I finished reading the second draft just now, and I think it goes a bit too far to the opposite extreme from the first draft. That one has way too much random shit going, while this one could have been a tad more eventful. That and the Cold War references are still a tad dated. Here are some other random thoughts:
-Gibson expands on the typical alien life cycle a bit more, and interestingly enough, he makes the warriors from
Aliens a transitional stage to the ultimate form, the one from the original film. That's pretty opposite of every other take I've seen. Also, the idea that any drone can become a queen under the right circumstances is an intriguing one.
-The UPP repairing Bishop with sub standard materials reminded me of a chapter in Red Storm Rising where a German dentist fingers a Soviet spy based on the crappy fillings in his teeth.
-Hicks, the marine famously in need of waking up, spends a chunk of this draft asleep.
-I had a hard time picturing the Hybrid alien, and how it was supposed to differentiate from the standard model. I'm also not sure how the transformation happened to begin with. The embryo just kind of randomly farts on two people, and that's it.
-Also, the "yellow liquid" that the Hybrid bleeds just made me wonder if the Tall Man was somehow involved.