Fan Favourite Alex White Returns With New Novel, Alien: Into Charybdis!

Started by Corporal Hicks, Feb 03, 2020, 03:53:38 PM

Author
Fan Favourite Alex White Returns With New Novel, Alien: Into Charybdis! (Read 96,690 times)

BlueMarsalis79

Actually ended up mostly using this.
https://youtu.be/rkAguCM2ZKE
Loving it so far.

Russ840

Just finished.

Mini review
Spoiler
This is fantastic stuff. The world building, use of existing lore and characters are excellent and, in my honest opinion, along with The Cold Forge, this should be considered the gold standard when it comes to Alien novels. So f**king good.
[close]

Hicks
Spoiler
Nice to see you in the acknowledgments
[close]

Right. Now we need two things. A hardcover re release of The Cold Forge and a third book from Alex.  :D

Alex... if you ever by chance read this post. You are the master of Alien Novel storytelling.

Xiggz456

Xiggz456

#227
Finally finished this beast of a book and boy what a ride it was! Another 10/10 for Alex White. Wonderfully realistic characters and dialogues, absolute twisted horror and action, as well as brilliantly utilizing concepts from the prequels in such an effective and seamless manner! This and "Cold Forge" are the type of stories I've always wanted and imagined happening after "Aliens" and "A3" and I'm so glad we got such an amazing writer to deliver twice for us!


Also cool seeing the AVPG shout out on the back cover and Hicks' government name in the Acknowledgments and beyond! Your a legend Hicks!

HuDaFuK

HuDaFuK

#228
Also finished it today. As others have said, a cracking read and a lot of fun.

It's interesting that White mentioned in interviews around the release of The Cold Forge that he envisioned two versions of that book - one in the vein of Alien and another more in line with Aliens. That novel ended up aping the tone of the first movie, but this one is absolutely more Aliens in style. I'm not sure it quite captured the same feeling of supreme sophistication as Cold Forge for me, but in its place is a far greater sense of unbridled fun (albeit still with plenty of sophisticated - and indeed dark - moments).

Setting the story on an Iranian rather than just another American colony brought a lot to the story, as well as a refreshing sense of originality; while I can't personally speak to the veracity of all the Iranian details, it certainly felt pretty genuine to me. And I also have to give mention to the colony itself - possibly the most interesting and arresting interstellar location from any Alien story.

Now for the spoilery stuff:
Spoiler
  • White certainly isn't precious about his characters :laugh: As if Shy dying halfway through didn't f**k me up enough, Becker didn't make it to the end either, and Blue is seemingly dead too. All of those were shocking, although the latter admittedly leaves clear scope for her to return.
  • Speaking of Blue, not only is it great to have her back, I thought what White did with her was really interesting. The stuff about her being reduced to a disembodied head and a bunch of machines was truly harrowing, while her transformation into an Alien both opened up some really interesting doors and recalled some of the Xeno-synth fun of the oldschool comics.
  • Matsushita and Duncan's deaths were f**king bitchin'.
  • While I'm on the villains, I liked that Duncan was a lot more straightforward than Dorian Sudler. Dorian was such a tour de force character, I doubt White could've matched him and wisely didn't even try. Duncan may be less nuanced but she's still a great foil, especially when she really goes off the rails towards the end.
  • How awesome was it to finally see a Dropship tearing shit up with its nosegun?
  • That epilogue was surprisingly dark. I wonder if White has any tentative ideas for a follow-up?
[close]

So yeah. At a push, I'd say I marginally preferred Cold Forge - I honestly rank that alongside the first three movies, whereas I don't think I'd go quite that far with this one - but it's absolutely another winner from White and I recommend it 110%.

Russ840

Quote from: HuDaFuK on Mar 01, 2021, 06:41:47 PM
Also finished it today. As others have said, a cracking read and a lot of fun.

It's interesting that White mentioned in interviews around the release of The Cold Forge that he envisioned two versions of that book - one in the vein of Alien and another more in line with Aliens. That novel ended up aping the tone of the first movie, but this one is absolutely more Aliens in style. I'm not sure it quite captured the same feeling of supreme sophistication as Cold Forge for me, but in its place is a far greater sense of unbridled fun (albeit still with plenty of sophisticated - and indeed dark - moments).

