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anotherfangirl's review
1.0
This is the worst Alien book I've ever read (and I've read and enjoyed plenty).
The plot twists aren't surprising and yet the crew can't put two and two together, walk into every trap and behave like idiots. The ending is stupid and don't even get me started on the unnecessary romance between the main character Siobhan and First Sergeant Alec.
I mean seriously, the crew gets a distress message about an accident at the lab, head over there, find a lot of blood and while they try to find out what happened, Siobhan is thinking: “Thick dark hair with hints of gray, blue eyes, rugged build, the scruff of a beard just starting along his jaw—sure, he was a good-looking guy. It wasn’t that, though. Perhaps it was his voice, the look in those blue eyes. Both were reassuring, strong…”
There is another romance scene that had me rolling my eyes (I’m putting it in a spoiler tag because it's much later in the book):
If I wanted to read a romance novel, I would've done just that and not pick an Alien novel. Siobhan's thoughts in general are the worst thing about this book. There is a scene where Alec is fighing a Xenomorph and the Xenomorph is squealing a threat in his direction. Alec grunts back at it and Siobhan thinks: “Two alphas squaring off.”
I normally love a good Alien novel, it doesn't have to be extra creative, the old formula (there's a distress signal because of a Xenomorph outbreak, someone encounters a Xenomorph egg or an experiment goes wrong and the Xenomorph escape and everyone has to fight for their lives) works well - but the plot has to be somewhat coherent and at least one of the characters shouldn't be annoying or flat. It's never a good sign if you root for the Xenomorph and hope that every last member of the crew dies.
I can't recommend this book, not even for fans of the Alien franchise.
The plot twists aren't surprising and yet the crew can't put two and two together, walk into every trap and behave like idiots. The ending is stupid and don't even get me started on the unnecessary romance between the main character Siobhan and First Sergeant Alec.
I mean seriously, the crew gets a distress message about an accident at the lab, head over there, find a lot of blood and while they try to find out what happened, Siobhan is thinking: “Thick dark hair with hints of gray, blue eyes, rugged build, the scruff of a beard just starting along his jaw—sure, he was a good-looking guy. It wasn’t that, though. Perhaps it was his voice, the look in those blue eyes. Both were reassuring, strong…”
There is another romance scene that had me rolling my eyes (I’m putting it in a spoiler tag because it's much later in the book):
Spoiler
“I love you,” he blurted out, and for a moment, she was taken aback. She looked up at him, amazed. “I—I’m sorry, I—” he began. She cut him off with a kiss, this time a real one, long and passionate. When she finally pulled away, she said, “I love you, too.”If I wanted to read a romance novel, I would've done just that and not pick an Alien novel. Siobhan's thoughts in general are the worst thing about this book. There is a scene where Alec is fighing a Xenomorph and the Xenomorph is squealing a threat in his direction. Alec grunts back at it and Siobhan thinks: “Two alphas squaring off.”
I normally love a good Alien novel, it doesn't have to be extra creative, the old formula (there's a distress signal because of a Xenomorph outbreak, someone encounters a Xenomorph egg or an experiment goes wrong and the Xenomorph escape and everyone has to fight for their lives) works well - but the plot has to be somewhat coherent and at least one of the characters shouldn't be annoying or flat. It's never a good sign if you root for the Xenomorph and hope that every last member of the crew dies.
I can't recommend this book, not even for fans of the Alien franchise.
lewis_fishman's review
3.0
im always a sucker for more engineers and more prometheus-style lore. the back half was a little weaker honestly but still, a welcome addition to the wider aliens-verse
cloewen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The story is pretty standard for Alien stories, but the characters really stand out as the driving force. They are not very fleshed out but are strong enough to carry the book.
kyle_j_durrant's review
4.0
A solid Alien narrative that, whilst not doing anything particularly fresh, is engaging and entertaining.
Its strength is the new cast of characters, who we grow quite attached to as the narrative progresses. They're all quite well developed, with their own histories and goals. They don't always make the best decisions, but it's easy to judge them from outside the story.
