorphs.
Overall
Thoroughly enjoyed it!!!
August 6, 2014
Second in the "David" trilogy. David proves to be one twisted little sicko. Even though the Animorphs are good guys, they may have to think like bad guys in order to stop David, because after all, they not only have themselves to think about; they are the only force stopping the Yeerks from taking over for good. They can't let this little snot wreck their group. But what can they do without becoming evil themselves?
Notable moments and inconsistencies:
It's a nice touch that people who got knocked unconscious by a blow to the head didn't stay out long. Normally, the amount of time a person can be unconscious after a head injury is not very long unless it's a very serious injury, and these books are written in such a way that the Animorphs don't irrevocably injure people if they don't have to. So after initially being knocked out and only staying out for a couple minutes, one Controller has to be bitten with poison to stay unconscious. That's refreshing.
At one point the Animorphs have a plan that involves three of the guys--Ax, Jake, and David--acquiring and morphing the human-Controllers. They planned to explain to each temporarily abducted world leader that there's an alien invasion going on, and have Ax demorph to show them. Why would they do that when a) there were other ways to prove it with other people's morphs and b) they'd bothered to put Ax in a tuxedo and tie his tie?
When David does his lion morph and Jake has to restrain him, Jake realizes a second too late that David has never done the lion morph before and so he stands a very good chance of losing control of it. The problem is that earlier in the book Jake tracked him down while sniffing as a dog, and determined that he changed into a lion to cover some distance. It might have been the first time Jake had been around David while he was a lion, but it wasn't David's first time in lion morph.
Notable moments and inconsistencies:
It's a nice touch that people who got knocked unconscious by a blow to the head didn't stay out long. Normally, the amount of time a person can be unconscious after a head injury is not very long unless it's a very serious injury, and these books are written in such a way that the Animorphs don't irrevocably injure people if they don't have to. So after initially being knocked out and only staying out for a couple minutes, one Controller has to be bitten with poison to stay unconscious. That's refreshing.
At one point the Animorphs have a plan that involves three of the guys--Ax, Jake, and David--acquiring and morphing the human-Controllers. They planned to explain to each temporarily abducted world leader that there's an alien invasion going on, and have Ax demorph to show them. Why would they do that when a) there were other ways to prove it with other people's morphs and b) they'd bothered to put Ax in a tuxedo and tie his tie?
When David does his lion morph and Jake has to restrain him, Jake realizes a second too late that David has never done the lion morph before and so he stands a very good chance of losing control of it. The problem is that earlier in the book Jake tracked him down while sniffing as a dog, and determined that he changed into a lion to cover some distance. It might have been the first time Jake had been around David while he was a lion, but it wasn't David's first time in lion morph.
December 21, 2016
I can't believe that one kid from Toy Story is an Animorph
I know he's awful and all, but I kind of love David. I mean, come on, he has a snake called Spawn and a cat called Megadeth. He can't be that bad. Also, I may have a bit of a weakness for massive edgelords... :x
I know he's awful and all, but I kind of love David. I mean, come on, he has a snake called Spawn and a cat called Megadeth. He can't be that bad. Also, I may have a bit of a weakness for massive edgelords... :x
August 5, 2021
We begin our next cycle with part two of the David trilogy. PREVIOUSLY ON ANIMORPHS, this kid David found the moprhing cube and the Yeeks getting up in his face forced the Animorphs to recruit him as one of their own. All during a Yeerk plot where they want to take over some world leaders. At the end they got into big danger, and that's where we pick up.
There's not much to say here, really. Like the previous one, it doesn't stand alone as it is the middle chapter of the trilogy. That's a cool experiment, and again it has a cliffhanger that leads into the next one. That makes it hard to review without spoiling anything. The plot here start from where we left off, as they have to stop the Yeerk from taking over some visiting world leaders. That stuff is typical, but at a larger scale which gives it a fun flavor. There's some cool stuff there, with how their plans go wrong and we get a good Visser 3 moment in there.
Although at this point Visser 3 not knowing that the Andalite Bandits are human is a bit forced, or just a scene of his nature, can't fathom that humans could stand a chance at all. There is some technobable stuff where you just have to pretend it all makes sense. It gets weird and confusing.
That stuff is good and fun, but as you know I do prefer the deeper character stuff so how does that fare? Well, this does work better as a Jake book than The Discovery did as a Marco book.
