'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...'
I remember watching the Animorphs television series when it first aired in the UK, and loved the series very quickly. I'd never, however, read the books that the show was based upon, despite hearing repeatedly that the series was amazing. Thankfully, my husband has the entire series, so I'm finally getting down to reading them, and will be reviewing each book as I go.
'The Invasion' is the first book in the Animorphs series, and introduces a lot of elements to the readers very quickly. Within the first few dozen pages we're introduced to our five main characters, Jake, Marco, Tobias, Rachel, and Cassie, a group of teens in small town America. Not only that, but we discover that the Earth is playing host to an alien invasion, get introduced to four different alien races, and our heroes get the ability to transform into animals.
Whilst things do slow down a little after this action packed start the book keeps a steady pace throughout, and packs in a lot of character moments and plot into it's relatively short page count.
'The Invasion' is a bold book, not only does it have to lay the foundation for this galaxy spanning alien war that has found it's way to our planet, but also needs to quickly establish the rules of the universe. Thanks to some last minute explanations from the Andalite prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul the Animorphs learn that they can acquire the DNA from any animal that they touch, and can then transform into a copy of it.
Over the course of the book we follow our heroes as they test these claims, acquiring their first morphs and testing their abilities. What's most interesting is how each of the characters reacts to gaining these powers. Tobias seems to take to it naturally, and loves becoming a hawk, spending as much time as he can in it's body. Cassie, the daughter of a vet and a natural animal lover, seems to find the beauty and wonder in being an Animorph. Yet Marco seems to want to do everything in his power to not only avoid the war with the Yeerks but also doesn't want to transform at all.
We also learn that there is a limit to how long the Animorphs can stay transformed, just two hours, and get to see first hand the dangers of them staying too long, as in the final pages we discover that Tobias has become trapped in a Hawk body. Something that is sure to not only make things more difficult for our heroes, but highlights how dangerous their task is.
The Invasion does a good job at hammering home just how dire the situation is for our heroes, and the rest of the world, as we make an early visit to one of the locations that the Yeerks use as one of their regenerative pools, and see the scope, scale, and horror of what they are doing. It clearly shows that whilst this might be a children's series, the stakes are high, and the dangers that the Animorphs face is very, very real.
A wonderful introduction to the series, one that sets the groundwork for a story that will span multiple volumes and capture the imaginations of people all over the world. K.A. Applegate is clearly a writer that works well in long, sprawling fiction, and Animorphs is her longest series, and it's obvious that a large part of that success is thanks to the strong beginning established here.
Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment