Aliens novels chronology

[Magneto]

Is there a specific order that I should read the books in? I'm asking this because I'm going to be buying the books some time soon and I'd like to know if there a specific order that I should read them in so that I can better understand them. Or doesn't it matter? Can I read them in any order?

[Xenomrph]

The first 3, by Steven and Stephani Perry, happen "first" and in order: "Earth Hive", "Nightmare Asylum", "The Female War". Genocide is next in the timeline after that.

Chronologically 'Steel Egg' happens before any of the Alien movies so that one should be "first", but you don't really have to read it first - just treat it like a prequel. Likewise, 'Original Sin' takes place after 'Alien Resurrection' and thus after any of the other books.

Aside from that, you can sorta read them in any order. If you get into the Predator books, Concrete Jungle and Cold War should be read in that order, but all the others are standalone and it doesn't really matter. Likewise, if you read AvP books, make sure you read 'Aliens: Berserker' and 'AvP: Prey' before you read 'AvP: War', since War has characters from Berserker and Prey. Chronologically, 'AvP: Hunter's Planet' happens last.

[Everlasting Undead]

It's been a while since I read the two novels, but didn't Hunters Planet negate War? Like I say, I'm plunging the dark and vacuous depths of my memory, but wasn't Shorty killed in War, then again in Hunters Planet, or teaming up, or something... you know what, that's just all too vague for me.

I'm in the middle of going back through the series: I'll make my way to them.

But personally: I read them in the order as they were released, which worked fine for me.

[Xenomrph]

Hunter's Planet was an original novel that wasn't based on a comic book (although it involved a few elements from the comic series 'AvP: War') and then War came out later and actually adapted that comic.
There's two key parts that get rehashed in both books, to my recollection: Machiko helping capture the Queen, and Machiko's feud with Shorty (resulting in his death later on).

The Queen capture can be written off as a flashback, but the Shorty thing is a pretty hefty contradiction and it's hard to work around it.
It's been a long time since I read either book; I'd have to go back and re-read them before I could try to work out some kind of fan-wank "fix" or something.

Chronologically Hunter's Planet takes place after War, though, since War starts 1 year after Prey where Machiko is still with the Predators, and then HP is later after she's left them (which happens in War).

[predxeno]

For the new books by DH Press or whatever, there's no real order except the one that's written inside the books.  As for the old books, you should read them in the order assigned; Earth Hive, Nightmare Asylum, Female War, etc.  There's some continuity in some of them, the only exception being AvP Hunter's Planet as explained above.

[Travis Touchdown]

I could be totally off and would love it if someone corrected me, but here's what I've gathered as far as the complete order of Alien/Predator chronology, if you were wondering how to work Predator in at some point.

Predator: Concrete Jungle
Predator: Big Game
Predator: Cold War
Predator: Turnabout
Predator: South China Sea
Aliens: Steel Egg 
Aliens: Earth Hive
Aliens: Nightmare Asylum
Aliens: The Female War
Aliens: Genocide
Aliens: Alien Harvest
Aliens: Labyrinth
Aliens: Rogue
Aliens: Music Of The Spears
Aliens vs. Predator: Prey
Aliens: Berserker
Aliens vs. Predator: War
Aliens vs. Predator: Hunter's Planet
Aliens: DNA War
Predator: Forever Midnight
Aliens: Cauldron
Predator: Flesh And Blood
Aliens: Criminal Enterprise
Aliens: No Exit
Aliens: Original Sin

Granted, I honestly don't have a clue and have only read a couple of the novels.  Out of the blue I've gotten on this big reading kick since movies and TV lately bore me.  I already owned all 3 Aliens vs. Predator novels, Aliens: Alien Harvest, Predator: Forever Midnight, and Predator: Concrete Jungle, but I'd only read Prey, Alien Harvest, and Concrete Jungle.  I started War the other day and my shipment that contained Berserker came in today and I made the discovery that Berserker takes place before War.  So I've been trying to compile the correct order in which to read the books so it all makes the most amount of sense possible, and that's what I've come up with so far.  The first 5 Predator novels, from what I gather, take place in present time, while the rest of the series all takes place somewhere within the future.

Though granted, I've also gathered that you can read the books in practically any order, with the exception of a few, and it won't matter since the continuity is apparently loose with either no or very tiny referrences to past stories.  The exceptions, I guess are;
Earth Hive
Nightmare Asylum
Female War

Prey
Berserker
War
Hunter's Planet

Concrete Jungle
Cold War

[Katarn84]

I already opened a post about this (A, P, AvP Timeline). I got this timeline as far as I was able:

Predator (although is the first script made novel, before Stan Winston came and created the ultimate hunter)
Predator Concrete jungle
Predator Cold war
Predator Big game (I put it here because of the order in the literature section of this site, since it's a standalone in the present day it can be placed anytime you want)
Predator 2

Alien sv Predator Movie novelization

Aliens Steel Egg (still to read, but afraid since the author is the same of Forever Midnight...)
Alien
Aliens
Alien3
Aliens Earth Hive
Aliens Asylum
Aliens The female war
Aliens Genocide (a lot better than the comic it comes from, by the way)
Aliens Alien Harvest
Aliens Rogue
Aliens Labirinth
Aliens Berserker
Aliens Music of the spears
Alien Resurrection (novel and Junior novel)
Aliens Original Sin (a bit of screwing up Alien origins, but nice reading)


These I still have to place for obvious reasons
Predator Turnabout (still to read)
Predator South China Sea (still to buy)
Aliens DNA War (still to read)
Aliens Cauldron (still to read)
Aliens Criminal Enterprise (still to read)
Aliens No Exit (still to buy)

Forever Midnight and Flesh and Blood are out of the picture since they go against the common knowledge about predators stated in all the other books.

Earth Hive
Nightmare Asylum
Female War

Prey
Berserker
War
Hunter's Planet

Concrete Jungle
Cold War

These are definetly the unavoidable reading order ones, all the Alien novels after female war you can read anytime you want, but the first three cover one single big event that changed history and influenced the other books, except for Alien Resurrection which completely ignored them (one big mistake Jeunet did - among others - by my point of view and I hope Antal does not with Predators).

Thank you, Travis, for the hint about AvP novels. I never decided "when" to put them in the timeline.

[SM]

one big mistake Jeunet did

JPJ didn't write the script.

And the first AvP book takes place around the same time as Earth Hive.

[Katarn84]

And the first AvP book takes place around the same time as Earth Hive.

How did you find out?

Prey
Berserker
War
Hunter's Planet

Wasn't Hunter's Planet before War? In the first one Machiko leave the predators after they go hunting humans, in War she fights against them and (if I remember it right) she recalls the events in Hunter's Planet. I remember I read them in this order (Prey, War, Hunter's Planet) and lost track of the events reading of things never happened between Prey and War, just to find them unfold when I read Hunter's Planet.

[predxeno]

Can you tell us where exactly in AVP War where Machiko recalls events in Hunter's Planet?

[SM]

How did you find out?

From reading the book.  Some Doctor (Revna?) says there's no record of facehuggers in any medical journals.  Ergo they haven't taken over Earth yet.  Yet a few years later when Machiko hooks up with the Berserker team, the Aliens are everywhere, and have been for a while.  Logic would dictate the infestation of Ryushi and Earth occurred around the same time.

[predxeno]

Machiko had been out of contact with humans since she hung out with the Predators a lot.  She could have missed a lot.

[SM]

What's that got to do with owt? 

[predxeno]

Owt?

[SM]

"anything"