Jake's position as leader means he has the biggest burden with David and they deal with that well. David has more of a clear character here, as he gets to act pretty suspicious. Infact, it gets pretty on noise right where from the start, making a bit too obvious where that's going. He goes from having not much to him to all this pretty fast, although we started to see that near the end of the previous one.
He's an interesting character here, being sympathetic but clearly going too far. Their treatment of him is interesting in the impact it has him and how vauge it is with how much his actions are totally his fault. I'll save my deeper thoughts on all that in the next review though, as I think it will become more clear.
I think we could have more stuff with him, as a turn at the end feels a bit abrupt. It's clear it was going there and it makes a certain sense, but it's still a bit jarring even if that ending stuff was intense and really interesting.
Overall, doesn't suffer from middle part of a trilogy syndrome too much. It's about on par, it gets more into David and has some fun stuff, but could have had more and handled David's turn a bit better. I was hoping for a huge step, but it's about on part. Clearly this is all one story just told in 3 parts in different POVS, so it's hard to be too harsh on each part.
Sorry there's not much to say but next time, we join Rachael as this all ends. There I'll get to say more about this trilogy and how everything goes down. How will things end for David? I already did the same channel joke so...just tune in next week and see how feel about the ending to all this. See ya then.
There's not much to say here, really. Like the previous one, it doesn't stand alone as it is the middle chapter of the trilogy. That's a cool experiment, and again it has a cliffhanger that leads into the next one. That makes it hard to review without spoiling anything. The plot here start from where we left off, as they have to stop the Yeerk from taking over some visiting world leaders. That stuff is typical, but at a larger scale which gives it a fun flavor. There's some cool stuff there, with how their plans go wrong and we get a good Visser 3 moment in there.
Although at this point Visser 3 not knowing that the Andalite Bandits are human is a bit forced, or just a scene of his nature, can't fathom that humans could stand a chance at all. There is some technobable stuff where you just have to pretend it all makes sense. It gets weird and confusing.
That stuff is good and fun, but as you know I do prefer the deeper character stuff so how does that fare? Well, this does work better as a Jake book than The Discovery did as a Marco book.
Jake's position as leader means he has the biggest burden with David and they deal with that well. David has more of a clear character here, as he gets to act pretty suspicious. Infact, it gets pretty on noise right where from the start, making a bit too obvious where that's going. He goes from having not much to him to all this pretty fast, although we started to see that near the end of the previous one.
He's an interesting character here, being sympathetic but clearly going too far. Their treatment of him is interesting in the impact it has him and how vauge it is with how much his actions are totally his fault. I'll save my deeper thoughts on all that in the next review though, as I think it will become more clear.
I think we could have more stuff with him, as a turn at the end feels a bit abrupt. It's clear it was going there and it makes a certain sense, but it's still a bit jarring even if that ending stuff was intense and really interesting.
Overall, doesn't suffer from middle part of a trilogy syndrome too much. It's about on par, it gets more into David and has some fun stuff, but could have had more and handled David's turn a bit better. I was hoping for a huge step, but it's about on part. Clearly this is all one story just told in 3 parts in different POVS, so it's hard to be too harsh on each part.
Sorry there's not much to say but next time, we join Rachael as this all ends. There I'll get to say more about this trilogy and how everything goes down. How will things end for David? I already did the same channel joke so...just tune in next week and see how feel about the ending to all this. See ya then.
June 19, 2024
3.5 rounded down.
Like other Animorphs books, the A plot (the mission) felt not entirely clear and unnecessarily convoluted, but the B plot hit a bunch of nice emotional beats! Honestly, the semi-disjointed quality and lack of clarity at times added to the sense of the team really struggling in a way that we haven't seen in a bit with managing the workload of an Animorph. That still doesn't make up for the layers of holograms or weird strategy on the Yeerks' part. If they knew that the morphers were going to show up and wait inside the first hologram, but couldn't see them because they were behind the second, why not just disable the first one or do a better trap?
However, it was the interpersonal aspects that I really enjoyed about this book. Jake's lack of social awareness was really interesting, especially right after Marco's book, and it was exciting to see Cassie move into a more team-centric role, aside from her prior one (girl who can morph fast and has access to animals and animal facts).
Also rip Tobias. May he fly in peace lol.
