Alien: The Cold Forge - Titan Books

[Hudson]

I'm not sure I'd be interested in a direct sequel. Perhaps a separate story in which Marsalis appears in some capacity. The other original Titan Alien novels are part of trilogies and I'd rather they just do something less predictable.

I certainly don't disagree that this book has potential to take the series down new and interesting avenues in the future.

[HybridNewborn]

I'm not sure I'd be interested in a direct sequel. Perhaps a separate story in which Marsalis appears in some capacity. The other original Titan Alien novels are part of trilogies and I'd rather they just do something less predictable.

I certainly don't disagree that this book has potential to take the series down new and interesting avenues in the future.

I was pointing out in another topic that they've sort of touched all the original Alien films with their novels now. Out of the Shadows is a sequel to Alien, River of Pain is a prequel to Aliens, Sea of Sorrows follows up Resurrection, and The Cold Forge has thematic ties to Alien³ with the converted prison complex and soft sequelization to Aliens. Throw in Origins, and they've done a prequel to Covenant as well. Pretty much the only film they haven't touched is Prometheus, and that's at least partially because they don't have the rights.

With all that in mind, it would be interesting if a new novel was wholly original, and doesn't use any of the films as a jumping off point.

[SM]

Cold Forge was never actually a prison.

[The Old One]

Cold Forge was never actually a prison.

It was for the Snatchers.

[Perfect-Organism]

I think the first Titan trilogy is best enjoyed if you ignore its placement in the overall canon and just enjoy each story on its own merit.  Out of the Shadows captured a vibe that I have not felt in the Alien series in a long while.  Do I like slotting in a Ripley story in between Alien and Aliens?  No.  It's ridiculous.  But it is well written, and it is fun, and even if shouldn't really be part of the canon, at the end of the day, getting a good Alien book is valuable and if you let it stand on its own two feet, independent of the overall canon, you will have a really cool, enjoyable story.  And at the end of the day, this is all about enjoyment of good sci-fi horror.

[Xenomrph]

I think the first Titan trilogy is best enjoyed if you ignore its placement in the overall canon and just enjoy each story on its own merit.  Out of the Shadows captured a vibe that I have not felt in the Alien series in a long while.  Do I like slotting in a Ripley story in between Alien and Aliens?  No.  It's ridiculous.  But it is well written, and it is fun, and even if shouldn't really be part of the canon, at the end of the day, getting a good Alien book is valuable and if you let it stand on its own two feet, independent of the overall canon, you will have a really cool, enjoyable story.  And at the end of the day, this is all about enjoyment of good sci-fi horror.

This is a healthy way to look at "canon" regardless of what franchise it is.

There was plenty of interesting stuff set up in the 2014 novel trilogy.

Those books are garbage and I'm glad they were tossed under the bus.

Tell us how you REALLY feel.

[Corporal Hicks]

I'm kind of surprised to see such rave reviews for this book. Not because I don't like it, but it seemed to be in a similar vein as Criminal Enterprise in that the Aliens were somewhat incidental. That makes the science-fiction aspect of the story feel interchangeable with other licensed properties, or just original ideas. The strong points for me were the entertaining characters. They were all essentially unlikable, but there was nothing boring that accompanied any of their interactions or personalities. For instance, I remember that there were a lot of characters in Steel Egg, but I don't remember any other than the ridiculous mad scientist and the captain. I think I'd even remember the character names in The Cold Forge for some time after reading it, if not indefinitely. The interjecting short chapters which brought in some walk-on narrators were also fun, and overall I did enjoy the dual viewpoint character setup of the book.

From what I remember of Criminal Enterprises, not only were all its character unlikable, they were uninteresting and had no redeeming qualities. They weren't shades of grey which The Cold Forge's character were (well, aside from Dorian. The bastard).

[SM]

Criminal Enterprise was probably the best of that batch.

[Corporal Hicks]

It's been a good few years since I read them but I think I'd give No Exit the edge. Just that tiny little sliver of an edge, though.

[Hudson]

Forgot to mention that I thought "snatchers" was probably the biggest eye roll.

The Cold Forge being tied to Alien 3 is maybe the biggest stretch. There's definitely no intent there whatsoever. The back cover references Hadley's Hope, and the main text refers directly to the film Aliens. I would love to see Titan actually tie something in to Alien 3, assuming that's a separate license. It would actually be really cool if an entity other than NECA was interested in all the licensing opportunities provided by the franchise. I get the impression, based on how I understand the 2014 trilogy (which isn't 'garbage') came to be. It sounds like Titan sits around and waits for authors/agents to pitch them something. The majority of their output has been reprints, so maybe when they've milked that dry they'll take more of an active interest? I don't claim to know everything about how that system works, but they seem awfully passive about the production of original content.

Criminal Enterprise was probably the best of that batch.

I agree, which is unfortunate because it's enabling for future editors & writers to point to it as a reference for what's doable in the future, in terms of at least one standard for success. The Cold Forge is an improvement, easily, but it's not the direction I want this going in. It makes me feel crazy seeing fans who are supportive of the Xenomorphs as incidental to the plot of an Alien narrative. This would never fly with the Predator franchise. We really got to the point where Alien Covenant Origins contains literally no Aliens. So, why is this ok for Alien?

I'm completely stumped as to why the intent of the Alien extended universe is to achieve something that continuously drifts away from the spirit of Alien or Aliens. Out of the Shadows is still my favorite because it felt the most like Alien to me, at least in hindsight. It's been a while since I've read it.

[SM]

Forgot to mention that I thought "snatchers" was probably the biggest eye roll.

Which is acknowledged in the text.

The Cold Forge being tied to Alien 3 is maybe the biggest stretch.

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

I would love to see Titan actually tie something in to Alien 3, assuming that's a separate license.

To the best of my knowledge, Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection and Alien Covenant are all the same license.

It sounds like Titan sits around and waits for authors/agents to pitch them something.

Novels concepts are generally initiated by Fox.  Titan don't sit around and wait.

They reprinted the old stuff and old novelisations - and produced eight new novels, with more on the way.

It makes me feel crazy seeing fans who are supportive of the Xenomorphs as incidental to the plot of an Alien narrative.

Incidental how?

Spoiler

Aliens are being studied right from the outset, then break out a third of the way into the book, then the characters spend the rest of the time trying to find a way to survive - with two of them trying to secure specimens.

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[HuDaFuK]

- did Seegson get bought out by Weyland-Yutani in Isolation, or did they just buy Sevastapol?

They just bought the station from Seegson.

[HuDaFuK]

I suspect I'm having a brain-fart and have simply forgotten, but was it ever conclusively stated

Spoiler

who let the Aliens loose in this?

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[Perfect-Organism]

Spoiler

its implied that it was Anne, though I think there was some intent to make this ambiguous...

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[SM]

I suspect I'm having a brain-fart and have simply forgotten, but was it ever conclusively stated

Spoiler

who let the Aliens loose in this?

[close]

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.

[close]