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Transformers Movie Tie-In Novels #1
Transformers
The official novel of the blockbuster film!
OUR WORLD. THEIR WAR.
They once lived on a distant planet, which was destroyed by the ravages of war–a war waged between the legions who worship chaos and those who follow freedom. In search of a powerful energy source that is essential to the survival of their race, they have now come to Earth. They are among us, silent, undetected, waiting to reveal themselves, for good or evil.
The Decepticons will stop at nothing to seize the coveted prize, even if it means the destruction of countless human lives. The only things standing in their way: the Autobots and a handful of determined men and women who realize that when it comes to this advanced race of machines, there is much more than meets the eye. With forces mounting for the ultimate showdown, the future of humankind hangs in the balance.
OUR WORLD. THEIR WAR.
They once lived on a distant planet, which was destroyed by the ravages of war–a war waged between the legions who worship chaos and those who follow freedom. In search of a powerful energy source that is essential to the survival of their race, they have now come to Earth. They are among us, silent, undetected, waiting to reveal themselves, for good or evil.
The Decepticons will stop at nothing to seize the coveted prize, even if it means the destruction of countless human lives. The only things standing in their way: the Autobots and a handful of determined men and women who realize that when it comes to this advanced race of machines, there is much more than meets the eye. With forces mounting for the ultimate showdown, the future of humankind hangs in the balance.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 29, 2007
65 people are currently reading
1253 people want to read
About the author
Alan Dean Foster
498 books2,033 followersBestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
December 19, 2013
I love the movie, well.... all three movies. Transformers was the best movie that i had ever saw. It was a movie that most families would love this movie. it bring everyone together and really action pack. Full of robots and monsters and even some hilarious parts.
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December 9, 2009I absolutely loved the film so when this book came out I had to buy it and read it. And I wasn't disappointed.
November 28, 2017
excellent movie very entertaining and with the best special effects I've seen and very good plot
June 16, 2018
I LOVE Transformers!!
September 14, 2017
You have to love transformers and I think everyone has their favorite. From another world to ours these incredible creatures with human qualities are in for a battle like no other. What a great book idea.
February 25, 2010
There is something about Alen Dean Foster's books that give me a luke-warm feeling. While I love the Transformers universe (and have been a huge fan since a child watching the G1 cartoon) this book fell a bit short in my eyes. It followed the movie very well, and the little tidbits that you miss in the movie made this book a nice companion piece to read.
However, the author has this way of building up to a huge scene, getting the reader all excited... and then somehow, either in his language choice or his writing style, has things going a touch bland for me. There were parts of this story that literally had me on the edge of my seat. The character developments were very well done. But as a whole, it wasn't something I would read cover to cover again.
I can honestly say that I was glad to have read it, though, and will recommend it to anyone that enjoys the TF universe. Would I pick it up as a stand-alone? Probably not.
However, the author has this way of building up to a huge scene, getting the reader all excited... and then somehow, either in his language choice or his writing style, has things going a touch bland for me. There were parts of this story that literally had me on the edge of my seat. The character developments were very well done. But as a whole, it wasn't something I would read cover to cover again.
I can honestly say that I was glad to have read it, though, and will recommend it to anyone that enjoys the TF universe. Would I pick it up as a stand-alone? Probably not.
July 16, 2012
I was a little surprised by the lack of depth to this book. Most books based on movies give you more insight into character and thought, etc, but this did very little of that. There were some changes from the movie that I thought was good. It did expound on the friendship between Sam and Miles more but not by much. It give a significant look into Maggie's life that the movie doesn't give you and I found that interesting. But amazingly, the movie actually provided more insight and background into the Transformers than the book provided. I don't know if he expected you to already know who these "bots" are or not, but there was very little into character development of the actual transformers. All-in-all, it was a good book and I would recommend it for the slight variations from the movie adaptation, but it doesn't fill any very many holes of the movie which I found disappointing.
