The Mutation

Wasn’t one of the better storiesI did like that they introduced a new race into the Animorph world, and it was even cool that the Nartec were an Earth based civilization. How it was pulled off though is where it really missed the mark.That the Nartec, aka Blue Gills, have been around for what looks like centuries, and adapted to using the surface worlds level of technology in addition to their own was interesting. They obviously know enough on how to introduce new DNA, at a cellular level into their society, from breaking down people they have captured. That is much further then human science. I would have thought with that expanding level of knowledge and skills, they’d have realized that their advanced mutations had to be caused from their exposure to their own glowing rocks. Not that radiation really causes mutations in that way, but we can forego that in the name of science fiction.I would think some of their people would have splintered off, as they realize the radiation was potentially the cause of their race losing genetic viability. If the Animorphs figured this out so quickly, then the Nartec should already know. Maybe they have and there is another group of this race elsewhere in the oceans, and we will see them again. Still, they can breathe underwater, so there is no reason the entire civilization couldn’t move to another location. Maybe it wouldn’t be as secure, but with their tech level, I think they could create enough safety in a short amount of time.I liked the potential of the Nartec, but I think there were just too many holes in the story and plot. Even the interactions between the main characters seemed off. They were slow and missing any character development. If this had been a live action sequence, I would have called the actors out for ‘phoning in’ their performances. The author kept everything more on the surface without any depth. That they were going out to protect the Pemalite ship from a new Yeerk ship, yet there wasn’t even a dialogue between Jake and Eric or any of the Chee, except as a paraphrased utterance of telling us that they got the exact location of the ship from them. Wouldn’t the Chee also have been able to give the Animorphs more detail regarding the new Yeerk ship, at least in the abstract?Another missed step was not doing anything in regards to the modified Hork-Bajir. The free HB and the Animorphs were all rightly saddened and disgusted with what happened to these victims. But then their answer was to stop a ship that the Yeerk was building. Yes, that is an important piece, but wouldn’t the first have been to be sure that they stopped experimenting on the enslaved Hork-Bajir.That Visser Three hid aboard the ship while it was captured was very likely but a sloppy plot point. Yet the Animorphs didn’t give much, if any, thought into walking around the Nartec community in humanoid forms, while V3 was potentially around and might see them. Then the final ending was disappointing with massively lazy writing. They help each other to escape the Nartec caves, but magically have the option to allow for the ship to be destroyed after leaving the cave. Then the Animorphs risk exposure again as they morph from their animal forms back to human and then into shark and whale bodies. They have no idea the capabilities of the Luminarian beast, so it’s certainly feasible, even wet, it would see them as they morph.Finally, what is to stop the Yeerks from creating another ship, they have proof it works, as it only failed due to damage caused by the Animorphs. Hey can make another and be more careful, and the Nartec wouldn’t likely even bother them as they search for the Pemalite ship. The Animorphs have done nothing to stop the body modification experiments being preformed on the Hork-Bajir, so what is to stop the Yeerks from continuing this practice until they get it right. What do they tell the free HBs, except sorry for your loss and nothing we have done will stop this from continuing to happen.A sadly disappointing story that was poorly written. It had potential with the Nartec and the new Sea Blade ship. There was even potential in the intelligence mentioned in regards to the Orca morph, yet none of that was explored. Now that the Yeerk know of another race, tailor-made for underwater work, shouldn’t they go after them to turn them into controllers.