There have been many publishers of a book (some with accompanying audio cassettes) bearing the name Transformers based on the toy lines of the same name. Most common are Ballantine Books and Ladybird Books.
Novels The Transformers Trilogy Title Author Publisher Date Length Plot Transformers: Hardwired
ibooks
Set in the Dreamwave continuity at a point between their first and second Generation One miniseries, Hardwired followed Prime, Megatron, Jazz and other Transformers as they were abducted by a mysterious alien race known as the Keepers and forced to fight in gladiatorial combat. On Earth, Starscream took command of the Decepticons and took over Las Vegas, leaving Grimlock (not trusted due to his actions in the first miniseries) to lead the remaining Autobots to stop him. The novel ended with the abducted Transformers returning to Earth - with Bluestreak and several humans possessed by the Keepers. Transformers: Annihilation
In Annihilation, Megatron attempts to reclaim his leadership of the Decepticons, but is defeated by Starscream and Devastator as Prime attempts to rally the Autobots. Megatron walks out of the Decepticons with a band of devoted followers to ally with the Autobots against the Keepers (who now possess many of the Autobots and Decepticons). They defeat them, but Megatron claims his "favor" for helping the Autobots - to become the next Matrix bearer. Transformers: Fusion
In Fusion, Prime gives Megatron the Matrix, unwilling to break his word of honor, as the possessed Autobots and Decepticons return to normal. However, the Keepers are not yet defeated and plan to return to Earth via a warpgate as the US military tries once more to destroy all the Transformers. In the end, the Keepers are defeated when Megatron's reprogrammed Omega Sentinel, turned good by exposure to the Matrix, sacrifices itself and Devastator to close the gate.
Live-action film series
Title Author Publisher Date Length Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday
Del Rey Books
Transformers
Transformers: The Veiled Threat
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Transformers Classified: The Complete Mission and Little, Brown and Company
Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday
Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday is a science fiction novel written by Alan Dean Foster. 'It is a prequel to the Michael Bay Transformers film. It is based on a story by David Cian.
The story is set in 1969 and details the account of a top secret space ship called Ghost-1, built by the American organization known as Sector 7. The ship was built by examining and reverse engineering the frozen remains of the Transformer Megatron. Sent into space at the same time as Apollo 11 to hide its trail, the ship is sent to orbit the far side of Jupiter to look for any more alien activity. However, the ship falls into a wormhole that was apparently accidentally created by them due to a slingshot around the Sun and emerges in an unknown part of the galaxy - where it is not alone. The Ark and the Nemesis arrive, intrigued by the ship's Cybertronian design. Starscream leads the Decepticons on an attack as the humans flee. Bumblebee pursues them, as does Starscream, who hopes to annihilate the ship - and any traces of Megatron with it. Putting Bumblebee to flight, Starscream communicates with Ghost-1, pretending to be benevolent. Scanning their computers, he learns of the existence of the Allspark and Megatron and decides to string them along by telling them of the war. He hopes to provoke them into firing on the "evil" Autobots, who will destroy them. Optimus Prime arrives, having fought off Blackout's attack in orbit, saving Bumblebee from giant rock-chewing worms. They encounter Starscream and Ghost-1, who fire on them, burying them in the cave with more worms.
The humans, meanwhile, have become suspicious of Starscream's intentions, noting differences in the behaviors of his and Prime's. When their ship sinks into a sinkhole, Starscream betrays them and leaves them for dead. When Prime and Bumblebee cross paths with the ship underground, the Autobots communicate with the humans, who tell them of the in-stasis Megatron. Knowing that Megatron would decimate their people if he reactivated, Prime vowed to see the humans return to Earth to warn it. They eventually free themselves and head back into orbit, where a full-scale assault by the Decepticons is under way. Despite the Autobots' courage, they are outnumbered. Captain Walker of Ghost-1 makes the decision that they cannot flee, since doing so would lead the Decepticons straight to Earth. The wormhole eventually collapses as they prepare their attack on Starscream, which leaves them stranded. They fire on Starscream as he and Bonecrusher prepare to finish off Prime. Starscream annihilates them in retaliation and retreats, severely wounded. Prime laments their sacrifice, but had already begun to suspect that the Allspark was the reason Megatron went to Earth. Knowing that Starscream would seek Earth merely for revenge on the humans injuring him, Prime resolves to locate Earth before the Decepticons do.
On Earth, a different crisis unfolds. An order has come through to transport the frozen "Ice Man" from the Arctic to a place of safe keeping somewhere near the West Coast of the United States, to be studied more concretely. The convoy carrying him is sabotaged and derailed by a Soviet spy, who indicates a KGB assault will take place to recover Megatron. A more immediate problem presents itself when it is revealed that Megatron is thawing out. As the weather worsens and the Russian attack begins, Megatron reanimates. Lieutenant Colonel Nolan and Colonel Thomas Kinnear, both of them seasoned and fine commanders from Sector 7, managed to stop the disorientated Decepticon leader by first driving a snow truck into him, then freezing him once more with liquid Nitrogen even as he killed them both. The soldiers, under the command of the tenacious and resilient officer Lieutenant Jenson, fought off the Russian attack with the aid of a squad of Army Rangers, then resolve to complete Megatron's transportation.
