Ask Jeff VanderMeer

[dachande89]

No prob Jeff. Always happy to see some great writing that does the Aliens and Predators justice.

[felix]

Merry Christmas, Jeff! From a fan from Asia as well.

Maybe you could write another Predator novel told from the perspective of Pol Pot. The friendly gator. Ah...the stories this fella can tell.

[Johnny Handsome]

And bearing in mind, like SiL said, all the Aliens we've observed in the film are young and people are arguing that it shows intelligence, but consider how long it takes a human being to learn things such as basic tool operation, communication and etc.

Funny, i thought they have genetic memories and given that they are around for thousands of years (AvP) i think they had plenty of time to gather experience in all categories.
So i think that statement of yours isn't really a comparison here, thank you Alien Rez 

[SiL]

...They've been in a pyramid for thousands of years. Being hunted by Predators. That's all that hive has ever known - Wake up, be killed by Predators, Queen goes back to sleep, repeat. That's it. The hell else are they going to learn in that setup?

[JeffVanderMeer]

Yeah--I could've written a whole novel about the croc.

Thanks for giving my novel this thread, btw. I've enjoyed reading the whole discussion--not just about the novel but about Aliens and Preds in general.

Happy Holidays!

Jeff

[Predboy]

Although christmas passed by, and I'm really interested in the whole pred vs croc thing, as a late christmas treat, can you tell me how badly the pred messes up the croc? Thats all I really want to know. 

[dachande89]

Not wanting to ruin anything pred boy, but it seemed the other way around to me. lol

[Xenomrph]

Yeah, I imagine the croc would have taken the Predator down.

Not that it wouldn't have been a righteous fight, but I think the croc would win in the end.

[Predboy]

Wha? The predator gets his ass kicked? Gahhh, that sucks so hard.

[Johnny Handsome]

Where are the days where a Predator could take down 10 armed to the teeth drug dealers and special forces teams almost effortlessly, where are the days where a predator could rip out a mans spine with his bare hands and lift up 200 pound people with one hand... 

Now it cant even handle a f**king crocodile. Why come to earth in the first place, it seems like its getting its ass kicked by everything now. I guess the end of the novel is that the snake that is on the cover kicks the Preds ass.

[SiL]

Where are the days where a Predator could take down 10 armed to the teeth drug dealers and special forces teams almost effortlessly,

Never. It never took down 10 armed drug dealers in a single go (And when it did take down a group, it was through ambush and invisibility, first in an enclosed space, then in an area where it could stay invisible AND out of line of sight).

And when did it ever take down ten special forces soldiers effortlessly? There aren't ten skinned bodies, Dutch's team only had seven people, Dillon included, and effortlessly? It got shot in the leg by Mac and hit by several grenades from Dutch. Then Dutch dropped a log on its damned head and it blew itself up.

Hell, even then, it never attacked Dutch's team en-masse. It picked them off one by one.

Now it cant even handle a f**king crocodile.

So? Crocodiles weigh more than people, are stronger, and have a propensity to attack people, y'know, in the water. A place where most humanoids aren't the most graceful and effective.

Friggin' hell.

[dachande89]

Yea It's not like the Pred got his ass owned. The croc had the advantage of water, quicker mobility in the water, and weight with massive jaw power. The Pred wasn't wrecked by the croc, but the croc did manage to get a few hits in. This Predator was by no means a dumb ass newbie like the preds in AVP 1, he was experienced, and capable. Just in some elements, no matter how well equipped the hunter is, the one that is in its natural element can have the advantage.

[happypred]

Hell, even then, it never attacked Dutch's team en-masse. It picked them off one by one.

I think the way he killed everyone except for Dutch could be described as pretty effortlessly, yes he got hit in the leg but seriously, it looked like he was playing with Dutch's squad

Dutch killed anytime because anytime either decided to have some bare-handed fun or decided hand to hand combat was more honorable for the prey that survived the longest ... if anytime wanted to he could've just cannoned Dutch

[SiL]

He still didn't have an effortless time trying to get to him when he set his traps and made his makeshift weapons.

[happypred]

Yes it was hard for the predator to find Dutch once Dutch figured out he could hide using mud

but the rest of the team looked like a walk through the park for anytime

and he wasn't seriously injured until the log fell on him