Book review
Written by Alan Dean Foster
Titan Books paperback
Release date Out now

NEST investigate a new Decepticon threat...

Dropping hints as to the state of the characters in the aftermath of the first Transformers film, Alan Dean Foster's story is an adventure novel that doesn't push at the boundaries of the Transformers universe as set up by Michael Bay's first movie, but uses it competently.

There are a few inconsistencies with other "official" outlets – NEST has yet a different meaning in this – but that's hardly surprising given the timeframes involved in their creation.

We don't meet Sam Witwicky, although his whereabouts are mentioned, which allows the other humans a chance to shine a bit more. As with any story that involves supra-human figures, whether it's superheroes or the metallic stars here, the danger is that the "ordinary" people get short shrift, but Foster is at pains to expand on his new human characters as much as the new Autobots and Decepticons.

We also see Agent Simmons once more, setting up his appearance in the movie sequel, and there are some other pieces of foreshadowing that would be a shame to spoil. Paul Simpson

VERDICT: 6/10
At its heart, it's a story about good robots that disguise themselves as modes of transport battling against evil robots that disguise (etc) – and frankly that's all most people will want.