Animorphs #36: The Mutation Summary: Visser Three is still after the Pemalite ship discovered at the bottom of the ocean in #27. Jake and the others go underwater to stop them, apparently in orca whale morph, but they run across an underwater city and perhaps some mutated human beings which would explain this book's title.

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Note: #36 Book Guide kindly written for this site by Giulianna. I don't have this book, however she does, as well as an opinion or two . . .Giuli welcomes all praise, criticism, and death threats from N'SYNC fans.

Basic Plot Points:

• Jake is called at two in the morning by Cassie, who has some disturbing news: The Hork-Bajir are being mutated in order to become amphibious creatures. Why? Well...
• There's an underwater city called Nartec where sea-breathing humans are living in secret. If the Yeerks can't get at it, it's good-bye to their dreams of enslaving the ENTIRE human race. (Visser, Visser, he's our man! If he can't do it, no one can!! Gooooooo, Visser!!!!!!!)
• *ahem* Er, so anyway, the Fabulous Five are gonna need some serious deep-sea diving morphs. And don't say squid or whale. No, they're going for Keiko. Killer whales, as you can clearly see by the cover.
• Anywhoo, they go down there and what they find is shocking, disturbing, scary, and may have the result of you losing your lunch. Naturally, I'm not gonna tell you because I'm just evile that way. So NYUH! Also, it'd ruin the ending for you. Just a little note to make me seem a bit less evile...

Personality Developments:
:::blinks::: Per-son-a-lit-ee? Not in this book, man. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this one was about as 1-dimensional as a bad fanfic closely based on an episode of "Let's All Waste Our Budget!" (a.k.a. AniTV). Although my friend Violet, who unabashedly worships the ground Jake doesn't walk on, was pleased to see that he takes French like us. :::sigh::: Ah, Jake, nous avons vous aimé beaucoup, et vous avez brisé nos coeurs avec ce mauvais, mauvais livre! Well, anywhoo... I'd have to say there was about NADA personality development. I know I should be saving this for the 'Comments,' but I'm Giuli so that ain't gonna happen. I'll just say this: The Mutation had about the same amount of emotional drama as an episode of 'Malcolm in the Middle.' All I'm gonna say.

Notes:

• The freakish Queen tried to speak to our heroes in Chinese, Scandinavian, and German before she tried French. Hmph. You'd think she'da tried Italiano!
• On the cover, is it just me, or is Jake just disgustingly thin? I mean, either the Brave and Fearless Leader's developed an eating disorder or he's got more in common with my Cutter (a.k.a. Tam), Blood of Ten Chiefs than I originally thought. Heck, add on some pointy ears... he's already got the wolf blood in 'im!
• Cassie seemed more violent (or at least less sensitive) and Rachel was softer, nicer, even more hesitant. What's next, apes in the music biz? (Well, N'Sync...)

Unanswered Questions:

• How come my Harvey Danger CD always skips in the middle of Terminal Annex, no matter HOW carefully I hold the Discman?? Okay, well, I didn't find any unanswered questions in this book but, damn, I'd really like to know what's wrong with my copy of 'Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?'!!

Comments: Oooooh. :::cracks knuckles happily::: One more comment: This may have been a good book if it had been edited. It seems recently Animorphs is going the way of Goosebumps -- the editors aren't even checking to see if the books are good. They're Animorphs and they'll sell. It seems it's completely up to K.A. to edit and make sure she's churnin' out good stuff. About this book, the plot went too fast, giving me the impression of a rather bad fanfic. And that's all I have to say... about that...

Webmistress Comments [Julie again!]:
Kind of a shame; the book sounded so good, and I was disappointed I couldn't get it at first, at least not before #37 had been out a while (my bookstore is seriously messed up, I'm telling you . . .), but people I asked (yes, Giuli was one of them) urged me to skip #36 unless I had $5 to burn (which I hardly ever do) and just go onto #37 (which I was still, unfortunately, disappointed with, but that's another story). Well, the little bits from the book sound interesting. Genetic mutations, another race of humanity, a new Jake story, and of course, it's the newest of the underwater books, which are almost a category of Ani-books unto themselves. But, as I get rather bored with books with mostly action (if I'm in the mood for that, I'll read John Grisham, thank you) I guess it's better that I not try to get a summary and guide to it. After all, Giuli can certainly write a much more interesting summary of a book that she dislikes . . .