Rediscovering Animorphs

I recently got my hands on ebook versions of the Animorph books and I've been nostalgically reading through the series again. I first read the entire book series in 5th grade, and rediscovered them briefly in 7th grade, so in a way, they were my gateway drug to fandom and science fiction/fantasy. Come to think of it, they actually were. Before I got hooked on the series, I read fantasy every so often, but I mostly read a steady fare of mystery novels. It really went Animoprhs to Redwall to Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter to... everything else, so in that sense, Animorphs got me on the pathway to reading dystopic novels, fantasies, and war-fantasy type stories. It's been enjoyable reading through them again years later. Wikipedia's non-spoiler summary describes:

The story revolves around five humans, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias, and one alien, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill (nicknamed Ax), who obtain the ability to morph into any animal they touch. Naming themselves "Animorphs" (a portmanteau of "animal morphers") they use their ability to battle a secret alien infiltration of Earth.

Obviously, there are drawbacks to reading a series aimed at children as an adult. The prose, for example, is extremely clunky, especially compared to my usual fare. I can definitely see continuity errors and books that were pretty obviously ghost-written. Other aspects are definitely aimed at kids. Playing fast and loose with science and technology is bound to grate on more mature readers. The universe itself is pretty fun, with faster-than-light space travel, using a proxy similar to Star War's "hyperspace", very physically interesting alien races, and of course, turning into animals.

At the same time, though, there are some things I can definitely appreciate in hindsight. The series is surprisingly dark and honest for being aimed at younger readers, dealing with horror, war, dehumanization, sanity, morality, innocence, loss of innocence, leadership, freedom and growing up as core motifs. Characters die, characters have to grapple with "how far is too far" when weighing options. Teenage protagonists become child soldiers and grapple with post-tramatic stress. The Animorph Universe is very much not split into good creatures and bad creatures, especially to the extent that it is a children's series. There are some pretty heavy things. A race of aliens modifying intelligence out of the genetics out of another race. I mean, definitely hand wavy and taking laughably huge artistic license with genetics, but also fascinating and more than a little weighty as a matter of plot. Another race of aliens who play [galaxy] police but do so in an incredibly imperialistic manner, and often show little regard for the actual welfare of the civilizations they're trying to help. And among the human characters we get difficult questions. How does war change people? Is there actually that much of a difference between predation and parasitism? Also, the writing. True, most of it is pretty simplistic. But there are a few gems that still resonate with an older audience. You get quote such as this:

"Humans are an odd species. They will proclaim a particular ethical and moral stance one day. And the next, they will proclaim an opposite stance with equal passion. When pressed, they explain such behavior as caused by different circumstances." 

In hindsight, I can see why this was one of the first books I read where I really cared about what happened to the characters and could imagine them being real people.

So here's to my first favorite series of books. First favorite extended plot, first cast of characters who made me emphasize and sometimes cry, first favorite ship (Rachel and Tobias, I'm looking at you), first fictional universe that immersed me, and first semi-mature series to frankly tackle complicated issues such as the nature of war and peace, PTSD, dystopia, loss of innocence, and morality, even in some capacity.

Thank you for being my gateway drug.