It's not every day one comes across an exceptional protagonist and Kvothe is just that; epic, brilliant but glaringly human at the same time. His enthralling story is a fulfilling concoction of adventure, heart-warming bonds and school life reminiscent of Harry Potter, in the backdrop of a fantastical universe where magic is real. The story is prone to evoke pangs of emotion since it brings out Kvothe's courage and heroism amidst his pain and hardship in an unrelentingly harsh medieval world. His deep bond with Bast is beautiful, similar to that of Holmes and Watson, though we are yet to explore it more in the sequels.
Artistic depiction of Kvothe
I would have given this story a rating of five out of five if it weren't for the fact that the author has failed to bring out an inspirational female character. Auri is an intriguing character, eccentric like Luna Lovegood, but she is not a central figure in the story. Denna, who is supposed to be Kvothe's love interest fails miserably to meet the hype that is built up about her before she is introduced to the reader. She is generally useless, missing in action when Kvothe needs help and mostly just eye candy, though her dialogue is marked with forceful wit and bravado, which just makes her even less likable and almost calculating, in sharp contrast to Kvothe's innocent, caring nature around her. The most strikingly appalling behavior is during the dragon rampage when Kvothe fails to wake her up as she sleeps "exhausted" in the wilderness, so that he sprints off by himself to save the entire town of Trebon, and the following morning, when an injured Kvothe wakes up at the town inn, one would expect Denna to at least be at his bedside tending to his wounds, but that is not the case; to the contrary, Kvothe goes looking for her in worry, carrying food for her too, only to find she has disappeared without so much as bothering to check if he is alive or dead. The final nail in the coffin to her failure as the female lead is the dismissal of her undesirable characteristics such as her disloyalty and flightiness as simply her being a "wild thing", which is supposed to absolve her from taking responsibility for her actions while the hurt she causes is compared to collateral damage caused by a natural disaster like a storm (described as "cruel" but not "wicked", whatever that means). The author would have done well to omit this relationship altogether and focus on the profound bond Kvothe has with Bast instead, who cares deeply about him.
Finally, for an empathetic, intelligent kid who has suffered horrifying cruelty and trauma, Kvothe is surprisingly enmeshed in carnism, displaying its telltale signs of disconnect and contradictions. He recognizes live animals as individuals with feelings, as shown by his kind handling of Keth-Selan, yet displays callous indifference to violence hurled on animals deemed less worthy, particularly apparent when he has a pig killed for him, albeit out of sight. He expresses a hint of remorse about the dragon's predicament but had no qualms about devising the elaborate plans to poison him. While it is true that he has been desensitized to gore and forced himself to kill rabbits to avoid starvation as a child, one would expect him to relate more to innocent victims of violence, not much different from himself.
It's fascinating to read about the past since there is much to learn from it. Making its bloody mark in the annals of history is the singular, mind-numbing atrocity that is the Holocaust.
I have always thought of Hilter as the classic villain and his regime terrorizing everyone into complying with his insane evil. But the book Garden of Beasts by Jeffrey Deaver painted a picture that is a lot more complicated and chilling—chilling because it reminded me of Jeffrey Dahmer; a complex evil beneath a facade of normalcy. It makes sense that the book's protagonist is also a man of questionable morals—a shade of grey, if you will (kind of like Assassin's Creed).
What struck my attention the most initially, is the utter incongruity of the 1936 Olympics being held in Nazi Germany as depicted in the book. At first I thought it is fictitious but I was mind-blown to learn that it did indeed happen. What? Nations extending good will to Hitler's horrifying regime? Olympics amidst a bloodbath? The book went on to show that children were conditioned to Hitler's ideology in schools—all of which got me to read about it more.
Hitler had a sister whom he financially supported until his death and when she got to know about the Holocaust, she did not believe that Hitler would do such a thing. In fact, Hitler and his inner circle seemed normal as opposed to psychotic killers and they even loved their dogs. People went about their business, most of them blissfully unaware or apathetic about the brutality hurled on the Jews.
So what was the mentality behind the massacre of the Jews? To Hitler and his buddies, the Jews were subhuman—they were lesser. They were not worthy of moral consideration. So their extermination was an inevitability. But they would not call it a systematic murder, they used a euphemism instead: "The Final Solution to the Jewish Problem". Of course it's not murder! It's like "culling"!
