Customer Reviews

The Underground (Animorphs #17)

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Awesome fluffy adventure action once more! For some reason, all the journeys down to the Yeerk pool are a heck of a lot of fun. It may not be detrimental to the series, but it certainly is entertaining and full of Animorph goodness.

Ever dream of weird looking creatures out of this world? Well in the series the Animorphs there is plenty. In particular

The Underground. This story is about six kids that have to stop the Yeerks from taking over poor human bodies. The six kids are Rachel, Marco, Ax, Jake, and Tobias.

It first starts out when Rachel's mom gets a court case with a nut case. Yeerks are living in his head. Then the six kids sneak into a concert as birds, such as a hawk and an eagle. The day after that they go and talk to the nut case about the Yeerks. About a month later they start to dig 50 feet down to the Yeerk pool. Four weeks pass "Oh no" Rachel falls in the hole by the Yeerk pool and gets split up from the others. Two days later Rachel finds Marco and Cassie. Also she sees Ax, Jake, and Tobias. See how it all ends up. Read the book and if you like it, this book is part of a series.

I give this book five stars, because even though the first part was boring it gets better in the middle. This book is good for grades four through eight. Also for third graders with advanced reading skills. For an adventurous tale about unknown creatures read The Underground.

I was a bit disappointed. I enjoyed this book, which is basically about the Animorphs finding that oatmeal can make it so Yeerks don't need to go to the Yeerk Pool, but they go crazy, so the human controlled by the Yeerk can control him/herself most of the time. Sadly, these Controllers are considered insane and end up going to insane asylums. A good book overall, but I'm giving it a four out of five because the Yeerks that went crazy are never mentioned again (I'd have thought that a whole bunch of people being unjustly sent to insane asylums would be important, but that's just my opinion).

In this book the Animorphs and Ax find out that instant rasien cinnimon oatmeal will make a Yeerk free from Kandrona, but the Yeerk will go insane. The Yeerk will stay in the host's head, no needing Kandrona, but the host will be in control almost all of the time. So the animorphs morphs moles and dig into a bat cave, then morphs bats and go into the Yeerk pool. Read the book to find out what happens next!

Rachel, the other Animorphs, and Ax have discovered a new super weapon against the Yeerks. It's easy to get. It's lightweight. It's instant oatmeal. It doesn't actually destroy the aliens, but its effect on them is so powerful that the kids know they have to try to use it. To help slow down the invasion. It means another trip down to the Yeerk pool. And the possibility of not being able to get back up to the surface.

Synapsis: This one starts off in traditional Animorphs fashion with a bang, as Rachel and the others morph into birds of prey to "attend" a Planet Hollywood opening from the air. While there, Rachel sees a man about to commit suicide by jumping from a window, and the Animorphs rush to a very messy rescue, which a very famous star gets the credit for. A link is formed in the plot with Rachel's lawyer mother, who is representing the family of the man who jumped. He claims to have an alien living inside of his head, and goes utterly insane at some moments, other times he's perfectly normal. The Animorphs break into the insane asylum (with plenty of amusing jokes along the way about the nuthouse) to speak to the man. He believes Rachel is an Andalite, and tells her of a very odd Yeerk addiction which frees them of Kadrona rays. The price, however, is that the Yeerk slug goes utterly mad from it, losing most of its control on the host body. Unfortunately, these hosts, although halfway in control, go through raving insane periods when the Yeerk takes over, making them look insane. The new secret weapon turns out to be instant ginger maple oatmeal, and the group decides to try and distribute it inside the Yeerk pool (see book #1: The Invasion for their first trip as well as how the series started, and terminology used here.) Mole morphs are used, but things don't go anything near what they'd planned. No spoilers for the end, but this is a good story. It's not one which is critical to the series, but enjoyable to read.

Now for the personal outlooks. This book gives a bit more development on Rachel's character, how she's almost self destructively reckless. However, as this one is from her point of view, we get to watch her plot things out from her own, unique eyes, which you can't get from the other members of the team. This, of course, is part of the charm of the series in general. Rachel is still very gung ho and direct, but she manages to come up with some very sophisticated ideas for rescuing her friends at the end. A good call on Visser Three also helps save the day.

The story itself is enjoyable, but this particular book lacks the "white knuckle" story telling of some of the others until the final battle. It relies more heavily on mood, Rachel's fear of enclosed places as she digs, nightmares, etc. than on direct action. Of course, this helps diversify the series as a whole, and keep it fresh. It also hasn't got a strong humor plot which makes it stand out. It is, simply, fun to read, but nothing which leaps to attention overall. Rachel fans will love it, in particular, obviously. This is also more of a "stalemate" between the Animorphs and the Yeerks, where they don't lose, yet don't win. Overall, that is very realistic, while keeping with the spirit of the Animorph series.

What's easy to get,lightweight,and healthy?Oatmeal,and it's making the yeerks go crazy.Really.
Well,it all begins when Rachel sees a man about to jump out of a window of a skyscraper.She naturally goes and rescues him,and after that the trouble starts mounting...First Rachel's Mom is the attorney on his case when his family wants him commited when he starts talking about aliens that live in his head,called Yeerks...When the Animorhs investigate they learn the Yeerks have found a way to go without the Kandrona,The is oatmeal,well,only the Instant Maple-Ginger kind.the yeerk gets addicted to it,goes crazy,then it no longer needs kandrona rays.The good part is the Host can comunicate and is in control most of the time,the other time the Yeerk can break through,and it will stay in the host forever.........The Animrophs see an opportunity:Where can you find a ton of yeerks without hosts?The Yeerk Pool.........

Not bad at all. This book falls into the typical pattern of an Animorphs: a plot is discovered by the gang, they try to counteract it, it all goes horribly wrong, they almost die, they succeed (sometimes), everyone goes back to being freaked out at the end. However the plot device of the oatmeal brings style and flair (who would've thought?), bringing this 'episode' out of the rut it could have been. No real plot advancement in terms of the series as a whole, so this is not a must-read, but still one of the most satisfying of the 'hack and slash' ones.

If you are looking for exitement, laughs, and thrills, this is the book for you. Even though it is not as good as other books in the series such as The Invasion or The Alien, it is still a must have for every Animorph lover. The cover may be a bit wierd-looking, but it is a great book.

If you are looking for exitement, laughs, and thrills, this is the book for you. Even though it is not as good as other books in the series such as The Invasion or The Alien, it is still a must have for every Animorph lover. The cover may be a bit wierd-looking, but it is a great book.