A review by sullyisreading
Alien - Alien 3: The Lost Screenplay by William Gibson by William Gibson, Pat Cadigan
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
I'll treat this like a review of where I read up to, which was the beginning of chapter twelve.
I find myself agreeing with the other reviews I've seen on here. The story is fine, some parts of it are even good, I think seeing more of the background and lives not directly connected to Ripley is interesting. Moreso, although it may be a little controversial to change how the xenomorphs can reproduce, I find it very intriguing that Bishop was a carrier. Although I didn't read more, considering that xenomorphs adapt their physique based on their host, I think a technological-xenomorph is a pretty neat idea to get at, whether it is realised in the story or not, I don't know.
Those are really my only positives. I don't enjoy Pat Cadigan's writing here. It is continuously the aspect that ruins every sense of tension, intrigue, amusement or enjoyment. At first I found it charming the fact that we get to read character thoughts we wouldn't otherwise see on screen, and how points are repeated for effect - quickly this charm turned to feeling like being beat over the head. The writing is low-brow, not in terms of being crude necessarily, but is simple. The writing is appealing to a young adult, a teenager of maybe twelve years would appreciate how the writing is accessible when compared to some other books. As an adult, it is incredibly annoying after a short amount of time. As another review pointed out, the mention of Ken and Barbie in relation to two MiliSci representatives is confusing and fails to land as a joke. In fact, those two representatives are the worst characters in the story, not simply because Pat Cadigan really wants to drive home the fact that we shouldn't like them as characters, but because every time they feature the prose becomes absolute piss - paragraphs are dedicated from multiple characters explaining with excruciating repetitive reasons for why they aren't liked. They always smile, they sound like news reporters, they're like Barbie and Ken, they know nothing.
I wondered throughout where the line between William Gibson's original script draft and Pat Cadigan's novelisation blurs. While I can appreciate and follow the skeleton plot that I can only assume comes from William, the lack of interesting characterisation and the very poor writing for what I would assume is an adult's book (considering the series it is based on is 17+) leaves a very poor taste in my mouth. I would have preferred reading the actual script draft, and feel sad that I got this instead.
The story is not enjoyable. I'm going to be refunding my purchase after this review. It's a shame, as I genuinely liked the premise. This book was a let down, and I cannot recommend it.
I find myself agreeing with the other reviews I've seen on here. The story is fine, some parts of it are even good, I think seeing more of the background and lives not directly connected to Ripley is interesting. Moreso, although it may be a little controversial to change how the xenomorphs can reproduce, I find it very intriguing that Bishop was a carrier. Although I didn't read more, considering that xenomorphs adapt their physique based on their host, I think a technological-xenomorph is a pretty neat idea to get at, whether it is realised in the story or not, I don't know.
Those are really my only positives. I don't enjoy Pat Cadigan's writing here. It is continuously the aspect that ruins every sense of tension, intrigue, amusement or enjoyment. At first I found it charming the fact that we get to read character thoughts we wouldn't otherwise see on screen, and how points are repeated for effect - quickly this charm turned to feeling like being beat over the head. The writing is low-brow, not in terms of being crude necessarily, but is simple. The writing is appealing to a young adult, a teenager of maybe twelve years would appreciate how the writing is accessible when compared to some other books. As an adult, it is incredibly annoying after a short amount of time. As another review pointed out, the mention of Ken and Barbie in relation to two MiliSci representatives is confusing and fails to land as a joke. In fact, those two representatives are the worst characters in the story, not simply because Pat Cadigan really wants to drive home the fact that we shouldn't like them as characters, but because every time they feature the prose becomes absolute piss - paragraphs are dedicated from multiple characters explaining with excruciating repetitive reasons for why they aren't liked. They always smile, they sound like news reporters, they're like Barbie and Ken, they know nothing.
I wondered throughout where the line between William Gibson's original script draft and Pat Cadigan's novelisation blurs. While I can appreciate and follow the skeleton plot that I can only assume comes from William, the lack of interesting characterisation and the very poor writing for what I would assume is an adult's book (considering the series it is based on is 17+) leaves a very poor taste in my mouth. I would have preferred reading the actual script draft, and feel sad that I got this instead.
The story is not enjoyable. I'm going to be refunding my purchase after this review. It's a shame, as I genuinely liked the premise. This book was a let down, and I cannot recommend it.