The Animorphs is a series of YA sci-fi books by K. A. Applegate that was published in the late 1990s/early 2000s. The stories are told from the point of view of 5 young teenagers and one young alien, fighting a war against a parasitic alien race that is slowly infiltrating the entire human population. Jacqueline read these books with the kids when the books were first being published, and recommended them to me.
I've been reading them slowly but surely for several years now and am finding that the series is much more than just superficially entertaining, but actually delves into some pretty adult morality issues. It's not a bad series to read if you enjoy YA novels, science fiction, or alien stories. There was a TV series also made, of which I managed to watch one episode before giving up (it's bad), as well as a video game or two. Also, there are recent rumors of a movie; I hope so, because I think it could be pretty awesome!
But about the books... It's important to read the series in order of publication, and while the main series is the Animorphs, there were several supplementary books published that *are* discussed in the main series, and can leave you wondering what the heck they're talking about. There used to be a list on Wikipedia that included ALL the books in the right order, but it seems to have disappeared. (Although there is still a
chronological list of when the storylines take place, it's not the order in which the books are meant to be read.) So I have decided to do the necessary research to recreate the list, so I can finish reading without skipping any of those companion books, and since there may be other Animorph fans to come along, this is for you as well...
- Animorphs 1: The Invasion
- Animorphs 2: The Visitor
- Animorphs 3: The Encounter
- Animorphs 4: The Message
- Animorphs 5: The Predator
- Animorphs 6: The Capture
- Animorphs 7: The Stranger
- Megamorphs 1: The Andalite's Gift
- Animorphs 8: The Alien
- Animorphs 9: The Secret
- Animorphs 10: The Android
- Animorphs 11: The Forgotten
- Animorphs 12: The Reaction
- Animorphs 13: The Change
- The Andalite Chronicles
- Animorphs 14: The Unknown
- Animorphs 15: The Escape
- Animorphs 16: The Warning
- Animorphs 17: The Underground
- Animorphs 18: The Decision
- Megamorphs 2: In the Time of Dinosaurs
- Animorphs 19: The Departure
- Animorphs 20: The Discovery
- Animorphs 21: The Threat
- Animorphs 22: The Solution
- The Hork-Bajir Chronicles
- Animorphs 23: The Pretender
- Animorphs 24: The Suspicion
- Animorphs 25: The Extreme
- Animorphs 26: The Attack
- Animorphs 27: The Exposed
- Alternamorphs 1: The First Journey (
This book is like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, making *you* the main character, and follows the timelines of the Animorphs #1 & #11 and is therefore *probably* safe to read after those two although I've not read it yet to be sure.) I *really* should have listened to Jacqueline when she said the Alternamorphs were not worth reading. Yes, it's a choose-your-own adventure book, but I have good memories of them from high school, and yes, it tells the same story, but I liked them the first time around, right? So how bad can it be?
BAD.
The same story - actually TWO different books (about 150 pages each) - re-worded and paraphrased in places, so that *you* are the main character. It's all chopped up, diced and spliced, and reduced to a mere 115 pages. Also there is the assumption that you've read the original series (or seen the TV show) because there are whole parts that would leave someone new to the series befuddled & confused. Even having read the series, I felt befuddled and confused.
Had I not been bored out of my mind, with nothing else to do, I wouldn't have read more than 20 pages. I will not be reading the 2nd.
- Animorphs 28: The Experiment
- Megamorphs 3: Elfangor's Secret
- Animorphs 29: The Sickness
- Animorphs 30: The Reunion
- Animorphs 31: The Conspiracy
- Animorphs 32: The Separation
- Animorphs 33: The Illusion
- Animorphs 34: The Prophecy
- Animorphs 35: The Proposal
- Visser
- Animorphs 36: The Mutation
- Animorphs 37: The Weakness
- Animorphs 38: The Arrival
- Animorphs 39: The Hidden
- Alternamorphs 2: The Next Passage (This is another Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-type book, that loosely follows the timelines of the Animorphs #20 & #26, and Megamorphs #2, and is therefore *probably* safe to read after those two although I've not read it yet to be sure.)
- Animorphs 40: The Other
- Animorphs 41: The Familiar
- Animorphs 42: The Journey
- Megamorphs 4: Back to Before
- Animorphs 43: The Test
- Animorphs 44: The Unexpected
- Animorphs 45: The Revelation
- Animorphs 46: The Deception
- The Ellimist Chronicles
- Animorphs 47: The Resistance
- Animorphs 48: The Return
- Animorphs 49: The Diversion
- Animorphs 50: The Ultimate
- Animorphs 51: The Absolute
- Animorphs 52: The Sacrifice
- Animorphs 53: The Answer
- Animorphs 54: The Beginning
Whew! That was hard to do without getting any spoilers! That's a LOT of books! More than the Xanth novels for sure! (Of course Piers Anthony doesn't have ghost-writers helping...) If I've made any mistakes, or you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment! And happy reading! ^-^
