Transformers has never really been known for great prose literature – after all, it’s difficult to translate the visual nature of the concept of transforming robots into mere words. Sure, you could describe them at length – but that would come at the cost of the pace of the action.
In any case, many people learn about vehicles and their inner workings from Transformers – so once again, the visuals are an important element of the story.
So anyway, back to “The Covenant of Primus”. In terms of continuity, it’s supposed to reside in the Transformers: Prime (or Aligned, if you’d prefer that moniker) universe. The book tells the tale of how the Transformers came to be, the turbulent relationships between the Original Thirteen Transformers, and the subsequent wars and events that plagued the poor Transformers.
The packaging for this is amazing. It comes in a beautifully designed box, and the book itself is ensconced in a transforming Autobot crest. I’m not entirely sure whether to classify this as a toy or a book, but purposes of categorization I’m calling this a book review.
The title is a reference to the religious text of the Transformers, which was thus named in Beast Wars when Megatron found a copy of it and started quoting from it. I’m not entirely sure why their scripture is not hardcoded into their memories, since, well… it is text. But okay I’m not going to quibble about the format of fictitious holy books.
Story-wise, it’s great to finally have some sort of narrative regarding the Thirteen, as well as some basic characterization for each of them. Details which have been teased in bios or other references are fleshed out here, and it’s no mean feat to put such a story together. Having some sort of history is better than none.
Alas, the tone of the book doesn’t quite fit the epic nature of the tale it tells. At times, it’s written like a retelling of a legend. But in many parts, especially when there’s dialogue, the book feels like a school composition with motes of over-description. The dialogue itself is… questionable and simplistic, but props to trying to give each character distinctive voicing.
It’s a matter of whether you can plough through the rough patches to get to the bits that are written better. The problem is that the good parts aren’t always enough to warrant wading through weirdly written prose. Perhaps there were some executive requirements when it came to writing the book, which resulted in the strange bits. Management level executives aren’t generally renowned for their literacy skill, the novel smacks of some sort of higher level meddling and insertion of ideas.
If you’re buying “The Covenant of Primus” as a collectible, you’ll be delighted to find that it comes with a bonus hardcover book as well. However, if you’re buying “The Covenant of Primus” for its literary merit, you’ll probably be more impressed by how it’s packaged. It’s an okay read, but perhaps more creative freedom and a greater degree of writing skill would have resulted in a book that was truly worthy of the title.
This is an original article on marcusgohmarcusgoh.com
Follow Marcus Goh (yes, referring to myself in third person) on Facebook and Instagram for more (presumably) good updates!
I’m an independent scriptwriter who’s written for popular shows like Lion Mums, Crimewatch, Police & Thief, and Incredible Tales. I’m also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find me on social media as Optimarcus and on my site.
Send me an email if you want to get in touch!
Leave a Reply