The Rage War: A three part Alien / Predator epic by Tim Lebbon

[The Alien Predator]

Sooo... here's me wondering "who is Aaron Percival?"

*Quick google search*

*Finds Hick's Twitter*

Reaction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL9cM6_qIao

[Corporal Hicks]

Haha! That made me laugh!

[HuDaFuK]

I'm not. I want a f**king ship named after me. xD

Wait... It's named after you? Haha! That's freaking epic! Fair play.

[The Alien Predator]

Haha! That made me laugh!

I was completely taken by surprise. 

I hope this ship kicks some butt in the novel.

I wonder if Lebbon will be using some futuristic Conestoga class ships? Or the AvP2010 Bougainville class? (Those ships must be well outdated by the time the Rage War takes place though.)

Or will he use some newer models? I don't expect him to go into too much detail as far as ships are concerned, he might not even mention them like nothing was said of ship models in the Titan books trilogy, which is better as it lets us imagine our own designs.

I absolutely love the ships in the ALIEN universe man, they got some of the best sci fi ships.

[Corporal Hicks]

I'm not. I want a f**king ship named after me. xD

Wait... It's named after you? Haha! That's freaking epic! Fair play.

I don't know if he named it after me but it's my name. lol I'm kinda hoping he did. And that he didn't blow it up.

I wonder if Lebbon will be using some futuristic Conestoga class ships? Or the AvP2010 Bougainville class? (Those ships must be well outdated by the time the Rage War takes place though.)

Or will he use some newer models? I don't expect him to go into too much detail as far as ships are concerned, he might not even mention them like nothing was said of ship models in the Titan books trilogy, which is better as it lets us imagine our own designs.

I absolutely love the ships in the ALIEN universe man, they got some of the best sci fi ships.

I'd hope it's a brand new ship but I don't expect too much detail in terms of the equipment and ships. Doesn't really seem to be his style.

[The Alien Predator]

I'm not. I want a f**king ship named after me. xD

Wait... It's named after you? Haha! That's freaking epic! Fair play.

I don't know if he named it after me but it's my name. lol I'm kinda hoping he did. And that he didn't blow it up.

"So he doesn't like the Yautja, huh? He doesn't like our honour? He insults the integrity of our culture by not liking the way we think and act? This ship is named after him? BLOW IT UP NOW!" *Evil Predator laugh*

[RakaiThwei]

Why do you have to be like this? Why can't I have a ship?

I was kidding, jeeze! 

In that case definitely. I like my lethal hunters. If the general feeling of the Predators invokes a sense of Turnabout or SCS I'd be a very very happy reader.

Keep them as Hunters. Not slavers, not conquerors either. Keep them what the first two films established them to be. Simple, and too the point. Nothing more, nothing less. I think we can agree on that.

That would definitely seem to be the way of it. I'm quite happy personally. I hate getting into their heads.

The reason why I say I am happy and disappointed is because I am happy that he is not using the Yautja concept incase he does something with the Predators and don't agree with. Therefore, I wouldn't have to count and accept it with things associated with the Yautja. That's incase he screws up... the reason why I am disappointed is if he does something awesome with the Predators, that I happen to agree with, then well.. yeah. It's not the Yautja doing the awesome stuff, just.. something else.

I have a very black and white view when it comes to the presentation of the Predators.

Do I like getting into their heads? Well... it depends on who writes them. Obviously I favor the Perry's version of them and they are what had resonated with me the most. They were portrayed as harsh anti-heroes.. though that should be said for a select few in the novels. I haven't read South China Sea but I heard the flashbacks for the Predator were cool...

I've read some novels where we don't see the perspective of the Predators like Big Game, Concrete Jungle and Cold War. I thought those were pretty damn cool.

You have the Yautja and the Hish because Shirley didn't know about the Yautja.

I remember hearing that he was told to ignore what came before. Either way.. we've got two.

[HuDaFuK]

I don't know if he named it after me but it's my name. lol I'm kinda hoping he did. And that he didn't blow it up.

It'd crack me up if it gets taken out in the opening scene, Hicks-in-Alien 3-style

[Corporal Hicks]

I remember hearing that he was told to ignore what came before. Either way.. we've got two.

I know your blood is going to boil but -

AvPGalaxy – One of the more...controversial aspects of Forever Midnight was the reimagination of the Yautja race. The Yautja had become a staple of the Predator society for those who had come through the years with only the novels to offer detailed insight into the Predator culture. Where you aware of how popular the Yautja were when DH Press tasked you with creating a new version of the Predators?

John Shirley – The Predator was popular-but the term " Yautja"? I'd never heard it. And who calls the Predator aliens Yautja? The Predators themselves? It's never explained. I don't remember it from the movies. I took it that the name came from South American Indians talking of them-that it was not their own name. I wasn't aware of Wikipedia at the time I wrote the book or I'd have looked it up there and I see they mention that as the name of the race...and they mention the name of their planet. But they don't seem to know how this is confirmed. I mean, humans don't question Predators that I know of, in the movies, so how did the name get to be known by people? I could also say that there are more than one races of Predators-as they are spread out across the galaxy, presumably that would be the case-and Yautja could be just one of those races, if that is indeed the name they know themselves by. It wasn't in the "bible" I was given that I recall. I wasn't aware of other Predator novels. I assumed all the basic information would be in the "bible", the slim sheaf of pages given me by the publisher to provide basic info on the Predator. What I took from the publisher's bible is that no one knew much about the Predators, their nature or home planet, which made it possible to make things up. To me, the basic place to start is the movies, not every comic ever written about the story-as the comics and books may be in contradiction to one another (same with the Alien stories),. I would also like to mention that my book was checked out by the movie studio and they had no objection to it-they did not say I was using the wrong terms etc. So to me they are the final authority.

AvPGalaxy – The Hish and the Yautja were very different. The Yautja followed the samurai style culture the comics created while the Hish were based more off the movie Predators. What sort of research did you put into creating the Hish?

John Shirley – Why these aliens would have a Samurai style culture I don't know. My job was to write a tie-in TO THE MOVIES. Not a tie in to somebody's comic book version. I simply watched the movies and imagined the race as it might be in a way I thought was entertaining and a bit amusing and exciting. The movies and the "bible" were my research. Again I was told that little was known about them so I assumed that was true. That left little to research.

http://www.avpgalaxy.net/website/interviews/john-shirley-2/

[RakaiThwei]

I know you're blood is going to boil but -

[Corporal Hicks]

So I suppose you can blame Dark Horse for not wanting the Yautja included in the Bible.

Or is it Fox's bible? I can't remember which way round it was.

[RakaiThwei]

So I suppose you can blame Dark Horse for not wanting the Yautja included in the Bible.

Richardson did say that Dark Horse never really considers or controls what others outside of Dark Horse does with the license when I asked him as Habbufet over at the AMAReddit. So.. I'm not really mad as you think I am. It's just something I've come to accept, so pick and choose.

Also, doesn't Dark Horse have their own in-house Bible and Fox have their own?

[Ultramorph]

That's awesome that you're getting a ship named after you in the novel, Hicks!

It was actually me that responded to your tweet to Lebbon asking if we're getting anything from the Predator perspective.  I'm glad he's keeping them alien.

[TheBATMAN]

Yeah that is pretty cool. Your own little piece of history permanently etched into Alien lore. Nice one.

[RakaiThwei]

Got word from Lebbon, he's keeping the honor aspects!

https://mobile.twitter.com/timlebbon/status/629335782273253377

Yeah its a link via mobile but that's because I am using my phone. Hopefully he will answer my other question regarding whether we will get a tribal/clan based society or a.. ugh.. monarchy society.