Hi as per request I've dropped in - not sure I'm posting in the right place the right way. Let me know if you want me to do it somewhere else. I wrote Predator: Forever Midnight, the novel,and the forthcoming Alien: STeel Moon. Some liked Forever Midnight and someone or other, possibly several someones, thought it strayed too much from information I was never given...
The John Shirley website, created by fans, with way too much information, is savailable to the curious at www.darkecho.com/johnshirley
I'm glad you could drop by, John. I'd like folks to remember to be civil when posing questions. I'm attempting to get the new DH Press authors together here, and because of that I'd all like you to show some respect.
Thanks for dropping by, John. I hope you like it it.
Quotethe forthcoming Alien: STeel Moon
Much better title than the previously reported 'Steel Egg'.
In the interview, you mentioned you didn't know what the Space Jockey was when I asked you if the Egg was Jockey technology. If I tell you that the Space Jockeys are the creatures from Alien, and the Derelict Ship their creation, would you be able to answer that question again?
AvPGalaxy - It's quite an intriguing story and I'll admit, the idea behind this "Egg Ship" has got my attention. Is the Egg meant to be a Space Jockey ship?
Hello John,
I finish Forever Midnight a while ago and had been meaning to ask some questions.
1# why did you make the Hish a hermaprhodite race, rather then single gender ?
2# I know you didn't research the books and comics because you were only suppose to research the movies, but would you include the former race the Yautja in another novel ? or since there are other clans would you do things differently with a new clan ?
3# Out of all the chaos near the end, how come Ness's second in command just turn against him when he is trying to protect his family ?
4# will you do another Predator novel ? and if yes would you include a different clan or would this clan be similiar to the ones in FM ?
5# are you guys allow to touch the AVP property yet for books ?
thanks for your time.
In reply to 5:
http://www.avpgalaxy.net/index.php?subaction=showcomments&id=1169172706&archive=&start_from=&ucat=8&
thanks Hicks, it seems so odd that they acquire both franchises but they can't get the AVP franchise. ???
Apparently another publisher has the exclusive rights to AvP. I think it's Harper-Collins who did the movie novelization.
wonder how that work out ? and it seems that a AVP 2 novelsation won't be happening anytime soon ...
Ironic that the company that effectively invented AvP can't use it anymore.
^ my thoughts exactly
Or my other works. Novels and...I share co-writing credit with Dave Schow on the movie THE CROW. I wrote the first four drafts of the script, based on James O'Barr's comic book.
Other tie in novels I've done are Batman: Dead White, and Hellblazer: War Lord and Hellblazer: Subterranean. I also wrote the novelization of the Doom movie and the novelization of Constantine (which sort of has the same character as Hellblazer and sort of doesn't--in the novels I did and in the original comics he's a British guy, somewhat different than the Keanu Reeves version).
http:www.darkecho.com/johnshirley (http://www.darkecho.com/johnshirley)
Hey, John! We were using this thread for questions for the authors - http://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/index.php?topic=219.30
I'll announce your presence here on the main site, direct some attention here.
Just wanted to let you know I've gone and merged your topic with this one, John. And there's already a few questions by myself and BrokenTusk a few posts back.
I meant to ask you this in our interview, but if you did another Predator novel would you consider doing it entirely in the past? From your prologue to FM it would seem you have no problem with writing stuff for the 18th century and stories have been going back and forth about a movie set in that timeframe.
Would you want to do a novel set then?
Quote from: BrokenTusk on Jan 29, 2007, 04:04:47 PM
Hello John,
I finish Forever Midnight a while ago and had been meaning to ask some questions.
1# why did you make the Hish a hermaprhodite race, rather then single gender ?
2# I know you didn't research the books and comics because you were only suppose to research the movies, but would you include the former race the Yautja in another novel ? or since there are other clans would you do things differently with a new clan ?
3# Out of all the chaos near the end, how come Ness's second in command just turn against him when he is trying to protect his family ?
4# will you do another Predator novel ? and if yes would you include a different clan or would this clan be similiar to the ones in FM ?
5# are you guys allow to touch the AVP property yet for books ?
thanks for your time.