January 4, 2013
I'll be honest, I actually was not expecting much from the books. After all the movies had borderline bad dialogue. I only enjoyed them because Peter Cullen reprised his role as Optimus and I loved seeing the characters again. At the same time I actually picked up the book that was an adaptation of the third book which was written by a different writer. As such I greatly enjoyed that book. This one however kept far to close to the movies and it's bad diagloue and even worse humor. It didn't have a good mix of serious and humor though it seemed to kind of try but just like the first two movies, failed miserably.
The writing was bad, the characters were bad (though no fault of the author) and over all just did not work in the least bit. If you enjoyed the movies you'll like the book but if you wanted something more serious then I would skip straight to the third book.
The writing was bad, the characters were bad (though no fault of the author) and over all just did not work in the least bit. If you enjoyed the movies you'll like the book but if you wanted something more serious then I would skip straight to the third book.
April 19, 2016
Being honest, I really do like Foster's writing and it's really what saves a lot of these adaptations for me. He's got a good grasp on characters and pacing, and the voices are good. Some things that I want to note are: Bee and Sam's relationship honestly is more the romantic core of the book than Sam's relationship with Mikayla, who while feeling more like a distinct character on her own is really muddled by the idealized picture that Sam's got of her and that really shows strongly here – more so than in the movie proper. For what it is, though, I enjoyed it at lot, though it still couldn't salvage that awful hacker/analyst subplot for me any more than the movie.
May 21, 2016
My son likes transformers I want to surprise
March 17, 2018
Alan Dean Foster is probably my favourite author of movie/TV tie-in novels and he does a good job bringing 'Transformers' alive.
September 17, 2020
It was an amazing book!
June 14, 2024
I started my Transformers fandom craze with the lead-up to the first Michael Bay film. While generally seen as CGI-ridden, blockbuster schlock, nostalgia and general good vibes has kept the film (and only the first film) and my thoughts on it alive and positive in my heart.
So after 17 years it's interesting, and entertaining, to read the film's novelization for the first time. Stated to be based on a screenplay, and admittingly a clearly earlier one, the book is surprising in not only being faithful to what occurs in the movie, but outright almost being a better take on the story. While the Transformers themselves are still fairly brief in their appearances and conversations, human characters are given more likable personalities and some more meaningful scenes, some with more positive, more human interactions that are much more appreciated than Bay's penchant for making his cast all jerkish. Gaps and less-than-explained background information are better filled in, like where the police car-masquerading-Decepticon Barricade disappeared to during the battle on the highway or why suspicions on the enemy's moves were so clearly lobbed towards other countries.
While I still enjoy the film in all its bombastic glory, this makes for a surprisingly good companion piece to see how the same story can be retold.
So after 17 years it's interesting, and entertaining, to read the film's novelization for the first time. Stated to be based on a screenplay, and admittingly a clearly earlier one, the book is surprising in not only being faithful to what occurs in the movie, but outright almost being a better take on the story. While the Transformers themselves are still fairly brief in their appearances and conversations, human characters are given more likable personalities and some more meaningful scenes, some with more positive, more human interactions that are much more appreciated than Bay's penchant for making his cast all jerkish. Gaps and less-than-explained background information are better filled in, like where the police car-masquerading-Decepticon Barricade disappeared to during the battle on the highway or why suspicions on the enemy's moves were so clearly lobbed towards other countries.
While I still enjoy the film in all its bombastic glory, this makes for a surprisingly good companion piece to see how the same story can be retold.
March 18, 2025
*4.54 Stars
Notes: I really appreciated how this novel was written. I read the book for what it was. I then was very thankful that I could. It vastly helped me when I got to have a good reading experience with the book.
This book was very much so worth it for me to read through. I honestly have high standards when it is anything related to transformers in a novel format - this book was very good. Optimus Prime and other characters such as Ratchet (a medic) got mentioned.
However, I have to add in that this novel can only fully be read through and really appreciated when there is prior knowledge to Transformers as a franchise. There are more than a few hundred of other transformers in the franchise that aren’t major main characters.