Like other Animorphs books, the A plot (the mission) felt not entirely clear and unnecessarily convoluted, but the B plot hit a bunch of nice emotional beats! Honestly, the semi-disjointed quality and lack of clarity at times added to the sense of the team really struggling in a way that we haven't seen in a bit with managing the workload of an Animorph. That still doesn't make up for the layers of holograms or weird strategy on the Yeerks' part. If they knew that the morphers were going to show up and wait inside the first hologram, but couldn't see them because they were behind the second, why not just disable the first one or do a better trap?
However, it was the interpersonal aspects that I really enjoyed about this book. Jake's lack of social awareness was really interesting, especially right after Marco's book, and it was exciting to see Cassie move into a more team-centric role, aside from her prior one (girl who can morph fast and has access to animals and animal facts).
Also rip Tobias. May he fly in peace lol.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2019
An ongoing arc continues to feel strange, but I think I like it; it's both a more complex narrative and more manipulative and tropey in its pacing, so: about how I'd expect this series to mature. I appreciate Jake's PoV at this point, because a leader's view of the Animorphs competence porn vs. an impossibly difficult situation brings out the best of both parts. David is also better here--less exaggerated and frustrating in characterization, more convincingly antagonistic. The larger Yeerk plot is the weakness. It has good scale, but plotholes like "did no one check the date?" combine with Visser Three's hammy villainy to feel vaguely ridiculous.
(I feel like most people who read this series as a kid have a "that time someone almost got trapped in morph" which has always stuck with them--and Marco, Cassie, and the dog-sized flea was mine. And what good taste young me had! because it's still harrowing & affecting.)
(I feel like most people who read this series as a kid have a "that time someone almost got trapped in morph" which has always stuck with them--and Marco, Cassie, and the dog-sized flea was mine. And what good taste young me had! because it's still harrowing & affecting.)
June 17, 2019
If in the previous book we got to see how Marco was in the best position both to understand David and to catch on the quickest that something is seriously wrong with him and he's going to be a huge liability, this is the one where we get to see that the burden of actually having to deal with him is hardest on Jake. Jake, as the de facto leader, feels a huge responsibility not only to keep his team in line, but to always be fair and just regardless of his own personal feelings, and he spends the whole book trying so hard to be fair and understanding. He makes a real effort to treat David the same way he treats everyone else, despite the fact that he has real personal connections with most of the others and David is a virtual stranger. He makes a real effort to be understanding when David does things that are stupid and reckless and even downright morally wrong, because he remembers the way things were for them back when they were still getting used to their morphing powers and didn't have the first clue what they were doing. He goes out of his way to be encouraging when David has to join them for the first time in doing something dangerous or painful or freaky, and he goes out of his way to tell Marco he's crossed a line when he makes mean-spirited jokes at David's expense.
And what is David's reaction? He takes all of Jake's good-faith efforts and spits on them. When Jake makes suggestions regarding which morphs he should acquire and even gives a reasonable explanation why, David's response is to sneer that "You can't tell me what to do!" When all of the other Animorphs pitch in to make sure that he has food and a warm place to sleep, David's idea of gratitude is to sneak off, risk exposure, and break into an empty hotel room for the night because he just can't stand to be without a TV, at which point Jake rightfully points out that Ax and especially Tobias are living in far rougher conditions than he is and neither one of them has ever complained.
Of course, part of what makes this interesting is that, from a standpoint of moral relativism, by this point the Animorphs have all done things that were much, much objectively worse. Jake boiled dozens or possibly even hundreds of helpless Yeerks alive. Rachel threw a chemical weapon into the Yeerk Pool. They've all killed or maimed countless Controllers, not accounting for the fact that most of the humans and all of the Hork-Bajir are innocent prisoners of war who were never given a choice about fighting those battles. David... killed a crow. Oh yeah, and he broke into a hotel room. Noooooooooot exactly much of a rap sheet, compared to the actual war crimes of the team that he's joining.
The difference is that the Animorphs are fighting for the freedom of the entire human race. Circumstances might force them to make awful choices that more often than not end in them doing objectively horrible things, but at the end of the day those hard choices are still necessary, and they still do whatever small thing they can to make things right, whether it be as small as Jake sending money to a beach shop to pay for the clothes Tobias stole or as large as Cassie sacrificing herself to get a Yeerk out of a child's head. David, by contrast, misuses his morphing power to fulfill his entitlement complex at best and for his own sadistic pleasure at worst.
