Animorphs: Book #96 and #97 of 2026, two DNF, #98: Derelict (audiodrama)

[thistlechaser]

Animorphs #47: The Resistance. Half of this book was about Jake's grandfather fighting in the Civil War, with no logical reason at all why the reader was seeing it. The other half of the book was even worse (about the Hork-Bajir aliens and some Star Trek fans who acted like no humans in the world would). I gave one star on my first reading in 2019, DNF this time.

Animorphs #48: The Return. My least favorite part of the series's plot is the "gods" (aliens so advanced they may as well be gods). This book was about them, and even worse brought David back, which ruined his whole trilogy. I gave one star on my first reading in 2019, DNF this time.

Animorphs #49: The Diversion. Tobias, the boy trapped as a hawk, has a whole complex backstory. Much of it is not believable (his father is one of the Andalite aliens, the blue deer-like aliens with four eyes), but the part about his mother abandoning him is more grounded. This book reunited him with her and started the "get the parents out of danger" subplot of the book's finale. I gave it only two stars in 2019, but I really enjoyed it this time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½

Animorphs #50: The Ultimate. Most of this book was so good. With the war really ramping up (somehow there are only four books left in the series!) the Animorphs (finally) realize they need more than the six of them to fight millions of Yeerks. They decide the only ones they can really trust are very disabled kids: Kids with bodies the Yeerks would never want. The ending didn't work for me, but the rest of the story was great. I gave it only three stars in 2019, but I really enjoyed it this time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½

Derelict: An audiodrama (like an audiobook only as a podcast), and much longer than the average audiobook, so I'm counting it as a book for the year.

In season 1 ("Fathom"), a door in the deepest part of the ocean has been found. A massive door. A corporation has built a lab/base at the bottom of the ocean to study the door. And open it... Which, of course, lets out something that should never have been released.

In season 2 ("Derelict"), seven years later, set in space, a massive derelict ship is in orbit around a star. That same corporation sends a team there to investigate. Or do they?

I loved the story, the voice acting was outstanding, the only issue was that the audio mixing was too often way off. It was so hard to hear the dialogue through all the sound effects. Still very worth listening to! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ -- One star off for the dialogue issue.