#34
The Prophecy
Narrator: Cassie
Cover: Cassie to Hork-Bajir confirmed
A follow up to The Hork-Bajir
Chronicles, this book starts with Cassie accesing, briefly, the stored
personality and essence of Aldrea, Seerow's daughter. This leads the
Animorphs on an adventure that takes them all the way to the Hork-Bajir
homeworld.... This book will be personality-driven, much like books
#19 and #29. In it, Cassie will be chosen to receive the Ixcila of
Aldrea, the heroine from the Hork-Bajir Chronicles. In this book,
we'll also come across Quafijinivon, the last member of the Arn --
the race that genetically engineered the H-B race.
#35 The Proposal
Cover: Marco to poodle (!)
This book is definitely going to be one of the funnier ones.
Think along the lines of #5 The Predator, #12 The Reaction, #14
The Unknown, and #24 The Supspicion. The Animorphs discover that
a Rush Limbaugh-esque radio personality is also a Controller --
a Controller who has millions of listeners, no doubt. Meanwhile,
Marco's dad begins dating seriously for the first time in years.
Which, of course, leaves Marco seriously stressed. So stressed,
in fact, that he begins unconsciously mixing DNA and morphing mixed-breed
animals....
In other words, this is the
much-anticipated book in which the Animorphs (or maybe just Marco)
perform the Frolis Manuever, and mix acquired DNA like Ax does when
he morphs into Philip.
The official summary:
"Marco already
knows he has a few problems: the constant battle with the Yeerks;
finding out that his mother was infested . . . and is now Visser
One. The leader of the Yeerk invasion of Earth. But things are about
to get even weirder. Marco's father is thinking about getting married
again. Meanwhile, the Animorphs and Ax have other things to worry
about. It seems the Yeerks are trying harder than ever to get people
into The Sharing. Now the kids have to find a way to slow down recruitment.
But Marco's personal stress is causing him to morph into creatures
that don't exist. Creatures the Yeerks are sure to notice . . .
and attack. . . ."
#36 The Mutation
Cover: Jake to orca whale
In this book
the Animorphs visit an underwater place -- a place not un-like Atlantis.
No joke. This book will be more creepy, not so much character-driven
as some of the others. Rumor has it that Jake will morph a very
rare mamal. We also know that there's some type of underwater Yeerk
ship called the Sea Blade that they use. And it's titled The Mutation
because in the underwater city, there's some kind of mutated humanoid
species with both gills and lungs.
Official summary: "Visser
Three is still trying to find a way to reach the Pemalite ship.
The ship that was hidden thousands of feet below the ocean's surface.
A ship containing technology so advanced that it is superior to
anything even the Andalites have built. And this time, the visser
plans to find the ship so he can use its power to complete Earth's
invasion. Jake, the other Animorphs, and Ax acquire additional deep-sea
morphs in order to stop the visser's plan. But while trying to destroy
the Yeerk ship, the kids make a startling discover: an underwater
civilization. Have the kids discovered Atlantis . . . or is it just
another trap?"
Where is the
land of Nartec?
...Through the
waving underwater plants that grew around the mouth of the cave
came three, four, five - creatures. Vaguely human in shape. Vaguely
aquatic...The five creatures surrounded the Sea Blade. Attached
ropes or pulls of some sort to the ship...The cave opened wide,
simply spread apart...And then, with an impossibly swift motion,
the creatures, whatever they were, drew the Sea Blade through the
narrow opening of the sea cave...
...I led the
way through the narrow passageway. Inside the cave, through the
giant undulating fronds of ocean plants that obscured, then revealed
the opening. Darkness. Total and complete...The tubular passageway
seemed to be about nine feet in diameter. Tight. Too tight for the
Sea Blade to have come through. But then the cave seemed to be adjustable.
BONK!...No more tunnel. Just a wall of rock...
...Amazing.
A thin horizontal line of light appeared in the center of the wall.