But surely normal people must've been forced to comply with this madness? That is not the case. The actual massacres were carried out by Nazi army units called Einsatzgruppen who were well, people and they were not threatened or forced to do it. For example, at the massacre at Babi Yar (almost 34,000 Jews brought to the ravine and killed with machine guns, which took 2 days), these soldiers forced the Jews to strip naked, lined them up and shot them, even children and babies. It was very messy. Some people did not just die, some were bloodied but alive, and were shot to death later.
A few of the soldiers were bloodthirsty and enjoyed it. Only a few quit. Most considered it as just them doing their job and besides, Jews were lesser anyways—not like they were shooting their own kind! Since the murders were brutal and bloody, and did have a demoralizing effect on the troops. they devised a more "humane", efficient method of killing: they constructed "slaughterhouses": the "concentration camps" equipped with gas chambers. The Jews who were confined in ghettos out of public sight, were transported in horrific conditions to be killed (some dying on the way), but their oppressors did not let on that they will be murdered, so more "humane".
The Nazis also experimented on the Jews since they were to be killed anyways and considered lesser than true humans. Besides, it's for science so deemed a valid justification. Hence, horrific mutilation and testing were done on the Jews in the name of science.
After all of that was over and looking back did most people really got to understand the shocking cruelty and suffering the Jews underwent, ponder over the death toll and acknowledge that the hate, slavery and killing of Jews were fundamentally wrong.
Ring any bells?
What I read gave me an insight into the juxtaposition of the Holocaust with the plight of nonhuman animals. I've come across news of Holocaust survivors championing the cause of animal rights.
Holocaust survivor, Dr. Alex Hershaft compares Nazi led treatment of
Jews to the treatment of animals in slaughterhouses.
It was ages ago that I read Plead Mercy by Anne Ranasinghe who is again a victim of the Holocaust speaking up about a bull being exploited and evoking his pain. Her poem Vivere in Pace is a brilliant work that first gave me a glimpse of the real horror of the Holocaust (next being Anne Frank's story) though it is now that I've come to appreciate it the most. In fact, the meteoric rise of veganism in Israel is being alluded to "the Jews, having been subjected to relentless persecution and hostility over the ages, have an easier time empathizing with the plight of other oppressed minorities" (Vegan Strategist).
Maybe it's time to cultivate some empathy for the horrific suffering that goes on behind closed walls, which we fund with our own wallets. Better to change now than say mea culpa later over the bodies of billions.
First and foremost, it was thrilling to be able to read an actual Harry Potter story that is canon after over a decade-long hiatus (I thought that was that, forget hiatus). And as expected, the nostalgia, the joy, the feels of delving into this amazing world and meeting the people in it is overwhelming. This new installment, though very different from the seven main books, does not disappoint at all in some aspects and the story overall is engrossing.
I will start off by talking about what I have seen of the actual play which must be quite the feat judging by the script. Harry's actor looks somewhat like Harry and the same can be said about Scorpius. Not so for the rest. However, the most outrageous depiction is that of Hermione since the actress looks nothing like her and is also black when we all know that Hermione is a white person. I will leave it at that since further comment can only be made the day I actually see the play.
Story-wise, I would like to direct one to the very interesting two videos on what is wrong with the story and how to fix it by Austin McConnell.
Let's Fix Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
McConnell makes a very good case here about the flaws and what could have made the story better. I would agree with many of these points. McConnell is right in saying that there should have been more conflict and opportunity for the characters to grow. The story is heavily based on time travel and does not have the masterful storytelling and character development of the seven main books. In fact, time travel and the ensuing alternate timeline elements jarringly sets this book apart from what came before since those had never been a main feature of the saga, especially the latter which does not even fit in with what the story established before as how time travel works. What I understood of time travel in the Harry Potter universe is that nothing could change what had already taken place and it is a closed loop so that there is no space for alternate timelines or parallel universes. On top of this, a Time-Turner just so happened to be made that enabled one to travel years into the past with a limitation of five-minutes in any particular instance, and conveniently yet a second Time-Turner without this limitation appears as a deus ex machina nearing the climax of the story. This makes the very premise of the story somewhat shaky. One could say that this relatively mediocre story may be partly due to the limitations of a play, and this is not meant to be on par with the seven main books. However, as McConnell points out, they do seem to have intended it to be the eighth book, crazily enough, since it is stated on the back cover itself: "The eighth story. Nineteen years later." Once one dismisses this and considers it a sort of side-story, as well as overlooking that rather questionable employment of time travel and alternate timelines, one can pass off it off as an enjoyable read; much like how one would regard Back to Before in the Animorphs series, though its alternate timeline elements are not in conflict with the laws of its universe.
