Animorphs #3, "The Encounter"
Mar. 4th, 2011 04:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
booksofafeatherShort review: This is obviously part of a large series yet it can be enjoyed on its own. It's a short and fast book in a series involving shapeshifting teenagers and alien enemies. In this particular book, the main character is trapped in the body of a hawk. He struggles with the pull between being hawk and being human, but his end decision is a little thoughtful.
Writing: It felt a lot like a better version of Maximum Ride. The plot is similar in sound and structure (but the narration is not so annoying!) and even the warning in the beginning about how "This is my true story, and it could really happen to you, so be careful!" is the same. I wonder if Maximum Ride was based on this book. The villains also feel quite typically evil, but that may be just for this book. It feels like there are more complex things going on behind the scenes though. It's more fun to read, less clunky.
From a winged person's perspective...: There's a lot of description of how it feels to be part bird, but mostly the description seems to be presented as a frightening thing, showing how the protagonist's mind is changing in ways he doesn't want. It's also a little shallow on description. A very short mention of "I always looked at the sky and wondered what flying would be like, and now I know" but it's left at that. There's some actual flying description but compared to other books I've read, not as much and it feels more brief. The end has some interesting philosophy though, worth a second look.
Trigger warnings: Horrors of war. Protagonist being depressed all the time and temporarily losing his mind. Use of words like "freak" and "living nightmare" to describe non-humans. A bird has her wing burnt off at the end, while in flight.
More thoughts...: When you open a book and the first words that stare up at you are "My name is Tobias. A freak of nature." you know instantly what you're getting into... at least, if you've read as many of these books as I already have. It's not too promising. Like Mail-Order Wings, this seems to be a story that relies on the feeling of horror that a person might have, at being turned from human. At any cost, the transformation must not be given into, or you will lose such an important part of what you are.
Of course, if your identity is human, turning into a bird is going to feel shocking and wrong. But what if your identity is bird, or flier, or person with wings? Then it might feel very different. Most people in these stories, even if they enjoy the feelings of wings and flight, become scared by the idea that they might change more, not fascinated. Of course that's normal for a human. But what if someone really wanted the change? I think for any of these books to be fair, they have to show people who want it and people who don't. Otherwise, instead of reading "changing from what you really are is wrong" (a viewpoint I truly agree with), it reads "changing from human is wrong". I would honestly like just one story where a bird-person becomes human and finds they don't like it... the body is balanced all wrong... the bones feel heavy... they're no longer graceful and free... just one story like that. You could put it in the same story as a human who changed into a bird too. But it always seems to go in one direction. This is another book like that, and it's a little tiring.
I also noticed a lot of the language describing non-humans is negative. The transformations are seen as "gross" and even when she is in her full elephant form, Rachel isn't "pretty". I can understand that a human seeing someone shapeshift might think it's very ugly-looking as it happens, and obviously most human boys would find an elephant less attactive than a human girl. But these things have beauty in their own ways, a different beauty, and it's a shame no one could see that. Everything was compared to human standards of beauty.
That part aside, I think my main problem with this book is that it seems that there isn't much detail. There's a lot of lines like "I don't know why, but I felt happy" or "I soared up to her. I don't know why". Maybe they are trying to make the "alien" bird thoughts feel more alien? But as a reader it leaves me feeling that I don't understand the protagonist very much. If you have to not explain the reason for the feeling for the purpose of the story, one thing you can do is describe it more. Describe exactly how he felt as he soared up to her, what he was noticing about the surroundings, and her... did it feel like being alive, or like something had been set free inside you... and how does it compare to those feelings as a human? Would he be missing something as a human or as a bird, not just on the level of "sports" and "friends" but something more absolute? What is he losing and gaining on a deep level? There's a lot of philosophy to explore here and they don't want to do it.
The final chapter does have some reflection that I did like to see. Tobias seems to begin to come to terms with the belief that he is both human and hawk, and that there is some beauty in that. I wonder how much is that he is just giving up and accepting something he can't change, but with sadness... and how much is really accepting and choosing to live as this self and find wonder in all parts of himself. I suppose that if I don't read the rest of the series I won't know! I have other things to read, but it's a little bit tempting. For most of the time it was a very human-centric book, but I liked how it ended. The last chapter had a lot of genuine concern for the fallen bird that Tobias almost bonded with and an interesting look at how the death is seen through the eyes of both a human and a hawk. That could have had more examination but it's still good.