In that profound gloom the light was almost blinding...The line
grew to a rectangle. Then to a square. About four feet by four feet.
And then the square rounded to form a perfect circle. Brighter greenish
squiggles of light pushed out from the flat surface of the circle
and formed rotating coils...Suddenly the coils of green light began
to migrate toward the center of the circular panel. When they'd
gathered in a bunch, they split. Opened like a mouth to reveal a
tunnel beyond the wall...
...The water
on the other side was marginally brighter. At least there was enough
light for me to make out a right and left bank of muddy land along
the "river" of water...And yes, there was a surface...I
blinked and squinted. The light, such as it was, didn't seem to
have a source. No sun, no stars, no lamps, or stadium lights. It
was more like a watery background glow...
...I looked
around and saw images appear, slowly becoming visible as my eyes
adjusted. But what I saw was impossible. A few dozen yards away
was a ship. A wooden ship. It had three tall masts. A single deck
of gunports, eighteen in all, all open, all revealing the blunt
snouts of old brass or iron cannons...nothing was as rotted as it
should be. After all, no ship of this type had sailed in almost
two hundred years...a whole three-masted frigate sitting there like
it just floated in from the War of 1812...
#37 The
Weakness
Cover:
Rachel to cheetah
Summary: When Jake has to leave town for a family thing, the other
Animorphs and Ax figure life will pretty much be normal until he
gets back. But when Tobias discovers Visser Three's newest feeding
place, the kids decide they have to check it out. But there's no
assigned leader. Now Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, and Ax have
another problem: Who will be the best one for the job? Because being
in charge isn't just guts and glory. It's about making decisions
that will mean the difference between life...and death.
The place where Visser Three feeds has been located. The Animorphs
agree that the time to confront their greatest enemy is now. The
mission calls for top speed agility. After aquiring cheetah morphs,
the team is ready for the chase. There is a problem, though. While
Jake's away, there is no one assigned to lead the Animorphs. Which
Animorph will rise to the challenge? And will the new leader be
able to to take on the unexpected dangers that arise. The sample
chapter for #37 has a description of what I believe to be a Garatron.
"As tall as a gazelle. Four lanky, skinny legs. A thin but strong-looking
tail, as long as its body, that flicked and twitched even when the
creature's legs weren't moving. A pigeon chest, high and rounded.
A head shaped like bike racing helmet. Tight curved face, like a
smooth ball. Skull that swept back from the rim of this ball into
a pointy triangleIt was covered in blue fur and had no mouth and
sported two thin, weak-looking arms. Like an Andalite."
This book
is pretty much non-stop action. It revolves around Rachel being
left in charge of the group while Jake's away -- and, unfortunately,
it's discovered that the Yeerks have now taken control of a new
species: the Garatrons. To give you a sense of how bad this is,
Garatrons make cheetahs look *slow*. Cool, ay?
...I fell, face
forward, tumbled hind legs over head. I was hit! Hit by...something.
Knocked over hard by the blast of wind that followed in its wake.
Whatever it was. WHOOOOOOOSSH! I climbed to my feet. Tried to leap
after it. Where was it? There! Only air! THUUMPF! I fell again.
WHOOOOOOOSSSH!...
-------------------------------------
...In seconds ?if that ?it had us herded into a trembling, panting,
tangled cluster. Four incredibly fast, incredibly agile hunters,
subdued. The thing made me think of pulled taffy. Or of a cartoon
depiction of speed. You know, where the cartoon character's skin
stretches as he strides faster and faster ?until his skeleton runs
right out of its skin suit. That's where this thing belonged. In
a cartoon. Where the impossible is possible. An impression. A flash.
A blur. A small whirlwind of tornado. And then it stopped suddenly.
Came to a dead halt. No slowing down. Just ?stopped...
