Transformers: Exiles

[Dominic]

Transformers: Exiles
by Alex Irvine

Got it over the weekend. Rather than posting a full review, I am just going to post random thoughts as I go through. If anybody had any plot points they are curious about, let me know and I will account for them as best as I can.

The book is only available in paperback, which is annoying because I almost feel obligated to go find a paperback copy of "Exodus". (It also means that I might have to get a second copy of "Exiles" if my current copy does not hold up well to being read.)

Okay, the book itself....

I have read about 20 pages. The Matris is a magical McGuffin, which is bothersome though somewhat expected. A good many events are implied to have happened between the previous book and this one. Any reasonably intelligent adult could probably work out the details, but some fans will probably complain about not seeing every little detail.

There is a healthy amount of world-building in the first 20 pages, and it largley avoids reading like a hastily re-edited sourcebook entry. Of course, the first 20 pages are a hard thing to judge an entire book by. (And, the first 3 or 4 chapters worth of "Exodus" were much stronger than the rest of the book. 20 pages is really not much to call "Exiles" on.)


Dom
-oh, and the Autobots find Velocitron.

[Onslaught Six]

Yeah, the Velocitron and Junkion bits are kind of mildly interesting to me, and then there's all the Thirteen stuff which I assume is going to be Very Important.

[Dominic]

I hope to get a bit more read in the next few days. I can keep you posted. I know that Detritus shows up because I flipped ahead.


Dom

[Dominic]

Read a bit more.

One of the sentences from the introduction of Velocitron is.....(I swear that I am not making this up, "Velocitron!"

Yeah, the sentence consists of the planet's name followed by an exclamation point. it looks like a damned five year old wrote it. There is also at least one instance of "character just appear for not reason other than they might have shown up in an original draft".

There are some good moments, most Prime's and Prowl's reflections on the planet. So far, it seems that Irvine is dispensing with the tedious "misunderstanding" phase of character introductions and is setting up Velocitron is not being able to offer much practical help to Optimus and co. (Of course, I am still only ~30 pages or so in....)


So far, it looks like "Exiles" is going to be marred by small, foolish and wholly avoidable problems. (To be fair though, that sort of thing is becoming more common in the genre, so the novel is still up to "standard".)

[Onslaught Six]

I've read some things from the Wiki.

If it's half as bad as the summaries for it then this becomes quite the trainwreck and I'm not going to spoil things for you.

[Dominic]

Is it "Keepers Trilogy" bad, or "bad sci-fi novel" bad?

I am actually pretty unhappy with it so far, as I have been waiting for most of my adult life for a good TF novel. (The "Legend" anthology is the closest that we are likely to get.....)



Dom
-off to the wiki now....

[Onslaught Six]

In the words of Prowl last night, "Original Thirteen do not steal!"

[Shockwave]

I didn't think Exodus was too terrible (or maybe I thought that because I was expecting exceptionally bad writing from having read Dom's reviews). Yeah, there's a lot of world building but that was sort of the point of exodus and I would assume that at least part of the point of Exiles is to try and reconcile how things get from WFC to Prime, since these are all three supposed to be the same continuity (even though Exodus already directly contradicts the game).

[Dominic]

Even making allowances for inherent contradictions in a game, "Exodus" played fast and loose.

Read about 15 more pages or so last night. The race on Velocitron is much more readable than I thought it would be. (I was expecting the kind of grinding tedium that the quidditch matches in "Harry Potter" entailed. Instead, Irvine gives readers some insights in to Prime's way of thinking and operating.

Dom
-so far, it is better than at least one "Horus Heresy" novel.

[Dominic]

Sorry for the delay in updates. But, I have not been reading as much. And, there has not been much to write about regarding Velocitron.

In any case, Prime found the Star Saber along with the husk of an ancient Cybertronian. Previous iterations of the McGuffin are hand-waved as legends.

One thing that Irvine gets points for is that Velocitron was not an Edenic planet before Prime showed up. The world was far from perfect, which is a contrast to the genre-cliche where a perfect planet is destroyed by a conflict that the main characters brought with them.


Dom
-needs to get caught up on this book.