Customer Reviews

Hardwired (Transformers, Book 1)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

okay, this story took off rather fast and it was kind of compicated. then there were other side stories that could have been left out but needed them to explain how powerful Soundwave and Starscream really are. other than all the type-o's this book didn't make sense. is the story line taking off from the comics or the show? from the comics then, does it happen before vol. 2? a timeline would have been nice. thats why i gave it a 3, uknown timeline and a choppy story. maybe the next two books will set this "foundation" straight.

This is a really cool book. Sure it has violence, sexual themes and typos here and there but other than that it's one of the greatest books I've ever read. The best part about it is it builds the characters to a level rarely seen in the comics or TV. I can't wait to get the 2nd and 3rd books.

I am all for The Transformers being brought into the adult realm of Sci Fi Novels. Its perfect science fiction. Now it isnt the greatest book i have ever read but Its a great start. Hopefully after this trilogy more TF novels will come out. Sex, Gore, Violence. etc.. are all parts of the book but it just sums up the adult theme. I for one, will be glad to have less human interaction in future TF novels, and focus more on the charecters.. As we get a glimpse of classic charecters personalities. Soundwave, Starscream, Megatron, Grimlock, Optimus Prime, and a few more..are among the main Tf's involved. I personally found the Soundwave and Starscream alliance interesting..since this plays into the Dreamwave universe. Well have fun reading this one, I did.

A great book to read but lacking in the proofing department. I have not read many books but the ones I have read don't make these kinds of mistakes. There are quite a few although they do not necessarily take away from the story. This story picks up shortly after the G1 volume one comic and ties in some of the gap between volume one and volume two. It also gives some explanations as to the what and why of the volume one comic. I am writing vaguely but I don't want to ruin the story for anyone. All in all a great read. After years of not even thinking Transformers I get back into the series with great stories such as this. It is a little gory but seems like it is geared toward adults more so than children.

I was delighted to stumble across this book. A real-life Transformers novel. It should be cool. Then I started reading it. Everyone else has mentioned spelling and grammar errors, so I will not say anything more about that. My biggest beef with the book is the characterization.

Optimus sounds a lot like Rodimus Prime, whiny and doubting. After being in command of the Autobots for 4+ million years, Prime would not have these kinds of doubts. Prowl is supposed to be second in command, yet takes orders from Bumblebee. Prowl is also supposed to be a highly intelligent and logical warrior, yet comes across as an stupid oaf. Soundwave talks way too much. Sideswipe can actually fly with Air Force jets and then gets blown to bits by one shot from Devastator. Bluestreak gets some nice characterization, but then gets killed by Jazz. the Autobots I know and love would have found a way to escape and not not only kill each other, but not lead to human deaths as well.

And then there's some disparity with Transformer weapons. Devastator can disintigrate Sideswipe and an entire squadron of F-16s with one shot, while Starscream can navigate a dangerous canyon, yet F-15 pilots are inept and crash into walls like TIE fighters in an asteroid field. Prime can slice Megatron's arm off with one pass of his energon axe. There is no way the way would have lasted for so long if the Transformers were so brittle.

As a fan since the beginning of the U.S. Transformers toys, this is one novel to avoid. A pure stinker. And what was with putting the word "transform" in italics every time a robot converted to their alt form? We KNOW they transform, that's why we're reading it. DUH! Piece of literary garbage. Almost as bad as some of the current MechWarrior novels, but that's a different story.

Some very dodgy editing hurts this. Optimus Prime and Megatron are kidnapped by techo-organic space whale aliens.

What is the obvious thing they would do? Make them fight dinosaurs in an arena. First thing that comes to mind, isn't it?

Spike is dealing with cybernetic government spooks and honey trap girls on earth, and the Autobots and Decepticons end up fighting in big tacky casinos in Vegas, which is fun. Complete with Grimlock the dinobot.

Being a Transformers fan from the begining, I found that the book was awsome. I truley am into the original (or G1) Transformers, and thought the book brought them from their golden years and put them into "todays" events. I even liked how they threw in the human factor and made the story come more alive. I mean, big robots trampling all over the earth, how do normal humans feel about it.
I believe in stories to be great, there is not really a definite good or bad side. Everything has a mix, and the book brought that emotion out into the Transformers world. I, for one, am looking forward to the next two books, and hope that fuel is added to make this book come more to home than it already has.

Good Job, Scott Ciencin!!!!!

While it's true that there are a great number of grammatical errors, the story is well-paced and full of surprises. I didn't like that a couple of well-known Transformers die over the course of the novel, but it was was still intriguing. My other complaint was that the personalities of the characters in the novel don't really match those of the mythology. For example, I always pictured Soundwave to be a stoic loyal soldier to the Decepticon cause; not a sadistic weakling who runs his mouth during combat. Despite all these flaws, I'll still check out Book 2.

Let me state right off the bat that I love Transformers in all of its incarnations, from G1 through Beast Wars up to the current line, Armada. I'm also an avid reader, and a fan of sci-fi franchise novels like Star Trek, Star Wars, and X-Files. So "Transfomers: Hardwired" seems like it would be right up my alley, right?

Well...not really, it seems. There are so many things wrong with this book, I couldn't possibly list them all under the 1,000 words alloted for this review. Here's a taste, though: (1) This book was not edited. The typos average about one PER PAGE from misued apostrophes to missing spaces, quote marks, and the occasional missing word. There are also many instances of switching tenses in the same sentence, and similar mistakes that would have been caught had this book been proof-read. But it obviously was not. (2) The Transformers characters are dull and uninteresting, for the most part. With so few characters actually appearing, you'd think the characterization would come through. But it doesn't. Prime and Megatron get some, and Bluestreak gets a little more. But that's about it. Besides Starscream, and perhaps Soundwave and Grimlock, the rest of the cast is virtually interchangeable. (3) The human characters are all very cliched and uninteresting. Franklin is the typical tough-guy gov't operative. Spike is your everyday angsty anti-hero hero. (4) The plot itself feels vaguely familiar, as if its many components have merely been rehashed from old TF comics and cartoons. (5) The "mature" feel the author tries to give the book is possibly the biggest letdown. The unnecessary profanity sounds weird and forced, especially coming out of the mouths of giant alien robots. And there's a large amount of pointless blood and gore that turned me off to the book practically from the get-go. It's also fairly disturbing how casually the author kills off Transformer characters -- especially since most of the "deaths" serve no real purpose, storywise.

On the positive side, it fits into the continuity of the current Transformers comics by Dreamwave. In fact, one of the book's best points is the characterizations of Prime and Megatron -- very much their DW comic selves, but expanded slightly. Also, Bluestreak gets quite possibly some of the best characterization he's EVER received. I also must admit that the last half of Hardwired is much better than the first. Though I found the first chapter or two to be very good, the next 150 pages or so turned me off so much that picking it up to read at night actually became quite a struggle. But the last half I actually {gasp!} enjoyed somewhat.

Still, the whole thing reads like a fairly weak fanfic. I'd give it a star and a half if I could, but I'll settle for rounding that score up to two.

The only reason this book even gets 2 stars is because I'm happy that there are finally Transformers books for adults. The thing is, this is quite possibly the worst book I've ever read. First off, there's a typo on every other page. And what's with all the blood and gore? I know this isn't for kids, but the level of violence in this book is pretty disgusting. The writing style is horrible--it's just about all exposition--much of which is boring and repetitve--and hardly any dialogue. And when the characters do talk, they aren't portrayed well. Bumblebee sounds like an idiot and Prowl is like an army grunt. I've been a Transformers fan for a long time, and I hope the next 2 books in this series will be better.