-------------------------------------
...It was a creature. Now I could see that clearly. Not a machine
but flesh and blood. A bizarre creature able to zip across the grass
like a high-speed insect. Like a bullet fired from a thirty-thirty.
A hunting rifle. Only about as tall as a gazelle. Four lanky, skinny
legs. A thin but strong-looking tail, as long as its body, that
flicked and twitched even when the creature's legs weren't moving.
A pigeon chest, high and rounded...
-------------------------------------
...The creature's head was shaped like a custom-made aerodynamic
bike racing helmet. Tight curved face, like half a smooth ball.
Skull that swept back from the rim of this ball into a pointy triangle.
Like an ice cream cone on its side. Except the cone flattened. But
what really caught and held my attention was the fact that this
thing was covered in blue fur. And had no mouth. And sported two
thin, weak-looking arms. Like an Andalite. Like Ax...
-------------------------------------
...Then, the creature circled and spun like a whirling dervish...Jim
Carrey in The Mask. The Tasmanian Devil in a whirlwind around Yosemite
Sam...The room spun! Bodies, human and alien. Flailing. Falling.
The flash of gunpowder. The clashing of blades...I had to get up,
get back into battle! Slowly, painfully, I raised my bruised head.
And saw the blue blur come to a dead stop about twenty feet in front
of me. Speak to a blue deer-like creature with a bladed tail who
stood just inside the door. <IhaveseenenoughIleaveyoutocleanupthe
messmydearVisser.>...
#38 The
Arrival
Release
date: Jan 2000
Cover: Ax to Northern Harrier
Summary: In this book, the Andalites FINALLY send a fleet to help
get rid of Visser Three -- but, since the Andalites are still hard-pressed
in another part of the galaxy, the fleet that is spared is rather
small. While on a mission, the Animorphs run into this group and
Ax falls for one of them, a female Andalite about his own age. This
will be a book based on Ax's loyalty, much like #18 was. It also
seems like there is question whether these Andalites can be trusted
or whether they're there to cover a darker purpose. A dark purpose
involving an insidious kind of bilogical warfare, perhaps....
#39 The
Hidden
Cover:
Cassie to Cape Buffalo
Release date: Feb 2000
Summary: We know what it's like when a human or an alien morphs
an animal -- but what would happen if, by some amazing accident,
an ANIMAL acquired the power to morph and morphed a human? Well,
it happens in this book. The animal in question is a Cape Buffalo.
And the human it morphs is none other than Vice Principal Chapman...
#40 The
Other
Cover:
Marco to Honeybee likely
Release date: Mar 2000
Summary: Looks like Ax wasn't the only survivor of the Dome Ship
crash, and two other Andalites have been living undercover on Earth
-- so there really ARE Andalite bandits out there ;) Of course,
after the trouble with Andalites in #38, the Animorphs are pretty
wary around the species now.... In case you're thinking this book
will be a rehash of #38, fear not. The theme of this book is TOTALLY
different, revolving around Andalite bigotry towards the handicapped....
#41
The Familiar
Release date: Apr 2000
Cover: Jake to Jake (but older)
Summary: Jake awakens in a world where he's age 25 -- and the Yeerks
have won the war for Earth. Seems like this is, in a sense, a follow-up
of book #7, where Rachel and the rest of the Animorphs were taken
to the future -- a future where the Yeerks had won and Rachel was
an adult-Controller.
#42 The
Journey
Release date: May 2000
Summary: #42 marks the return of everyone's favorite female dominated
race, the Helmacrons. They're baaaAAAAaaack. This time, though,
the Animorphs don't just get shrunk and face everyday dangers. They
go inside someone's body, ala the classic 60's sci-fi movie, "The
Fantastic Voyage." This is as close to becoming germs as the Animorphs
are gonna get, people. Now, I'm not sure if they intentionally go
inside someone or not, but I do know this book is gonna be funny
as heck. Also a romance between Marco and Rachel.