In answer to your list of questions 1) Why not? But part of the reason is, they seem to me to be sort of like certain creatures of Earth who can change genders and part of the reason is it just seemed more alien and also it gave me some additional material to entertain with...And it seemed inherently ironic which is interesting to me.
2) yes I may do that. As a related race of PRedator. But how was it arrive at, exactly, that they are called Yautja? Where precisely did the name come from? I mean precisely...I can answer better after I know that. If it came from dialogue or voice over, where did the character get that info?
3) YOu mean the female soldier? She was insane. Fixated. Quite mad. I thought that was apparent. If that's who you mean...To tell the truth that was a couple of books ago and I don't remember the chain of command. But that woman soldier is who I remember turning against him.
4) We only do work we're asked to do--if they offer me a good deal to do anohter, I may well do it, as FOREVER MIDNIGHT has gone into a second printing and that's encouraging. I would probably include another clan...even the Yautja.
5) No we were told not to use that material, as there are rights complexities.
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Feb 01, 2007, 10:41:39 PM
I meant to ask you this in our interview, but if you did another Predator novel would you consider doing it entirely in the past? From your prologue to FM it would seem you have no problem with writing stuff for the 18th century and stories have been going back and forth about a movie set in that timeframe.
Would you want to do a novel set then?
Yes I would - I like historicals. I would use the research in other books...and I'd enjoy that!
Quote from: JohnShirley on Feb 01, 2007, 11:19:31 PM
Yes I would - I like historicals. I would use the research in other books...and I'd enjoy that!
I hope you'll pitch one to them then! :P
As for the Yautja. Basically, Steve and Stephani Perry wrote a novel called Prey (http://www.avpgalaxy.net/literature.php?section=novelavpprey), it's the novelization of the first every Alien vs Predator comic. In it, they did what you pretty much did in Forever Midnight with the Hish, they created their own view on the Predator culture and called them the Yautja.
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Feb 01, 2007, 11:21:40 PM
Quote from: JohnShirley on Feb 01, 2007, 11:19:31 PM
Yes I would - I like historicals. I would use the research in other books...and I'd enjoy that!
I hope you'll pitch one to them then! :P
As for the Yautja. Basically, Steve and Stephani Perry wrote a novel called Prey (http://www.avpgalaxy.net/literature.php?section=novelavpprey), it's the novelization of the first every Alien vs Predator comic. In it, they did what you pretty much did in Forever Midnight with the Hish, they created their own view on the Predator culture and called them the Yautja.
Oh ho! So THEY made that up! Welllllll - no one ever told me about it. I'll bet it was a good book, I have met Steve Perry, recall him to be a good fellow, and know him to be a good writer. ANyway my plan remains to show Respect for the Yautja and that culture by explaining the two versions of the PRedators, the Hish and the Yautja, in some future book...if I get the chance. Did they get into Yautja reproduction in that book?
I seem to recall someone said it was like Samurai culture. Mine wasn't so far from that, I could draw parallels to Samurai culture in my novel, but on the other hand I was trying to look for ways to make my aliens more alien, not more like a human culture. So there's a tension between these two versions. But I'll look for a way to resolve that if I get the chance.
What I find somewhat amusing is that the Yautja recieved a similar welcome to your Hish too. Erm, the Yautja pretty much bred like humans except it was more...BDSM sort of thing I suppose. Normal sex but very violent.
BrokenTusk and I have been talking about combining the Hish and Yautja in this thread and I think you might find that useful - http://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/index.php?topic=237.0
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jan 29, 2007, 06:16:19 AM
In the interview, you mentioned you didn't know what the Space Jockey was when I asked you if the Egg was Jockey technology. If I tell you that the Space Jockeys are the creatures from Alien, and the Derelict Ship their creation, would you be able to answer that question again?
AvPGalaxy - It's quite an intriguing story and I'll admit, the idea behind this "Egg Ship" has got my attention. Is the Egg meant to be a Space Jockey ship?
The Egg is NOT a Space Jockey ship. They are a wholly different race. Many races have been "infected" by the xenomorphic craft, in my view, over the millenia...
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Feb 02, 2007, 12:13:00 AM
What I find somewhat amusing is that the Yautja recieved a similar welcome to your Hish too. Erm, the Yautja pretty much bred like humans except it was more...BDSM sort of thing I suppose. Normal sex but very violent.
