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Alien: Prototype – New Alien Novel Starring Zula Hendricks!

Posted 30 Comments

I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m feeling a little spoiled! With the announcement of Alien: Prototype, we’re now due for a total of 3 novels this year! Written by Tim Waggoner, Alien: Prototype is also set to feature Zula Hendricks as a main character.

This will mark Tim Waggoner’s first foray into the Alien expanded universe but he’s no stranger to science fiction, horror or franchise tie-ins. He has previously written for Stargate, Supernatural, Resident Evil and A Nightmare on Elm Street.

When an industrial spy steals a Xenomorph egg, former Colonial Marine Zula Hendricks must prevent an alien from killing everyone on an isolated colony planet.

Corporate spy Tamar Prather steals a Xenomorph egg from Weyland-Yutani, taking it to a lab facility run by Venture, a Weyland-Yutani competitor. Former Colonial Marine Zula Hendricks–now allied with the underground resistance–infiltrates Venture’s security team. When a human test subject is impregnated, the result is a Xenomorph that, unless it’s stopped, will kill every human being on the planet.

Alien: Prototype - New Alien Novel Starring Zula Hendricks!

First introduced in the comic series Aliens: Defiance, Zula is also due to feature in a smaller way in Keith R.A. DeCandido’s upcoming Alien: Isolation novel (which is currently slated for a July 30th release).

Alien: Prototype is currently available for pre-order on Amazon (US/UK) and is due for release on the 29th of October. Thanks to Felix for the news.

Keep a close eye on Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for the latest Alien and Predator literature news! 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 and Predator fans on our forums!


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Comments: 30
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  2. Hudson
    Posted
    I'm about halfway through this and I'm enjoying it for the most part. Dialogue is a bit explainy as I've come to expect, but I like the single Xenomorph concept up to this point. I'm into the characters for the most part but I want more of Davis. He was--by far--the most interesting character from Defiance. My only real complaints are that I wish Prototype wasn't so dependent on Zula's origin story in Defiance. It's not a fundamental problem, but I don't think Zula realistically thinks enough about the occurrences of Defiance for this book to feel like it's organically connected, rather than kind of forced. For instance, I'm not sure that Dr. Hollis has come up in Zula's interior at all, unless it was quick early on and I zipped past too quickly. Again, I'm only about halfway so I'm looking forward to the rest of the book.
    Reply
  3. The Cruentus
    Posted
    Isn't that what eggmorphing was supposed to be as well? Something that just feeding on the bodies and not a literal conversion. I guess one thing going for it is that Ovomorphs are not simply eggs, but an organism in their own right, so it being able to feed can make sense I guess.
    Reply
  4. SM
    Posted
    That also works.  And can also feed into hive creation (ie. it's its own organism that grows of its own accord after an Alien deposits an initial amount).
    Reply
  5. TC
    Posted
    I liken eggmorphing to a fungi consuming dead organic material to build a new complex structure out of dissolved nutrients, e.g. a puffball or mushroom. These fungi can spring up remarkably quickly too, sometimes overnight. Maybe the speed of development hints at the rapid growth of chestburster to big-chap (although the magical increase in body mass would take some fancy science to explain). Fungi do this by concealing all the growth material underground in hyphae, all primed and ready to go.

    TC
    Reply
  6. SM
    Posted
    Just as the gestation cycle is based on wasps using other animals as hosts but taken to an extreme, I liken eggmorphing to a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly.
    Reply
  8. SM
    Posted
    Quote from: The Cruentus on Dec 31, 2019, 03:46:54 PM
    That didn't happen in the first few films though right? Kane was hugged for quite a few hours if not most of the day. He may have gestated it for longer than we think before he bursts, then we don't know how long it was between chestburster and adult. I agree it still far fetched as well, but I personally think its more plausible than converting a dead body into an egg.

    The novel of the second movie states 24hrs for the facehugger and the W-Y report says something similar, like 16hrs or something.
    Still insanely fast and unlikely but surely that is more plausible than eggmorping.

    Gestation is around 16 hours then full size in about 2 hours.

