Thursday, June 6, 2013

Transformers: The Covenant of Primus

Further exploration into the world of little mysterious black books from BookExpo America 2013! First,  we took a look at Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Code, featuring a sort of study manual from your favorite Mandalorian, Boba Fett! This time, we'll be delving into the world of the Transformers. I've always appreciated when writers provide for a rich back story, even as an add on to material that has been around for years, so long as it follows a logical path in reference to what we know already. The Covenant of Primus looks to do just that. Will this book reveal anything the big bot die-hards don't already know? Let's find out.


The Covenant of Primus is a gift to the humans from Alpha Trion, one of the ancient Thirteen Primes - the first Transformers. The book contains insights into Optimus Prime and Megatron and covers the full history of the Transformers, from new information about their origins, to the Golden Age of exploration, to the great civil war between Autobots and Decepticons.



The hardcover book will be housed in a custom case shaped like the Autobot shield, with reflective foil for eyes and a wall-mounting hole on the back. Three classic mechanical Transformers sounds are triggered when the reader pulls open the three interlocking segments of the case. The book itself features a newly commissioned illustration on the cover by renowned Transformers artist Ken Christiansen. Within, you'll find 10 further newly commissioned illustrations and 60 never-before-seen images from the Hasbro archive. Written by Justina Robson. Original Illustrations by Ken Christiansen, Casey Coller, Livio Ramondelli and Emiliano Santalucia. 176 pages. MSRP $99

We've got a preview which includes excerpts from Chapter 1: The story of the ancient struggle between Primus and Unicron and the creation of the Thirteen Primes.
 -   Contains never-before-seen illustrations of Quintus Prime, creator of the Quintessons; Leige Maximmo; Megatronus; and Thirteen, the unnamed Prime who was created last and who brought all the Primes together.

 






...and Chapter 2: The Thirteen Primes prepare for their great battle against Unicron.
  -    Contains a never-before-seen illustration of Vector Prime and a new illustration of Unicron that was commissioned just for this book.

 



Transformers: The Covenant of Primus is due out December 3, 2013. This appears to be another Amazon exclusive. CLICK HERE to pre-order for $59.99!







15 comments :

  1. This looks great but I hope it's a first draft. The page numbers are contiguous but seem to have left out several of the original 13. Also, Amalgamous Prime has two artefacts. The wording seems a little clumsy as both statements are written in such a way as to indicate that he only has one artefact. I love creation myths and look forward to reading this book!

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    1. This was just a sample booklet so i'm sure there will be at least a little tweaking before it get's released. December is a long way off so drop your suggestions below and I'll make sure the right people see them.

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  2. Spelling artifact as "artefact" would be considered what?

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    1. It would be considered using non-American spelling.

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  3. I hope they mention Elita-1 and the fembots. Maybe even a female prime.

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    1. Solus Prime is female :)

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    2. Solus Prime took a female design, there was no gender among the 13 or early cybertronian populations on Cybertron until very late on in the new league of primes until the remergence of Alpha Trion

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    3. To the person who said that Solus Prime only "looked" female—Solus Prime WAS female. They do have gender, and have always had gender. Sexual dimorphism does not exist without a division in the sexes. Solus Prime is specifically stated to be female, and is addressed as such.

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  4. I am excited for this! Though I thought only seven of the Primes were going to have "Prime" in the name (1,2,3,5,7,11,13 are the seven 'prime numbers' in the first thirteen whole numbers).

    I also find it disappointing that Megatronus seems to no longer have "Prime" in his name, nor to be the guardian of entropy (that now seems to go to Quintus). Shame, as his betrayal would've made sense to be known as the "Fallen" Prime.

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  5. Anyone, is the front cover (@ first picture) is Optimus Prime's Image?

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  6. And this will be on Amazon when?

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  7. I think the Aligned storyline is pretty much done since Aaron Archer is gone from the company. Who knows if they have any plans to continue it. And sorry, Predacons Rising closes the Prime series since its clearly spelled out as an epilogue.

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  8. Is there any information on the dimensions of the book?

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    1. Hardcover book: 8.5" x 9.5" portrait
      Case: 12.35" x 12.62" x 1.96" portrait

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