Alien: The Cold Forge - Titan Books

Started by felix, Sep 14, 2017, 01:45:44 AM

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Alien: The Cold Forge - Titan Books (Read 116,424 times)

HuDaFuK

Quote from: SM on Jun 13, 2018, 03:59:03 AM
Spoiler
I'm re-reading it at the moment, but I don't think it's ever revealed.  Lucy effectively caused the whole mess with Silversmile because she was being blackmailed, but to the best of my knowledge neither she nor Blue opened the kennels, and it's stated a few times that it was impossible for Silversmile to have done it on its own.  The Seegson comms mention a contingency - which is probably Lucy.  At the end the Seegson HR people more or less fess up to being responsible for the whole shmear.
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Spoiler
If I remember rightly, there's a section that makes it clear Lucy believes Blue was responsible for unleashing the Aliens - and it's internal thought, so she's not simply weaving white lies to cover herself. But I'm pretty certain Blue's actions at the time are accounted for, meaning it can't be her (plus I vaguely recall her also believing someone else was responsible, which like Lucy would put her out). Another agent then? I can't remember particularly liking anyone else for it.
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SM

SM

#301
Spoiler
Dorian accuses Blue at one point (when Blue isn't around) and Lucy is quick to agree.  But I'm pretty sure both of them have alibis.
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FenGiddel

"Stealth mode"   ;D

SM

SM

#303
Spoiler
Alright so finished it again. The Aliens escaped because someone on the Seegson ship remotely piloted Marcus and opened the kennels. Someone also piloted the loader at the end to save Blue.
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HuDaFuK

Quote from: SM on Jun 17, 2018, 10:42:42 PM
Spoiler
Alright so finished it again. The Aliens escaped because someone on the Seegson ship remotely piloted Marcus and opened the kennels. Someone also piloted the loader at the end to save Blue.
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Spoiler
Was it not impossible to access Marcus externally?

Also, I thought the loader went to Blue on auto-pilot, guided by Marcus' programming that was installed? That's why it wouldn't intervene when Dorian was trying to kill Blue - because it couldn't/wouldn't harm a human being - but was capable of saving her from the Aliens and taking her to the escape pod. At least, that's how I read it.
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SM

SM

#305
Quote from: HuDaFuK on Jun 18, 2018, 10:34:28 AM
Quote from: SM on Jun 17, 2018, 10:42:42 PM
Spoiler
Alright so finished it again. The Aliens escaped because someone on the Seegson ship remotely piloted Marcus and opened the kennels. Someone also piloted the loader at the end to save Blue.
[close]

Spoiler
Was it not impossible to access Marcus externally?

Also, I thought the loader went to Blue on auto-pilot, guided by Marcus' programming that was installed? That's why it wouldn't intervene when Dorian was trying to kill Blue - because it couldn't/wouldn't harm a human being - but was capable of saving her from the Aliens and taking her to the escape pod. At least, that's how I read it.
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Spoiler
Blue surmises that because there's no wireless comms in the SCIF, someone must've taken over piloting him externally once Silversmile got loose - the people who'd contacted her about extracting her, meaning there was a ship nearby (the one that ultimately picks her up).  She also sends the loader on auto to pick her up, but it attacks Dorian once it arrives.  When Dorian is taken by the Aliens a voice comes out of the loader telling her to get in the empty egg crate.

When she blames the Seegson HR people for killing everyone on the station they respond that they were conducting illegal experiments.
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Corporal Hicks

First commentary from Alex has gone out -

QuoteChapter 1: Line Items
Welcome to my monthly short feature about the interesting bits of ALIEN: THE COLD FORGE! In this section, I'll be discussing any interesting bits of trivia about the individual chapters.

Up first: Line Items!

What's with the name Indigo Flag?

When governments name projects, they'll often use code names to refer to it. One of the problems with human-generated code names, however, is the unconscious bias we have to give things relevant monikers. So if you wanted to give an all-consuming cloud of nanites a code name, you might call it "Project Piranha."

That's a mistake.

Good code names are completely purpose-agnostic when viewed on a spreadsheet. You shouldn't be able to discern a single detail about them, whether it's staffing, scientific level of acumen, budget or end use. Most smart code name generators will pick two words at random--the stranger, the better.

You can see this pattern in all projects in THE COLD FORGE: Indigo Flag (the adversary's code for RB-232), Rose Eagle, Silver Smile and Glitter Edifice.

