An Un-Calibrated Centrifuge

The first two Chronicles (Andalite and Hork-Bajir) are some of the best books in the series. This time around I did notice some quirks that are leftover from when the parts were published as individual books (there's brief recapping at the beginning of parts two and three that's unnecessary when reading them straight through as one book). I didn't even notice this when I was a kid and it didn't bother me much now.

When I started my reread I was debating what order I should read the books in (I settled on published date), and I found some people recommend starting with The Andalite Chronicles. That might be fine for a reread, but if you're coming to the series fresh, I would recommend reading the books in order.

Questions and discussion under the cut.

Why is the dome ship named StarSword? Andalites are unlikely to have ever used swords since 1. their arms are weak and 2. they basically have built-in swords in their tailblades.

The Na description is funny when you get it (I didn't get it as a kid).

It's also funny that Ax thinks books are more practical than computers (and the invention of books before computers seems backwards to him) while Elfangor thinks they’re more primitive. 

There are a few moments here and there that pulled me out of Elfangor's head. Like when he's explaining Yeerk ranks by comparing them to colonels etc instead of Princes and War Princes (which would make more sense since he's an Andalite?). But on the whole I really like the way Applegate writes from the Andalite perspective.

ETA: Apparently Elfangor was the buffest Andalite ever. Also I'm not sure how I feel about Chapman's backstory. I think it contradicts what we know of him from The Visitor and I kind of liked that version of Chapman.