Setting the story on an Iranian rather than just another American colony brought a lot to the story, as well as a refreshing sense of originality; while I can't personally speak to the veracity of all the Iranian details, it certainly felt pretty genuine to me. And I also have to give mention to the colony itself - possibly the most interesting and arresting interstellar location from any Alien story.

Now for the spoilery stuff:
Spoiler
  • White certainly isn't precious about his characters :laugh: As if Shy dying halfway through didn't f**k me up enough, Becker didn't make it to the end either, and Blue is seemingly dead too. All of those were shocking, although the latter admittedly leaves clear scope for her to return.
  • Speaking of Blue, not only is it great to have her back, I thought what White did with her was really interesting. The stuff about her being reduced to a disembodied head and a bunch of machines was truly harrowing, while her transformation into an Alien both opened up some really interesting doors and recalled some of the Xeno-synth fun of the oldschool comics.
  • Matsushita and Duncan's deaths were f**king bitchin'.
  • While I'm on the villains, I liked that Duncan was a lot more straightforward than Dorian Sudler. Dorian was such a tour de force character, I doubt White could've matched him and wisely didn't even try. Duncan may be less nuanced but she's still a great foil, especially when she really goes off the rails towards the end.
  • How awesome was it to finally see a Dropship tearing shit up with its nosegun?
  • That epilogue was surprisingly dark. I wonder if White has any tentative ideas for a follow-up?
[close]

So yeah. At a push, I'd say I marginally preferred Cold Forge - I honestly rank that alongside the first three movies, whereas I don't think I'd go quite that far with this one - but it's absolutely another winner from White and I recommend it 110%.

Spoiler
I loved Matsushita's death. So brutal. Would you say the Duncan gave birth to Neomorphs?
[close]

Xiggz456

Quote from: Russ840 on Mar 01, 2021, 07:02:10 PM
Quote from: HuDaFuK on Mar 01, 2021, 06:41:47 PM
Also finished it today. As others have said, a cracking read and a lot of fun.

It's interesting that White mentioned in interviews around the release of The Cold Forge that he envisioned two versions of that book - one in the vein of Alien and another more in line with Aliens. That novel ended up aping the tone of the first movie, but this one is absolutely more Aliens in style. I'm not sure it quite captured the same feeling of supreme sophistication as Cold Forge for me, but in its place is a far greater sense of unbridled fun (albeit still with plenty of sophisticated - and indeed dark - moments).

Setting the story on an Iranian rather than just another American colony brought a lot to the story, as well as a refreshing sense of originality; while I can't personally speak to the veracity of all the Iranian details, it certainly felt pretty genuine to me. And I also have to give mention to the colony itself - possibly the most interesting and arresting interstellar location from any Alien story.

Now for the spoilery stuff:
Spoiler
  • White certainly isn't precious about his characters :laugh: As if Shy dying halfway through didn't f**k me up enough, Becker didn't make it to the end either, and Blue is seemingly dead too. All of those were shocking, although the latter admittedly leaves clear scope for her to return.
  • Speaking of Blue, not only is it great to have her back, I thought what White did with her was really interesting. The stuff about her being reduced to a disembodied head and a bunch of machines was truly harrowing, while her transformation into an Alien both opened up some really interesting doors and recalled some of the Xeno-synth fun of the oldschool comics.
  • Matsushita and Duncan's deaths were f**king bitchin'.
  • While I'm on the villains, I liked that Duncan was a lot more straightforward than Dorian Sudler. Dorian was such a tour de force character, I doubt White could've matched him and wisely didn't even try. Duncan may be less nuanced but she's still a great foil, especially when she really goes off the rails towards the end.
  • How awesome was it to finally see a Dropship tearing shit up with its nosegun?
  • That epilogue was surprisingly dark. I wonder if White has any tentative ideas for a follow-up?
[close]

So yeah. At a push, I'd say I marginally preferred Cold Forge - I honestly rank that alongside the first three movies, whereas I don't think I'd go quite that far with this one - but it's absolutely another winner from White and I recommend it 110%.

