#alternamorphs 2

[emeraldmew]

I don't see how the player is at fault for Cassie getting fried by the Howlers, but I do see it as within Rachel's character to blame them - and to decide to nothlit them as a fly if they refuse to play ball after being given an ultimatum. Rachel's not losing her Cassie without someone paying for it.

[emeraldmew]

Rachel finally backs off. Retreats to a corner with her grief. Marco and Ax go after her. You can hear the three of them whispering but you can’t hear what they’re saying. You sit with your back against a wall and wait for Tobias and Jake to return. Erek sits silently a few yards off. You almost have the sense he is protecting you.

Jake lands next to where Cassie’s small form is laid out. He begins to grow out of his falcon form, to reemerge as human. As his human mouth forms, he lets out a scream filled with rage and grief that turns your stomach. Hours pass as Jake sits next to Cassie. The sun is going down when he calls you together. “I have a plan,” Jake announces.

Again, some surprisingly solid writing.

[emeraldmew]

You slam headfirst into a tree you never saw coming. You fall to the ground, knocked silly. An Iskoort is standing over you, staring down. <Call a member of the Embalmers Guild!> he calls. <I'm not dead yet,> you reply.

There really are some gems in Alternamorphs.

[emeraldmew]

Fun fact: when I read Alternamorphs 2 as a kid I didn't understand that the "Nice choice. Very nice choice." at the end of the button A scenario was meant to be one of the book's endings so I just went to the next page and ended up confused why I was being nothlited as a fly for saving Cassie.

[emeraldmew]

Sudden Ellimist!

And... he's pissed? The Ellimist is angry at "you" for disrupting space-time somehow?

That doesn't sound like our Ellimist.

[emeraldmew]

Alternamorphs 2 protagonist's morphs:

Horse

[emeraldmew]

Oh, we have choices other than which morph to use this time.

I'll admit the David gets infested timeline from David's 2nd person POV is pretty horrifying, if all too short (not in a I want David infested way but in a I want more Yeerk lore way).

[emeraldmew]

Its a shame that Alternamorphs 2 leaves such a bad taste in my mouth because there were faint glimmers of something that could have been interesting to follow up on.

Like, especially "you" watching while the Animorphs talk around you. We know why they do that. They're a codependent cohesive group and you've just stumbled in on the worst day of your life so far. Reading that from the perspective of the outsider is a neat take that I'd have loved to see expanded on if "you" weren't, you know, David. Or if you weren't just told by the book to shove off and leave the morphing to the pros.