    Same level of realism as eggmorphing.  IE not much.
    Reply
  10. The Cruentus
    Posted
    That didn't happen in the first few films though right? Kane was hugged for quite a few hours if not most of the day. He may have gestated it for longer than we think before he bursts, then we don't know how long it was between chestburster and adult. I agree it still far fetched as well, but I personally think its more plausible than converting a dead body into an egg.

    The novel of the second movie states 24hrs for the facehugger and the W-Y report says something similar, like 16hrs or something.
    Still insanely fast and unlikely but surely that is more plausible than eggmorping.
    Reply
  11. SM
    Posted
    Quote from: The Cruentus on Dec 31, 2019, 11:03:21 AM
    I get why some like it, it is such an alien method of reproduction but scientifically it makes no sense, at least to me. Not really an expert but I know of no animal or insect that can do it either.
    Mind you, its not supposed to be eggmorphing, I think someone said it just laid an egg in the dead body and it just consumed it to grow.

    I don't know of any animals that can go from microscopic to 8' tall in less than 24 hours either.
    Reply
  12. Still Collating...
    Posted
    I don't find it that far fetched honestly. Supply a dose of genetic information and let the rest transform aka eat the cells of the poor victim as it turns them into the whole egg and hugger. Nothing too strange as far as I'm concerned.
    Reply
  13. The Cruentus
    Posted
    I get why some like it, it is such an alien method of reproduction but scientifically it makes no sense, at least to me. Not really an expert but I know of no animal or insect that can do it either.
    Mind you, its not supposed to be eggmorphing, I think someone said it just laid an egg in the dead body and it just consumed it to grow.
    Reply
  18. The Cruentus
    Posted
    There is no eggmorphing in Prototype though, the egg is just found at the end with no explanation on how it was created besides that the Necromorph was responsible for it one way or the other.  I am surprised they got away with the name since its what the re-animated dead in Dead Space are called.
    Reply
  19. The Old One
    Posted
    The name makes no sense, and the concept is pungent with "what if" but it's perfectly competent, enjoyable and mostly inoffensive. I'd add though that Ovomorphing now appears in Defiance, Resistance and Alien The RPG additionally.
    Reply
  20. The Cruentus
    Posted
    This was an enjoyable book, I really liked the threat posed by the Necromorph and some of the action was well written, there is some downsides though, at least for me personally.
    I find the disease works way too fast than any disease should, mutated or otherwise, certain characters with potential are let down or end up making stupid decisions.
    Spoiler
    Tamar could have been a great complex character as it does seem she was going to be up until she pulls a burke and manages to get herself killed as well as someone else, all out of greed. Aleta is not giving much to do which is a shame as I was curious to see what such a apathetic corporate character would add to the story as she reminded me of Darcy from Musical spheres and Andrea Rollins. Another stupid thing is that despite testing potential fatal diseases on test subjects, Gagnon kept infected test subjects in a room with a large air vent... Also lesions or no lesions, the Necromorph should not have been able to withstand concentrated fire like that but ultimately I am happy with the way it is eventually dealt with, both tense during and satisfying afterwards.
    [close]

    Overall it is a great book and it should work as a good counter to isolation novel where the Aliens are killed fairly easily.
    Reply
  35. SM
    Posted
    Spoiler
    Egg morphing wasn't in the draft, and the origin of the egg was worded differently.  I mentioned that you could vaguely hint at egg morphing, but I've not seen the final version.
    [close]
    Reply
  38. HuDaFuK
    Posted
    Well obviously not.

    I just don't think it ties in with the way the novel makes out colonisation hasn't got going yet.

    On an unrelated note, something else that just occurred to me regarding this book:
    Spoiler
    Is this the first canon story to feature eggmorphing?
    [close]
    Reply
  40. HuDaFuK
    Posted
    Quote from: SM on Nov 13, 2019, 01:41:26 AMThey lived in small groups housed in cramped space stations, or equally cramped planet-based facilities...

    ...except for the 600 people lining in the sprawling Lodge facility.

    They clearly already have the tech to establish large-scale bases on other planets, including ones with inhospitable atmospheres.

    Quote from: Xiggz456 on Nov 13, 2019, 01:58:22 AMThe way I see it is Venture is testing new colonization products. Similar to an outdoors company testing a new tent or sleeping bag in extreme climates even though folks have been camping since always.

