Monday, July 22, 2013

Animorphs Re-Read: Introduction

I'm deciding on an Introduction to this Re-Read as I think you should know where I stand on the Animorphs series and why nostalgia is probably going to cloud my judgement.

Animorphs was my first fandom. It was the first thing I really gave my heart, mind, and soul to. Well...at least how one does so with fiction. It was the series that provided me with which point of view I now use when writing (first person) and with my first fictional character crush (Tobias). My obsession with this series got so bad that the books had to be taken away from me so that I'd branch out into other areas.

I was first introduced to the series when I got a Scholastic pamphlet thing that showed books you could order. I saw Animorphs #1 The Invasion and it looked interesting. Since this event happened way back when I was in Fourth Grade (so around 1996 when I was 10), I can't remember exactly what drew me to the book. Why I made the decision to buy it and thereby get pulled into my first fandom, I can't recall with certainty. Hell, it might've just been that the book was the most interesting one on the pamphlet.

But once I started to read The Invasion I was consumed by it. I was very interested to see what would become of Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias since they would determine the fate of the world. Their actions would determine if the Yeerk invasion of Earth would be successful (I'm not including Ax here since he didn't appear until book #4 The Message). Since I was around the Animorph's age I could also think about the fate of the world depending on me.

From the time I started to read The Invasion until I finished The Beginning, I was enveloped in the world of the Animorphs. I read every book in the main series as well as all the books that took place outside of it (such as The Ellimist Chronicles). When it was over I felt...I guess the best way to explain it would be fulfilled and yet still longing for more. The series ended on a killer of a cliffhanger (K.A.Applegate explained she wanted the gang to go out fighting just like they started, but not Cassie since she stayed on Earth with a boyfriend who I'll call NOT JAKE until we get to that part). The funny thing about the series ending on a cliffhanger is that some of the later series I followed (and that also consumed my life) ended on unresolved cliffhangers.

I don't know how exactly I'll tackle the whole Animorphs series (if I'll go chapter by chapter, every two to three chapters, book by book, ect.). I just know that I'll find a way and it might change along the Re-Read, so no promises.

I will be using THIS LIST to decide in which order I'll go through the series. I hope to revisit some fond memories, rediscover some forgotten ones, and realize things I didn't notice before. I'm highly excited about doing this (as I've been dreaming about finding the books, my memory of them is so good my dreams were able to accurately recreate some of the covers) and yet scared since I might not like them as much. Or if I'll hate the series by the end of this re-read.

Well, next time I make a post of the Animorphs Re-Read I'll be looking at

Animorphs Re-Read Table of Contents

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