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AvPGalaxy Exclusive – Alien: Covenant – Origins Cover Reveal!

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We’ve also known for a while that the legendary Alan Dean Foster would be penning his first original entry for the Alien universe in the way of a prequel novel! Earlier this year Alien vs. Predator Galaxy revealed what the prequel, titled Alien: Covenant – Origins, was going to be about!

In addition to that first synopsis, we now have an updated blurb and the exclusive reveal of the novel’s cover!

“The Covenant mission is the most ambitious endeavor in the history of Weyland-Yutani. A ship bound for Origae-6, carrying two thousand colonists beyond the limits of known space, this is make-or-break investment for the corporation—and for the future of all mankind.

Yet there are those who would die to stop the mission. As the colony ship hovers in Earth orbit, several violent events reveal a deadly conspiracy to sabotage the launch. While Captain Jacob Branson and his wife Daniels complete their preparations, security chief Daniel Lopé recruits the final key member of his team. Together they seek to stop the perpetrators before the ship and its passengers can be destroyed.

An original novel by the acclaimed ALAN DEAN FOSTER, author of the groundbreaking Alien novelization, Origins is the official chronicle of the events that led up to Alien: Covenant. It also reveals the world the colonists left behind.”

The cover of Alan Dean Foster's Alien: Covenant - Origins. AvPGalaxy Exclusive - Alien: Covenant - Origins Cover Reveal!

The cover of Alan Dean Foster’s Alien: Covenant – Origins.

We recently had the pleasure of chatting to Alan Dean Foster on the Alien vs. Predator Galaxy Podcast. Be sure to have a listen to Mr Foster chatting about his experience working on the Alien: Covenant novelization and on Origins!

Alien: Covenant – Origins is currently slated for release on the 26th of September 2017. The book is currently available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Keep a close eye on Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for exclusive content and the latest on Alien: Covenant! You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get the latest on your social media walls. You can also join in with fellow Alien fans on our forums!


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Comments: 28
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  3. Corporal Hicks
    Posted
    http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/books-comics/alan-dean-foster/52206/alan-dean-foster-interview-alien-covenant-origins

    QuoteHow does it feel to be back in the Alien universe after so many years away?

    Kind of like being in Deep Sleep on the ship: I wake up, and no time has passed for me at all.

    Origins is your fifth Alien novel; is it a particularly fun series to play around in?

    As is always the case with playing in someone else's playground, it always depends on how much freedom I'm allowed. The more I'm left alone, the more enjoyable the project.

    You've penned a number of movie novelizations in the past; what are some of the challenges involved with turning a screenplay into a compelling novel?

    First and foremost, the reader must get a good deal more than exists in the screenplay: otherwise you might as well just read that. Fixing the science (where allowed), correcting lapses in story logic, expanding on the characters and especially their inner thoughts, and giving greater weight to interpersonal relationships are all important. In a novelization I have far more time, greater opportunity to provide insight into story and character, and an unlimited budget. All need to be utilized.

    I understand when you were approached about the Covenant novel there was already a plan in place for a second tie-in book. Was the story set at this stage, or were other ideas discussed, e.g. Shaw and David's journey to the Engineer planet?

    No story was in place and several alternate plots were discussed. The final story chosen was the one that I was asked to write.

    Origins is your first original novel in the universe. How did you go about crafting the storyline?

    There was a good deal of discussion between myself, Titan books, and Fox as to where the story could/should go. The more elaborate a movie franchise becomes, the greater the restrictions that come to the fore. Within what I was requested to write, I was given a great deal of freedom.

    Do you have any favourite characters or sequences from the book? The Lope chapters seemed like a lot of fun to work on.

    It's easy to write heroes and villains; ordinary folk are more difficult. I always saw Sgt. Lope as one of the most professional and competent characters in Covenant, but because of the number of characters and pace of the film, there wasn't much time to delve into his personality. I consider him the blue collar champion of the film; somebody who's really good at his job but doesn't make a big deal of it. In Origins I also enjoyed linking him up with Rosenthal. And of course, creating an entire family backdrop and history for the Yutani side of Weyland-Yutani was great fun.

    One notable omission from Origins is a physical appearance by the titular beast himself. Was there ever any talk of trying to fit the alien into the story somehow?

    It was discussed.

    Was there ever consideration of including details from Origins in the Covenant novelization, e.g. a reference to the attempted sabotage of the ship before launch?

    As the novelization was written, completed, and turned in to the publisher before Origins was begun, the opportunity was never there. It would have been fun to have been able to do that, but publishing requirements and time considerations prevented the possibility.

    If you had free rein to tell any story within the Alien universe, do you have a concept you'd like to explore?

    Oh yeah...but then, I've had them for decades.

    A personal favourite novelization I've read of yours was The Thing, which is quite different from the final film. Was it surprising to watch the finished product and see how much it deviated from the script you worked from?