BrokenTusk and I have been talking about combining the Hish and Yautja in this thread and I think you might find that useful - http://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/index.php?topic=237.0
Hmmm that varying reproduction thing poses a problem. I may have to introduce genetic engineering into the story to explain it if I do another novel...but wait...I don't think I described the sexual process per se. I think I said that eggs were involved but with an alien morphology the Yautja or Hish could *couple* as people do and still produce eggs. They're not necessarily either mammal or non-mammal as we are. And they can change sexes and have sex as we do...Or is there something to prevent that?
I honestly can't remember the finer details. I'd have to go re-read Prey again but I'm currently reading Aliens DNA War for a review for here and DH Press.
I think BrokenTusk would be better off explaining. I'll go bug him and make him aware of your reponses.
Personally, I'm not fussed about the culture change. Then again, it could be to the fact I'm a bigger Aliens fan or that I love the what-could-have-beens. In all fairness the Yautja are a non-cannon culture creatured years ago, maybe it's time to accept a new face for our bad guys?
Quote from: JohnShirley on Feb 02, 2007, 12:17:02 AM
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Feb 02, 2007, 12:13:00 AM
What I find somewhat amusing is that the Yautja recieved a similar welcome to your Hish too. Erm, the Yautja pretty much bred like humans except it was more...BDSM sort of thing I suppose. Normal sex but very violent.
BrokenTusk and I have been talking about combining the Hish and Yautja in this thread and I think you might find that useful - http://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/index.php?topic=237.0
Hmmm that varying reproduction thing poses a problem. I may have to introduce genetic engineering into the story to explain it if I do another novel...but wait...I don't think I described the sexual process per se. I think I said that eggs were involved but with an alien morphology the Yautja or Hish could *couple* as people do and still produce eggs. They're not necessarily either mammal or non-mammal as we are. And they can change sexes and have sex as we do...Or is there something to prevent that?
I looked at my manuscript file and as far as I can see the only reference to sex is to spraying secretions on the female--this may possibly not be too literal, or may not contradict what the Perrys have, if we really look closely. They didnt mention the sex changing thing though. But I wonder if they said anything to really contradict it. Predators stay in one gender for quite a while in my story.
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Feb 02, 2007, 12:22:49 AM
I honestly can't remember the finer details. I'd have to go re-read Prey again but I'm currently reading Aliens DNA War for a review for here and DH Press.
I think BrokenTusk would be better off explaining. I'll go bug him and make him aware of your reponses.
Personally, I'm not fussed about the culture change. Then again, it could be to the fact I'm a bigger Aliens fan or that I love the what-could-have-beens. In all fairness the Yautja are a non-cannon culture creatured years ago, maybe it's time to accept a new face for our bad guys?
Yes I could argue that they are non-canon. But I'd rather find a reconciliation between the two given the chance...
Quote from: JohnShirley on Feb 02, 2007, 12:24:30 AM
I looked at my manuscript file and as far as I can see the only reference to sex is to spraying secretions on the female--this may possibly not be too literal, or may not contradict what the Perrys have, if we really look closely. They didnt mention the sex changing thing though. But I wonder if they said anything to really contradict it. Predators stay in one gender for quite a while in my story.
The females had breasts in Perry's version....Don't know if that means anything. I mean, you had the females as only having a different mottled skin around the jaw.
I can't believe I forgot this, but I don't think it matters. According to Bob, who seems to know a tad more than you did regarding this whole situation, he was told:
Again, our instructions were to ignore what was established in the non-DH Books novels and start fresh.
http://www.avpgalaxy.net/website/interviews/robert-greenberger/
First off thanks for answering my questions John, also yes the female soldier, seem to forgot her name, I was just completely surprise when reading about her character that she does that in the end. It has been a while since I read FM though, I think I ran along some hints about her asking Ness about his wife and such. Anywho I don't fully understand the question about the sexuality of the Yautja, what is it you would like to know ?
also I do like Steve Perry's work in Shadows of the Empire, a Star Wars novel, so I'm sorta fan of his.
a question I always wonder though is it possible that the Predators with their mask and armor could survive in vacume ? I think some battles in space might be intresting...
second off thanks Hicks for letting me know that Shirley has been posting.
also though IMO the thing about Preds is they're not monsters, they just do what they do, like people hunting other creatures ( both writers of the Predator 1 and 2 )
then again I think I'm the bigger Predator fan then an alien fan and I consider the Preds as bad/anti heroes, though John you could have each race evolve differently from the predecessor....
