Chapter by Chapter> Transformers: Exodus Chs 33-34

Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were a reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

I want to try to do this a bit more frequently because I know anyone that actually is following along is going to get lost or already get past me waiting. I may start doing this maybe once a month, targeting a specific day, like the first Monday or first Thursday. I’ll also start adding this as a recurring feature over at Reviewers Unknown possibly this weekend and see what the response is. I only get one article a week and I don’t want to just do this.

Last time we saw the final demise of Sentinel Prime. This set was another transition to the next arc. That’s something interesting about this book. It’s not really one long story but a series of connected short stories which I think works for a story about the whole war and one mission like The Dirty Dozen (which I could have sworn was a book first, but Wikipedia tells me otherwise). So what happens in these short chapters?

This is where the quasi-spiritual nature of the animated movie (debatable) and Furman’s Marvel run pop in. After Sentinel Prime is buried in a quick ceremony, Optimus is now officially Prime and decides to follow the instruction of his predecessor. Namely, he, Jetfire, and Bumblebee descend into the depth of Cybertron and come upon the Core. We see how in this continuity, Optimus is granted the Matrix of Leadership and gets his “marching orders” that will lead him away from Cybertron, a near-constant in continuities past. (Transformers: Animated, for example, takes place well after the war with a fully-healed Cybertron. Here Megatron is looking to restart the war and Optimus is a military washout and space bridge repairman essentially who must become a warrior.)

While as short as every other chapter, it does connect well to the mythos Irvine has been establishing and although events are quite the same as the video game I do wish I had time to get back into it to see how close things are or aren’t. On its own, it’s still interesting. There are four chapters left, so I think it’s time for me to finish this book already and move on to the next one. How does next week work for you?

Related articles

• Chapter by Chapter> Transformers: Exodus Ch’s 30-32 (bwmedia.wordpress.com)