On the positive side, I enjoyed the artistic unity in the story, when everything fell into place such as the clever utilization of Lily's blanket at the end; though again, it is nothing like the intricate webs of complexity in the previous books. The villain, while very intriguing as the progeny of the Dark Lord, is not strong simply because, as McConnell points out, does not have her own ambition and seems more like a stronger and more interesting version of Peter Pettigrew, with the sole objective of resurrecting Voldemort. She is merely a tool to relive the threat of an old villain rather than a villain in her own right. Although there is space for her to be developed more in terms of her insecurities, back story and her direction upon defeat, especially since she's quite young, the story only presents her as a single-faceted, rigid villain. Delphi does however seem to possess Voldemort's powers of wit and persuasion since she manipulates others, charms Albus and goes about her business undetected for what she really is. Another aspect of the story that is not quite believable is the smooth execution of the last plan to stop Delphi. It is curious that it did not occur at least to Hermione that Delphi might be watching when they sneaked into the church and if the church is the best vantage point, Delphi might be hiding there herself. Delphi does see Harry quickly enough and comes to him after he goes out as Voldemort to lure her in.
While the alternate timelines are incongruous with the Harry Potter universe and they downplay the suspense by lessening the stakes and the severity of the consequences of actions taken by characters (they simply go back in time to fix mistakes so there is no finality in loss and tragedy), it does have the redeeming feature of transporting us to the events of the past and bringing about invaluable encounters with poignant characters such as Snape, even if it is simply a parallel universe. The timeline where we meet Snape however is less believable given that the characters are surprisingly collected about the sudden appearance of a different Scorpius from another timeline possessing a Time-Turner that can go back years into the past, and being offered a chance to save Harry and bring down Voldemort's regime. It would also have been more effective if the focus of resurrection was a stronger character than Cedric which would make it more important as well was making it more intriguing a prospect for the reader.
When directing one's attention to the Golden Trio, McConnell is right in saying that the story has not done them justice. The only positive aspects in this regard would be Hermione being the Minister for Magic which suits her perfectly and Harry being his kind and noble self. However, the depiction of Harry is far from adequate given that although he is meant to be the protagonist ("Harry Potter and the Cursed Child") as in the previous books, we hardly see him working his awesomeness. He is now the head Auror, which is the best of the best, and yet we do not see any sleuthing or impressive fighting or any of his expertise as a great wizard. In fact, he is easily disarmed in the final showdown with Delphi, when she is a young witch in her twenties though supposedly very powerful. Not only that, but Delphi has to be outnumbered six to one in order to bring her down which is quite disappointing. Clues come to Harry in dreams rather than him actively finding anything. As for Hermione, she gives out a feminist message now that she is the Minister for Magic and has thereby dissipated from our minds any remaining doubts of her being Harry's sidekick. However, at the end of the book, it is far from feminist to see that females are forgotten in the family trees, since quite a few appear with one name or simply as "unknown", while male names are properly listed and their surnames passed down the generations. Last but not least, Ron is nothing like himself and is used as comic relief. He runs a joke shop and cracks lame jokes when that is Fred and George's domain, not his (George is not featured at all and to this day, I think Fred should also have been there with him which would make a better story). Ron should be in the Ministry, maybe in his father's old position, and be a useful part of the team like he used to be. Ron and Hermione have no chemistry together and would have been better off as best friends forever, since the trio have always been like siblings. To make matters somewhat disturbing, there is a scene in which Albus passes off as Ron and talks of babies and kisses his aunt Hermione. Ron with his carefree manner would, in my imagination, be into casual dating and have no interest in kids. Hermione with her ambition, social standing and strong sense of doing good (recall her S.P.E.W) would be more likely to adopt an unfortunate child, such as one orphaned from the turmoil of the past, as a single parent. McConnell, in his video, speaks of adding in a secret affair between Harry and Hermione to generate sensation and conflict, which is one idea of his version of the story that many find disagreeable. Harry and Hermione behaving in such a way would be very much out of character, since not only have they always regarded each other as siblings, but both have high principles of morality.
