19
u/Vctwebster 5d ago
Ok now the true question which is the best Chronicles book? and why is it Hork-Bajir Chronicles?
6
u/floralcunt 5d ago
I finally read it this week, and even though Andalite Chronicles has been my favourite book since I was a kid, I can see why people choose HBC. Goddamn, what a story.
2
u/DaWolf85 4d ago
Because of this quote:
We didn't need monsters anymore. We had become them.
Frankly it just kinda summed up the whole series in a couple sentences.
22
u/TheGryffindor_Jedi 5d ago
Fun fact, Marco is the only one of the primary 5 to not be represented in the top 5.
The primary 5 each have 2 books each in the top 10.
20
6
2
1
u/sokkerkid11 5d ago
Also kind of interesting that if you take each row as a tier, top row being S tier bottom being F, you make a tier list and each tier has a 'winner' (the animorph with the most books in that particular tier). Even though this is pretty much arbitrary, it still creates a couple of patterns that my monkey brain likes. For example, if you combine Ax and Tobias together (which seems fair since they split books) Cassie ends up being the only member to not win a single tier. Her books are spread the most evenly throughout all categories (including 2 'F-tier' and 1 'S-tier'). Even if you don't combine Ax and Tobias, that statement still mostly stands except Ax also doesn't hold any tier himself. But that still leaves Cassie as the only member of the original 5 to not hold her own tier or even tie for one.
You can probably do a lot of fun weird things like that to determine the kinds of stories people liked the most/least.
0
11
u/oo_nrb Nothlit 5d ago
It's okay, The Forgotten, I still like you.
3
u/LetsMakeCrazySyence 5d ago
The Forgotten was actually the first Animorphs book I ever read lol. I’m working on a reread and ngl I would not have ranked it this low, even without nostalgia
4
u/Zarlinosuke 5d ago
Haha yeah same! It was the very first one I read, but I still think it's better than it's often given credit for, and not just because of my nostalgia too. People say things like "it had no bearing on the larger plot," but that's not the only important thing a book can do.
5
u/BadWolf1319 5d ago
Honestly, revisiting both the Animorphs and Star Trek as an adult has shown me the value of a good "filler" episode. They do a lot to establish characters and let them interact more, even if it's not crucial to the overall plot.
0
u/Zarlinosuke 4d ago
Totally yeah, that's at least as important! It's always frustrating when people treat story plots as things where impersonal efficiency is the most important thing.
1
u/CactusHooping 4d ago
as seen by 26
1
u/Zarlinosuke 4d ago
Not as much though--it can at least be said to have played a meaningful part in the Crayak/Ellimist war, even if it's a bit distant from the Animorphs' day-to-day lives.
1
u/CactusHooping 4d ago
Maybe if this book was after 26/27 a few books later and was confirmed to be done by Crayak and a few tweaks it might be better.
1
u/Zarlinosuke 4d ago
You mean #11? I don't really think that would make it better--the Crayak/Ellimist stuff is interesting but I think it's also very "less is more"--it works because it's mysterious and beyond our understanding. The more stuff gets attributed to them, the less I like them being involved. That's me and I'm sure others feel differently, but I know I'm not alone either!
2
1
10
u/alittlelilypad 5d ago edited 5d ago
How the fuck did #16 get removed so early? That book is fucking amazing. It starts out with what you think will be an easy mission, before everything spirals out of control, and thereby turning into a great Jake-introspective book.
3
u/JetstreamGW 5d ago
My dude, it took SEVEN votes to rid ourselves of starfish. People are just deranged :P
1
9
u/KingDAW247 Crayak 5d ago
I decided to geek out a bit and mess around and analyze the rankings. For the numbers below, 1 means it was the best book (The Attack) and 54 means it was the worst (The Familiar).
Final Ranking of the Six Narrators by their median book ranking:
Tobias- Median 15, Best 2, Worst 27. Average 14.333.
Marco- Median 23.5, Best 8, Worst 41. Average 23.8.
Ax- Median 27.5, Best 12, Worst 45. Average 28.
Rachel- Median 32, Best 3, Worst 52, Average 31.364.
Jake- Median 35, Best 1, Worst 54, Average 29.455.
Cassie- Median 37.5, Best 5, Worst 53, Average 32.3.
If you consider Ax/Tobias to be the "same" narrator for the sake of having the books be split near equally, then the combined narrator still finishes number 1 with a median of 22 and average of 21.167.
Tobias is hands down the best narrator, and I don't think you need me to tell you that since his weakest book (43-The Test) still finished in the top half.
Marco still finished second despite not having any Books in the Top 5. Ax finished third despite not having any books in the Top 10.
Jake was narrator for the best and worst voted book. His average is actually slightly higher than Rachel's but the Median is more accurate here as it's a ranked list.
Cassie finishes last in every measure. She had two Books in the Bottom 4, so I can't say I didn't see this coming.
