ALIEN: The Weyland-Yutani Report (S.D. Perry, 160 pages)

[TheBATMAN]

I'm sorely tempted. But I know the moment I do they'll announce a massive price cut.

[Perfect-Organism]

I'm sorely tempted. But I know the moment I do they'll announce a massive price cut.

This.  100%

It will be a version with a stylish dust jacket without the sculpted Alien slipcase.  Who wants to place bets?

I mean I don't have objections to the marketing strategy as I am sure a lot of work went into this to finally make this book properly.  As a fan I can understand that the creators need to make some good money here and they deserve it for putting out quality material.  But come on.  Who are we kidding here?  There is no way this is not going to be released as a version that everyone can afford.

[System Apollo]

And I got a character named after me.  Which was nice.

Was it the Walmart company man?

Now I am definitely checking it out!

[Engineer]

Spoiler

I think they'd like to tie in as much of their Alien IP into the films as possible, but at the same time appreciate it just isn't possible after 25 years of different media, creators and licensees.  It seems like it was simpler to just draw a line under everything and start with Out Of The Shadows and go from there.  They'd already decided on the scope of what it would cover long before I ever got involved.  It was interesting seeing references to things that weren't going to be released for another 12 months.

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My favourite part is probably the Prometheus and Resurrection stuff - the stuff about Alien and Aliens was always going to be the gold quality stuff, but some of the 'lesser' films had some really good content.  I don't think I'm speaking out of school if I say that neither Prometheus nor Resurrection is among Danelle's favourites and it comes out in the writing - and this is for the better.  It allows the author to be critical of the film while being the 'Company voice' that can be critical of the characters actions.  There's two stand out pieces, one from Vickers perspective and another from Gedimans that are brilliant.  The stuff relating to Aliens (the film) takes up a fair old chunk of the book (due to 7 of the 10 illustrations being from that film), but I was happy to see the 'not as popular' flicks not get shafted.

My 'hand' was fact checking and proof reading.  I contributed a couple of captions here and there John's EEV and Betty illustrations.

And I got a character named after me.  Which was nice.

So is it fair to say that you have an improved appreciation for prometheus and resurrection now?

And seriously?!? Which character was named after you? That's freaking awesome!

And last big question:

Spoiler

You mentioned seeing references to stories that didn't come out for another 12 months. Is that just stuff like fire and stone, titan's trilogy and isolation? Or are there other things on the horizon that none of us know about yet mentioned in this book? I suspect all content explicitly referenced in this book has been announced and/or released by now, but I had to ask.

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[janenad]

Thanks SM and Hicks for the replies! Can you, SM, elaborate on the theorizing about the different head shapes of the xenomorph that was presented in this book? 

[TheBATMAN]

It seems a little odd that the Fire and Stone mission is mentioned on the timeline but the LV-178 missions are not.

[Ultramorph]

It seems a little odd that the Fire and Stone mission is mentioned on the timeline but the LV-178 missions are not.

I think, in-universe, W-Y doesn't know about the 178 stuff at the point when the Report is written.

[TheBATMAN]

I think, in-universe, W-Y doesn't know about the 178 stuff at the point when the Report is written.

Out of the Shadows I can forgive, although there's nothing to say any of Ash's transmissions didn't get back to the company. But Sea of Sorrows should be referenced. It was a company mission after all.

I understand the reasoning if the book is meant to be about the pre-reformation WY, but for completionist sake I'd have preferred them to be in there.

[Ultramorph]

Actually, Sea of Sorrows happens after the Report was written. I believe the W-Y Report is supposedly written around the time Resurrection happens, so about 100 years before Sea of Sorrows. The W-Y Report even figures into Sea of Sorrows, as I believe it's supposed to be the report Decker and the rest of the mercenaries are told to read.

[Corporal Hicks]

I definitely got the impression that this report was written before Sea of Sorrows. And by all indications, W-Y didn't receive Ash's notes.

And seriously?!? Which character was named after you? That's freaking awesome!

I thought I saw your surname!

[Valaquen]

If it's any consolation that tone is only one page.

Yeah that's what I was thinking, I only read that one extract so I won't judge the whole tome.

The pictures in the gallery should be good enough quality for you to read some of the other sections.

I'll certainly check 'em out once I have the chance. I'm skiving from my dissertation by being here in the first place  Two weeks, two weeks...

[Corporal Hicks]

If it's any consolation that tone is only one page.

Yeah that's what I was thinking, I only read that one extract so I won't judge the whole tome.

The pictures in the gallery should be good enough quality for you to read some of the other sections.

I'll certainly check 'em out once I have the chance. I'm skiving from my dissertation by being here in the first place  Two weeks, two weeks...

You and your education!  Fair enough, Val. Completely understood.

[Valaquen]

If it's any consolation that tone is only one page.

Yeah that's what I was thinking, I only read that one extract so I won't judge the whole tome.

The pictures in the gallery should be good enough quality for you to read some of the other sections.

I'll certainly check 'em out once I have the chance. I'm skiving from my dissertation by being here in the first place  Two weeks, two weeks...

You and your education!  Fair enough, Val. Completely understood.

After the 28th August I'm all yours 

[SM]

Well it's certainly not intended as such. As I said, it means in-universe reasons. I'll reword it.

Not heard it in that context before.

So is it fair to say that you have an improved appreciation for prometheus and resurrection now?

No, I already held both in fairly high regard.  I expected Prometheus to be fairly prominent, but not Resurrection and was happy to see it wasn't given second rate treatment.

And seriously?!? Which character was named after you? That's freaking awesome!

Spoiler

Now that'd be telling.     All I'll say is it's an existing character who didn't have a canonical first name.

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Spoiler

You mentioned seeing references to stories that didn't come out for another 12 months. Is that just stuff like fire and stone, titan's trilogy and isolation? Or are there other things on the horizon that none of us know about yet mentioned in this book? I suspect all content explicitly referenced in this book has been announced and/or released by now, but I had to ask.

Just the comics, books and Isolation - at that point.  It is however Aliens 30th next year, so watch this space.

[close]

Thanks SM and Hicks for the replies! Can you, SM, elaborate on the theorizing about the different head shapes of the xenomorph that was presented in this book?

Not to give too much away but

Spoiler

it relates to the presence of a Queen, or not.

[close]

I thought I saw your surname!

That's on the back page.

And there's no mention of Sea of Sorrows because, as others have said, it hasn't happened yet in the timeframe of the book.  The book is set shortly after Resurrection.

[Engineer]

SM,

Spoiler

Come on! You can't say which character?! Can you at least specify the movie the character appears in? Lol I suspect Alien 3...

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And on another note, I previously had a small discussion with you here and on the Alien: Isolation forums (I went by the username Al Bangya over there, in case you didn't put 2 and 2 together) regarding the moon LV-426 and some of its physical/environmental properties and how it might have changed post terraforming. I also had an idea regarding why LV-426 might have been selected for terraforming in the first place. I recently re-posted my thoughts on this here hoping to spark a larger discussion, but that didn't happen. Not as many science junkies here as I thought I guess. Lol. Anyway, is there any new information about LV-426 presented in this book? Or how about the atmospheric processors and how they work? I'm curious if I should massively overhaul my ideas regarding all that in light of new information available! :-)