The Transformers Trilogy
The "Keepers Trilogy" is set of Transformers novels set in Dreamwave's version of Generation One continuity.
In 2003, capitalizing on the recent success of the Dreamwave Transformers comic book Prime Directives (#1 in sales for the year,) iBooks released a trilogy of Transformers novels.
- Hardwired by Scott Ciencen
- Anihilation by David Cian
- Fusion by David Cian
The three books form a continuious narrative that takes place in the missing year betwen Prime Directives and Dreamwave's follow-up miniseries War and Peace.
All 3 novels were collected into a hardbound omnibus in 2004 for the Science Fiction Book Club.
The short story Two for the Price of One by Brandie Tarvin in the 2004 anthology Transformers Legends seems to bet set in the same continuity. Ironicly, since this story takes place after Megatrons' return to power, which had just started when Dreamwave went belly-up, it represents the latest point on the Dreamwave timeline.
Events of the Keepers Trilogy
Alien beings known as The Keepers abduct Transformers, including Optimus Prime and Megatron for study. In their absence, Starscream attempts to leverage public interest in the Decepticons into a reality TV series set in Las Vegas.
Prime bargins for Megatron's cooperation a price to be named later, and the abducted Transformers are able to escape back to Earth- but the Keepers follow, threatening to destory the planet. The President nukes Las Vegas to be rid of them, but Prime use the Matrix to send both the Keepers and the missile to another dimension. The threat momentarily averted, Megatron names the price for his cooperation- the Matrix.
Though absolute disaster was narrowly averted, the Keepers allies on Earth attempt to open a gateway to bring them back. Intigue abounds between the American government, Transformers enthusiasts, and secret societies to determine who will posess the manifold advantages of alien technology.
Fan Reaction
Transformers fans absolutely hated these novels.
Though David Cian was the only author credited for Anihilation, it seems clear that Scott Ciencen wrote large chunks of its first half before being replaced when fans responded poorly to Ciencen's mix of sex, gore (Her severed spine jutted from her torso, and entrails uncoiled and slowly snaked out from her body, slippery and eager to stretch out and relax.) and faux-edgy pop culture references.
Broadly speaking, the Trilogy takes its cues from the Prime Directives, the first Dreamwave miniseries, which was also featuured gore, nuclear missiles, government conspiracies, a pithy conceit that Transformers had little sense of free will, and a confusted, angsty Optimus Prime under the illusion he's engaged in a cosmic struggle of robot vs self with displaying the IQ of a particularly stupid housecat. He uses the Matrix twice.
The Keepers baffled fans by being extremely, extremely similar to the Quintessons in method, technology, outlook, relationship to the Transformers, and (to some lesser degree) appearance. Ciencen seems to hve simply been unaware of the Quintessons existance when he created them. Anihilation makes some gentle corrections to diffirentiate them from the Quintessons further.
'Crapped out liscenced book' isn't an entirely unfair description.
Fans were more receptive to David Cian's half of the trilogy, which didn't treat fans like mouth-breathers.
On the positive note, the Keepers Trilogy is virtually the only story, anywhere, to attempt serious exploration of the impact of Transformers' presence would have of human society.