A few questions here for Shirley and of course, an explanation on Yautja reproduction and sex differences. I have re-read the Yautja POV in Perry's AvP: Prey and War novels. Hopefully this will clear things up for Mr. Shirley here-- the Yautja bred indeed very much like humans. There were male and female Yautja, no sex changes, no morphology-- just two different genders. HOWEVER-- there was a signifigant difference between male and female Yautja.
Female Yautja were physically stronger, taller, and much more aggressive than the males. The males were smaller, strong but not as strong as the females and they often had to be careful during mating because a male would often get hurt or in some changes, maybe even die during mating with a female.
This was also mentioned in David Bischoff's AvP: Hunter's Planet Novel, a book not written by Perry but he had kept the Yautja aspect of what Perry had laid down.
Broken Tusk and I had a small conversation on one of the news updates somewhere and I noticed that you had mentioned that Yautja COULD be a different evolutionary branch from the Hish. Broken Tusk has also made an interesting point too-- that the Yautja and Hish, despite vastly different biology functions, could've had the same ancestor but evolved differently.
Now for my question:
If you were to do another Predator book, would you do Yautja vs Hish? You know.. like something similar to the Romulan/Vulcan war or something?
-Rakai'Thwei
^(nice banner by the way Rakai)
Rakai took the words right out of my mouth, but pretty much that what was in Prey, War, and Hunter's Planet.
As for females with offspring, they don't lay eggs like the Hish, they produce just like humans, and as a mother is very protective of her babies, the female Pred is no exception. Rather then the Hish which kill the weak spawnlings, a mother Yautja will fight to the death to protect her young.
I don't know if Yautja stay as couples, since in Hunter's Planet a Leader Pred name numerous female conquests, but it could be possible.
As for female size in the books and the comic AVP: Deadliest of Species, the female tend to be bigger. Though as far as movies we haven't seen a female yet to judge.
And they can change sexes and have sex as we do...Or is there something to prevent that?
In Prey, Hunter's Planet, and War AVP books prior to yours, the gender stay the same, no indictation of switching gender, females are females and males are males. both had similar attributes of their human counterparts.
It's possible you could go with the idea that Rakai and I talk about, since I heard something similar happen like in Star Trek.
one other thing is the Yautja have no Feral rage glands.
almost forgot the Yautja have an honor system during their hunts( the Hunt is the way of their life), like the movies gave hints to. Pretty much not hunting unarm opponents, children, women with child, but in the books there were clans mention not hunting any high intelligent life-form like humans.
also if you ever got the chance would you mention what happen to say survivors like Dutch Shcafer (Arnold ) in Pred 1, Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) in Pred 2, and Alexa Woods in AVP in one of the future books ?
Wow, what did i miss here? yeah it would be good to see what happend to Dutch, Mike and Woods.
^ epesically it would tie up loose ends in P:Concrete Jungle and Cold War, since all we got is he's still alive.
basically Mr.W we been tlking about the concept of the Yautja will be back if Mr. Shirley gets to do another book along with the Hish. I'm looking foreward to his next novels.
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Feb 02, 2007, 12:30:17 AM
Quote from: JohnShirley on Feb 02, 2007, 12:24:30 AM
I looked at my manuscript file and as far as I can see the only reference to sex is to spraying secretions on the female--this may possibly not be too literal, or may not contradict what the Perrys have, if we really look closely. They didnt mention the sex changing thing though. But I wonder if they said anything to really contradict it. Predators stay in one gender for quite a while in my story.
The females had breasts in Perry's version....Don't know if that means anything. I mean, you had the females as only having a different mottled skin around the jaw.
If they had breasts--which seems silly to me, that's not alien enough--then they are some different branch of the PRedator race, perhaps having crossbred with humans at some point, through genetic engineering, for some reason yet to be revealed...
