Aliens novels chronology

[Travis Touchdown]

Wasn't Hunter's Planet before War?

(SPOILERS!)

I know Hunter's Planet was released before War.  We all know Prey was a novelization of the Aliens vs. Predator comic book.  I think what happened was David Bischoff was given permission to write a sequel to the book, which is where Hunter's Planet comes in.  Dark Horse then went and made their own sequel, in which War is the novelization of.  Technically, they don't fit together, but you can kinda/sorta make them work if you put them in the order of Prey, War, Hunter's Planet, given the events that Machiko is hunting with the Predators in War and leaves at the end, and is long since left Topknot's clan in Hunter's Planet.

Just imagine there's another Predator that Machiko nicknames Shorty, or assume the original survived the events of War.  Somehow. 

[predxeno]

What's that got to do with owt? 

This can explain the post above the one that this one responds to.

[SM]

What? 

You're talking about Machiko hanging out with Predators - which is irrelevant to when AvP:Prey takes place.

[predxeno]

The post I'm referring to said that the Alien Earth invasion had to take place around AVP Prey since Revna said there was no previous evidence of human encounters with these creatures.  It then said that this must mean that the Earth invasion takes place around AVP Prey.  I disagree, it could have taken place long after AVP Prey.  Machiko hanging out with the Predators means not keeping up with Earth news.  The aliens could have taken over Earth and Machiko wouldn't even have known about it.

[SM]

Well if you know the precise time period she was with the Predators you can work back from there.  I understood it as she left Ryushi about a year after Prosperity Wells was destroyed and was with them for around 1 to 2 years prior to leaving them in War.

The Berserker units weren't used early in the Earth - Alien War, so doing the maths....

[Katarn84]

Can you tell us where exactly in AVP War where Machiko recalls events in Hunter's Planet?

Absolutely not, it's been quite a few years ago when I read those books (I guess they were my first books in the series). I only remember that in Hunter's Planet were told some facts I missed taht I found in War when I read it, the details are quite a bit foggy.

How did you find out?

From reading the book.  Some Doctor (Revna?) says there's no record of facehuggers in any medical journals.  Ergo they haven't taken over Earth yet.  Yet a few years later when Machiko hooks up with the Berserker team, the Aliens are everywhere, and have been for a while.  Logic would dictate the infestation of Ryushi and Earth occurred around the same time.

It may be, this require more deep investigation. I asked because I can't remember so much of these books.

[Katarn84]

Just finished DNA War. I think this should be placed after Alien3 and before Earth Hive.

In the last Chapters the main character says there were rumors of a ship involved with the Aliens and a lost mission and it doesn't mention any invasion.

I'm quoting page 207: "There was one rumor of one ship fifty-odd years ago, and one expedition from which I don't think anybody survived"

By my point of view he means the Nostromo first and Hadley's Hope after. Apparently Rilpey's tale of the Nostromo got through the walls of Weyland-Yutani in Aliens and rumors of the extermination of the colony too. So it's actually between Aliens and Earth Hive, with Alien 3 somewhere in between, but I believe Ripley's gone at the time of this book. For the rumors to get to the public it should have passed some time, I think enough to go to Acheron from Earth and from Acheron to Fiorina.

[predxeno]

I know that there was a Diane Carey (author of DNA War) interview where she states the time period for this book.

[SM]

Diane Carey: DNA WAR is engineered, in my mind, at least, to occur some time after the third movie, and possibly the fourth. It's a time during which the aliens are known to exist and are being studied by humans, so we can figure out how to deal with them. I left the timeline deliberately vague, because the series is still active and developing new canon.

Corporal Hicks – When is Cauldron set?

Diane Carey – In the future. (Beats me.) I guess in the Alien time frame, it's after space travelers have been alerted to the existence of these creatures and there's a no-transport law.

If they're to conform to the movies, they're both post-Resurrection.  If not they're some time after the end of the Alien Earth War.

[predxeno]

Perhaps they didn't occur after Earth War since Rory makes no mention to the creatures (he describes a scenario of the aliens killing again rather give an example of them invading Earth) and none of the passengers in Cauldron knew what the creatures were.  One way someone could retcon this in, however, is to reference the Big Deletion that's described in AVP Civilized Beasts.

[SM]

When is this 'Big Deletion' supposed to have occurred?  If they're trying to tell us it was between Alien3 and Resurrection, they don't really have much regard for the intelligence of their readership.

[predxeno]

The people in didn't appear to know what the aliens or predators were in Thrill of the Hunt.  The Big Deletion occurred one hundred years before Civilized Beasts.  Civilized Beats takes place 8 months after Thrill of the Hunt.  I don't know exactly when Thrill of the Hunt occurs, only that it takes place after AVP1 movie.  However, it is implied in the AVP literature that Thrill of the Hunt takes place very early on.  In AVP Prey comic, it is mentioned that the elephant is now extinct.  In Aliens DNA War, it is mentioned that the panda bear is extinct.  In Aliens No Exit, it is revealed that the cat and the dog had to be "reintroduced" into the human population.  Yet in Alien, Jones the cat is there so Aliens No Exit had to have taken place afterward since the general population in that book had a good idea of what the aliens are.  So it is implied that many animals have died off and become extinct. 

[SM]

They know they're writing for Alien and not Blade Runner right?

[predxeno]

Technically, Aliens and Predator met DC characters like Batman and Superman.  Batman met The Incredible Hulk from Marvel, I know.  In a Spiderman tv show, there's a crossover with Blade.  Though I'm not considering Alien and Predator crossovers with DC characters or whatever to be canon.  I think most crossovers between two major comic publishing companines are noncanon.

[SM]

Yeah, but the whole thing about extinct animals is particualr to Blade Runner.  Between cats, dogs, hamsters and mutated oxen, animals aren't exactly endangered or anything in Alien flicks.