#43
Cover: Tobias to Taxxon
Summary: Tobias, the other Animorphs, and Ax have been trying for
as long as they've had the power to morph to find some way to really
cause blows to the Yeerks. They've had some success, but not enough
to really set the Yeerks back. Now, Taylor, the sub-visser who was
last seen torturing Tobias, is back. She is trying to rally against
Visser Three and the other Yeerks, trying to cause a Yeerk civil
war, and wants the help of the Animorphs to destroy the Yeerk pool.
It's an offer the Animorphs seemingly can't refuse. But Tobias isn't
so sure. Taylor didn't seem all that sane after their last meeting.
Can she really be trusted? Or is it all a trap?
#44
Cover: Cassie to Kangaroo
Summary: Call Cassie what you will, but she's definitely not a leader.
That's Jake's job. All the Animorphs have their place, and Cassie's
is to be Jake's advisor. She could never be the warrior, like Rachel,
or the joker, like Marco. Or could she? The Animorphs have gotten
word of an alien artifact being brought to the US by plane, and
they know the Yeerks will be after it. They try to stop the Yeerks
from stealing the piece, but their plan goes awry, and Cassie ends
up knocked out on a plane, chased by the Yeerks. When she escapes,
she finds herself thousands of miles away from home. Now she has
to lead herself, has to fight for herself, and humor herself. Cassie's
lost and alone in a place she never thought she'd be -- Australia.
#45
Cover: Marco to ant
Summary: During all the time that Marco, Jake, Rachel, Tobias, and
Cassie have been fighting the Yeerks, they've never revealed their
secret to anyone close to them, for fear their loved ones would
either be captured or would turn out to already be a Controller.
As it is, there are only a few creatures in the galaxy who know
the Animorphs are human -- Erek and the Chee; Crayak and the Ellimist;
Aftran and a few other peaceful Yeerks; Visser One and her host,
Eva; the free Hork-Bajir; the few Andalites they've encountered;
and the betrayer, David. Now a new addition will be made to this
list. Marco, the other Animorphs, and Ax have decided to share their
secret with another human. The human is Marco's dad. He's about
to be told that there are aliens trying to take over Earth, his
son is a warrior, and that his wife may still be alive. Everything
is about to change.....
#46
Cover: Ax to human fighter pilot possible
Pages: 150
Summary: Ax and the Animorphs have many enemies. Visser Three, the
agressive Yeerk general obsessed with destroying the Andalite bandits.
Visser One, the Yeerk who holds Marco's mother as a host -- and
know's the Animorphs' secret. And at one time, they had to go head
to head with Visser Four, the Yeerk obsessed with destroying human
history in order to make the Yeerk invasion easier. Now there's
a new enemy in town. Visser Two has arrived on the scene, and he's
got a plan to make the invasion of Earth easier. He's going to try
and start a nuclear war between the US and China, in hopes that
the war will spread and the strength of the humans will ebb. It's
up to Ax and the Animorphs to stop Visser Two, trying to keep the
peace by hitching a ride on an aircraft carrier. The Animorphs have
had a lot of luck in the past, but this time there may be no way
they can stop the world from being destroyed....
#47
Cover: Jake to ??
Summary: Basically, in the Animorphs world, one of the free Hork-Bajir
has been captured by the Yeerks again -- and now the Yeerks know
the location of the Hork-Bajir valley! Being that the valley is
incredibly narrow, the Yeerks can only attack from the ground. This
gives the Toby's people a better chance of escaping infestation.
The question is, should the Hork-Bajir stand and defend themselves
or run to a new, safe location? Fight or flight. Meanwhile, Jake
receives an old diary at the bequest of Jake's recently deceased
grandfather. It's an heirloom that was written by a long dead relative
who fought in the Civil War. Now, this is the original part -- from
there the two parallel stories play out. While the Hork-Bajir make
their decision -- they want to fight for their own freedom -- a
story of a desperate stand by Union troops in the Civil War plays
out. Involved in the Civil War story are some freed slaves who demand
to join in on the battle -- they want to fight for their own freedom.