We know how things are going to play out, but how can they? Even the character who has encountered the Xenomorph before can't be expected to know everything we do.
Now, it's not perfect. I felt like it spent too long on the crumbling moon, when the story would have benefitted from (and the blurb implied we would be) spending more time around the events of a peace summit. In fact, the event that links to the title isn't even set up until the final act.
Considering the overarching narrative of these recent Alien books, I did find myself wanting more information from that corner of the plot, as much as I appreciated the characters we followed.
I also thought there were some lore issues. A Xenomorph is described as having fur, which even with gene reflex feels wrong.
And although it's explained because of the effects of a serum, I thought even with that the Xenomorphs, especially the Queen, grew too fast.
Overall, though, there was more I liked than disliked, so 4 stars from me.
Its strength is the new cast of characters, who we grow quite attached to as the narrative progresses. They're all quite well developed, with their own histories and goals. They don't always make the best decisions, but it's easy to judge them from outside the story.
We know how things are going to play out, but how can they? Even the character who has encountered the Xenomorph before can't be expected to know everything we do.
Now, it's not perfect. I felt like it spent too long on the crumbling moon, when the story would have benefitted from (and the blurb implied we would be) spending more time around the events of a peace summit. In fact, the event that links to the title isn't even set up until the final act.
Considering the overarching narrative of these recent Alien books, I did find myself wanting more information from that corner of the plot, as much as I appreciated the characters we followed.
I also thought there were some lore issues. A Xenomorph is described as having fur, which even with gene reflex feels wrong.
And although it's explained because of the effects of a serum, I thought even with that the Xenomorphs, especially the Queen, grew too fast.
Overall, though, there was more I liked than disliked, so 4 stars from me.
fulminataxii's review
2.0
This isn't a terrible book, but it feels very formulaic. You can take elements from the movie Aliens, and tick them off a checklist as you read. Licensed genre fiction like this is ultimately going to be formulaic to some degree, it's just too obvious for me here.
The book is divided into three parts, and the last part is probably the best, so at least it ends on a high note. This part alone would rate another star or two, but is dragged down by the rest of the book.
If I was more interested in the genre and setting to begin with, I would probably rate it another star, but I'm primarily here for the one-shot at the end of the book for the Alien RPG. This looks pretty solid. I can't go into too many details without giving potential spoilers for the book, but it presents a side story involving USMC characters. Like the adventure in the previous book, Inferno's Fall, it's a one-act adventure with four pre-generated PCs, listing of events, locations, and stats for potential adversaries. It looks pretty solid, and I look forward to running it in the near future.
The book is divided into three parts, and the last part is probably the best, so at least it ends on a high note.
Spoiler
The original story basically ends as the protagonists escape their initial situation, and then is immediately followed by a much better paced sequel that ties into the ongoing meta-plot of the Alien novel series.If I was more interested in the genre and setting to begin with, I would probably rate it another star, but I'm primarily here for the one-shot at the end of the book for the Alien RPG. This looks pretty solid. I can't go into too many details without giving potential spoilers for the book, but it presents a side story involving USMC characters
Spoiler
on a doomed missionbrandonhu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Good
gawdz0rz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death and Grief
Minor: Misogyny, Vomit, Death of parent, and Colonisation
neonmime's review against another edition
3.0
Boring
Really disappointed and I'm easy to please when it comes to Xenomorphs.
It was like bits taken out of every movie and or book and had nothing new.
I guess at least the kid died, except that's the last thing anyone wants in a story.
The biodrones were okay, kinda remind of the little annoying things out of Diablo.
Sad that this wasn't anything new, but ways happy to have more Xenomorph content.
Really disappointed and I'm easy to please when it comes to Xenomorphs.
It was like bits taken out of every movie and or book and had nothing new.
I guess at least the kid died, except that's the last thing anyone wants in a story.
The biodrones were okay, kinda remind of the little annoying things out of Diablo.
Sad that this wasn't anything new, but ways happy to have more Xenomorph content.