The Message (1996)

Do You like book The Message (1996)?

Still not liking the new re-release covers. Also, I miss having the little morph in the bottom corner that you could animate by flipping.This volume has the first example I've noticed of the re-release "updating" technology.(view spoiler)["Rachel," Jake interrupted, "I think I have something that may be interesting." He pulled a videocasette out of his bag."Cool. A piece of prehistoric technology," Marco said."Not everybody has DVR," Jake said. "I guess no one else watched the late news last night?" (...) "Rachel, can we go downstairs and use your mom's old VCR?"Also later it mentions them using the internet to look something up, which probably wasn't commonly used by kids in 1996 when this book first came out. Honestly, I think it's more likely that, if they were going to update to the technology kids would "typically" use, they probably would have been using the internet to view the video clip as well. (hide spoiler)]
—Katie

In The Message it was time for Cassie to narrate. From what we gather from the previous books, Cassie loves animals and conveniently, her parents are vets and they have a farm and wildlife rehabilitation clinic which greatly assist the Animorphs in obtaining DNA for their morphs. The books starts when Cassie and Tobias have both been dreaming of the sea and they feel someone out there is asking for help; they think it may possibly be an Andalite. The Animorphs decide to scoop out the sea with dolphin morphs. It was quite exciting to explore the ocean and reading about whales, sharks and dolphins. The Animorphs notice Yeerk ships are also scouring the sea. The plot in this book was not as eventful and the showdown with Visser Three was not as exciting as the previous books. This was partly made up for with the introduction of Ax, Prince Elfangor's brother, who brings additional hope for Earth (and some humour surrounding his human morph!) . I would go far as to say Ax stole the show in his brief appearance. I guess Cassie was not too interesting because she didn't have some conflict set up for her. There are hints of something between Jake and Cassie but this was not as captivating as what is shared between Rachel and Tobias. I felt like I didn't find out much about Cassie that I didn't already know from the descriptions already given by Jake, Rachel and Tobias. Overall, still an enjoyable read.
—Noella

The fourth book sees the introduction of a new character. This is largely a plotty book, rather than character development, this time, though Cassie does struggle with a couple of ethical questions. They don't seem quite convincing to me -- but it makes sense that she does ask questions, so it didn't bother me too much. It was nice to read a book in which the morphing is mostly fun and playful, and in which all of earth seems to join in on the side against the Yeerks. It's a little too touchy-feely, but with Cassie as the narrator, it's okay. She isn't really my favourite character, so that's probably why I liked this book a little less.One thing that does get tiresome is the formula for the very first chapter. They state their names, tell you they can't tell you a lot of stuff, reintroduce morphing... I can see why, it allows people to join in mid-series, but at the same time, it gets irritating, especially when you're reading the books all at once.
—Nikki