We have just uploaded the 103rd episode of the Alien vs. Predator Galaxy Podcast (right-click and save as to download)! For our latest episode I am joined by Scott Sigler, author of Dangerous Prey (one of the handful of shorts from Aliens: Bug Hunt that I thoroughly enjoyed) and the absolutely brilliant Aliens: Phalanx which came out at the end of February!
We discuss writing from the Alien’s point of view in Dangerous Prey, the research that went into writing a convincing combat between Aliens and a medieval society, and plenty more which you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out! Beware story spoilers though!
You can find out more about Scott by checking out his website, following him on Facebook or Twitter, or listening to his podcast – Scott Sigler Audiobooks! This episode is also available as a video interview on YouTube!
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I certainly don't think sexist portrayals of women are a problem in the Alien series. And as such this book really didn't bother me
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The book may present an antiquated viewpoint, but it's hardly out of sync with the world in which it takes place.
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It's really not a good look after Bug Hunt, which you would hope was embarrassing for anyone involved in a way that it would light a fire under their asses the next time. Apparently not. And yeah, it's a long book, but not nearly the first time a long novel has been published in a media franchise's EU or otherwise.
I have the same problem with it
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It loses momentum for me over the final 150 or so pages, but I would still put it up there with The Cold Forge & Out of the Shadows as one of the more successful books in the series. I think my main problem is that this book does a really thorough job of building up an engaging group of characters, and has a really good eye on crafting a compelling human story that says quite a bit about various non-Alien franchise things, only to leave us with an extended ending sequence focused on physical action that doesn't serve as much of a culmination of any of those substantive elements. Boring battle scenes, and then more boring battle scenes. None of that stuff was very interesting to read,
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Overall, you could cut a lot from this and still have a solid novel. I thought it was a cool idea and it was mostly well executed. It was generally a fun book to read, and I felt like it did a good job of reaching for more than the vast majority of Alien novels. The portrayal of the Aliens was effective, which feels like a roll of the dice each time I start reading one of these. Still have to be that guy about the proofing of the book. The typographical errors are persistent through the whole thing.
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Other disjointed thoughts:
* This was a better YA novel than Echo.
* The fat character is named Panda, and is generally described as being overweight and good at his job because his job is sedentary, which is good because he won't have to move around much, which would be difficult for him because he's fat. See the pattern? The book constantly reminds you that Panda is the fat character. For all the self-awareness of the novel, this is never reconciled from what I could tell. It's just there so you can laugh at a fat person. Panda is fat, and that's all there is to it. These moments are straight up 90s Adam Sandler.
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* I would read more novels in this particular series/thread if more were published. I would even look forward to them! I think there's still a lot you can do with this concept.
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Somewhere I've got a McFarland Alien vs Predator two figure set that features an egg with a little light inside that makes it glow from within, it's always been my favorite part.
I've always loved the laser light from the egg chamber scene in the original film, and like the AvP2 game I've always preferred to think of it as (failing) stasis field, Pilot technology that's breaking down due to age and seismic activity, the egg containment starts to breach and the acoustic warning beacon immediately starts blasting through the æther. Isolation did such a gorgeous job picking up on this theme with the Marlowe beacon scene on the derelict. I think Steel Egg is the only time it was ever inferred that the mist field was some kind of emission from the eggs themselves (thankfully the only time IMHO).
On another non sequitur side note, the bit with the water droplets dripping up from the eggs has always been another one of my favorite little details from the film, and one of the few atmospheric tidbits that I thought Colonial Marines really got right, if I'm remembering correctly, anyway.
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! SPOILER ALERT !
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Probably got about 200 pages left and so far I agree. This is my favorite novel in the franchise so far, unless it collapses horribly from this point to the end which I doubt. I'm especially enjoying how political the book is with the numerous allegories that continue to populate the story. For instance, the current refugee crisis and the way the US government has responded to it, among other current issues. Beyond that, it's well-written and the characters are engaging and feel effectively portrayed. Someone at Titan could have proofed the manuscript though. Woops!
Haven't had the chance to watch yet.
I have quite a few thoughts on things I'd like to discuss, but I'll hold out on all of that until after I go through all of the spoiler tags in this thread.
Me too.
I always preferred Alien.
Was it better than (Alex White, forgive my soul) THE COLD FORGE ?
For me, it was. By the slightest.
"If it comes to that, I'll do us both."
"Hey f**kface, come and get me!"
A lesson in good fanservice.
This, basically.
EDIT: A few chapters in and so far, so good. A very different experience so far from The Cold Forge (TCF is the only Titan Alien novel I've read, barring the Covenant novelization) but I'm immediately interested in this world and want to see where this goes. It was also a very nice touch, given the structure of this story, to see a map up front at the start.
EDIT 2: Just finished chapter 15...
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To be honest, I've always just chalked it up to artistic interpretation and don't really bat an eye when a story chooses one option or the other, though I don't mind Cameron's take that the domes eventually molt off with age. I'm going to assume that that's the intention here.
I have. It's not difficult considering no one in my waking life is reading this book, and it's easy to not click the SPOILER tags when people use them on here.
I absolutely recommend people give it a go though.
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Any time the Aliens are in this, it's absolutely blowing me away. (I was reading in bed last night, deep in the middle of some tense, creepy Alien shit, and a moth suddenly landed on my face. I practically hit the f*cking ceiling.) I'm less keen on the stuff in between, but that's really no slight against the book and purely down to me not caring for dungeons and dragons stuff. But as I said before, I'm really happy to see someone trying something new with the series. Even if it's not necessarily my bag, I'm glad that there are authors willing to be a bit more experimental and it's certainly among the most memorable Alien reads.
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Anyone know what year this is actually set in?
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Cool dream you have !
I haven't started yet, but this is a relief.
Apparently to the point where it had me dreaming about being hunted by Aliens last night