The mission to move Megatron from the Arctic to the Hoover Dam is undertaken in 1969 (concurrent with the Apollo 11 Moon mission) — however both the movie and prequel comic series state that Megatron was relocated in the mid-late 1930s. To further complicate the issue, the prequel and the movie conflict, as the movie states Megatron was moved and cryo-frozen in 1934, yet construction on the dam was not completed until 1935 (and the prequel comic shows the interior of the Dam in 1935, with Megatron clearly not present and characters discussing his then-upcoming move to the Dam). Also, the Decepticons are depicted in the novel as traveling in a spacecraft, but the movie and Target-exclusive prequel comic included with the DVD shows the Decepticons traveling to Earth as protoforms. This is later explained in the IDW comics in that the Decepticons left their ship on Mars and traveled to Earth as protoforms.
Transformers: The Veiled Threat
Transformers: The Veiled Threat is a science fiction novel set in between the events of the 2007 movie Transformers and its 2009 sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Alan Dean Foster, author of another Transformers novel and the novelizations of both movies, is the author of this novel also.BookTransformers The 304-page paperback novel was released April 2009. Foster is an established science fiction writer, having written many novels for both original and existing media properties such as Aliens, Star Trek, and Star Wars.
In the novel's present-day, Megatron lies dead, at the bottom of the sea. Cut to the Gulf of Aden where pirates attack a freighter which just so happens to be ferrying Epps, Lennox, Ironhide, Ratchet, and other NEST (Networked Elements: Supporters and Transformers) members to their base on Diego Garcia. Ironhide soon transforms to robot mode and scares the pirates off. Arriving at Diego Garcia, the boys meet up with cybernetics expert Kaminari Ishihara, who has been swimming in the lagoon with the newly arrived Autobot veteran Longarm serving as lifeguard. Everyone enters a briefing where a sighting of Starscream in Zambia is discussed and a plan is hatched with Optimus Prime to confront him.
Meanwhile, we find that Agent Simmons is now, with the disbanding of Sector Seven, working in his mother's deli in New York. He's also tinkering with Frenzy's disembodied head in his basement. In Africa, we learn that Starscream is not only in the area, he's gaining control over local rebel groups by using his internal synthesizers to create gold coins. He is also accompanied by three other Decepticons: Dropkick, Macerator, and Payload. They soon attack a local dam construction site, making short work of the security forces, and proceed to steal mass quantities of explosives.
The NEST team soon arrives in Africa with Prime, Ironhide, and Ratchet as well as new arrivals: Salvage and Beachbreak. The Autobots soon engage Dropkick, Macerator, and Payload in battle in the Zambezi River. This is all part of Starscream's brilliant plan, however, as the Autobots soon discover that the current is pushing them towards Victoria Falls. Everyone but Prime and Macerator gets out in time, as the dueling pair going over the side. Starscream swoops in to save Macerator while Prime dangles helplessly. Eventually the NEST team manages to haul Prime up using Beachbreak's tow-cable, but the celebration is short lived as Starscream swoops in and knocks the diminutive Beachbreak off the waterfalls and to his death.
The Autobots and their human allies soon realize that Starscream may try and destroy a series of dams along the Zambezi and head off after the fleeing Decepticons. At one of the dams, the ground-based Decepticons attack. Payload heads to the valley floor to try to crack the dam with repeated blasts while Dropkick and Macerator fend off the arriving Autobots.
After a short scuffle, Prime manages to knock Macerator over the side of the dam before dispatching his dangling foe with his built-in sword. Ratchet takes repeated hits from Payload while trying to melt the fissures in the cracking dam back together. Both Ratchet and the dam are ultimately saved when the humans enter the dam and open the flood gates, knocking Payload downriver. A damaged Dropkick escapes and everyone returns to Diego Garcia.
Again, we cut back to Simmons in his basement, experimenting on Frenzy and brooding that that ("punk kid") Sam Witwicky has a "hot girlfriend" and is going to Princeton University. Frenzy suddenly comes to life and tries to subvert the building's electrical system. And after a little chaos, Simmons decides he needs to move the Decepticon head to a space beneath his mother's deli.
Back at NEST headquarters, two more Decepticon presences are detected and a pair of teams is readied to head out and take care of them. Epps and Russian scientist Petr Andronov accompany Longarm and the impetuous young motorcycle Knockout to Peru to find the Decepticons that have been detected in the deep jungles. On a steep mountain pass, the party is attacked by Decepticons Ruination and Blademaster. Despite inexperienced and risky behavior by Knockout, both are severely damaged and driven off.
Simultaneously, Lennox, Ishihara, Prime, Ironhide, and Salvage arrive in the Western Australian Outback and begin searching for Decepticons. Lennox soon realizes that the ‘Cons are attacking sites with energy reserves; oil and coal in Peru; and uranium in Australia. The team decides that there is a second group of Decepticons not under Starscream's command, harvesting massive amounts of energy in an attempt to revive Megatron.