Quote from: BrokenTusk on Feb 02, 2007, 07:11:10 AM
also if you ever got the chance would you mention what happen to say survivors like Dutch Shcafer (Arnold ) in Pred 1, Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) in Pred 2, and Alexa Woods in AVP in one of the future books ?
I seem to recall that they instruct us not to use specific movie characters in tie ins.
http://www.darkecho.com/johnshirley (http://www.darkecho.com/johnshirley)
Quote from: RakaiThwei on Feb 02, 2007, 05:48:54 AM
A few questions here for Shirley and of course, an explanation on Yautja reproduction and sex differences. I have re-read the Yautja POV in Perry's AvP: Prey and War novels. Hopefully this will clear things up for Mr. Shirley here-- the Yautja bred indeed very much like humans. There were male and female Yautja, no sex changes, no morphology-- just two different genders. HOWEVER-- there was a signifigant difference between male and female Yautja.
Female Yautja were physically stronger, taller, and much more aggressive than the males. The males were smaller, strong but not as strong as the females and they often had to be careful during mating because a male would often get hurt or in some changes, maybe even die during mating with a female.
This was also mentioned in David Bischoff's AvP: Hunter's Planet Novel, a book not written by Perry but he had kept the Yautja aspect of what Perry had laid down.
Broken Tusk and I had a small conversation on one of the news updates somewhere and I noticed that you had mentioned that Yautja COULD be a different evolutionary branch from the Hish. Broken Tusk has also made an interesting point too-- that the Yautja and Hish, despite vastly different biology functions, could've had the same ancestor but evolved differently.
Now for my question:
If you were to do another Predator book, would you do Yautja vs Hish? You know.. like something similar to the Romulan/Vulcan war or something?
-Rakai'Thwei
Yeah I like that idea of Yautja vs Hish, I might suggest that given a chance. Dunno if they want me to do another. I would like to point out though that the sex-change thing could happen relatively rarely and "offscreen" and could apply to Yautja under some conditions. My object in that was to make them less human...
http://www.darkecho.com/johnshirley (http://www.darkecho.com/johnshirley)
Quote from: BrokenTusk on Feb 02, 2007, 06:57:15 AM
^(nice banner by the way Rakai)
Rakai took the words right out of my mouth, but pretty much that what was in Prey, War, and Hunter's Planet.
As for females with offspring, they don't lay eggs like the Hish, they produce just like humans, and as a mother is very protective of her babies, the female Pred is no exception. Rather then the Hish which kill the weak spawnlings, a mother Yautja will fight to the death to protect her young.
I don't know if Yautja stay as couples, since in Hunter's Planet a Leader Pred name numerous female conquests, but it could be possible.
As for female size in the books and the comic AVP: Deadliest of Species, the female tend to be bigger. Though as far as movies we haven't seen a female yet to judge.
And they can change sexes and have sex as we do...Or is there something to prevent that?
In Prey, Hunter's Planet, and War AVP books prior to yours, the gender stay the same, no indictation of switching gender, females are females and males are males. both had similar attributes of their human counterparts.
It's possible you could go with the idea that Rakai and I talk about, since I heard something similar happen like in Star Trek.
one other thing is the Yautja have no Feral rage glands.
almost forgot the Yautja have an honor system during their hunts( the Hunt is the way of their life), like the movies gave hints to. Pretty much not hunting unarm opponents, children, women with child, but in the books there were clans mention not hunting any high intelligent life-form like humans.
BUT you could be just making assumptions. Just because Feral rage glands aren't mentioned doesn't mean they don't exist. They only initiate at times and they were mentioned in my book because they were relevant to story. And as for how they have their children, did you honestly read a decription of a Yautja birth? Or are you just assuming? Did you read about carrying the child in the womb? Even if they do (which seems too human to me) they could carry it in a womb for awhile, then transfer it to an egg and 'lay it' for the last phase.
It seems to me that the Yautja and Hish are going to be utterly ruthless relating to other races. Or their own even. They seem like pretty bad ass guys. I find it hard to believe they wouldn't kill non-warriors...they would just PREFER to fight real warriors. The tougher the enemy the more they like it. That's something you can infer from the movies. But if a human child is convenient to them--give it to their own children to practice on, say--they'd use it. They are not chivalrous or kindly, they simply have pride in fighting real opponents.