The story however, has done well with the characterization of Albus, who is depicted as quite different from Harry and actually ends up in Slytherin with Malfoy's son as his best friend (though in the end, Albus finds himself to be like his dad in his bravery and sense of justice, not to mention he finally understands Harry after experiencing past events and alternate timelines). It has enabled a complex and believable bond between them as well as spurring conflict and character development. Harry who grew up as an orphan, has little idea about playing a parent role while Albus has to live in the shadow of his illustrious father. Albus is regarded as a disappointment since he is not a Gryffindor and not into Quidditch, let alone engage in any acts of heroism as Harry did. I am reminded of the bond between Boruto and his dad, Naruto in Boruto since it is a somewhat similar situation. It would have been effective story-wise if Harry just had this one child rather than three. McConnell points out in his video that it could have been developed better by having Harry talk to Albus about what happened each year during his time at Hogwarts before Albus sets off, and have expectations which Albus would not be able to meet (even more plausible if Albus was his only child so he expects greatness from him). When Albus travels back in time to the Triwizard Tournament, we see several inconsistencies and missed opportunities in storytelling. Albus is remarkably collected in spite of the fact that he has traveled back in time for the first time to an infamous tournament where his dad, the same age as him, is about to fight a dragon. Harry's name is announced by Bagman which is described as eliciting a lesser cheer from the crowd than that for Cedric, when in fact, as McConnell also notes, should be jeers instead, since Harry was very unpopular at the time, even doubted by Ron. No one believed him when he insisted that he did not voluntarily enter the tournament, with the exception of Dumbledore and Hermione, so that in this instance, only Hermione cheered for him. This should be the first moment when Albus gets a reality check; when his image of Harry as the ever-popular, had-it-all-easy cool guy, breaks apart. He would see himself in his dad for the first time; relate to his situation. It would have been even greater to have Albus see Harry complete the first task but given the five-minute limitation of the Time-Turner, it is plausible for Albus to miss it, although he should be expressing disappointment at not being able to stay longer to witness it.
Scorpius is also a character done well. He is different from his dad, Draco, and the uncertainty that he is the son of Voldemort has set the stage for challenges and his growth as he deals with those challenges. He is a geek and a loner, and has much in common with Albus so that they become the best of friends. He is also very likable. As with other instances in the play however, the dialogue and interactions between Scorpius and Albus is not natural on occasion and as McConnell points out, is overdone while bonds and characterizations of some other characters such as Rose are either cliche or highly inadequate. Scorpius and Albus would weirdly state the nature of their relationship (E.g. "you are my best friend") rather than leaving it for the audience to conclude and have open displays of affection for each other as if they are small children. The rather unconvincing and irrelevant appearance of Bane and his statement to Harry about a "dark cloud" is enough to make Harry boss around McGonagall and try to keep Albus away from Scorpius, which is supposed to be the conflict between the two boys. The writers can really use some subtlety and symbolism that are in the previous books and take a leaf out of Naruto's book where Naruto and Sasuke's bromance is a complex concoction of rivalry, machismo, envy, teamwork, fighting, and has little to no uncharacteristic declarations and shows of affection. In fact, Harry and Ron have never acted this way and their bond is also marked with rivalry, falling-outs, jealousies, and so on.
Another glaring plot-hole or two are presented by the existence of the Time-Turners, which begs the question who has made them, and why they cannot be made again even if the two in the story are destroyed. A Time-Turner could have been used to save James and Lily way back in the seven-book saga but the reason that wasn't done is because previously it was implied that one cannot change events that have occurred already (no space for alternate timelines), and also, the old Time-Turners could only go back a few hours in time. But now, ready and available is the more advanced Time-Turner that can go years into the past, but no one thinks of stopping Voldemort back in the past and thereby preventing many tragedies that occurred afterward. Yes, it would be altering history, but in this story, it is possible and Voldemort out of the picture can only mean a better world with many people whose lives were cut short, actually living. Harry would have his parents and he would have a normal childhood. Yet, the utter absurdity of it is that everyone unanimously allows Voldemort to kill Lily and James, and actually watches it happen too.
Yet another plot-hole is that Albus, Scorpius and Delphi use the age-old trick of using Polyjuice Potion to disguise themselves and enter the Ministry of Magic. One would think that surely the Ministry would have defenses against this since anyone, including kids can pull off this simple trick (all you need is someone's fallen hair to transform into them after all). Yet, it is supposed to be believable. Furthermore, they solve the riddle at Hermione's office fairly quickly. One would think that given the disastrous power of a Time-Turner, Hermione would have exerted more effort to hide it (McGonagall chastising her for irresponsibility later still would not make it any less strange; especially since this is Hermione we are talking about, not Ron or Harry).
