January 2014 looks to see the release of a new Alien novel written by Tim Lebbon, titled Out of the Shadows. Unlike the previous series of Alien novels (2005-2008), this novel will not be published by Dark Horse Press but Titan:
“The massively acclaimed Alien franchise is one of the most successful of all time, beginning with the first film in 1979. In a dramatic twist, this novel will return us to that time, to Ellen Ripley, and to never-before-revealed secrets of the Weyland-Yutani Corporations … secrets that lead into the events of the second film, Aliens… and beyond!”
Amazon UK has the release date as December 2013 and the retailers that have the book for pre-order at calling this #1, indicating the start of a new series. Thanks to Darwinsgirl for the news.
http://www.avpgalaxy.net/website/interviews/tim-lebbon/
My review and interview. Spoilers are in the interview, minor spoilers in the review.
I'd take Alien 3 over Out of the Shadows any day. At least Alien 3 had a message and went somewhere. People may not like the bleakness of that message, but Out of the Shadows had no substance at all, it was just a pointless story that went nowhere and resolved nothing. Granted there are sequel books planned, but I shouldn't need them for the first novel to feel complete. I can't stand it when they do that. Alien doesn't need Aliens to be awesome.
Actually I feel the opposite. I loved Alien 3, didn't care too much for Alien Resurrection. Aliens was a good movie, but I would have loved it to be more like alien, horror, suspense... The mystery....
Now that the book is out maybe he will be able to shed more light on the process in Corp Hick's next interview.
imho I think it would be plot 1st & then director. I thought Tim Lebbon did a great job writing the story with the plot & limits Fox set. I just hope the next 2 will be as well written.
I've always held the contention that Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection should be de-canonized by Fox and they should allow Cameron to pick up the story with Hicks, Newt, and Ripley. This wouldn't be the first time a film continuity has been reset. They did it in the Halloween films (I mean even before Rob Zombie did it), where they literally took one of the old films and ignored it in order to have continuity with one of the older films. It worked great. I am not disparaging Alien 3 or AR. They are great stand-alone films to be enjoyed on their own merits. Nobody will come and take away your copies of the films. But the core of the series that keeps bringing fans back in droves is Aliens. Its James Cameron. This way Ridley Scott can pursue his Prometheus tangent, and James Cameron can pursue the Aliens tangent. Who knows, maybe the stories could at some point re-converge? To me, this would be the only best way to bring back Ripley. I think I may actually start a Facebook petition for Fox to consider this. My three cents...
I know its a bit OT, but to add to my previous post, the plot of an Aliens sequel could be loosely inspired by Verheiden's 1988 graphic novels. Obviously the homeworld / Space Jockey motifs would need to revamped, but that story was otherwise the best of all the graphic novels published... From what I gather, it was Sigourney Weaver who really wanted the story to go along the lines of Alien 3 and to make her the focus of the series. That's why Hicks and and Newt got killed. It was Michael Biehn's openly stated greatest disappointment. I think Sigourney has a different tune these days. Is there anyone who thinks she wouldn't jump at the opportunity to be in a Cameron helmed Aliens sequel? I think this is the only way the fans will handle the return of Ripley without ridiculing the effort...
Ripley and Ash and time-setting was mandated by Fox. Asked that question before I went on to write more questions that all came back to that.
The greatest auto-correct blunder of our time.
I'm interested to see what he has to say, especially if he can give us any info on the next two books.
This is probably how it went down:
20th Century Fox said, "People are coming around to digging Prometheus! We need some more God aliens!"
The memo that was sent to Tim Lebbon said "20th Century Fox is asking for dog aliens. Apparently they're hot now."
Moral: Spell-check won't always save you.
;-)
Who's idea was the inclusion of Ripley? Was it a FOX mandate? If not, how did they feel about the idea?
The one that might feature Hicks is the third novel, River of Pain by Christopher Golden.
My questions for Tim Lebbon are:
1. Are Out of the Shadows and the next two novels going to tie in with Alien: Isolation?
2. Other than the theme of "Ripley's family" can you comment on any other elements from Out of the Shadows that will be picked up on in the subsequent books, IE the dog-aliens, etc.?
Someone mentioned a book which was going to be featuring Hicks. I think it's Sea of Sorrows.. I think.
Aaaaaand it turns out that Tim Lebbon might not be writing that, so disregard that question.
Kimarhi: You didn't forget. The med-pod wiped it out for you.
Nice memory. I had forgotten.
Hi Corporal Hicks,
Here are my questions:
1. Are the dog-aliens in the book the same as the dog-alien which appears in the mural with the engineer in prometheus (the image is on page 22 of this topic)
2. Is there a connection between Trimonite and the Alien ship that was discovered at the mining site? Was the Alien ship being "grown" out of the Trimonite?
Thanks!
I'm also going to be doing a follow-up Q&A with Tim so if anyone has any specific questions, get them in.
I thought it was written well enough, but the story didn't do much for me at all, and I just couldn't get over the stupid inclusion of Ripley for no reason whatsoever. She added nothing to the story, whilst taking a lot away. Ruined the book for me. It got particularly stupid towards the end, with her begging to have her mind wiped.
All that effort to fit the novel between the first two films, and they didn't even explain who wedged the harpoon gun back under the Narcissus door, because it's there at the start of Aliens
But it isn't hard scifi.
Not really.
Are you nuts? It's the closest we'll ever get to space being a realistic place.
Alien Ressurrection is the only one in the series that isn't "hard sci-fi'
The description in the book though makes me think that at one time though the dog aliens didn't have growth technology because they are described as having metallic suits and gold rings.
So if the dog aliens met the Engineers it could be seen as the Engineers "uplifting" them like species do to one another in Mass Effect.
Well of course that stands to reason. Perhaps the "Trimonite" material which they were mining is what the Alien Juggernaut ships are made of. Was it not written that the material is 15 times harder than diamond and extremely rare? It would explain why the Juggernaut did not break upon impact when it crash landed in Prometheus. Furthermore, it wold explain why the Alien ship in the Tim Lebbon's book was so far underground. It was being grown from Trimonite. Otherwise, why even mention a fantasy material at all? It would be bad sci-fi to invent some sort of "unobtainium" and then not have it relate to the story.
Perhaps the ships underground in Prometheus were being grown as well?
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.com%2Fnews%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F11%2Fsistine-chapel-creation-of-adam.jpg&hash=becd7d89924c2f44c809adfc7a554367e8930c56
But looking at the "Art of Prometheus" book, the Engineer does have a wavy line that could easily be a scar or wound on his abdomen, where the liver would be. A mystery wrapped in an enigma.
It is interesting to speculate as to whether the Engineers got the xenos from the dog-aliens, or vice versa!
Interesting catch. I wonder if that's what Lebbon meant when he said "eagle-eyed" readers would find Prometheus references, especially since the Prometheus elements we got in the final version were very obvious.
I think the "Dog Aliens" may have been alluded to in the Prometheus film. If you notice on the murals inside the ampule room (where the big noggin is), there is a painting of an engineer and a dog alien of sorts. Wonder if they're the same.
http://C:%5CArek_temp_02%5CALIENS%5c**titled.jpg
http://C:%5CArek_temp_02%5CALIENS%5CPrometheus1.jpg
But I'm sure SM will know if anybody cares enough to ask him.
I wondered about that too when I first read it and then forgot it...