I got the trade paperback and I'm like 4/5 of the way through it; I'm trying really hard to enjoy it, but the pacing is just... so bad. Between this series, volume 2 of Defiance, and Terminator: Sector War (also written by Brian Wood, also pretty bad) I'm starting to think that Brian Wood doesn't understand pacing and isn't a particularly good writer.
The story goes at such a whirlwind's pace without taking any time to set up or explain anything, it feels like it's got this "just go with it" attitude where shit just happens and the reader is just supposed to accept it. Like, you can play that card once in a while, but Resistance does it constantly, one thing after another, and as a reader it feels like I'm getting dragged along for a roller coaster ride except there's no tension or stakes because shit just keeps flying past my face without time to process what's going on.
It's baffling because not only is shit happening at an insane pace, it breaks the cardinal rule of sequels by not working as a stand-alone story while simultaneously not clueing the reader in to where they can do some background reading to get caught up. Like, *I* understand who Amanda Ripley is, what she's been through, who Zula is, what she's been through, and how she met Amanda, but if some random reader picked this series up off the rack with no context then they'd not only have no idea what the f**k is going on, they wouldn't know where to turn to find out.
Maybe the last issue fixes this, but it suffers from the same problem that Defiance volume 2 did, and that's a distinct lack of Aliens. I'd almost be okay with it if the story showed down and took some time to breathe, maybe work on a little character interaction somewhere, but it's just so all over the place.
Maybe I just need to immediately re-read it after I finish it. Did Brian Wood also write Rescue? If so, please tell me it's more coherent than Resistance.