This is a hard book to give a score to. It's part of a series so I can't say what the bigger plot will be like about non-humans. I can't say how Tobias' revelation will continue although it seems promising. Most of the story will disappoint non-humans but it's interesting at the end. I guess it's a 3... average. It's not horrible, but not shockingly good either.
Writing: It felt a lot like a better version of Maximum Ride. The plot is similar in sound and structure (but the narration is not so annoying!) and even the warning in the beginning about how "This is my true story, and it could really happen to you, so be careful!" is the same. I wonder if Maximum Ride was based on this book. The villains also feel quite typically evil, but that may be just for this book. It feels like there are more complex things going on behind the scenes though. It's more fun to read, less clunky.
From a winged person's perspective...: There's a lot of description of how it feels to be part bird, but mostly the description seems to be presented as a frightening thing, showing how the protagonist's mind is changing in ways he doesn't want. It's also a little shallow on description. A very short mention of "I always looked at the sky and wondered what flying would be like, and now I know" but it's left at that. There's some actual flying description but compared to other books I've read, not as much and it feels more brief. The end has some interesting philosophy though, worth a second look.
Trigger warnings: Horrors of war. Protagonist being depressed all the time and temporarily losing his mind. Use of words like "freak" and "living nightmare" to describe non-humans. A bird has her wing burnt off at the end, while in flight.
More thoughts...: When you open a book and the first words that stare up at you are "My name is Tobias. A freak of nature." you know instantly what you're getting into... at least, if you've read as many of these books as I already have. It's not too promising. Like Mail-Order Wings, this seems to be a story that relies on the feeling of horror that a person might have, at being turned from human. At any cost, the transformation must not be given into, or you will lose such an important part of what you are.
Of course, if your identity is human, turning into a bird is going to feel shocking and wrong. But what if your identity is bird, or flier, or person with wings? Then it might feel very different. Most people in these stories, even if they enjoy the feelings of wings and flight, become scared by the idea that they might change more, not fascinated. Of course that's normal for a human. But what if someone really wanted the change? I think for any of these books to be fair, they have to show people who want it and people who don't. Otherwise, instead of reading "changing from what you really are is wrong" (a viewpoint I truly agree with), it reads "changing from human is wrong". I would honestly like just one story where a bird-person becomes human and finds they don't like it... the body is balanced all wrong... the bones feel heavy... they're no longer graceful and free... just one story like that. You could put it in the same story as a human who changed into a bird too. But it always seems to go in one direction. This is another book like that, and it's a little tiring.
I also noticed a lot of the language describing non-humans is negative. The transformations are seen as "gross" and even when she is in her full elephant form, Rachel isn't "pretty". I can understand that a human seeing someone shapeshift might think it's very ugly-looking as it happens, and obviously most human boys would find an elephant less attactive than a human girl. But these things have beauty in their own ways, a different beauty, and it's a shame no one could see that. Everything was compared to human standards of beauty.
That part aside, I think my main problem with this book is that it seems that there isn't much detail. There's a lot of lines like "I don't know why, but I felt happy" or "I soared up to her. I don't know why". Maybe they are trying to make the "alien" bird thoughts feel more alien? But as a reader it leaves me feeling that I don't understand the protagonist very much. If you have to not explain the reason for the feeling for the purpose of the story, one thing you can do is describe it more. Describe exactly how he felt as he soared up to her, what he was noticing about the surroundings, and her... did it feel like being alive, or like something had been set free inside you... and how does it compare to those feelings as a human? Would he be missing something as a human or as a bird, not just on the level of "sports" and "friends" but something more absolute? What is he losing and gaining on a deep level? There's a lot of philosophy to explore here and they don't want to do it.
The final chapter does have some reflection that I did like to see. Tobias seems to begin to come to terms with the belief that he is both human and hawk, and that there is some beauty in that. I wonder how much is that he is just giving up and accepting something he can't change, but with sadness... and how much is really accepting and choosing to live as this self and find wonder in all parts of himself. I suppose that if I don't read the rest of the series I won't know! I have other things to read, but it's a little bit tempting. For most of the time it was a very human-centric book, but I liked how it ended. The last chapter had a lot of genuine concern for the fallen bird that Tobias almost bonded with and an interesting look at how the death is seen through the eyes of both a human and a hawk. That could have had more examination but it's still good.
This is a hard book to give a score to. It's part of a series so I can't say what the bigger plot will be like about non-humans. I can't say how Tobias' revelation will continue although it seems promising. Most of the story will disappoint non-humans but it's interesting at the end. I guess it's a 3... average. It's not horrible, but not shockingly good either.
