Chapter 9
Cassie dreams again of the voice under the water. She also dreams of the dolphin she acquired in the last chapter.
Cassie goes on to wonder about the intelligence of dolphins. While I don't agree about wondering if morphing intelligent creatures is right because morphing is the same concept EVERY TIME. So if you start to wonder if it's right or not just because you're turning into a cute animal I can't really take your argument seriously.
However, I like Animorphs since it does delve into how animals think. How animals really view the world. So Cassie wondering about how the dolphin views the world is interesting.
Cassie calls Jake to see how the mission will proceed. Of course they talk in code since they don't want to be found out. Tom, Jake's older brother and a human controller, is mentioned again.
Jake says that they'll morph in a river since morphing in a place where lots of people could see them isn't the smartest idea in the world.
Cassie gets to the spot and sees it's hidden away from the sight of other people. She shares a joke with Tobias and I'm happy. I'm just so glad that she is allowing Bird-boy to handle his situation how he sees fit.
Tobias will be the time-keeper for the mission and it turns out Rachel bought him a watch. I find it cute that Rachel bought him the watch. Aw!
Cassie, of course, is made to be the one who will morph the dolphin first. She doesn't think the others should admire her for her morphing ability so much. That she morphs just as well as everyone else. She is a very modest girl.
Cassie is afraid she'll encounter the actual dolphin's mind when she morphs. Not just the instincts. Yes, Cassie, because the rules of morphing change if the animal you're morphing is INTELLIGENT! Holy fuck, that's a leap in logic.
Cassie goes down to her morphing outfit. The shoes thing is brought up again. For some reason no type of shoes can work in morphing, no matter how tight the shoes are.
Cassie starts to morph and wants to hold onto her legs as long as she can. Cassie is usually described as the best morpher, but in this book and the last there's a morph that she's described as not doing pretty. I don't mind her being the best morpher, but it seems to be more said than shown in the last book and this one.
Cassie feels her back as she grows a dorsal fin.
Cassie waits for the dolphin mind to overtake her. She waits for fear to overtake her but the dolphin mind isn't afraid. The dolphin mind is like a little kid's.
She is relieved not to find a true mind when she completes her dolphin morph. Holy fuck! I couldn't see the fact that the morphing rules didn't change when morphing an intelligent and cute dolphin coming!
Cassie then continues on how the dolphin's mind is like a kid's and how all it wants to do is play.
Tobias asks Cassie how she's doing and she says that she wants him to come play with her. Tobias makes a joke about that not being a good idea. Aw, come on, Tobias, don't you want that dolphin hawk rodeo? Wait...that scene comes in a different book. Never mind.
Cassie calls to the others to morph. She wants to play in the ocean since the river isn't right for her.
The others morph and Tobias flies overhead while the others swim.
Cassie is enjoying her dolphin morph. How she describes the connection of dolphins to the ocean is just poetic.
Cassie and the others, except Tobias, start jumping and they have fun doing so. Why am I so jealous of fictional characters right now? Is it because they're so damn happy?
Cassie and the others get too into their morphs and Uncle Tobias has to point out that they need to focus. I like how Tobias here, like in the previous book, is the one who has to remind the group about the time. This is good that he has a job since he can't participate in most missions.
Cassie laughs him off but he tells them how the dolphin minds have affected them even though they don't think so.
Tobias reminds them that they morphed dolphins to look for an Andalite ship. The group then treats finding the Andalite ship like a game. That the first person to find the ship wins. Uncle Tobias comments that they are acting like a group of five-year-olds.
Cassie uses her echolocation and senses something that she can't place. She asks the others and Marco agrees that there is something bad out there. She searches in the dolphin mind for the answer.
She figures out that she senses a shark! And here's another chapter ending on a cliffhanger.
Chapter 10
Uncle Tobias tells the others that they aren't there to fight sharks. Cassie agrees saying that dolphins don't pick fights with sharks. It's then revealed that there is a group of sharks attacking a whale.
However, the whale is referred to by Cassie as a 'great one'. Animorphs is supposed to be a sci-fi series and not a sci-fi/fantasy series. This means that fantastic things can happen, but they all have to be scientific in nature. Even if the science is flimsy as Hell. Many think the Ellimist and Crayak being like God and Satan of the Aniverse is bad since it breaks the sci-fi feel of the series.
But, from this chapter alone, we can see that the fantasy parts of this series was started very early on.
Rachel wants to rescue the whale which surprises no one as she's usually the first one that wants to rush out into battle. Tobias' reply show that she stresses him out, but that he still loves her.
Tobias gives a report of what he can see from the air. There are at most five sharks and a really big whale.
Cassie rams into a shark and describes it seeming to be made out of something like steel. Cassie is dazed by the impact but sees she has hurt the shark. YES!
Turns out the whale is a humpback whale and Cassie is angry that the sharks out eating it.
Jake and Rachel join in on the shark fighting thing.
This whole fight seems like it's modeled after space battles from the Star Wars movies. I know that's probably not the case, since Applegate is a Trekkie, but I can't help but be reminded of Luke going against Tie Fighters at the end of A New Hope.
Cassie remarks that being a dolphin isn't all a game now. That she feels that there are serious consequences now. The thought that she might die frightens her. Of course, Cassie being Cassie, she thinks of the others dying before she thinks of the same fate for herself. I see it as her being more concerned about the others.
The sharks then turn from the group and attack the injured shark instead. The shark that Cassie had injured.
The group checks up on each other. Of course it's Marco that's injured. They make a comment on how he can't swim back.
Yes, because he can't demorph and then morph back into a dolphin. Anyone else thinking that? No? Okay, it's just me again.
Chapter 11
The start of the chapter begins with everyone panicking with what to do. Demorphing and morphing would be too logical to consider.
I admit the only moving part of this scene is Marco worrying about dying like his mother did. She died by drowning in a boating accident. Of course we later find out what really happened, but this is what Marco knows right now.
Cassie finally says what I've been saying and the group questions her. I want to hug you so much, Cassie.
Marco points out that he can't swim and Jake says that they'll take care of him. I won't make a certain joke because I think it borders on racist.
As Marco is passing out from loss of blood he starts to demorph.
When he's back into human form Cassie exclaims that he is fine. And Marco, being the joker of the group, says that it's true and now he's drowning. Oh, Marco, you are so funny!
Cassie offers her fin to him and then she notices that the humpback is rising towards them. Rachel gets freaked but Cassie tells her to calm down after the whale communicates to Cassie.
This is yet another fantasy element put into the series. There is nothing scientific about this. It's all a person's dream of how awesome whales are and how connected Cassie is to the animal world.
I don't mind it, but it does feel a little out of place.
I know you could say that it's because whales are more intelligent than we thought, but that seems more of an excuse than anything else.
Rachel agrees that she knows everything is fine since the whale is communicating in its own way.
How the whale communicates is so beautiful that I guess it's the reason that I don't mind the whale 'speaking' as much.
The chapter ends with Cassie listening as the whale begins to 'speak'.
Chapter 12
The whale talks to Cassie. What the whale basically tells Cassie is that he has lived a very long life and yet has never seen a dolphin become a human. I am just laughing at the idea of the whale being a grandpa. What makes this image even more clear is that the language reminds me of how a stereotypical Native American speaks.
The whale says that the Animorphs aren't the only new thing in the sea. Can the whale possibly know about the Andalite ship?
Cassie describes how the whale seems to talk in some language that is very hard to explain. The only thing I can compare the description to is how the Second Foundation (in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series) communicates.
The whale sends an image to Cassie of what looks like an Andalite in a ship underwater. I think it's part of the Dome ship.
Cassie finishes talking with the whale and the others are worried. Seems as though the whale only talked to Cassie. I'm not surprised that it thought to talk to her since she does have a very kind feel to her (though what she does to David shows she has a dark side to her).
Jake says the others didn't try to wake her since it seemed to be wise to not interrupt the whale.
They say that Marco is ready to try remorphing. Dudes, you morph the DNA of a creature and that's not impacted by injures. There is no reason to worry.
Tobias tells the others that they don't have much time left.
Marco begins to morph back into dolphin form. Cassie remarks that when Marco remorphed into a dolphin that he wasn't injured anymore.
Imagine that!
As they swim back to shore they hear the whale sing a song. Cassie tells the group the whale is singing for a mate. Marco uses the phrase 'cruising for chicks' and I'm reminded that this is a kid's book. That no matter how dark it gets there will always be some humor.
And, trust me, it will get very dark.
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Animorphs Re-Read Table of Contents
THE ANIMORPHS BOOKS
