Reviews

Alien: Isolation by Keith R.A. DeCandido

haf59's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I did not have high hopes for this one, and there were janky bits, including flashback sequences, random comms messages inserted between narrative structures but never included in the narrative flow (and not always clearly pertinent), and a murky ending. A certain amount of the action will also echo scenes familiar to anyone who's seen one or two of the films. AND the main character is a bit of a left-fielder from the perspective of the storyline established in the films. Nevertheless, she's an agreeable creation, fun to spend a couple hours with, very seldom so stupid as to cause me to pray for an Alien to chomp her on her curly head, and the whole thing has a ton of propulsion. 

readwithanna's review

3.0

This was just fine. I think the book wanted to do two things at once and for me it didn't succeed. 
It's not that the flashbacks are bad. They're actually really interesting, but their placement in the story feels wrong. It kept disrupting the pacing. 
And the aliens aren't really much in this. It's like a space station suspense that happen to have some aliens in it. 
I think the book should have broken from the video game format. 

ak97x's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

tiepilot_dandy's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Does a pretty good job of utilizing some of the more tense moments of the game while also adding to Amanda Ripley in ways that the game only touches upon.

sallytwibbles's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

3.5

stevied's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

itcamefromthepage's review

3.0

This genuinely feels like two books crammed together. I think had Titan given this a treatment similar to how they treated Alien: Covenant it would have really worked great. The flashback elements of this book are really, really compelling. Their placement? Not so much. Alien: Isolation is a game that OOZES atmosphere and when you get a few chapters just inside of the Sevastopol it works but the flashbacks split it up in a way that takes you out of that atmosphere.

I only played the first few hours of Isolation (will play the whole thing soon) and the parts I played this captures well, just wish it had been told in a different way. Once it got out of parts I had played it lost me a little (the flashbacks don't help) but it will be interesting to do a re-read after I complete the game.

noelrk's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Game's way better.

cres_'s review against another edition

1.0

I am absolutely certain I would really like the game and find it scary, but this book is NOT. The flashbacks, which are frequent, are boring and repetitive and not what I want from an IP book lol. The “main” part of the book reads like the author tried to embellish a gamefaqs walkthrough.

ththalassocracy's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25