Also the genders stay the same...during the stories you read. It would be a once a year thing or even less often that they'd change. I'm not actually trying to argue with you I'm just saying that people draw inferences and make assumptions but if you look close at what is actually said I suspect they may have jumped to conclusions.
But generally I'd say the Yautja and the Hish branched off from one another at some point...
http://www.darkecho.com/johnshirley (http://www.darkecho.com/johnshirley)
Quote from: BrokenTusk on Feb 02, 2007, 01:21:13 AM
First off thanks for answering my questions John, also yes the female soldier, seem to forgot her name, I was just completely surprise when reading about her character that she does that in the end. It has been a while since I read FM though, I think I ran along some hints about her asking Ness about his wife and such. Anywho I don't fully understand the question about the sexuality of the Yautja, what is it you would like to know ?
also I do like Steve Perry's work in Shadows of the Empire, a Star Wars novel, so I'm sorta fan of his.
a question I always wonder though is it possible that the Predators with their mask and armor could survive in vacume ? I think some battles in space might be intresting...
second off thanks Hicks for letting me know that Shirley has been posting.
I probably shouldve made it even clearer, but the female soldier was crazy-obsessed with Ness, was almost a stalker, and at the end she would rather kill him than let his wife get him back.
I'd like to know do the Yautja actually copulate, in terms of direct penetration--that is, is that described or are people just assuming that? Same with childbirth, is it described? Or do readers just assume it because the characters seem rather (regrettably) human in the Yautja version.
http://www.darkecho.com/johnshirley (http://www.darkecho.com/johnshirley)
did you honestly read a decription of a Yautja birth? Or are you just assuming? Did you read about carrying the child in the womb? Even if they do (which seems too human to me) they could carry it in a womb for awhile, then transfer it to an egg and 'lay it' for the last phase.
now I'm not too sure, perhaps in the other 2 books but I haven't found the actual carrying child in womb in Prey.
It seems to me that the Yautja and Hish are going to be utterly ruthless relating to other races. Or their own even. They seem like pretty bad ass guys. I find it hard to believe they wouldn't kill non-warriors...they would just PREFER to fight real warriors. The tougher the enemy the more they like it. That's something you can infer from the movies. But if a human child is convenient to them--give it to their own children to practice on, say--they'd use it. They are not chivalrous or kindly, they simply have pride in fighting real opponents.
look at Predator 2 again, the hunter could have killed both child and Leona who was pregnant both were convient and the Predator was younger the first( director's words not mine), but didn't. Also Stephani Perry's book mention about the difference in clans and the rules of some that hunt oomans and some that don't.
I don't expect them to help humans or a team-up with Ripley, but in the movies and books besides the hunts they generally left us alone. there was no invasion of assualt of them, so that makes me think we have yet to see the Hish in the movies.
also they know what would happen if the Bugs infested Earth or other planets, the universe would be doomed.
Also the genders stay the same...during the stories you read. It would be a once a year thing or even less often that they'd change. I'm not actually trying to argue with you I'm just saying that people draw inferences and make assumptions but if you look close at what is actually said I suspect they may have jumped to conclusions.
Dachance a Predator leader in Steve Perry's book Prey had 73 female conquests, and he was male for all of them, not to mention he was an aged Predator. also when he was young he mention of how he and his brother would have female conquests and be leaders of their own clan. also when he was a young buck runt he got runovered by a female. So yes there was no gender changing with the Yautja.
But generally I'd say the Yautja and the Hish branched off from one another at some point...
could they evolve differently from their ancestor ?
sigh I was hoping some mention of the survivors of the Predator movies, its not like Fox is going to used Arnold or Glover again.... did they mention why ?
I probably shouldve made it even clearer, but the female soldier was crazy-obsessed with Ness, was almost a stalker, and at the end she would rather kill him than let his wife get him back.
I'd like to know do the Yautja actually copulate, in terms of direct penetration--that is, is that described or are people just assuming that? Same with childbirth, is it described? Or do readers just assume it because the characters seem rather (regrettably) human in the Yautja version.