There are (more than some) similar scenes from the first movie that are directly written into the novel. There has to be an emotional tolerance for that to be read through.
Then, I think that this book is going to be okay enough to be recommended should someone have an interest level in it.
Notes: I really appreciated how this novel was written. I read the book for what it was. I then was very thankful that I could. It vastly helped me when I got to have a good reading experience with the book.
This book was very much so worth it for me to read through. I honestly have high standards when it is anything related to transformers in a novel format - this book was very good. Optimus Prime and other characters such as Ratchet (a medic) got mentioned.
However, I have to add in that this novel can only fully be read through and really appreciated when there is prior knowledge to Transformers as a franchise. There are more than a few hundred of other transformers in the franchise that aren’t major main characters.
There are (more than some) similar scenes from the first movie that are directly written into the novel. There has to be an emotional tolerance for that to be read through.
Then, I think that this book is going to be okay enough to be recommended should someone have an interest level in it.
December 14, 2024
Great Book
This book was a very close adaptation of the movie. I only noticed a few places where the scene was slightly different from the movie. The action was non stop and moved very quickly. The differences were very minimal and did not take away from the story. In some ways it was better. Sam's parents were not as ditzy as they were in the movie, and although the panic was mentioned, as related to the characters, it was not as over the top as it was played in the movie. I thought the book was very well written and I highly recommend it.
This book was a very close adaptation of the movie. I only noticed a few places where the scene was slightly different from the movie. The action was non stop and moved very quickly. The differences were very minimal and did not take away from the story. In some ways it was better. Sam's parents were not as ditzy as they were in the movie, and although the panic was mentioned, as related to the characters, it was not as over the top as it was played in the movie. I thought the book was very well written and I highly recommend it.
February 17, 2019
A quick and easy read, it's essentially the screenplay put into novelization form. So that being said it has some details missing but if you've seen the movie you can already picture it, this doesn't help the book as a standalone. It jumps through times and characters, you don't really get to know anyone too well. I got this book hoping it would be a nice addition to the movie but it doesn't add anything new.
August 17, 2019
Look, I'm a big fan of the Michael Bay films and I don't need much from a movie tie-in book, either. But I've never seen anything quite like this novel, a story that makes giant warmongering robots sound so boring and pedestrian. I can understand that translating the mind-bending spectacle of robot transformations and titanic brawls from screen to the page could be a difficult task, but it feels like Foster didn't even try.
September 12, 2017
It was a good film to book adaptation, and enjoyed some parts of the story but it did lack the excitement and tension of the action scenes from the film and some of the humour as well, but overall it did expand more of the actual story with the motivations of both the transformers and the humans.
I do recommend this but it is not really worth keeping.
I do recommend this but it is not really worth keeping.
June 13, 2017
I love all the Transformers movies in having it in the book is really awesome because it explains things and much better detail and it has a lot more action that the movie didn't have. I give this five stars because it was very descriptive amd a chalange for me.
July 13, 2022
An actual novelization of the 2007 Transformers movie, it does a fairly decent job of turning the film into a book. A few minor details are changed around but it still works well enough. Solid book but there isn't really a reason to prefer it
September 27, 2022
Enjoyable book. It does follow quite a bit of the screenplay, however there are some differences which makes it fun to read. I enjoy reading the back stories of characters and the emotions the Autobots feel while on Earth.
August 4, 2025
This was a fun, fast-paced, multidimensional novelisation of the film. I enjoyed all of the added detail and tidbits to the characters to further complete background knowledge and simple things that get cut on movie room floors.
December 3, 2020
good book
May 25, 2021
This book did what it set out to do and then did it well. Writing is simple, clean, funny, and fast-paced. Absolute thrill to read especially as someone who loves the movie. Easy five stars.
January 25, 2022
The movie, does not do this story justice the way written form does. Underrated. Love it even more.
September 5, 2022
“No sacrifice, no victory”
October 3, 2022
In quite a few ways, I prefer this to how the movie played out.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews