Book #34 of 2018: The Android (Animorphs #10)

[thistlechaser]

The Android (Animorphs #10) by K.A. Applegate
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Liked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)



In an already dark series, The Android takes a turn for even darker things.

The kids (the Animorphs) continue their battle with the evil alien brainslug invaders (the Yeerks). In this chapter book, they meet new allies: An alien race. Sort of. A race of androids, created by a race that was later destroyed. These androids (the Chee) are fighting against the Yeerks, though their hands are tied, since their creators programmed them to never directly fight. There's a super powerful plot device crystal that the Chee can use to reprogram themselves.

While this book had so so so many plot holes, the good outweighed the bad. I completely loved the idea that dogs are the living hosts of the spirits of that dead alien race. As messed up as it sounds, I loved that the kids experienced dying. And, while it was handled with a light touch (YA book...), I really enjoyed the brief talk about the costs of war and how that damages a person.

I'd love to see an adult version of this series, where the darker ideas could be more thoroughly explored.

Comments

[jeane nevarez (from livejournal.com)]

Funny, this was one of the animorphs that didn't really work well for me. I found the whole idea of the alien race turning into dogs a bit far-fetched, haha. Or maybe I was just in the wrong mood for the read.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I have to suspend so much disbelief for this series, I guess I was able to just roll with that. I had so many other issues with this book, like the bad guys wanted the computer-crystal thing, the bad leader *said out loud* that they'd all be killed if anything happened to the crystal. So why didn't the kids just threaten to break it and walk right out? Why was sending the blade-aliens to attack the kids any better than shooting them? Couldn't the crystal have gotten just as broken?

Ah well. Kids book...