Please note: This is a review of the series up to this point, not of the _Desires_and_Conspiracies_ episode.

Where to start? At the top level, the series is extremely well-plotted and cohesive, combining a vast number of G1 plotlines and references with occasional G2 threads and the occasional shade of Beast Wars. Gestaltism, Pretenders and Predacons, Starscream's immortal spark, the triple-changers and Sky Lynx are all showcased. Alpha Trion, the origin of Hot Rod, the history of the Femmes and the two classes of Insecticon all make an appearance, without deviating from the tight storyline, action-packed combat scenes and overall narrative.

As an aside, I like what's been done with Punch/Counterpunch. It reminds me of Skyshadow's _Best_First_, and is miles in front of his depiction in _The_Rebirth_.

Delving a little more deeply into the series, we come across individual plotlines and subplots. These are beautifully executed, weaving the origins and stories of large number of canon characters into a single tapestry, while planting as-yet-dormant seeds of future events (ref. the coming of Unicron, Hot Rod's destiny, Targetmasters etc).

Another level down, and characterisation comes to the fore. Here, it's a slightly different story. While none of the canon personnel seem to be wildly out of character, their personalities can come across as a little choppy, and there's some switching between various depictions - again, nothing extreme, but certainly noticeable. Keeping the characterisations stable is a task similar to weaving the subplots together to form an exciting whole, just on a finer level of detail. It's not so bad that it's offputting, but it is noticeable here and there.

At this point, I'll skip to the lowest level, and go straight for the series' major weakness. Although it's pretty clear that a spellchecker is being used (and thank you, THANK YOU, Roy, for doing so), the text is still littered with incorrect homophones and plagued by excess apostrophes. I've picked up several hundred, almost a thousand, in the series so far. Given the breathtaking scope and imagination of the fic, this is the literary equivalent of a twelve-lane superhighway to adventure, littered with potholes and roadkill. It's one hell of a rush to read, and it'd make stupendous TV, but the ride just isn't as smooth as it could be. With a nitpicky beta-reader or two, this series would rate a 10/10.

My personal opinion? While there are some inclusions that leave me mystified (Sparkplug is a mole? Did Optimus really need to recount his recollection of the Beast Wars? Was the scene about Tracks really plotworthy?) and the multitude of changes to the canon characters' physical forms seems almost completely unnecessary (I'm 100% sure Roy's a good enough writer not to need these alterations), I can pretty much recommend this series as a solid example of good writing talent.

I'm not sure about the overdetailed transformation descriptions that occur here and there, and some of the fight scene moves come across as a bit technical for my taste, but these are minor points. Oh, and watch out for the occasional unstable tense shift here and there.

Darn, I really want to see this series unfold on the big screen. I wonder if Draven would be interested...