What does the RB stand for in "RB-232"?

You know, I could make something up here, but it stands for "Red Bull," because I am a huge Daniel Ricciardo fan. As for the numbers, I liked the verbal cadence of "two thirty-two."

Where did Dorian Sudler's name come from?

As you have all likely guessed, Dorian is a reference to Oscar Wilde's THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. It's such a beautiful, articulate name, and when it's linked to an amoral libertine, it works so well. It's also the reason he paints.

I've always felt that painting is a vaguely sinister thing for villains to do, because it represents the need to capture the world around oneself. Some people would celebrate those frozen moments. I think Dorian enjoys subduing the world and forcing it into his own order.

In the opening scene, I wanted to establish that it's not enough for Dorian to win (by getting laid, for example). Someone else has to lose.

Where did Blue Marsalis's name come from?

I've known a couple of women named Blue in my lifetime, and I always thought it was a fantastic name. Of course, when you couple that with her serious, depressing backstory, it's just as on-the-nose as Dorian's name.

Blue's last name comes from Wynton Marsalis, an ultra-famous jazz musician. I wanted readers to subconsciously imagine an ability to improvise, since that skill is what keeps her alive in the long run.

Why is Blue a queer, disabled woman of color?

Because I wanted to give her every possible disadvantage in a mindless, corporate system. Weyland-Yutani represents the ultimate soulless machination, and Dorian is a force for preserving entrenched power structures.

Characters like Blue are often buffeted by stifling workforce cultures. Because she is a woman, she is less likely to be taken seriously by her male counterparts. Because she is black, she is more likely to be seen as aggressive when she stands up for herself. Because she is disabled/dying, human resources will be eager to get rid of her, considering her a drain on the insurance pool.

Even in her introduction, Kambili Okoro tells her to "man up," a clear attack on her gender identity.

Why isn't Marcus more representative of Blue's identity?

When I think of the androids that have endured from the series--Ash, Bishop, David and Walter--they're male caregivers. I was never particularly drawn to Call (Alien: Resurrection), because I enjoyed the trope subversion of having empathetic male servants. We're all familiar with Blade Runner, and the roles that female replicants typically filled onscreen, and that's a bit... boring. In my mind, most androids from the Alien universe are male, and Joss Whedon's Call is the outlier.

It wasn't hard to tap into the spectacular performances by Ian Holm, Lance Henricksen and Michael Fassbender. Many readers responded to Marcus, and you can see a lot of love for him in the reviews. It delighted me to no end to see the synthetic referred to as, "the only sympathetic character."

Join me next month for more!

HuDaFuK

Nice!

Where's he sharing these?

The Old One

The Old One

#308
Fantastic, where did you get this from?

Corporal Hicks

It's on his mailing list. http://www.alexrwhite.com/

Inside Track, on the left.

HuDaFuK

Thanks. Subscribed.

Hudson

Hudson

#311
Quote from: SM on Jun 11, 2018, 12:09:20 PM

It's not even a stretch.  It all takes place before Alien 3.


So, besides appearing before Alien 3 in a chronological timeline, how else would you specifically and directly link it to the plot and/or characters of The Cold Forge considering the direct references in the book are to Aliens and Alien Isolation?

Also, 100 years ago I did an email interview with Lee Brimmicombe-Wood and remember him mentioning that content from Alien and Alien 3 was left out of the Technical Manual. Would this have been a separate conflict from a licensing issue? I just notice that if there's content from multiple films appearing in one piece, the copyrights are all listed separately for each film title.

SM

SM

#312
It isn't linked to Alien 3 at all.

To the best of my knowledge (which is pretty limited) Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Resurrection and Covenant are all one license, and Prometheus is separate, and AvP is separate again.

Perhaps it was a different 20 odd years back when there was only 3 films.

Hudson

Hudson

#313
Quote from: SM on Jun 25, 2018, 06:08:01 AM
It isn't linked to Alien 3 at all.

To the best of my knowledge (which is pretty limited) Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Resurrection and Covenant are all one license, and Prometheus is separate, and AvP is separate again.

Perhaps it was a different 20 odd years back when there was only 3 films.

Misunderstood to think you were suggesting there was a connection.

SM

SM

#314
Ah, right.  I think I might've worded that clumsily.

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