Hi Engineer,
That is a good story. It's good to see customer service like that. Say what you will about he premise of the story, but for what the author had to work with, he really did run a very fun ride. That's the way to treat this story. Even before it was turned into this epic audio drama, it was a real page turner. Now that they created this drama, it just takes things to a whole new level. You really feel like you are there, which is a very chilling experience. You will love this rendition of the book.
With regards to the books you mentioned, it's a tough call. I haven't heard these audio books yet, but I presume they don't have the same treatment as Out of the Shadows. Assuming they are just a reading of the original books, the only one from the list that I haven't read yet is Alien : Invasion. So I won't be commenting on that one. I must admit that I am a bit surprised, and disappointed that they didn't do the drama treatment for Sea of Sorrows and River of Pain. Sea of Sorrows is basically a loose continuation of Out of the Shadows. But I find that it was also one of the weakest books in the list. It is very difficult to connect with the characters as they are repetitive and with little depth. However, perhaps the audio drama treatment could have fixed some of that. You have some similar "fight in a hive" moments in SOS and OOTS. But with OOTS you feel like you are there whereas with, SOS, you feel lost.
So I would ask myself this, which books have I read already? The Alan Dean Foster adaptations are really good, but although they feature some different aspects to the stories, you already basically know what the story is going to be. Same goes for Resurrection. If you want to repeat one of those experiences, then you can go for one of those books. If you want an all-new experience, then go for one of the remaining 4. I personally really liked River of Pain. Some parts were hokey but overall, the book captured the desperation of the fall of Hadley's hope. It's a sort of Titanic story. You know it will not end well, but the drama that unfolds prior to the ultimate end, is quite compelling. I found Predator Incursion to be very dull. Perhaps it may be more compelling as an audio book. There are many important characters sprinkled throughout this book, and since they are not that thoroughly developed, it's easy to get them mixed up. But it is a key book for the new Rage War trilogy as it does a lot of terrific world building.
Bottom line is, I'd get River of Pain, but I really hope these get a proper drama treatment some day soon. That OOTS audio drama really came out of left field as an item, and it was mind-blowingly good. Now it will be hard to accept a lower standard..
