ALIEN: Out of the Shadows (Novel 1)

[Prez]

Just spent the last few days listening to Alien OOTS audiobook.

Impressive production wise - story wise I really enjoyed it until ....



(SPOILER ALERT)


... the group get down to the mine and then it becomes a bit too much.

The retcon of Ripley's own story in between Alien & Aliens was handled well if you ask me - though one does feel the story could've been just as good without her inclusion.

Ash's inclusion was actually one of the best bits of the story but I felt it could've been more too.

My biggest gripe is that a bunch of miners with mining gear for weapons survive an Alien infestation in incredibly hostile and alien conditions whereas battle hardened marines got wiped out far quicker (in Aliens).

That said - enjoyable. Going to read the book now.

[Nostromo]

Read the book and heard the audiobook too. Liked the Ash parts also. The audiobook impressed me. Makes for a good listen before sleeping. Do all the novels come in audiobooks?

[Engineer]

Just spent the last few days listening to Alien OOTS audiobook.

Impressive production wise - story wise I really enjoyed it until ....



(SPOILER ALERT)


... the group get down to the mine and then it becomes a bit too much.

The retcon of Ripley's own story in between Alien & Aliens was handled well if you ask me - though one does feel the story could've been just as good without her inclusion.

Ash's inclusion was actually one of the best bits of the story but I felt it could've been more too.

My biggest gripe is that a bunch of miners with mining gear for weapons survive an Alien infestation in incredibly hostile and alien conditions whereas battle hardened marines got wiped out far quicker (in Aliens).

That said - enjoyable. Going to read the book now.

MORE SPOILERS:

I prefer to think of it this way:

With the miners, the aliens were hunting, herding them where they wanted them.

In aliens, the battle hardened marines killed one of their offspring, so the hive went into a more aggressive defensive behavior, more focused on eliminating the threat.

Read the book and heard the audiobook too. Liked the Ash parts also. The audiobook impressed me. Makes for a good listen before sleeping. Do all the novels come in audiobooks?

Yes. A couple. But none of the others are dramas like this one.

[Prez]

MORE SPOILERS:

I prefer to think of it this way:

With the miners, the aliens were hunting, herding them where they wanted them.

In aliens, the battle hardened marines killed one of their offspring, so the hive went into a more aggressive defensive behavior, more focused on eliminating the threat.

Fair points.

Curious on any differences between the Audiobook and novel.

[Engineer]

I haven't finished reading the book yet (I actually just started it), but from what I've heard there are differences. Mostly due to the differences in mediums. For example, the audio drama adds a tid bit about why Ash's voice is different (real reason, they didn't have Ian holm or a good sound-alike), which wasn't originally addressed or even mentioned in the book.

[Corporal Hicks]

I don't believe he even spoke in the book. I think it was all through text.

[Engineer]

I don't believe he even spoke in the book. I think it was all through text.

OH! Interesting!

[Engineer]

I wonder if this is the same audiobook. That's actually kinda cool that lance Henriksen is the narrator!

Nope. Different narrator.

Oh, interesting! Maybe the rights to the LH recording were held by some now-defunct audiobook company.

So I was just browsing around on my phone. The iBooks app for Apple now has both versions of alien 3's audiobook: the one narrated by Peter Guinness and the one narrated by lance Henriksen. Thought I'd share. :-)

PS. The lance Henriksen version is less than half as long and less than half the price.

Audiobook comparison for alien 3 by alan dean foster

Narrator: lance Henriksen
Duration: 3 hrs
iBooks store price: $5.95 (USD)

Narrator: Peter Guinness
Duration: 7 hrs 31 min
iBooks store price: $14.95 (USD)

[Prez]

Finally reading the book ... really dug the part earlier on when Ripley is contemplating why the original alien on the Narcissus was so slow to react - lazy, tired, over fed or something else. Remember reading many moons ago on theories about this that the alien was going into some sort of hibernation (hence all the drool when it's showcasing it's impressive tongue).

Thoughts?

[SM]

The original concept was that it had a very short lifespan - around 24 hours - and was dying.  It had fulfilled it's purpose to procreate by turning Dallas and Brett into eggs and that was pretty much that.

[g2vd]

The original concept was that it had a very short lifespan - around 24 hours - and was dying.  It had fulfilled it's purpose to procreate by turning Dallas and Brett into eggs and that was pretty much that.

Really? I had no idea where was this stated?

[SM]

I think Riddles talks about on one of the commentary tracks.  Might've even popped up in original promo material (Warren magazine or Book of Alien).

[426Buddy]

I believe Ridley did talk on a couple occasions about the short life span idea.

However the aliens behavior wasn't that far removed when it attacked Brett and Lambert, taking its time with both (though not as long as it took to finally attack Ripley). Plus maybe it could tell Ripley was trapped. I never really cared much for the short life span idea myself. I'm glad the idea was never picked up for the sequels.

[Perfect-Organism]

Considering Ridley's ideas that didn't make the final cut, I wonder how early Ridley had the ideas that were presented i Prometheus...  Aliens as weapons, space jockeys are engineers etc...

[Xenomrph]

I think Riddles talks about on one of the commentary tracks.  Might've even popped up in original promo material (Warren magazine or Book of Alien).

On top of this, the Alien was supposed to be translucent, and became more opaque over the course of the movie. Naturally, they couldn't get it to work particularly well with a person in a suit or a puppet.