    So often, important changes to a film are decided on the set or in post-production. I particularly would have liked to see filmed the ending in Bill Lancaster's script, but as I understand it, it would have cost too much.

    Do you have any favourite novelizations of your own out of those you've worked on?

    I'm afraid I like them all, and I don't really play favorites. But Alien was an especially difficult one because Fox would never allow me to see any images of the alien. If you read the book, there are no descriptions of the alien itself.

    On the flipside, are there any of your original novels you'd love to see adapted into a film or television series?

    Don't get me started. I've had, and currently have, a fair number under option, but I've been disappointed too many times already.

    And finally, can you tell us about any projects you're currently working on?

    Strange Music, a new Pip & Flinx novel, will be out from Del Rey in November. Relic, a stand-alone SF novel, will come out from Del Rey next year. I've turned in Secretions, a novel based entirely on slime. And a few other things....

    Alan Dean Foster, thank you very much.
    Reply
  4. SM
    Posted
    Spoiler
    How were the dreams accurate?
    [close]

    Also

    Spoiler
    WYR focuses on Peter Weyland and not Hideo Yutani (for obvious reasons) so the language used in it will favour Weyland.  Though later it also uses the word 'merge'.  The term 'merger' is used numerous times throughout Origins as well.
    [close]
    Reply
  5. Perfect-Organism
    Posted
    Just finished reading this.  Well there's a minor canon change as a result:

    Spoiler
    Yutani took over Weyland, not the other way around as the sacred timeline in the W-Y report states
    [close]

    Also we get to meet
    Spoiler
    Hideo Yutani
    [close]

    I think some people hit the nail on the head saying this feels like Blade Runner.  That's not a bad thing.  But how do I feel about the book as a whole?  Got to sleep on it...

    Spoiler
    What this book desperately needs is a moment where we see an engineer transmitting the info into the prophet's head.  That would justify him having these dreams.  Otherwise, there is no reason why the guy would have such accurate dreams.  Also, and very importantly, we needed to see Hideo Yutani plugging in the prophet to the dream reading equipment which we saw at the beginning of Prometheus.  I mean that is old technology by the time this story takes place.  If Yutani saw the dream, perhaps it could have been the reason that he needed to go out and search for the aliens.but this never happened.  We could have had the motivation for W-Y's alien weapons interests explained here, but noooo.  Fun read, but a bit of a wasted opportunity
    [close]

    A good number of orthographical errors too.
    Reply
  9. Corporal Hicks
    Posted
    Quote from: SM on Sep 27, 2017, 09:00:40 PM
    QuoteNo but I thought it was one of those world-building elements that people would have found interesting.

    I'm finding it interesting that after years of many fans saying they want a story about the universe and/ or the Company with no Aliens in it, we get one and it's not what people wanted.

    I honestly think there's room for it. This just doesn't seem like the one. I think it's hanging under a shadow of "but a proper Covenant sequel would have been David and Shaw!"
    Reply
  11. SM
    Posted
    QuoteNo but I thought it was one of those world-building elements that people would have found interesting.

    I'm finding it interesting that after years of many fans saying they want a story about the universe and/ or the Company with no Aliens in it, we get one and it's not what people wanted.
    Reply
  13. Corporal Hicks
    Posted
    Quote from: Stitch on Sep 27, 2017, 03:51:17 PM
    Also, I find it ironic that
    Spoiler
    the cult and the prophet were right and if they had just listened to them that then the colonists wouldn't be in the hands of a mad android right now...
    [close]

    I actually really like that. There's lots of different elements of this book that I do think are interesting and enjoy (I'm especially enjoying more like with Branson and Daniels and Lope and Rosenthal) but it's just not coming together for me.

    Quote from: SM on Sep 27, 2017, 08:24:30 AM
    Spoiler
    Not much.  There's some sparse info early on about the takeover and competition with Jutou Combine, but it's not overly important to the plot really.
    [close]

    No but I thought it was one of those world-building elements that people would have found interesting.

    Does anyone else's book also have Branson referred to as Brandon throughout?
    Reply
  14. Ultramorph
    Posted
    Thumbed through it last night, liked
    Spoiler
    a scene where they speculate that David might have malfunctioned and been responsible to the Prometheus disappearing. That was a nice touch.

    "Oh-tee-bee-see" = "Out there be demons."
    [close]

    Looking forward to doing a proper read.
    Reply
  15. Stitch
    Posted
    OK, so for some reason Amazon UK only has the book for sale via 3rd party sellers so I've ended up listening to it via Audible.

    Firstly, I have to say that the audible reading was good. Tom Taylorson was fantastic and did all the voices very well, especially Lope.

    As for the story itself, it was a bit superfluous. There are some bits I liked about in regards to world building. It fleshes out the universe they live in, and makes it feel rather reminiscent of the Blade Runner universe in some ways (hardly surprising, really). There were other aspects that reminded me very much of the Dark Horse Aliens comic books, specifically the
    Spoiler
    cult and prophet who has visions of demons from space. I believe Outbreak has a cult in it, though worshipping the aliens as opposed to trying to save us from them
    [close]
    .