I understood she had a liking, and there were some hints perhaps I just it. (No offense Mr. Shirley) but perhaps a little foreshadowing like her saying "I would kill anyone who stands in our way" or "I always get what I want.", even a little medical bio on her mentality would have ease in the betrayal IMO anyway. you're the big author anyway so it's your call. 8)
I believe it is similar to how humans procreate, since one Predator in David Bishoff's book Hunter's Planet, one Predator leader "felt the thought stirred his seed within his loins" when thinking about more female conquests. so including that female have breasts, it seems both had each sexual organs of their human counterpoints. They're humannoid to a point.
for the actual birth they can have a few "sucklings at a time". at least in the 2 books of AVP I haven't heard about how the female gives birth, so it could be similar to yours.
Quote from: BrokenTusk on Feb 02, 2007, 09:36:29 PM
Dachance a Predator leader in Steve Perry's book Prey had 73 female conquests, and he was male for all of them, not to mention he was an aged Predator. also when he was young he mention of how he and his brother would have female conquests and be leaders of their own clan. also when he was a young buck runt he got runovered by a female. So yes there was no gender changing with the Yautja.
But generally I'd say the Yautja and the Hish branched off from one another at some point...
could they evolve differently from their ancestor ?
Well i do get around ^__^
Now even though i've only read Prey and War (Im a hardcore collector :P). I wouldnt say it would be too odd, that the Preds bodies would function similarly to a humans. Because if you take a look at most of the creatures here on earth, most of them....well mammals anyways, all reproduce the same, and considering the Preds are humanoid at least in appearance, i have no real problem with them having babies and such the same way as us.
As for this Yautja/Hish debate, i dont really have a clue about either of them....guess i should start soon. But from what im gathered. The Hish, are just like, ok lets go to this planet, kill a load of things, doesnt matter if they have weapons or not, and then bugger off home. Whereas the Yautja are depicted as like Samurai. But from this, i was thinking could it be more like how we're related to Gorillas? How the Yautja could be a more civilised version of the Hish? Of course i know next to nothing in this debate, so if i make no sense dont worry
Again, as Broken Tusk mentioned-- the sexes of the Yautja race didn't change at all. Male was male, female was female. If there was a sex change, Perry's books would've mentioned it and to be frank, they didn't. Also, reading Bischoff's version in AvP: Hunter's Planet-- he kept the aspect of what Perry had laid down. Again, no sex changes were mentioned. Yes, there were hints of them copulating and mating much like humans but there was a certain rule(s) according to Perry's Yautja aspects.
1) A male cannot mate until having completed a Kainde Amedha Chiva, or Alien hunt.
2) Males often had to fight in Jehdin matches in order to mate with a female. (I remember it being mentioned in one of the novels, someone clear this for me?)
Thats for the sex and mating issues here.
As for the samurai life style-- well I believe that in many ways Broken Tusk has cleared that up. In Predator 2, the city Hunter hadn't killed a child who was carrying the Toy gun and Leona, who was pregnant. This shows that there were rules to the hunt. Predators would fight armed civilians, policeman, gangsters, military-- if it would fight back, it would be deemed as worthy to hunt. If a prey was pregnant, or a child-- there would be dishonor in killing such. Death or lost face in caste would be the often punishment.
Yes.. Predators have a caste system. I could go into that if you want, a majority of it was created by Perry and the concept was used in the AvP movie.
-Rakai'Thwei
lol, Dachande2311
John as Rakai said those were the facts of Steve Perry's Yautja. will you be reading the AVP trilogy if you get a shot at the license then ? they said FM did very well in stores on the DH website.
Quote from: BrokenTusk on Feb 06, 2007, 01:10:00 AM
lol, Dachande2311
John as Rakai said those were the facts of Steve Perry's Yautja. will you be reading the AVP trilogy if you get a shot at the license then ? they said FM did very well in stores on the DH website.
Thanks to everyone for the info on Yautja.
I haven't be asked to do AVP--I may indeed read the trilogy if I'm asked to. I will probably write around these issues of procreation, and focus on other aspects, but will probably put something in about variants between Yautja and Hish. If...
