First post here: Remnants! My thoughts on the books as I read them – Entry 1: Books 1 through 4 : r/Animorphs
05 – Mutation – Dude, gross… That cover, and the opening chapter. We open with some grotesque imagery of basically a human being being turned into a ziploc bag, and a brand new character, Kubrick! He seems to exist merely as a pain in the ass. And very shortly, his father becomes the new Log they have to carry around – because that's what the story needed. Also, we get a mention of 'Tate' on the ship. If she was mentioned previous to this book, I do not remember, but apparently she was mentioned as having taken a side in Book 3 at least. Look, I get it – you want to have a pool of people you can call up to replace dead cast members – but you really could have set this up better. At least MENTION the gaggle of anonymous people who have thus far remained silent in all the goings on. Don't just let them magically a-fucking-ppear out of the narrative of "they were below decks this whole time" like geez! I have written a really lazy DND campaign with an anonymous gaggle of people to create new party members from that has more narrative significance than these people. Anyway, yes, the story. Half the book is a mishmash of exploration in the underbelly of the ship and the rest of the cast trying to not drown – and then the other half is a madcap dash through a warzone where nothing sticks around long enough to have an impact and the stakes could not be less clear. I think it's this book that made me really understand why Animorphs is such a better series. Remnants is like a nightmare – a fever dream. And that would be compelling if it had some consistentcy. And Animorphs was, Helmacrons and all, still 10x more easy to follow and enjoy than this. Book 3 – Them – was perfect. The environment was stable. The stakes, clear. The horrors – plentiful. The politics – tolerable. This book is just… Dull, and then it shifts into a madcap rush. There's a big not-fight, and the book ends very suddenly, with Billy and MOTHER basically coping with their shared drama in a dive bar while at the same time trying to kill each other off screen. Billy gets a gold-star for his performance in this book.
06 – Breakdown – Damn is that what Yago looks like? (Looking at him on the cover) What a dweeb! Can you imagine getting bullied by a glorified Johnathan Taylor Thomas? As an adult?? His own internal monologues and actions in the books make him seem like a very adult and Machiavellian bastard, but if you were to see his actions from the outside he would just seem like a cowardly and annoying brat, barely any better than D-Caf. It has become clear to me that they packed way too many kids on this last gasp of Earth. Anyway, huge changes! We get new humans (again), setting up future conflicts (finally), and even a look into Mother herself! Even finally being told why the hell Kubrick was turned into a ziploc bag! But in the end this ends up being another big show down between the denizens of the ship, this time between the humans (With Yago being Mother's puppet) and the Blue Meanies (who basicaly lose a bunch of allies because of stupid). Mother no longer wants to be fixed – she has a perfect set of content creation machines now (humans) and she wants to mold them into becoming the new shipwrights (her original creators). But finally… FINALLY. Two huge plot points that have been threatening to happen finally happen. The group SPLITS UP on ideoligical grounds, and the BABY's motivation and origin is partially revealed (He wants to become a shipwright and control Mother). Not that it makes any sense, but, progress is progress! Now that we have clear allies, and clear villains, and clearish motivations on all sides (and no pointless ocean diversions) – will we FINALLY get a real story? Only time will tell!
07 – Isolation – Well, this book certainly went into overdrive. Yago is suddenly becoming a religious figure nutjob. There's a huge battle, again, but this one feels earned! Strangely, everything feels like it's coming to a climax, for real! We know what the baby is, what it wants, what it can do, and the stakes are high as everyone races for 'The Bridge'. Which is strange because (checks notes) THERE'S A LOT OF BOOKS LEFT. Tate gets a spotlight in this book, constantly trying to connect with Tamara and reach her. But, Tamara feels like an empty shell without the baby telling her what to do, so, we get some stockholm syndrome here. Sadly, most of the cast feels entirely superfluous, but Roger Dodger actually gets a moment to shine. When was he introduced… like, book 3? That took a while. But, I will admit, this book is the best book SINCE book 3. And Mo continues to be best boy as he has a super-powered showdown against Tamara while Billy tries to figure out his powers in time to keep the baby from reclaiming the ship. Only just now do I realize that there is a bit of overlap between the baby and billy. The baby regains it's powers by "absorbing" the Blue Meanies – but this is a power Billy also demonstrated when he took his father's life. Interesting. I'll have to keep that in mind. And now, there's a big finish where everything gets wrapped up in a neat little bow with Billy fully in control… So… What the hell is the rest of the series about??
08 – Mother May I – This almost feels like the start of a new book series. 3 months have passed, so now we get to see how everyone is getting along. The initial pages make it very clear that pretty much each of them is an island unto themselves, though there is the barest hint that there might be something between Jobs and Violet – and even that is damaged by the big question the book (via Jobs) poses: If the Earth is habitable, should we go back to it? And, what if somehow people survived? Violet makes a great point that whatever remnants of humanity remain on Earth now, they'd practically be a different species by now. And, go back for what? They have a home now already. In any event, a few potential things for conflict are brought up. Yago is now in full cult leader now – but rather than trying to be a cult for the humans, he is actually targeting the Children (blue meanies). And one of them gives Yago a flechette gun – which comes in handy when the other meanies come to arrest him for blasphemy. I didn't mention it, but there is an uneasy peace between the three races known as The Big Compromise. And, changing the ships course would be violating it. Billy agrees to do so, on the condition that the one blind spot of the ship is investigated by Jobs. While jobs and company are investigating, 2Face emotionally manipulates Billy to change course while Jobs is away. Meanwhile, Jobs and the others find some of the missing crew members – one of whom is known as Amelia – and she is scary. She basically goes full Testuo in a sequence so grotesque the book refuses to even describe it. We get hints that there are two other "evolved Humans" with her, and also hints that more of the missing passengers might turn up soon. Well, now I guess I know what makes up the rest of the series. I am intrigued! This feels like an interesting turn that won't stagnate. We shall see.
by Hexatona