It's Animorphing Time: Book 3 - The Encounter

The 3rd book is DARK

I was not ready for the existential dilemmas that The Encounter would throw my way. I had to keep reminding myself - this is a kid’s book? I read this AS A KID? 

Following the events of Book 2 where the team was relegated to breaking into a house, The Encounter steps out in the wilderness. Told from the POV of Tobias, the one Animorph stuck as a hawk forever, the reader gets insight into how he has been feeling this whole time. 

Another great opening where the team breaks out animals that are being held captive by a local used car salesman, Dealin’ Dan. Tobias swoops in to help uncage the birds Dan has and Rachel storms in as an elephant to cause chaos. She straight up STOMPS ON CARS - no wonder my generation became such animal rights activists. But Applegate took the intro to the 2nd book and dialed it up this time around with more destruction. Good stuff. 

The catalyst for this book is that Tobias is flying around, questioning his existence, until he sees some Geese fly into an invisible structure in the sky. Tobias knows it’s not just a coincidence and is concerned the Yeerks are up to their creepy tricks. 

He gets the team to go up into the mountains to follow where the structure touched down so they can do recon. The gang, except Tobias, turn into wolves. Cassie is the first one and she has to gain control of the animal side of her transformation. 

Cassie was now a wolf

“How is it?” Jake asked

Cassie jerked suddenly at the sound of his voice and spun around to face him. She bared her teeth and snarled a warning that would have made a Taxxon back up.

She had very impressive teeth. 

It’s a good scene that reminds the reader that the kids can’t just go in and out of morphs all willy-nilly. They are playing with their souls, consciousness, and very existence. 

After discovering the Yeerk ship in the woods and the Park Rangers who are under the alien’s control, the gang has to rush back to avoid going over the 2 hour mark. They just make it and due to the timing, they have to suffer through a “bad morph” where they have to focus harder than usual to get out of their animal bodies. 

<Ahhhh!> I heard Rachel cry in my mind. Her morph was going all wrong. Her human hands appeared at the end of her wolf legs. But nothing else seemed to be changing. 

I looked, horrified, at Marco. His normal head emerged with startling suddenness from his wolf body. But the rest of him had not changed. He looked down on himself and cried out in terror. 

Like holy hell, y’all! This was written for 10 year olds! 

The Animorphs come up with a plan to turn into fish and get sucked up into the Yeerk ship in order to disrupt from the inside. The ship pulls water from the lake at different intervals and they all figured they could get in that way. 

Then we have one of the more heartbreaking moments I’ve read thus far. 

After Tobias loses himself in a hawk-frenzy and eats a rat. He is overtaken with absolute dread and panic. This is following a scene where all the Animorphs go back to their daily lives to play DOOM or go to the mall and Tobias realizes he can never have that again. To be a kid. To play video games. So Tobias tries to kill himself. 

Flying fast as he can, he tries to smash himself into the side of the mall but is saved at the last minute by a bunch of convenient aids. It’s dark that this book even contemplates a character ending their life but this the 90s, y’all!!! 

The book ends with the team getting inside the ship as fish but Tobias actually grounds the ship by stealing a Taxxon laser and blowing the thing out of the sky. A hawk whipping around with a laser is good imagery. Visser Three is once again stopped and Tobias finds reassurance in his role on the team. He also finds more peace with being stuck as a hawk.

This entry felt more about character development than it did about the overall plot but I’m sure with as many titles as there are in the series, the plot will take a backseat at times.

Next month I will tackle Book 4: The Message.