The Visser
Another
backstory book.It will be the story of the early days and weeks
of the Yeerk invasion of Earth. We'll see Marco's mom (Visser One)
and learn the origin of the feud between Vissers One and Three and
what led her to fake her death. It will be in hardcover like the
Hork-Bajir Chronicles. KA says it "will be the story of the
early years of the Yeerks
on Earth." It'll feature an appearance by the Animorphs and
another prologue starter plot. The prologue is like this: Edriss
562 (aka Visser One) on trial for treason to the Yeerks. Visser
One explains how she infested a series of human hosts in order to
initiate the invasion of Earth. Visser One most likely survived
the fall from the cliff in #30, and she was captured and put on
trial before the Council of Thirteen.
This book follows the
path of Visser One from lowly Yeerk-hood, to earth, to the creation
of The Sharing, the faking of her death and beyond. This book will
explain just why Visser Three and Visser One hate each other so
darn much. This book will be incredibly dark, trust me on this.
Like The Hork-Bajir Chronicles it will be published in hard-cover
and then later re-published as paperback. I haven't a clue when
this book will be released. Oh, an interesting note, all the Animorphs
make an appearance in this book?
Text from the book jacket:
"In an hour or so, once I was out of sight of land, I would
lower my sails and wait for a Bug fighter to come lift me off the
deck. The engine backwash of the Bug fighter would capsize the boat.
Or I might put the Taxxon pilot to the test and see if he could
ram the low-slung boat. That would puzzle the humans.
Either way, my
body would never be found. . . .
My time of lying
low was over . . . I would spearhead the invastion of Earth. I would
take charge of our greatest conquest. I would stand alone atop the
Yeerk military hierarchy.
I was to become
Visser One.
* * *
Her human name
is Eva. There was a time when she had a loving husband and a son,
Marco. When she had a wonderful career. But that was before she
was infested by Edriss 562. Before the invasion of Earth. Now, Edriss
562 lives in Eva's head and controls her every movement. And through
Eva, Edriss has become the highest-ranking general in the Yeerk
empire, surpassing even her arch rival, Visser Three. She is Visser
One.
But, it has become
known that Visser One's tactics for attaining her current position
were less than acceptable -- even to the Yeerks. Now she is on trial
for treason. If she's found innocent she'll continue to rule. But
if she's found guilty, she'll lost her life -- and possible the
life of her host, Eva. Which will mean that Marco will never, ever
see his mother again. . . .
K.A. Applegate
has dared to journey to the dark side with this haunting glimpse
into the hearts and minds of a race determinded to survive and conquer
-- at any cost."
What KA said about Visser:
"In writing Visser I wanted to address one of the big questions
fans regularly pose: How did it all start? I wanted to suggest the
possibility that the Yeerk evil could only flourish when it met
with human weakness. But I also wanted to suggest the possibility
that human strengths -- simple human good, in this case a mother's
love -- could weaken evil."
MM #4
Release date: May 2000
Summary: It has a definite Wonderful Life theme to it. Jake is given
the opportunity to make it so that everything that has happened
to him never has. In other words, he and the others will never walk
through the construction site. Meaning they never met Elfangor,
they never recieved the morphing powers, and they remained oblivious
to the invasion. Does that plot sound familiar? If you watch Animorphs
TV, it should. An original episode with the exact same story called
"Not My Problem" was aired towards the end of the first season.
The Ellimist
Chronicles
Release date: Oct 2000
Summary: Ellimist. He's been an enigma, coming and going as he pleases.
He seems all powerful. He seems to be all knowing. Crayak. He's
an evil being, rejected by his own people, set loose on an unnexpecting
fourth dimension. Good versus evil. A tale that spans the ages.
Their story will finally be revealed....
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