I experienced The Maze Runner by James Dashner first as a movie, which is rare for me since I always read books first. But even after I read the book, I merely dismissed the story as an interesting but fanciful story.
Recently while I was in a pensive mood, I happened to see it in a whole new light.
The Maze-Runner is a scary depiction of our existence! The Glade is the universe we inhabit and we are the Gladers! They even talk of "Creators" which is theism. The Gladers have no memory of what happened before they turned up in the Glade and have no idea what lies beyond, except for a few rare disconnected recollections, which are akin to the supernatural phenomena reported by people of past lives or feelings of deja vu. There are the "Runners" who try to explore the Glade and understand its workings, similar to our scientists, while the others have other professions to make life run in an orderly way.
There are the "Grievers" who threaten the existence of the Gladers, acting like the personification of the troubles we go through in life such as disease, loss and other misfortunes. But even then, most Gladers are scared of the unknown and have settled down in the Glade going about their day-to-day lives, forgetting that they are trapped, helpless and have no clue what all this is about. Our universe is many times vaster and more complicated that life in the Glade so most people are even more lost in that, not contemplating those serious metaphysical questions at all. There are some however who do; the more spiritual people and then the scientists; the Runners.
The "Runners" understand that we are here in this strange situation, in a place we call the universe and they do not take anything for granted. They question everything; thirsting to know. The spiritual people want a way out; to go to what's beyond and escape the Grievers/troubles, while the scientists regard the environment with curiosity and fascination, desperate to understand the universe/Glade. The Runners/scientists can conquer the place and manipulate it if they understand its workings, and even find a way out.
The Maze which is full of dangers and inhospitable can be the rest of the universe while the habitable Glade is planet Earth. We risk venturing for short periods of time into the Maze/space and desperately try to learn about it. The Holy Grail for the Runners is the code to crack the Maze, and for us, that would be the Theory of Everything, which is a theory yet to be found that explains all the workings of the universe; the unification of Einstein's physics which governs the large, and quantum physics which governs the small. This was in fact, the dream of Albert Einstein which he never got to realize.
Einstein and the Theory of Everything
The story, especially the movie version, is adventurous and due to its strange premise, piques one's curiosity and keeps one engaged till the end. I also liked the fact that there was no unnecessary sensation which is found in most of the pornified media nowadays, and the story stuck to the plot.
Most often, when one mentions Animorphs, one receives a blank look in response. It has never made it to the mainstream halls of fame. It has even spurred a TV show, but it's a rather unimpressive low-budget production by Nickelodeon.
The old Animorphs TV show opening
This is not a review of the story itself; merely points that I want to discuss and highlight as a longtime die-hard fan of Animorphs (spoiler alert).
To me, what makes Animorphs tick is its unique concoction of all the elements that make up a great story: the amazing plot, wonderful characters, deep moral themes, awesome sci-fi, adventure, emotion and last but not least, generous smatterings of humor. This is a story that can make you experience a wide range of emotions, and actually weep one time and laugh out loud the next, and make you fall in love with the awesome people you get to meet in the books, who would help shape your view of the world and become a source of courage and inspiration. Due to being labelled as a kids' story (when it really isn't, judging by its complex thematic material), having highly colloquial first-person narration and with the first few books having seemingly simple plots that are episodic, one may be lured into dismissing the saga as merely an interesting read. However, that is just the sweet sugar-coating and it is once you progress further in the series that you start scratching through the surface to the deep, ongoing story beneath, complete with awe-inspiring and emotional companion books. In fact, the more I revisit the Animorphs universe and analyze it, the more surprised I get by the wisdom embedded in the story.
What strikes the reader from the beginning is the amazing prospect of being able to see and interact with the world in exotic new ways through animal bodies. The books truly highlight how wonderful planet Earth really is and we find ourselves awed at its biodiversity. Eloquent language and descriptions capture the true essence of the fearsome power and beauty of Earth's animal life, from large whales and elephants to insects such as cockroaches.
The most prominent features of the story are the moral dilemmas. Such complex situations are found throughout the books that it's hard to decide on a clear-cut solution that is morally sound. The characters often find themselves struggling with these, and end up doing what they think is best, which is far from perfect; so that we see gray shades of morality, rather than black and white. One instance of this is when the Animorphs end up killing Hork Bajir controllers (Hork Bajir infested with Yeerks) during their battles and end up killing innocent Hork Bajir trapped in their own bodies in the process, and when the Animorphs in their desperation to save humanity from the Yeerks, blow up a Yeerk pool full of defenseless Yeerks.