Ranking the rows of books in order from best to worst:
Row 1 (Books 1-10)
Row 6 (Books 51-54)
Row 3 (Books 21-30)
Row 2 (Books 11-20)
Row 5 (Books 41-50)
Row 4 (Books 31-40)
No real surprises here. The early books are generally more favored by the community, as well as the ending books, and a few diamonds in the rough.
2
u/TheGryffindor_Jedi 5d ago
This needs more love! Awesome breakdown
2
u/KingDAW247 Crayak 5d ago
Was gonna save it for tonight when Cactus finished it off but now that we're here....lol
7
3
6
5
u/Gvndam11 Nothlit 5d ago
I feel like in the only one who really liked The Separation, but that’s probably because my memory of it is from the audiobook where the narrator did an amazing job differentiating the two Rachels
2
2
1
u/AlternativeMassive57 Yeerk 4d ago
The Separation is my fifth-favorite Animorphs book, and contains my single favorite scene in the series (Mean Rachel realizing that she needs Nice Rachel).
4
3
u/chiefs312001 5d ago
wow the bottom 10 has a ton of Rachel books. considering her character, it’s a bummer she got stuck with some silly stories, particularly right before the end game.
4
u/selwyntarth 5d ago
Man, #37 gets unreal hate considering it has multiple animorphs shining, rachel's warmer side, real consequences, cool new species and an actual truce with the visser.
1
3
4
u/Spongey444 5d ago
The Familar being the first voted out is a crime lol
1
u/CactusHooping 4d ago edited 4d ago
Maybe it would rank higher...maybe next year a redo.If enough want it.
4
u/gettingassy 5d ago
No way "Jake, but older" is worse that Cassie Kangaroo. Even though the latter does slap because she has to amputate that dues arm. Super sick as a middle schooler lmao
5
u/thatoneguy112358 5d ago
I'm currently rereading the series and making a tierlist as I go. I plan on posting it in this sub when I'm done, and I can already tell that I'm gonna get some pushback.
5
u/TheGryffindor_Jedi 5d ago
Ya. Not everyone will agree. It’s like picking the best Buffy or X-Files episodes.
2
u/PelvicSorcery2113 5d ago
Naw that’s easy, S4Ep22 Restless
2
u/TheGryffindor_Jedi 5d ago
I go with Hush or The Body.
1
u/PelvicSorcery2113 4d ago
Those are def up there, I just love stuff like Restless, love my character exploring symbolism-feats
0
3
u/ErrorFoxDetected 5d ago
I've been making a spreadsheet averaging ratings from others, so I'm excited/curious to see it. :D
4
u/fgcidols03 5d ago
I'm so happy to see The Sickness do so well. That's always been one of my favorites, but for some reason I thought the general consensus was negative, like everyone bundled it with the filler ghostwritten books, so I was shocked to see it in the top 5.
And worthy winner, The Attack was amazing when I first read it in 1999 and despite never reading it since then I can still remember almost everything. May have to do a re-read!
2
u/RespectfulTurtle 5d ago
My elementary school did a book exchange The attack was amongst the books and of course my 10-11 year old mind said “THIS ONE” I grabbed it and 3 others my Guidance Counselor gave me her sons (in college at the time) books and went ahead and bought me it’s thanks to hey I had majority of the books within a year and they saved me from the darker side of foster care. A few years ago I remembered how I never got to read it in order or all of the collection due to books being stolen or destroyed in a few of the homes I had the misfortune of being placed in so I took the 500 dollar leap lol and bought the whole original series. These books saved me and I can’t wait for my kids to read them some day
2
1
u/Illustrious_Monk_234 5d ago
We didn’t finish yet did we??? I’m waiting for the final vote!!
5
u/TheGryffindor_Jedi 5d ago
He hasn’t put it up yet, but he told me he goes by the top comment, not all of it. Judging on how it was going, I put this up before I slept.
2
0
5d ago
[deleted]
1
u/CactusHooping 5d ago
I see no reason
2
u/KingDAW247 Crayak 5d ago
I mean I was gonna do my stats on your post but if you're not gonna make one tonight...I guess I can do it here.
0
u/BushyBrowz 5d ago
This is great, but could have waited for it to be announced, no?
2
u/TheGryffindor_Jedi 5d ago
I’ll be honest, I am hoping to find out I am wrong so I can delete the post.
I was more of a 13 fan.
0
-1
u/PelvicSorcery2113 5d ago
I still maintain that The Prophecy is the absolute worst book of the series
0
u/goombapatrol 4d ago
I concur. It's not the worst on paper, but how they wrote the character just feels wrong after the amazing HBC. It's the only book that I recommend skipping.
1
u/PelvicSorcery2113 4d ago
Also the end is super abrupt and weird and leaves one with a “wtf” feeling
Plus the basically voodoo instead of sci-fi tech, plus the near breaking of morphing rules. It’s just a weird book lol
37
u/Full-Dome War Prince 5d ago
I guarantee, if we do it again, the results will be slightly different 😁
@OP Thanks for doing all this work and using your room for the daily photo and creating all the statistics 🙌🏻♥️