Preamble

As Animorphs is a book series that is not very popular in France (and not fully translated), I made sure that the story could be read by someone who has never read the original books. If you don't know Animorphs, take this story as an original fiction about the relationship between a human teenager and an extraterrestrial parasite that has taken control of his body as part of a secret invasion of humanity (and while his little brother, with whom he was very close before the infestation, is secretly the leader of the resistance).

Yes, I know it sounds far-fetched when said like that, but I swear it's a cool story.

For the others, I didn't even try to be faithful to the canon (for that, I would have had to reread all 54 books of the series before writing this fanfic). But I think my changes are limited to these 3 points:

In the books, the war has lasted for about twenty years and involves armies that seem tiny (but this is only suggested, as the author remains quite vague on this subject). In my fanfic, the war has lasted for over a century and is explicitly described as a gigantic war with the proportions of the First World War for humans (but on a galactic scale).

In my fic, the Yeerks will have a version of the war different from the Andalites. In my fanfiction, the Yeerks do not see themselves as the villains of the story. This does not mean they are not, but unlike the Yeerks in the books, they have a moral sense similar to ours that forces them to justify their actions. As a result, the Yeerk government must resort to propaganda. I made this change because, as an adult in 2023, I cannot envision a war where one of the sides would explicitly claim to be an evil villain. Even the Nazis said they were only defending themselves. And if I can’t imagine it, then I can’t write it. And I find it more interesting that way.

In my universe at the beginning of the war, the Andalites invaded and razed the Yeerks' homeworld. They did not just stay in orbit and wait for the Yeerks to build a fleet large enough to repel them. The Yeerks are thus a species in exile that no longer has a homeworld. I made this change because I find it much more logical and it puts the Yeerks in a more precarious situation that helps justify the extreme behavior they have in the books. And it makes the behavior of the Yeerks who, like my main character (or Altran in the original books), eventually refuse to behave like the other Yeerks, all the more admirable.

If you wish to reread the original books, download links in English are available at this address:

epub animorph en anglais

The original author of Animorph explicitly gave their consent for the creation and free distribution by Animorph fans of this electronic version of their books. However, the company that currently holds the rights to Animorph has neither authorized nor prohibited this distribution. In the meantime, let's say it's legal and since the books are not available in France through traditional channels, I am therefore allowing myself to share this link here.

If one day the company holding the rights decides to come forward and prohibit its distribution, then the Reddit post will be deleted and this link will be dead. But it has existed for years, so I'm not too worried.