The Prophecy (Animorphs #34) - Katherine Applegate
Brought to you by The Moonlight Library!An Arn has come to Earth to offer the Hork-Bajir a way to fight the Yeerks and retake their home planet. It requires someone to take on the ixcila – the essence, or spirit – of Aldrea, the lonely Andalite-turned Hork-Bajir rebel leader of the Hork-Bajir Chronicles, and the great-grandmother of the Earth Hork-Bajir leader, Toby. Everyone thinks she’ll pick Rachel. She chooses Cassie.This is basically the sequel the Hork-Bajir Chronicles deserved and never got.I love this book so much it hurts. Half of it takes place on the Hork-Bajir homeworld, and my only quibble is that I would have loved to have been able to spend more time with Cassie as she explored this beautiful, broken planet. The Animorphs didn’t have time for that, so we didn’t get to see it, but I bet Cassie would have loved to explore all the new trees and animals.I love Aldrea’s story: I’ve always found the romance in being the last of one’s kind, the loneliness and angst, and cross-species romance (like Elfangor and Loren). I love how Cassie thinks herself inferior to Rachel and even Toby, and it comes as a huge surprise when strong-willed, violent, manipulative, natural leader Aldrea chooses pacifist Cassie as her vessel. I love how Aldrea constantly thinks of herself as a Hork-Bajir, yet still can’t shake the superiority of Andalites. I love how Aldrea loves Dak and her son Seerow, and her flashbacks and nightmares are bittersweet because I’ve always thought Dak was pretty awesome, and it’s so sad that everyone’s dead.What else is amazing is that once again Cassie’s morphing talent is a major plot point – she has to pull off the most impossible morph challenge ever in mid-air, and she’s strong enough to push back Aldrea’s will when the scared Andalite tries to take over. Cassie always underestimates how strong she is, and when it comes to morphing, she always proves it. Again, Cassie is forced into a leadership position she neither wants not really knows how to handle, but she is always successful with her approach and ends up saving the day.If you read the Hork-Bajir Chronicles, this is essential reading. If not, it’s kind of a moo point (a cow’s opinion doesn’t matter, therefore it’s ‘moo’). The point of this book is to distract the Yeerks from Earth, so it doesn’t really move the overarching plot forwards. The Yeerks will still be there when the Animorphs return to Earth.