    Fair.
    Reply
  42. Xiggz456
    Posted
    Quote from: HuDaFuK on Nov 12, 2019, 09:46:11 PM
    Something else that's just struck me as a bit dumb about the whole colonisation being in the early prototype phase thing - they already have a giant f*cking colony on Jericho 3 where the story happens.

    The way I see it is Venture is testing new colonization products. Similar to an outdoors company testing a new tent or sleeping bag in extreme climates even though folks have been camping since always. Also we know from Resistance that colony ships launch twice a day on Earth; so as long as colonization is booming the demand for new products, be it top of the line or cheap and disposable, will be quite high. Plausibly I have no problems seeing an array of prototype colonization equipment being tested on a fairly hostile planet.
    Reply
  43. SM
    Posted
    Quote from: HuDaFuK on Nov 12, 2019, 09:46:11 PM
    Something else that's just struck me as a bit dumb about the whole colonisation being in the early prototype phase thing - they already have a giant f*cking colony on Jericho 3 where the story happens.

    QuoteV-22's focus was on the development of new and improved space colonization technology. The first wave of colonists had already moved out into galaxy, but they were merely a drop in the bucket for what was to come. They lived in small groups housed in cramped space stations, or equally cramped planet-based facilities, but soon larger missions would be looking for opportunities beyond the world of their birth. More ambitious settlements would be established—villages, towns, cities, and eventually entire nations. The future colonists would need better ships, better facilities, and better tools to help them survive, let alone work in the hostile environments they would encounter.
    Venture intended to be the number-one supplier of these needs, outcompeting all others, including the almighty Weyland-Yutani.
    Reply
  45. HuDaFuK
    Posted
    Something else that's just struck me as a bit dumb about the whole colonisation being in the early prototype phase thing - they already have a giant f*cking colony on Jericho 3 where the story happens.
    Reply
  46. Xiggz456
    Posted
    Middle-of-the-road? This sits right behind Cold Forge for me; I couldn't put the book down.

    And Jericho 3 is Venture's facility/planet for the testing of their colonization tech and equipment: ergo prototypes.

    Spoiler
    Not to mention a xeno that's the first of its kind.
    [close]
    Reply
  48. Stitch
    Posted
    On the whole I enjoyed it. One bit really brought me out of it, though, and that's the section with the synthetic program and the AI. It was really stupid, like 90s Saturday morning cartoons stupid.

    If that bit was written better, then I probably wouldn't have any problems with it. Well, apart from the book itself feeling cheap. On the whole, I'd probably give it a 7/10, for the 90s Aliens comic book feel.

    One last thing, though, what's with the title? It has nothing to do with the story.  ???
    Reply
  49. HuDaFuK
    Posted
    Finished this last night.

    It wound up being a fairly middle-of-the-road Alien novel. It was by no means awful, but it wasn't especially fantastic either. The oldschool Bantam feel was perhaps the main thing it had going for it, but that kinda wore off towards the end.

    Spoiler
    The idea of the Alien being infected with the virus at a genetic level was a good one, but ultimately the book didn't really seem to go anywhere with it - the virus was so instantly fatal that it really didn't have any chance to spread, and 95% of the people who got it were immediately killed by the Alien anyway. The second half of the novel also suffered from being a bit repetitive - Marines find Alien, Marines shoot at Alien, Alien gets away, repeat. The same thing happened about three or four times, just in different locations. Still, the final showdown between Zula and the beast aboard the out-of-control shuttle was admittedly really good and by far the most tense and exciting the book ever got. It's a shame more of it wasn't on that level. Overall I thought the writing was acceptable but nothing like as engaging as Alex White or Tim Lebbon's efforts.
    [close]

    Can't really give it any more than a rather average 5 or 6 out of 10. Didn't love it, but certainly didn't hate it either.
    Reply
  50. Stitch
    Posted
    I'm halfway through and quite enjoying it. It does remind me of the old novels, and that's a good thing.

    Is it just me, though, or does the book itself feel cheap? Like, the paper looks thin and greyish rather than white, and the cover feels like thin card. The other books have felt kind of premium, but this feels like a discount run.
    Reply
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