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The beginning of this novel starts with the manned expedition to the moon, but the real reason for doing so was hidden from the public gaze, wasn't televised and never talked about with the net result that it was considered top secret. The government were instead interested in finding out more of an alien ship that had crash landed on the planet. The story starts in the 60s with the scientists trying to find out what it all meant, and whether they could make any sense of what was buried under there.

Decades later, they are still no nearer to finding out what the ship is, but there is one thing they do know -- the Decepticons want it and badly, and that should be enough to get scientists motivated to discover what they have on their hands. They do know it must be important, so they set about bringing back Sentinel Prime, the Autobots leader in the hope he can shed some light on the matter.

The plot hearkens back to what happened in the previous movie, and in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, everything seems to have simmered down for the main protagonist, Sam who continues his life as if nothing had ever happened. Originally hailed a hero after helping defeat the Decepticons, he feels bored with his lot as he has to wake up to the fact he is just an ordinary kid who has to do ordinary things in life that don't involve robots who can talk. He has a new girl in his life, Carly who lives with him in his place in Washington D.C. He seems to take her for granted, and she must feel like she's a spare wheel in his existence. Sam needs to find a job, but every one he comes across bores the hell out of him as all he wants to do is work with the NEST team -- the ones he worked with when he and the Autobots kicked ass. Their commander blocks him working for them and he wonders why she is being so uptight when he's been hailed as a national hero and has a medal to prove it.

Without going too far into the story, it is good to say that Peter David shows how well he can take the plot and weave it into a blockbuster that will capture the imagination of millions.

Peter David stands as one of the best writers in science fiction and is famous for his novelizations of the Star Trek universe. He has a knack for bringing characters to life and creating worlds with vision in them, and bringing the characters into them with the greatest of ease. Readers will find he has done just that with his latest novel based on the movie franchise of Transformers. Many of us remember the 80s TV series where we were introduced to "robots in disguise," and found it the best thing since He-Man and She-Ra as it excited the young mind and entertained it for hours on end. Push forward twenty-five years and with the current technology we have now and the ability to bring it to life on screen. Bear in mind that thirty and forty year olds have been waiting to see the movie versions of this series since the idea was first floating around the internet, and it's great that the movies have lived up to the hype this series has got so far.

Peter David manages to show what the movie was like to watch, how the characters felt in any given situation. And even though it was hard to tell what went on in the previous movie, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, It wouldn't have been an easy translation for any writer to try and convey to the reader, so he did his best. For anyone who likes reading movie novelizations, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the story and general plotline before watching the movie -- that way you know what's coming and can enjoy it at your leisure. There is one thing Peter does convey very well, though, the creepy part where everyone realizes that the appliances they have in their homes have always been the enemy in disguise. He pulls off the eerie imagery and the shock value of the people's realization really well.

Sandra Scholes has enjoyed Transformers since she was a kid, and is delighted that the movies give a great salute to the series -- she writes for Active Anime, Love Romance Passion, Love Vampires and The Chronicles when she isn't worried about the Decepticon threat.