In spite of the story dealing with alien invasions, morphing into animals and sci-fi warfare, there are remarkable parallels drawn with situations in our own universe; not to mention, giving us an insight into things from a whole new perspective. For instance, Animorphs captures the true tragedy of war; innocents dying as pawns, heartrending decisions made as war tactics and the horrifying suffering of war victims. It also brings out torture, psychological torment and more of those who experience war.
Through the experiences of the Andalite cadet, Ax, who starts living on Earth among humans, we get to see humans in the perspective of an alien. Ax's species is docile, eco-friendly and vegan, so he is shocked by the violence and aggression exhibited by humans: engaging in disastrous wars and killing each other pointlessly, killing certain animals for food, and more. But it shows that evil can exist everywhere since even Ax's people have blood on their hands such as the time an Andalite released what is known as a quantum virus to cause a genocide in order to thwart the enemy. Ax often comments about the "artificial skins" worn by humans—clothing, and other rather funny observations he has on human society. Since Andalites have no mouths or sense of taste, Ax in his human morph finds taste overpowering, especially when he tries fast food. This is poignant since many people are addicted to fast food, and these dietary choices have become a huge problem to the planet; practically devouring the Earth. People can hardly control their appetites, just like Ax, and instead of eating what's good for them and for the planet, they're making themselves sick and dying in the process of satiating their gluttony.
It's not just through Ax that we evaluate ourselves and our actions. The Yeerks are a parasitic species that live by taking over the brains of other animals, and they are infesting entire species, building an interstellar empire. They are the antagonists of the story and we view them as cold, ruthless enemies who enslave humans. They kill as they please and cause countless atrocities. Does this ring a bell?
Man by Steve Cutts
The oppression humans experience at the hands of the "superior" species, the Yeerks, is very much what other animals on Earth experience at the hands of the "superior" humans. Humans have practically created a nonhuman holocaust complete with concentration camps (factory farms). As the saying goes, "in relation to animals, all humans are Nazis"; it is indeed how we view Yeerks for enslaving and killing us for their purposes. Just like the Yeerks, we are also building an "empire" by destroying the planet we should be sharing with all of Earth's inhabitants, stealing their habitats, enslaving them and killing them for our purposes. We are not even biologically parasites, but we behave like them. We are the despicable Yeerks on Earth.
As if to drive this point home, a human named Hildy accuses the Yeerk, Visser One, of being evil, and Vissor One responds by saying that humans are no better:
Your race is sick! Sick and twisted and evil!” It was Hildy talking, on his own, uncontrolled.
“We are parasite, Mr. Gervais,” I said. “You’re a predator. Go ask a cow or a pig what they
think of humans. We do what we are born to do.
In another book, the Animorphs morph into cows and experience what it's like to be humanity's slaves, which drive them to consider vegetarianism. What I find implausible here is that the Animorphs, even though they get to experience the world as nonhuman animals just through morphing alone, do not go vegan, and even after their experience as cows, about to be slaughtered too, they are still wavering. It is even more surprising given that they are pretty decent kids who care a lot.
Up to the nineteenth book, we view Yeerks as uncompromising, relentless evil. Then we meet the Yeerk, Aftran 942, who after seeing that the human Cassie would do the same if she was in this situation, actually relinquishes her host body because she does not wish to live at the expense of the suffering of others. Although the story shows the reader that there is hope for the Yeerks to obtain host bodies without enslavement, through the depiction of symbiotic species known as Iskoort, Aftran 942 is unaware of this and simply chooses to live blind, deaf and cut off from the world in her slug-like Yeerk form without enslaving others. Aftran 942 and her "Yeerk Peace Movement" would be similar to the vegan movement we see in our world. There is however, a big difference. Humans are not biologically carnivorous or parasitic and can live perfectly fine without meat; not to mention, meat-free food comes in a variety of delicious dishes. The Yeerks however, are biological parasites and this is their nature by birth. The true altruism of Aftran 942 is that she goes against her very nature and lives in total deprivation to do what is right, and judging by how hard it is to further the vegan movement in our world, even though it is far less daunting a task, the odds of the Yeerk Peace Movement succeeding seems impossible. It gives us an important message that where there's a will, there's a way, and that as civilized beings, we should never compromise ethics for our benefit, even if it means the alternative is bleak and finally, "it's natural" is not an argument to inflict suffering.
A Yeerk in its slug-like body.
We see this depth in another species, the Taxxons, whom we come to see as mindless, raging monsters, similar to how the heroes of the story view them; until we run across an unexpected turn of events. Earlier in the story, through a companion book, we learn that an Andalite named Arbron gets trapped in a Taxxon morph, the worst possible torture imaginable. Surprisingly, Arbron makes an appearance at the end of the story as the champion and leader of the Taxxons, whom he identifies now as his people. He explains that the Taxxons suffer greatly from insatiable hunger from their overpowering instincts and seek salvation by obtaining the power to morph into another form. This incident drastically transforms our image of Taxxons from monsters to pitiable victims. This shows that the way someone is by birth does not make them evil, but it's decided by their thoughts and actions.
Also, these examples demonstrate that it is not wise to stereotype groups of individuals based on outward appearance or by the actions of some; that there are bad guys among the good, and good guys among the bad. In fact, later on, among the "bad guys", the Yeerks, we see a strange behavior. Many Yeerks, when they get the power to morph and see a way to live happily without hurting others, actually choose to do so, while those in power try to use them as pawns for their own political goals.
Appearance versus reality is further conveyed when the "shock troops" of the Yeerk empire, towering creatures covered in dangerous blades known as Hork Bajir, happen to be the most harmless species there are. They are also a vegan people and use their blades to cut bark off trees for food.
The cover of Hork-Bajir Chronicles featuring the Andalite female Aldrea, and the Hork-Bajir Seer, Dak.
Another layer of awesomeness in the story is its depiction of alien life and technology with many similarities with Star Trek. What many may not notice is that despite not being too concerned about scientific detail, the story does play with modern hypotheses by scientists and futurists, as well as building intriguing, scientifically plausible phenomena of its own like Z-space. Z-space is a dimension where space-time does not work as we normally perceive it, allowing FTL travel and communication for advanced species. Nothing can exceed the speed of light and the sheer scale of the galaxy would mean having to travel for thousands of years even at the speed of light. In order to explain space-faring, advanced civilizations traveling vast distances in less time, the story has devised Z-space. Z-space is also used to explain what happens to matter when the Animorphs morph. Z-space seems to draw on string theory according to which there are 10 dimensions to space-time or more, as well as the hypothesis that gravity particles or gravitons "leak" into other dimensions (so in Animorphs, excess matter goes into Z-space). The quantum virus is an example of a futuristic bioweapon disintegrating enemies at the subatomic level; effective and disastrous. As Seerowpedia describes it:
It is an advanced simulated-life program that is a combination of Andalite physics with Arn biology and genetic knowledge. It is composed of tiny airborne units which apparently are structured like viruses.
Since it attacks the very building blocks of a species, it can even cause genocide with efficiency. Animorphs also dwells on alternate timelines or parallel universes, drawing on the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. We see futuristic dystopias and past events playing out differently; we even see a disturbing universe where Hitler's regime has continued undefeated with racism built into the fabric of society where it is invisible, similar to speciesism/carnism being invisible in the current dystopia we live in so that normal, decent people live by it. Furthermore, the malleable nature of space-time is also used to explore time travel, which the powerful being, the Ellimist, is capable of executing. The Ellimist is a mysterious being that appears in the story with godlike power, bringing to mind the famous saying by Arthur C. Clarke, "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" and later "any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God" by the American science writer, Michael Shermer. As described by Ax:
They are all-powerful. They can cross a million light-years in a single instant. They can make entire worlds disappear. They can stop time itself. That's not his body. He has no body. He is... everywhere at once. Inside your head. Inside this planet. Inside the fabric of space and time.
This description sounds like the commonly-held, age-long human belief of a "god". The Ellimist even creates life and designs complex sentient species, such as the Pemalites, instilling good in them which reminds one even more of theism. Through a companion book however, we are exposed to his fascinating backstory which shows that far from being a "god", he is the last of an advanced civilization known as the Ketrans, who seem to be a Type 2 civilization or more in the Kardashev scale. A curious fact is that the Ketrans have a rich gaming culture (similar to the rapidly growing gaming culture of humans; which blossoms with technology), so much so that they run complex simulations of universe creation and evolution as a game, drawing on the simulation hypothesis which proposes that all of reality, including the earth and the universe, is in fact an artificial simulation, most likely a computer simulation, which could be powered by a megastructure such as a matrioshka brain. It is plausible since humans with far lesser technology prefer simulations and alternate worlds so much so that millions of dollars are poured into booming industries revolving around it, such as animation and gaming. The Ketran simulations are so complex and realistic that they become their downfall after alien civilizations believe them to be real and are alarmed into attacking the peaceful Ketrans. If their simulations really work according to the simulation hypothesis, it means that to those dwelling in the simulations, the Ketrans are an all-powerful "God" or "gods" who created their universe. Later on, the Ellimist himself, the sole survivor of his species, becomes so advanced that he alters himself to be more and more machine than biological (drawing on the idea that advanced civilizations may opt to be machines than have biological bodies) and eventually, his power seems to make him immaterial. To the Pemalites, he is their creator and he could very well have been "God" to humans too; though in reality, he is just a highly advanced being which we humans might one day become too since we can already edit our own genetic code, thereby, playing God, which reinforces the observation that "God" or "gods" is nothing more than a fanciful construct; the imagination of a primitive species to have some closure to the questions of scary unknowns (when looking at history, the magical unknowns were explained away by the human mind as the work of "god" whether it is the sun rising in the sky, thought to be a sun god driving his chariot or disease as divine wrath; all of which are discarded one by one with scientific discovery and understanding as the civilization progresses), as well as playing on a rather agnostic perspective on how a "creator" with unimaginable "magical" power can exist; just not the fanciful notion of "God" or "gods" of old, but an advanced alien being or beings.
Animorphs may not look it at first glance, but it contains the most heartwarming love stories and bonds. The Animorphs who are formed from a seemingly miscellaneous bunch of kids develop an inseparable friendship, as close as family. Within the Animorphs, Jake and Cassie are in a relationship as well as Tobias and Rachel. Jake is a white person while Cassie is black so that they are an interracial couple. What Tobias and Rachel share is very complicated. Tobias was once a quiet kid who was a bully magnet, until he got stuck in a hawk morph. He does obtain the power to morph but he is a human with a body of a hawk with the ability to morph human on occasion. Rachel is known as "Xena, the warrior princess" because she is an outgoing, reckless girl. In spite of all odds, and Tobias actually not even possessing a human body, they love each other. Both relationships highlight how love transcends all boundaries, and that in the case of Tobias and Rachel, true love means a meeting of minds rather than a carnal affair.
This is reinforced with two other amazing and heartrending love stories we encounter in the saga: that of Elfangor and Loren, and then Dak and Aldrea. Elfangor is an Andalite, with the body of a furry blue centaur, while Loren is a human girl. Dak is a Hork-Bajir while Aldrea is an Andalite.
When it comes to questions that the reader may feel the story has not addressed, I have quite a few. Why do the Yeerks bother to control morph-capable humans later on in the story, when they can easily obtain the morphing power and morph into whatever they want? Why are the Yeerks hell-bent on conquering a puny species like humans, when they can infest the other amazing Earth animals with superior senses? Humans are plentiful but then the Yeerks can easily breed animals they want, to obtain sufficient host bodies. Yeerks do not breed humans at all in fact; is it a Yeerk social taboo? How do Vissor Three's alien morphs function fine on Earth when they would not be designed for Earth's gravity and atmosphere? Have they been genetically altered to suit Earth now that the Yeerk invasion of Earth is underway? How do these different species function so well on alien planets without any breathing difficulties in alien atmospheres? What about them being exposed to alien pathogens they have no defenses against? Again, genetic alterations? And in turn, infecting native fauna and flora with the microorganisms they carry? Animorphs obtain DNA to morph, so can they morph plants? How does age translate to morphs when that information would not be stored in DNA? What about haircuts since when the Animorphs demorph, those remain intact. And most importantly, how can the Animorphs morph clothes when those are certainly not part of our bodies, but more like conjuring objects? Does morphing share technology similar to Star Trek's transporter which seems to disassemble and assemble atoms? It should be noted that the author has taken the liberty to add clothing against logic just to avoid awkward situations. In a pornified world where writers would add nakedness and sensation into the story using this opportunity, K.A. Applegate has opted to add the unreasonable element of morphing clothes and focus on the important aspects such as plot and themes instead.
Animorphs in general, throughout the books, give us one resounding message again and again: that no matter how the odds are stacked up against us, we should not give up, and that in the face of injustice and wrong, we need to make a stand against it.
