In the Time of Dinosaurs (Megamorphs)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Animorphs Books | |
 |
|
| In the Time of Dinosaurs | |
|---|---|
| Narrator | Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, and Ax |
| Number | Megamorphs #2 |
| Release date | May 1998 |
| Cover art | The eyes of each character in morph, with their respective animal patterns around them |
| Author | K. A. Applegate |
| Illustrator | David B. Mattingly |
| Pages | 229 |
| Preceded by | The Decision |
| Followed by | The Departure |
Megamorphs #2: In the Time of Dinosaurs is the second book in the Megamorphs series, a spinoff of the Animorphs series. With respect to continuity, it takes place between #18: The Decision and #19: The Departure.
[edit] Plot Summary
When Marco sees a news report about a downed submarine, he and the other Animorphs set out to find it. When the warheads in the submarine detonate, however, the group finds themselves transported through time, to the era of dinosaurs. Rachel and Tobias are eaten by a kronosaurus and believed dead. The other Animorphs make their way to land, where they encounter a number of dinosaurs, including the tyrannosaurus rex, which attempts to eat Jake. Jake morphs while inside the beast, injuring it and causing it to spit him out, but not before the other three Animorphs acquire it.
Tobias and Rachel, meanwhile had escaped from the kronosaurus, and make their own way to land. Tobias' wing has been broken and was unable to be healed by morphing, most likely as a result of the time travel. The two of them have a run in with a pack of deinonychus, but both manage to acquire the pack's leader and escape. Later they encountered by a vicious alien race known as the Nesk, who attempt to kill Rachel and Tobias.
The six Animorphs find themselves reunited above a large canyon with an artificial city at its bottom. After investigating it, they are welcomed by an alien race known as the Mercora, who had fled their own planet and intend on making Earth their new home. However, they are at war with the Nesk, and do not have the technology to help the Animorphs return to their own time. The Nesk, however, do - so the Animorphs storm the Nesk's camp in order to steal a warhead to recreate the explosion that sent them into the past. The Nesk angrily flee Earth, but divert the path of a nearby comet towards the planet. The Mercora respectfully ask the Animorphs to surrender their warhead, and Tobias agrees to let them have it - however, realizing that the Mercora must have died in the explosion as they are not a current part of Earth, he tells Ax to render it useless. The Animorphs escape back into the ocean, and the force of the comet propels them back to their own time.
[edit] Morphs
- Jake: tyrannosaurus rex (can no longer morph)
- Rachel: deinonychus (can no longer morph)
- Tobias: deinonychus (can no longer morph)
- Cassie: tyrannosaurus rex (can no longer morph)
- Marco: tyrannosaurus rex (can no longer morph)
- Ax: bottlenose dolphin, tyrannosaurus rex (can no longer morph)
[edit] Trivia
- There are seven alternate versions of the cover of this book. The first six had the same front cover, though in different colours, with one of the six characters shown on the inside cover. Jake (purple) is shown half-morphed to jaguar, Rachel (green) is shown half-morphed to bear, Tobias (blue) is shown as a hawk, Cassie (blue) is shown half-morphed to wolf, Marco (red) is shown half-morphed to spider and Ax (yellow) is shown in his natural form. A seventh alternative had a multi-coloured front cover, with all six morphing pictures combined on the inside cover.
- Several dinosaurs in this book actually existed in different areas and prehistoric eras, so K. A. Applegate added a note from Tobias, explaining that - within the context of the story - paleontologists are actually incorrect about these species.