Forever Midnight was selling well last I heard and they went back to press on it.
http://www.darkecho.com/johnshirley (http://www.darkecho.com/johnshirley)
2nd printing, right?
that's pretty good, means lots of Predator fans were yearning for a new book.
Reading all of the above, It seems to me that Dark Horse were did the right thing for the comic writers: Issue guidelines to not delve into sexuality. If a character is that close to figure it out, they're already dead. :)
After actually reading Forever Midnight i thought it was a good book. I really like John Shirleys work. As a concept i always saw the predator as a yautje-like creature but the Hish idea definately works. It,s just another idea, another predator universe. John shirley is a great writer, i,m looking forward to another one of his predator novels.
great work Shirley! :)
yea forever midnight was to a w to da some
I think in an effort to get away from the "KAWAII YAUTJA!!!!!!!!11111111111" John went a little to far in the opposite extreme, but I think the Forever Midnight was a good book.
Forever Midnight was horrible on an indescribable level..
The writing was impeccable, don't get me wrong there, but the Hish...oh those poor Hish. Never, ever will they be qualified as part of the entire Predator universe in my book. I am happy to have gotten past that book with those...things.
Steve Perry's yautja were so much better in my opinion, and he is even called the Originator of the expanded universe in Beautiful Monsters...
Except he ... in no way is, given that there were quite a few pieces of expanded material before Perry rocked along. Doing adaptations. Of expanded material.
That's another reason I don't like that book (Beautiful Monsters). Too much opinion.
Quote from: Cetanu on Sep 07, 2008, 02:50:30 AM
Steve Perry's yautja were so much better in my opinion, and he is even called the Originator of the expanded universe in Beautiful Monsters...
You mean the EU that includes a predator having his arm sliced off by a redneck wielding a machete? Or the one that includes their masks being knocked off each and every time they punched in the face? (Did anyone else notice that predators almost never take their masks off in the comics but almost always have it knocked off by the inane hero with a stick?)
The EU has been as unkind to the predators as AVPR was to the aliens.
EU?
Quote from: Cetanu on Sep 07, 2008, 02:50:30 AM
Steve Perry's yautja were so much better in my opinion, and he is even called the Originator of the expanded universe in Beautiful Monsters...
Thanks for that. I was certain it wasn't European Union ;D
The...EU...was just as mean to the Aliens. They didn't win for the first three books of Earth Hive (we're getting OT here...)
I dont want to throw another log on the 'Yautja/Hish' fire, but I cant help but throw another possibility idea out there.
Every main species seems to have subspecies involved as well. Take humans for example. We all walk on two legs, 2 eyes, nose, yada yada yada, but there are obvious differences in different cultures. IE- Caucasion, Africans, Asian, Hispanic, etcetera. Could it be possible that we could justify both of them by the subspecies idea?
Oh, PS, I have absolutely no intention of stiring up any racial things and was simply using examples to support my idea. Please dont get mad at me!
As I have asked all the other authors here do you plan on writing another alien or predator novel in the near future. P.S. Steel Egg and Forever Midnight were good reads
Okay Okay people! I do not understand why a lot of people view Perry as this 100 % right guy. His Predators were HUMAN BEINGS IN MIND! Also 90% of histories warrior cultures were FAR more ruthless then Perry's Predators. Also they accepted a human into their group.... SAMURI DO NOT EXCEPT ANYONE INTO THEIR CLANS AH!!!!! so it's stupid when people say " he based them off the samurai ".. .wrong he based them off wimpy and weak Samuri that were killed in battle or broke honor and let idiots into their clans only to be killed by the head Samuri. These are aliens here , not humans .... Also note like I just said he tried hard to make them like us and failed as I said since Samuri are FAR MORE ruthless then his predators.
Okay before I am burned alive let me say this. I hated the whole gender thing in forever midnight.. a HORRID IDEA... and the idea to use slaves made Predators look weak... I also thought it was okay to have a female dominated Predator culture like in Perry's book but he never told us much about that culture...
Perry - tried to turn Predators into humans with a code of honor more noble then most knights or Samurai.
Shirley - Attempted to make them more alien in all the wrong ways.
Whatever you choose we lose.....