Fan Favourite Alex White Returns With New Novel, Alien: Into Charybdis!

Started by Corporal Hicks, Feb 03, 2020, 03:53:38 PM

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Fan Favourite Alex White Returns With New Novel, Alien: Into Charybdis! (Read 96,734 times)

BlueMarsalis79

Alex gets it completely, I didn't find a single thing I disagreed with them about during that interview, they hit the nail on the head every single damn time it's actually surreal.

Whether that's the Alien being essentially tamper resistant, the Pathogen not necessarily starting out as such with potentially a life giving variation lost to the constant forward march of time, and utterly "getting people" and that's particularly evident with the various reactions to Blue.

I believe David's actually mentioned the liquid having variations in the films but still proceeds to outline all he's aware of as though all functionally identical anyway.

I loved the energy the back and forth.

And I love how it felt like a couple of mates just having a passionate conversation.

Oh and good call on Lilith, Li and Sil especially, H.R Giger's work's not just arbitrarily up for the taking, he's more than Alien, and not all of that inherently belongs to this intellectual property or indeed's right for it in the first place.


GreybackElder

This was great. I had no idea you had a hand in the creation of this novel Hicks! Into Charybdis, The Cold Forge and Rogue are some of my favorite Alien novels.

Prez

Fantastic interview. Alex is so honest when discussing things. Great to listen to. Oh and Titan ... yer ... start writing that cheque for the 3rd book please!

Corporal Hicks

Corporal Hicks

#513
Quote from: GreybackElder on Jun 04, 2021, 11:34:43 PM
This was great. I had no idea you had a hand in the creation of this novel Hicks! Into Charybdis, The Cold Forge and Rogue are some of my favorite Alien novels.

I wouldn't go that far. I mean, sure, Alex stole the Blue thing from me (though I had been referring to Dorian when I said it in the first interview)  :P but otherwise it was just reading, commenting, sound-boarding, etc. I finally got around to listening to PO's interview with them and was reminded of something I said early on in writing "do not for the love of God have any androids having their heads cut off and being carried around."  :laugh:


BlueMarsalis79

Looking forward to listening to this whilst scanning planets in Mass Effect.

Gentleman Death

Quote from: Trash Queen on Jun 18, 2021, 06:40:56 PM
Looking forward to listening to this whilst scanning planets in Mass Effect.

That's a solid plan 👍

DaniillLogOut

Good plan, indeed

Prez

"Drop your linen and start your grinnin..."

Looking forward to this one.

Engineer

Engineer

#519
@Voodoo Magic
Glad I could help! 🙂 I've also been sharing the charybdis facility diagram with several people who started with the audiobook too. To be fair though, corporal Hicks didn't have the diagram when reading the first draft lol


Oh also, I assumed another reason to use charybdis for this facility wasn't just for the server cooling potential, but the renewable energy potential... turbines that generate electricity to help power the facility from the constant flow of water into the maw.

Voodoo Magic

Quote from: Engineer on Jun 19, 2021, 03:51:51 PM
@Voodoo Magic
Glad I could help! 🙂 I've also been sharing the charybdis facility diagram with several people who started with the audiobook too. To be fair though, corporal Hicks didn't have the diagram when reading the first draft lol

I was running on an 85% understanding of how this complex looked, but it was definitely nice to have it and fill in those gaps!  :)


Quote
Oh also, I assumed another reason to use charybdis for this facility wasn't just for the server cooling potential, but the renewable energy potential... turbines that generate electricity to help power the facility from the constant flow of water into the maw.

It all still seems a bit volatile to me, but I like your thinking!

Engineer

Quote from: Voodoo Magic on Jun 19, 2021, 10:01:01 PM
Quote from: Engineer on Jun 19, 2021, 03:51:51 PM
@Voodoo Magic
Glad I could help! 🙂 I've also been sharing the charybdis facility diagram with several people who started with the audiobook too. To be fair though, corporal Hicks didn't have the diagram when reading the first draft lol

I was running on an 85% understanding of how this complex looked, but it was definitely nice to have it and fill in those gaps!  :)


Quote
Oh also, I assumed another reason to use charybdis for this facility wasn't just for the server cooling potential, but the renewable energy potential... turbines that generate electricity to help power the facility from the constant flow of water into the maw.

It all still seems a bit volatile to me, but I like your thinking!

To clarify, the thing I was referring to when I said I was glad I could help was the giger concept art. The charybdis diagram was a separate thought that I realize I should have distinguished more lol

Nukiemorph

Absolutely loved this. Easily my favorite of the Alien books I've read so far. Loved the characters, deaths, setting, and use of the prequel elements.

I even loved the villain. The "Here piggy piggy" line that Voodoo can't let go of was the only part that got a tad cartoonish for me. Outside of that, I always felt like I understood the character's point of view.

The only two minor gripes that stick out to me:

I didn't like the movie callbacks, such as "Get away from that computer, you bitch." Distracting and a bit corny.

Spoiler
Having Tiran simply get lost in commotion at one point felt like an odd choice. I kept expecting her to pop back up at some point.
[close]

Voodoo Magic

Quote from: Nukiemorph on Jun 21, 2021, 08:03:58 AM
IThe "Here piggy piggy" line that Voodoo can't let go of was the only part that got a tad cartoonish for me.

Less can't, more didn't want to.  ;D

But yes, for me, if Ducan was less comicy & mustache-twirling and more realistic like the rest of the book's character counterparts this book might have been a perfect 10 for me. But alas, a 9 out of 10 is still nothing to sneeze at!

Nightmare Asylum

Nightmare Asylum

#524
Duncan to me felt like a marine character that could have stepped off of the screen from Avatar. A slight step away from the rest of the book's more grounded characters for sure, but totally in keeping with the novel's critical eye on the marines and their actions. This all honestly contributed to what is by far the most interesting portrayal of the USCM in any material since Aliens itself, if you ask me.

I still need to listen to Hicks' interview with Alex White from a few weeks back. Maybe I'll get to that tonight...

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