One of the most interesting character moments, as is usual in Jake's books, is to see how Jake grapples with the burdens of leadership. He states outright that he considers it his business to know everyone on his team: he needs to know how everyone will react in any given situation, he needs to know how much they can take, and he needs to know who can best handle which jobs. Here, though, it occurs to him that he doesn't know David at all, and that that is a serious problem. Whether it's a matter of David deliberately letting Jake think that he'd lost control of a morph and was about to do something incredibly stupid (and however offbeat your sense of humor, being in the middle of a dark room mere feet away from a couple of Controllers who are packing some serious firepower is the wrong time to mess with your war leader) or losing his nerve in the middle of a battle and trying to run over to Visser Three, the fact remains that David is a wild card who's liable to throw a wrench into even the most carefully laid plans.
And what is David's reaction? He takes all of Jake's good-faith efforts and spits on them. When Jake makes suggestions regarding which morphs he should acquire and even gives a reasonable explanation why, David's response is to sneer that "You can't tell me what to do!" When all of the other Animorphs pitch in to make sure that he has food and a warm place to sleep, David's idea of gratitude is to sneak off, risk exposure, and break into an empty hotel room for the night because he just can't stand to be without a TV, at which point Jake rightfully points out that Ax and especially Tobias are living in far rougher conditions than he is and neither one of them has ever complained.
Of course, part of what makes this interesting is that, from a standpoint of moral relativism, by this point the Animorphs have all done things that were much, much objectively worse. Jake boiled dozens or possibly even hundreds of helpless Yeerks alive. Rachel threw a chemical weapon into the Yeerk Pool. They've all killed or maimed countless Controllers, not accounting for the fact that most of the humans and all of the Hork-Bajir are innocent prisoners of war who were never given a choice about fighting those battles. David... killed a crow. Oh yeah, and he broke into a hotel room. Noooooooooot exactly much of a rap sheet, compared to the actual war crimes of the team that he's joining.
The difference is that the Animorphs are fighting for the freedom of the entire human race. Circumstances might force them to make awful choices that more often than not end in them doing objectively horrible things, but at the end of the day those hard choices are still necessary, and they still do whatever small thing they can to make things right, whether it be as small as Jake sending money to a beach shop to pay for the clothes Tobias stole or as large as Cassie sacrificing herself to get a Yeerk out of a child's head. David, by contrast, misuses his morphing power to fulfill his entitlement complex at best and for his own sadistic pleasure at worst.
One of the most interesting character moments, as is usual in Jake's books, is to see how Jake grapples with the burdens of leadership. He states outright that he considers it his business to know everyone on his team: he needs to know how everyone will react in any given situation, he needs to know how much they can take, and he needs to know who can best handle which jobs. Here, though, it occurs to him that he doesn't know David at all, and that that is a serious problem. Whether it's a matter of David deliberately letting Jake think that he'd lost control of a morph and was about to do something incredibly stupid (and however offbeat your sense of humor, being in the middle of a dark room mere feet away from a couple of Controllers who are packing some serious firepower is the wrong time to mess with your war leader) or losing his nerve in the middle of a battle and trying to run over to Visser Three, the fact remains that David is a wild card who's liable to throw a wrench into even the most carefully laid plans.
June 24, 2024
I'm really starting to like this recent string of books. They get right to the point without lingering too long on exposition. Jake finally actually feels like a leader in this one. I learned a lot about dragonflies in this book. I didn't know they were carnivores and will eat just about any bug or insect, even frogs sometimes. I can see now why my brother was such a fan of this series. This book like the last ends on a major cliff hanger.
August 8, 2021
This was not great. I rated it 3* instead of 2* because it was a bit interesting. I rated it 3* instead of 4* because it was a bit dark. Over all, not amazing.
December 16, 2021
Ahh this is intense! Big fan of the David arc.
August 9, 2022
THE CHILD MUST DIE. I AM EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED
January 15, 2023
[SCREAMING]
January 23, 2023
Fuck David
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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March 25, 2023the one where cassie as a flea explodes from drinking jake's blood. and it gets worse, because of david.
January 4, 2024
bro. WHAT.
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