 Marco morphing into a hammerhead shark. | |
| Author | K. A. Applegate |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | David B. Mattingly |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Animorphs #15 |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
Publication date | January 1998 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 163 |
| ISBN | 0-590-49424-4 |
| OCLC | 38247159 |
| LC Class | CPB Box no. 1858 vol. 35 |
| Preceded by | The Unknown |
| Followed by | The Warning |
The Escape is the 15th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Marco. [1]
The book starts off with the four human Animorphs helping four parrots in a new mall cafe by telling the customers disgusting things about the cafe's food. After this, Marco's old acquaintance, Erek King, who was watching at the room's back, has some disturbing news about his mother, Eva (Visser One). She has returned to Earth, overseeing a Yeerk bio-weapons program to allow them to venture into deep waters; this is a requirement made by the Yeerk command for the invasion of Leera, a planet covered almost entirely by oceans. The research is conducted in the waters around Royan Island. The Animorphs infiltrate the facility, and discover that the Yeerks are trying to create super-intelligent sharks which can be infested and controlled, because in their natural state, the sharks' brains are not big enough. They decide to acquire hammerhead morphs. Marco accidentally reveals to the other Animorphs his fear of sharks. While scouting the waters off Royan Island, the Animorphs are captured by a computer while morphed as sharks. They have devices installed in them designed to bestow sentience on animals. The Animorphs then try to morph flies, but find they can no longer morph into small creatures because the devices are too large for small creatures' brains. They realize the only way to remove them is to destroy the facility, deciding to attempt to do so. During the ensuing battle, Marco reveals to Rachel and Ax that Visser One's host body is his mother, just as they were about to kill her. Visser Three storms in, angry that Visser One would do these experiments without his knowledge or consent, and they have an argument. Visser Three is about to eat Ax in a snake-like alien morph, but Rachel intervenes and grabs him by his wrist in bear morph, threatening to cut him in half. Because of this, Marco sees an opportunity and morphs into a gorilla, knocking out the Visser.
The Yeerks have just captured some new specimens of aquatic species - known as Leerans. The Leerans are capable of telepathy and limited mind-reading capacity, hence the Yeerks' attempts to endow the sharks with sentience - a secret invasion is impractical due to the Leeran mind-reading abilities. A possibly infested Leeran states to Visser One that Marco (still in gorilla morph) is human. Visser One, however, misunderstands and thinks it's saying that the morph is a human. Marco knocks the Leeran unconscious before it can explain what it meant. The Animorphs know that the Yeerks must be stopped before they can utilize two new powerful living weapons. They destroy the factory and escape unscathed.
Marco's mother may or may not be dead. She was unconscious when the flooding started, but a Leeran was seen swimming toward her and the Animorphs heard a torpedo being expulsed, which may have carried her to safety.
| Morpher | Morphs acquired | Morphs used |
|---|---|---|
| Jake | White parrot (likely a white cockatoo), hammerhead shark | Parrot, seagull, bottlenose dolphin, hammerhead shark, housefly (partially), Siberian tiger |
| Rachel | Yellow/orange parrot (likely a sun parakeet), hammerhead shark | Parrot, seagull, bottlenose dolphin, hammerhead shark, housefly (partially), grizzly bear |
| Tobias | Bottlenose dolphin, hammerhead shark | Human (himself), bottlenose dolphin, hammerhead shark |
| Cassie | Red parrot (possibly a red shining parrot), hammerhead shark | Parrot, seagull, bottlenose dolphin, hammerhead shark, housefly (partially), wolf |
| Marco | Green parrot (possibly a blue-fronted amazon), hammerhead shark | Parrot, seagull, bottlenose dolphin, hammerhead shark, housefly (partially), osprey, silverback gorilla |
| Ax | Seagull, hammerhead shark | Human (main), seagull, tiger shark, hammerhead shark, housefly (partially), northern harrier |
| Visser Three | -- | Unnamed Yellow Sea Serpent Creature |
The Invasion, published in 1996 and written by K. A. Applegate, is the first book in the Animorphs series. It is narrated by Jake.
The Visitor, published in 1996 and written by K. A. Applegate, is the second book in the Animorphs series. It is narrated by Rachel.
The Beginning is the 54th and final book in the Animorphs series. Unlike other Animorphs books in the main series, but similar to the Megamorphs, all characters conduct narration instead of just one.
The Message, published in 1996 and written by K. A. Applegate, is the fourth book in the Animorphs series. It is narrated by Cassie.
The Predator, published in 1996 and written by K. A. Applegate, is the fifth book in the Animorphs series. It is narrated by Marco.
The Capture, published in 1997 and written by K. A. Applegate, is the sixth book in the Animorphs series. It is narrated by Jake. The Capture was re-released by Scholastic in March 2012.
The Stranger is the seventh book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Rachel.
The Alien is the eighth book in the Animorphs series, written by K. A. Applegate. It is the first book narrated by Ax.
Megamorphs #4: Back to Before is the fourth and final book in the Megamorphs series, a spinoff of the Animorphs series. With respect to the continuity in the Animorphs books, it takes place between The Other (#40) and The Familiar (#41).
The Change is the 13th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Tobias.
The Unknown is the fourteenth book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Cassie.
The Decision is the 18th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Ax.
The Discovery is the 20th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Marco. It is the first book in the David trilogy.
The Threat is the 21st book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Jake. It is the second book in the David trilogy.
The Solution is the 22nd book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate, published first on January 1, 1998, and then released in October 1998. The book is narrated by Rachel. It is the last book in the David trilogy.
The Sickness is the 29th book in the Animorphs series, authored by K. A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Melinda Metz. It is narrated by a character named Cassie.
The Sacrifice is the 52nd book in the Animorphs series, written by K. A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Kim Morris. It is the final book to be (fully) narrated by Ax.
The Revelation is the 45th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Ellen Geroux. It is the first book in the ten-book arc that finalized the story of the Animorphs. It is narrated by Marco.
The Diversion, published in 2001 and written by K. A. Applegate, is the 49th book in the Animorphs series. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Lisa Harkrader. It is the final book (fully) narrated by Tobias.
Animorphs is a science fantasy series of young adult books written by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, writing together under the name K. A. Applegate, and published by Scholastic. It is told in first person, with all six main characters taking turns narrating the books through their own perspectives. Horror, war, dehumanization, sanity, morality, innocence, leadership, freedom, family, and growing up are the core themes of the series.
