Jared,

I’ve decided I need to get started on this series sooner rather than later. My plan is to read at least one a month, but with 52 books plus extras I don’t really want to still be reading this series 4 years from now.

Title: The Invasion
Series: Animorphs; Book 1
Author: K. A. Applegate
Genre: Science Fiction
Audience: Youth
ROTS Setting: CU, Modern, Aliens
Synopsis: Sometimes weird things happen to people. Ask Jake. He may tell you about the night he and his friends saw the strange light in the sky. He may even tell you about what happened when they realized the “light” was only a plane — from another planet. Here’s where Jake’s story gets a little weird. It’s where they’re told that the human race is under attack — and given the chance to fight back.

Now Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, and Marco have the power to morph into any animal they choose. And they must use that power to outsmart an evil that is greater than anything the world has ever seen…
Recommendation: Highly recommend this series.

This series was a favorite growing up. I was even a part of the book club where you got like 3 books and the book ends. I had a couple of friends who were into them too and it was great talking about them when other people were around that had no clue what we were talking about.

As for covers, it’s the original all the way! I really dislike the newer covers and not just because I dislike the 3d changer things either.

It’s a classic alien invasion story that must be stopped by a group of clueless teenagers. What I like best is that these teens never gain the arrogance in thinking that they can do it all themselves. They’re just trying to slow it down until help arrives. They stay teenagers and they make mistakes.

I can’t tell you how many years it’s been since I’ve read anything in the series, but it’s been a very long time. Easily a decade but probably a decade and a half. This time though I’ve been trying to figure out how and why the morphing power works. Not in a serious way, it was never intended to stand up to intense scrutiny, but more of a mental exercise. The biggest hurdle is the 2 hour limit but I’ll figure out something to appease my head-canon.

The characters are very shallow at this point. Fairly developed considering the word count and how much was needing to be established. If I recall correctly the each character stays that way until they get their own POV book which we then rely heavily on to color the characters in the other books.

This book is focused on Jake, the unofficial leader of the group. I think it was a brilliant choice to have him be the first POV because of how he’s tied to the main plot line. His personality is also fairly balanced so the reader doesn’t have anything major to overcome in order to sympathize with him.

Some other things I’ve picked up on that my much younger self never did was the foreshadowing and relationship stuff. I got most of it but not to the depth and detail that was actually there. Lots of very subtle ques were well beyond my notice.

So in summary, this is a nice series of small novels intend for younger readers. The plot and premise are kept simple but interesting enough to catch and keep their attention. More mature audiences will probably find the books too simple but if you want an easy read that could be finished in a sitting or two then these are perfect.

Robert

A note about the TV series: It’s painfully 90’s. I tried to watch it several years ago and just could not stomach it. The nostalgia would need to get a lot stronger before I’m ready for that again. Rumors about a reboot or a movie have floated around for years, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Links

• Kathrine Applegate’s Official Website
• Animorphs at Scholastic

The Visitor; Book 2 >>