We finally see an enemy here the kids can't defeat easily and takes a lot of out-of-the-box thinking to get rid of, which is in a lot of ways a nice thing. It shows exactly why they're so successful at what they do, since Andalites and other alien species tend to be so set in a certain mindset that they can't find these subversive solutions to problems

It's also heartbreaking because we see a group that should be allies, not just reluctant allies in the "enemy of my enemy" way, dismiss and try and override the kids no matter how much more experience they have in these matters

And in a lot of ways this is the first time that "aura" of pure (if somewhat arrogant) good of the Andalites is cracked; the incident in book 18 can be deemed isolated, but here's an entire team with the sanction of the Andalite military who are basically pompous assholes

And it hurts even more because Ax was so happy to reconnect with his people, and he was happy getting close to Estrid and showing her around and teaching her about Earth. For almost the first time we got to see him as just a "teen" himself, not a warrior in a never-ending battle, and him not getting to enjoy that for more than a few pages is heartbreaking

What sort of thoughts do you all have on this book? It's one of the heavier ones and one of the ones that really starts setting up for the end of the series in a lot of ways, so we'd love to hear what you have to say!