Book Review // Alien: Out of the Shadows
It’s time to return to the xenomorph universe with our next boon. The period of the book is set 30+ years after the original film. Ripley sleeps away the years in her escape pod. I fear what will be discovered in this all-new tale.
Title: Alien: Out of the Shadows
Author: Tim Lebbon
Publisher: Titan Books
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 352
Fluff: As a child, Chris Hooper dreamed of monsters. But in deep space, he found only darkness and isolation. Then, on planet LV178, he and his fellow miners discovered a storm-scoured, sand-blasted hell - and trimonite, the hardest material known to man.
When a shuttle crashes into the mining ship Marion, the miners learn that there is more than trimonite deep in the caverns. There is evil, hibernating and waiting for suitable prey.
Hoop and his associates uncover a nest of Xenomorphs, and hell takes on new meaning. Quickly, they discover that their only hope lies with the unlikeliest of saviours...
Review
The start of the book is pretty action-packed. We meet the book's heroes with their space station seriously damaged during a failed docking action. The crew is shocked to discover that the second ship now attempting to dock is home to three black insect-like creatures that have seemingly eaten the miners of the planet below. As the small group of survivors take stock of the horrors around them, a small life craft slowly moves towards them and docks, revealing one crew member, Ripley.
It’s fitting to throw Ripley into this mess, though it is very confusing that it was never mentioned in the second film (more on that later). The author did great work showcasing Ripley's badass character and how damaged she is mentally after realizing how much time has elapsed. It was also interesting to see the return of the android Ash, not in a physical form but as a manipulative code within the shuttle company’s computers.
Soon Ripley is explaining how much shit the survivors are genuinely in, explaining what had happened to her crew and what to expect when they finally face the xenomorph threat. For me, the story comes to life when they venture down to the planet and discover the origins of the alien threat. I don't want to put in too many spoilers but expect tunnels, aliens, spaceships, and ruins. As the ending approaches, the author takes an easy escape route and plays the memory wipe game, setting Ripley up to be found in the second movie with patchy memories and no remembrance of Hoop or the doomed LV-178.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and finished the book in 4 days (a new record for me). This book has made me realize I need to expand my sci-fi reading so that I will search for more of this franchise.
Have you read this book? Let me know your thoughts.