    I suppose I could see this as a novelisation of one of the Dark Horse comics, though not one of the best. That's what it felt like.

    Also, I find it ironic that
    Spoiler
    the cult and the prophet were right and if they had just listened to them that then the colonists wouldn't be in the hands of a mad android right now...
    [close]

    Reply
  16. SM
    Posted
    Spoiler
    Not much.  There's some sparse info early on about the takeover and competition with Jutou Combine, but it's not overly important to the plot really.
    [close]

    QuoteI would have much preferred Fox to say, "Okay, Alan Dean Foster...David and Shaw were on Paradise for 10 years, go nuts! Invent like mad! Create an Engineer culture, have them explore the planet. Have them fight and argue, show us Shaw's fear. Show us David's increasing madness. Whatever, just be wild!"

    I think a lot of people would've preferred that, but there were stories floating around about how that might be a film, so perhaps those stories had some substance.
    Reply
  17. Corporal Hicks
    Posted
    I'm still struggling myself. I've got about 70 pages or so left.

    Have I missed something or has the novel not touched on
    Spoiler
    the Yutani corporations background?
    [close]
    I don't remember hearing any backstory on their expertise.
    Reply
  18. SM
    Posted
    QuoteWhy release something like this if you already know what the reaction will be? Why not try and expand on a story that people are already invested in, connected to?

    Because the book was effectively in the can before the film came out and they expected the film to do better I suppose.

    I ended up being in a position where I read the book before seeing the film, and possibly felt more when Lope and Rosey died, due to the book.
    Reply
  19. TWJones
    Posted
    Roger that SM, spoiler tags added.

    Spoiler
    And that's just it, the novel never explicitly states that this is why Branson died, but I can't think of any other reason to tell this particular story. It doesn't justify its own existence.
    [close]

    I was not aware that it was written and completed long before the film came out. Which makes the whole thing even more confusing. At any point since the disappointing box office numbers have been known, someone in marketing could have said, "Let's not further muddy the waters by releasing a novel with a picture of an Alien on the front that doesn't have a single thing to do with any Aliens. And...let's connect it to the very film that is struggling. It's just baffling.

    Why release something like this if you already know what the reaction will be? Why not try and expand on a story that people are already invested in, connected to?

    Quote from: Whos_Nick on Sep 27, 2017, 03:16:13 AM
    Why is everything related to Covenant a disappointment

    Personally, I value ambition over quality most of the time. Swing for the fences and I'm with that artist. Play it too safe and I lose interest.

    I would have much preferred Fox to say, "Okay, Alan Dean Foster...David and Shaw were on Paradise for 10 years, go nuts! Invent like mad! Create an Engineer culture, have them explore the planet. Have them fight and argue, show us Shaw's fear. Show us David's increasing madness. Whatever, just be wild!"

    To create such a beige story and put it out as some sort of "Covenant Origin" story is beyond bizarre. And what is truly mind boggling is that dozens of people probably had to sign off and agree with releasing this book. Enough people thought it was a good idea, and to market so deceptively is on another level as well.
    Reply
  21. SM
    Posted
    This probably needs to be in the Literature area and have spoiler tags added.

    That said-
    Spoiler
    I don't recall anything connecting the book to Branson's pod catching fire.
    [close]

    Also, the book was written well before the film came out and anyone knew what the response would be.
    Reply
  27. Corporal Hicks
    Posted
    I've been struggling with the last 50 pages or so with all the
    Spoiler
    Weyland-Yutani kidnapping stuff
    [close]
    but it's picking up my interest again now we're actually getting into
    Spoiler
    the Prophet.
    [close]
    Reply
  31. Corporal Hicks
    Posted
    I received my review copy yesterday. I'm about 110 pages into, finished what appears to be Part One. As above, it's still disappointing we're not getting Shaw or David or Aliens but the world-building if pretty cool. I'm enjoying it well enough but I'm not being blown away by it.
    Reply
  35. felix
    Posted
    Spoiler
    He supposed a Psychic with a Cult. His group tries to sabotage the Covenant and kidnap the Weyland Yutani Chairman's daughter.

    The Prophet has had a vision that there are "Creatures beyond the stars" that will destroy Earth.
    [close]
    Reply
  37. felix
    Posted
    I got a copy of the book and read it. Got released early here in Singapore.

    Spoiler
    No Aliens here. Just Corporate Espionage stuff with Weyland Yutani. No David and The Engineers. No Shaw as well.
    [close]
    Reply
  42. Ultramorph
    Posted
    I was just thinking last night that maybe
    Spoiler
    "The Prophet" and his followers will turn out to be human psychics. That's probably my least favorite option, though, behind even time travelers.

    Or maybe they'll be human-passing Engineers, "Trouble With Tribbles" style.
    [close]
    Reply
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