Spoiler
I loved Matsushita's death. So brutal. Would you say the Duncan gave birth to Neomorphs?
[close]

Spoiler
Pretty sure it was definitely Neomorphs which was f**king awesome. I personally thought Duncan was a fantastic antagonist and seemed modeled after that psycho Navy Seal that Trump pardoned in 2019. Actually, while reading it seemed that a lot of current events seemed to influence the narrative which made the story all the more realistic in my opinion.
[close]

Russ840

Quote from: Xiggz456 on Mar 01, 2021, 07:27:30 PM
Quote from: Russ840 on Mar 01, 2021, 07:02:10 PM
Quote from: HuDaFuK on Mar 01, 2021, 06:41:47 PM
Also finished it today. As others have said, a cracking read and a lot of fun.

It's interesting that White mentioned in interviews around the release of The Cold Forge that he envisioned two versions of that book - one in the vein of Alien and another more in line with Aliens. That novel ended up aping the tone of the first movie, but this one is absolutely more Aliens in style. I'm not sure it quite captured the same feeling of supreme sophistication as Cold Forge for me, but in its place is a far greater sense of unbridled fun (albeit still with plenty of sophisticated - and indeed dark - moments).

Setting the story on an Iranian rather than just another American colony brought a lot to the story, as well as a refreshing sense of originality; while I can't personally speak to the veracity of all the Iranian details, it certainly felt pretty genuine to me. And I also have to give mention to the colony itself - possibly the most interesting and arresting interstellar location from any Alien story.

Now for the spoilery stuff:
Spoiler
  • White certainly isn't precious about his characters :laugh: As if Shy dying halfway through didn't f**k me up enough, Becker didn't make it to the end either, and Blue is seemingly dead too. All of those were shocking, although the latter admittedly leaves clear scope for her to return.
  • Speaking of Blue, not only is it great to have her back, I thought what White did with her was really interesting. The stuff about her being reduced to a disembodied head and a bunch of machines was truly harrowing, while her transformation into an Alien both opened up some really interesting doors and recalled some of the Xeno-synth fun of the oldschool comics.
  • Matsushita and Duncan's deaths were f**king bitchin'.
  • While I'm on the villains, I liked that Duncan was a lot more straightforward than Dorian Sudler. Dorian was such a tour de force character, I doubt White could've matched him and wisely didn't even try. Duncan may be less nuanced but she's still a great foil, especially when she really goes off the rails towards the end.
  • How awesome was it to finally see a Dropship tearing shit up with its nosegun?
  • That epilogue was surprisingly dark. I wonder if White has any tentative ideas for a follow-up?
[close]

So yeah. At a push, I'd say I marginally preferred Cold Forge - I honestly rank that alongside the first three movies, whereas I don't think I'd go quite that far with this one - but it's absolutely another winner from White and I recommend it 110%.

Spoiler
I loved Matsushita's death. So brutal. Would you say the Duncan gave birth to Neomorphs?
[close]

Spoiler
Pretty sure it was definitely Neomorphs which was f**king awesome. I personally thought Duncan was a fantastic antagonist and seemed modeled after that psycho Navy Seal that Trump pardoned in 2019. Actually, while reading it seemed that a lot of current events seemed to influence the narrative which made the story all the more realistic in my opinion.
[close]

I'd have to agree

HuDaFuK

Quote from: Russ840 on Mar 01, 2021, 07:02:10 PM
Spoiler
Would you say the Duncan gave birth to Neomorphs?
[close]

That's definitely what I took it to be.

Russ840

Quote from: HuDaFuK on Mar 01, 2021, 07:39:55 PM
Quote from: Russ840 on Mar 01, 2021, 07:02:10 PM
Spoiler
Would you say the Duncan gave birth to Neomorphs?
[close]

That's definitely what I took it to be.

White really does such a great job using lore the from all over the series in interesting, natural ways. 

Spoiler
Loved the mentions of the UPP, Michael Bishop, Walter, David, Vickers. Among others. 
[close]

I really can't say enough good about this.

Engineer

Quote from: HuDaFuK on Mar 01, 2021, 06:41:47 PM
Also finished it today. As others have said, a cracking read and a lot of fun.

It's interesting that White mentioned in interviews around the release of The Cold Forge that he envisioned two versions of that book - one in the vein of Alien and another more in line with Aliens. That novel ended up aping the tone of the first movie, but this one is absolutely more Aliens in style. I'm not sure it quite captured the same feeling of supreme sophistication as Cold Forge for me, but in its place is a far greater sense of unbridled fun (albeit still with plenty of sophisticated - and indeed dark - moments).

