The Rage War: A three part Alien / Predator epic by Tim Lebbon

Started by Perfect-Organism, Nov 18, 2014, 10:44:01 PM

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The Rage War: A three part Alien / Predator epic by Tim Lebbon (Read 234,004 times)

RakaiThwei

I'm curious to know how Lebbon will write the Predators. Will he take cues from the Yautja concept which the Perry's have given the fandom that's become immensely popular or will they just be written as "Predators"? Will he be bringing in the Super Predators and if he does, will he write them as a different culture with their own name? Will we see the Predators from their POV like the Perry novels?

That's what has my attention the most. The fact that we know nothing about these particular novels is what's killing me, especially for the Predator and AvP side of things. Personally, I just hope that Lebbon doesn't do anything too far out there with the Predators. We've already had that with the Hish mythos but at the same time I hope he leaves the Yautja concept alone.

Corporal Hicks

Personally I hope he uses the Hish.

RakaiThwei

RakaiThwei

#17
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Nov 19, 2014, 05:37:22 PM
Personally I hope he uses the Hish.

As long as he leaves the Yautja concept alone, I'm fine with whatever. But I'd rather he just write them as "Predators" rather than either.. Of course I prefer the Yautja but.. I think that's been messed with enough.

But then again.. Fox seems to go with the Yautja concept, if the NECA backstories are worth something to consider. Still.. leave well enough alone, you know?  :-\

Corporal Hicks

I'm just joshing. I hate the Yautja and I hate the Hish (that said I liked the Hish in Flesh & Blood) . I'd rather just see them as hunters. None of this honour crap, no politics. Just the big game hunters they're supposed to be. I wouldn't mind a new interpretation.

RakaiThwei

Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Nov 19, 2014, 05:55:22 PM
I'm just joshing. I hate the Yautja and I hate the Hish (that said I liked the Hish in Flesh & Blood) . I'd rather just see them as hunters. None of this honour crap, no politics. Just the big game hunters they're supposed to be. I wouldn't mind a new interpretation.

I figured you were kidding.

I wouldn't mind seeing them as Hunters but at the same time I don't want to see something which suggest that they participate in slave trading or conquering worlds, things along the lines like that. Much like you, I wouldn't so much as mind a new interpretation as well but I don't think that's really going to go that route.

If anything, something tells me that Lebbon may either write them as just "Predators", which is of course the big game hunter which you want, or.. the Yautja concept. As much as I like the Yautja concept, I hope he doesn't use it but if he does, and if he happens to use the Super Predators.. well, I hope he writes the Super Predators as a different interpretation rather than lumping them in with Yautja. But reaching a middle ground, I'm in agreement with you.. Just write them as "Predators". Just Big Game Hunters. And I think I'd be satisfied with that.

predxeno

I'm interested in what connection the Predators will have with the dog aliens, if any.  :-\

Btw, it's nice to have original Predator and AvP novels again. ;D

Ultramorph

I definitely hope we get to see some cool stuff with the dog-alien tech. It makes sense that we might, since Lebbon is returning as the author.

Corporal Hicks

I hope they do. River of Pain is most likely not going to be exploring them.

HuDaFuK

Quote from: SM on Nov 19, 2014, 12:27:17 AMThe new books are supposed to follow Decker in a post Sea of Sorrows setting.

Awesome, I was hoping they'd carry on. Despite the issues I had with the trilogy (well, one and two, haven't got River of Pain yet) I enjoyed them over all. I'll look forward to these.

Corporal Hicks

My copy didn't come with that advert.

Ultramorph

Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Nov 22, 2014, 12:37:40 PM
My copy didn't come with that advert.

Curious. Lebbon's website has a small non-reference to what I assume is Rage War. The bolding is mine.

http://www.timlebbon.net
QuoteIt's been a while!  And that's because although I have new book deals to announce, I still can't quite announce them yet.  As soon as the ink's dry I'll reveal what they are, but I'm very excited ... an exciting deal for two thrillers, a major new tie-in project, and a trilogy that's something a little different for me.  Lots of good stuff happening over the next few years, so I'll talk more about that soon.

SpreadEagleBeagle

Will the Aliens be cannon fodder, simple plot devices or an integral part of the story that poses a real threat?

Perfect-Organism

Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Nov 22, 2014, 12:37:40 PM
My copy didn't come with that advert.

That is curious.  My book was printed and bound in the US.  And yours?  I wonder if there are any other regional differences...

happypred

Is Tim's prose any good?

Perfect-Organism

Tim wrote Out of the Shadows.  It was fun to read a Ripley adventure I think, but the premise of her engaging in the adventure was hokey.  That being said, I think Tim Lebbon handled the adventure from a prose sense extremely well.  There were a lot of action scenes, and you felt like you were there in the hive.  The characterizations were fairly good in the novel and I found that I was able to empathize with the characters' dread throughout the course of the story.  They characters felt real.

By comparison, I found that James A. Moore's writing in Sea of Sorrows never rose to the occasion in terms of character development, or even the action scenes.  Christopher Golden by contrast was also able to write both very well.  His action scenes were on par with Tim Lebbon, but I found that he was able to add another level to the characters in terms of emotionality, which in turn even enhances the horror.  Here is an example of the emotional depth that Christopher Golden was able to reach in River of Pain:

Spoiler


There was a description of Newt when she was eating ice cream and her lips were stained as a result.  This created a cute connection between her and the Marine Bracket whom she promised to take him for some ice cream.  It made Newt seem so real and knowing her ultimate fate really added an emotional dimension to the book that I did not expect.

[close]

Anyway, Tim Lebbon did not have to deal with such emotional depth because the story he was writing did not delve into such themes really.  So I think Tim's characterization is still just fine and not to worry about.

To tell you the truth, I used to be an A V P fan in the early '90s but ever since I saw the films, they ruined it for me.  Also, ever since James Cameron pointed out how ridiculous the premise is, like Frankenstein Vs. Wolfman, I've been unable to take A V P seriously.  It's just hokey to me now, so I'm not expecting anything great from this new series.  That being said, if anyone can handle an AVP story well, it is Tim Lebbon.  His writing style is the least of my worry when it comes to this series.

Alien is a much more elegant,  high-brow, philosophically rich series to me now while everything to do with the Predators just seems sort of childish.  Anyway, to each his own.  I know the Predators have lots of fans, and they are still entertaining.  Its just that Aliens fill me with a sense of wonder, and Predators fill me with,... meh.

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