Setting the story on an Iranian rather than just another American colony brought a lot to the story, as well as a refreshing sense of originality; while I can't personally speak to the veracity of all the Iranian details, it certainly felt pretty genuine to me. And I also have to give mention to the colony itself - possibly the most interesting and arresting interstellar location from any Alien story.

Now for the spoilery stuff:
Spoiler
  • White certainly isn't precious about his characters :laugh: As if Shy dying halfway through didn't f**k me up enough, Becker didn't make it to the end either, and Blue is seemingly dead too. All of those were shocking, although the latter admittedly leaves clear scope for her to return.
  • Speaking of Blue, not only is it great to have her back, I thought what White did with her was really interesting. The stuff about her being reduced to a disembodied head and a bunch of machines was truly harrowing, while her transformation into an Alien both opened up some really interesting doors and recalled some of the Xeno-synth fun of the oldschool comics.
  • Matsushita and Duncan's deaths were f**king bitchin'.
  • While I'm on the villains, I liked that Duncan was a lot more straightforward than Dorian Sudler. Dorian was such a tour de force character, I doubt White could've matched him and wisely didn't even try. Duncan may be less nuanced but she's still a great foil, especially when she really goes off the rails towards the end.
  • How awesome was it to finally see a Dropship tearing shit up with its nosegun?
  • That epilogue was surprisingly dark. I wonder if White has any tentative ideas for a follow-up?
[close]

So yeah. At a push, I'd say I marginally preferred Cold Forge - I honestly rank that alongside the first three movies, whereas I don't think I'd go quite that far with this one - but it's absolutely another winner from White and I recommend it 110%.

Spoiler
the character that first got mowed down by the dropship was named "Suedbeck" right? That's one of the characters White named after a beta-reader.
[close]

HuDaFuK

HuDaFuK

#235
Quote from: Engineer on Mar 01, 2021, 08:13:52 PM
Spoiler
the character that first got mowed down by the dropship was named "Suedbeck" right? That's one of the characters White named after a beta-reader.
[close]

Looking through the acknowledgements, it seems there are half a dozen or so characters named after people who helped him out. Nice touch.
Spoiler
I was laughing my arse off at "Not Percival. He failed the audition, so I'm sending that little bitch home." :laugh:
[close]

Xiggz456

Quote from: HuDaFuK on Mar 01, 2021, 08:27:44 PM
Quote from: Engineer on Mar 01, 2021, 08:13:52 PM
Spoiler
the character that first got mowed down by the dropship was named "Suedbeck" right? That's one of the characters White named after a beta-reader.
[close]

Looking through the acknowledgements, it seems there are half a dozen or so characters named after people who helped him out. Nice touch.
Spoiler
I was laughing my arse off at "Not Percival. He failed the audition, so I'm sending that little bitch home." :laugh:
[close]

:laugh:

Spoiler
Percival ended up with quite the heroic end though!
[close]

HuDaFuK

Spoiler
Yeah, that disappointed me, I was thoroughly enjoying White mugging him off :P
[close]

Another point I forgot to mention - once again many of the standout character moments involve synthetics. I really can't recall anyone in this franchise writing artificial people as well as White does.

[cancerblack]

Quote from: Nazrel on Mar 01, 2021, 02:39:00 AM
I can get that but a lot of the characters didnt have many if any positive qualities, between being delusionally narcissistic, vile, greedy, or just repulsive. i could understand the characters but i didnt care what happened to most of them.

I will never understand why so many people need fictional characters to be "good" or "likeable" to fully enjoy a narrative. The concept is, uh, alien to me.

Engineer

Quote from: HuDaFuK on Mar 01, 2021, 08:27:44 PM
Quote from: Engineer on Mar 01, 2021, 08:13:52 PM
Spoiler
the character that first got mowed down by the dropship was named "Suedbeck" right? That's one of the characters White named after a beta-reader.
[close]

Looking through the acknowledgements, it seems there are half a dozen or so characters named after people who helped him out. Nice touch.
Spoiler
I was laughing my arse off at "Not Percival. He failed the audition, so I'm sending that little bitch home." :laugh:
[close]

Spoiler
white added some nice personal touches for those characters too, like calling "Leger" maple syrup was a reference to the real life Leger being Canadian, and "Suedbeck" having a watery grave was a reference to the real life Suedbeck being a water treatment scientist.
[close]

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