Best Novels

[Corporal Hicks]

No, I didn't really like it either. The Alien novels haven't been overly good.

[Jay Thomas]

I was really fond of Criminal Enterprise because of how threatening the Aliens seemed to be. I also liked the dynamic of the two brother protagonists. Steel Egg I thought was really interesting because I considered it a prequel to the first movie. I don't mind other Alien races being introduced in the EU (like the Giffs). I picked these two. I haven't read the Predator novels.

Hello by the way, I'm new!

[SM]

Wilcommen.

[Xenomrph]

Welcome!

I also like it when other races get introduced in the EU, be them sentient or nonsentient. I think it makes the universe seem a little less "empty", and I think it's pretty cool.

[SiL]

It also pisses on the universe they wanted to establish in Alien.

Woe is the people with good ideas; people with bad ones soon move in on their turf, ignore the people who knew what they were doing, and just urinated on everything, saying "Hey! Lookit me! I'm special too!"

...Yeah, anyway.

[Xenomrph]

It also pisses on the universe they wanted to establish in Alien.

Wait, what? How?

[SiL]

When they were making Alien, the producers didn't want it to be like Star Trek where there are exotic alien organisms, sentient or not, around every corner.

Then we get to the EU for the series and hey hey, it's exotic organisms around every other corner.

[gameoverman]

When they were making Alien, the producers didn't want it to be like Star Trek where there are exotic alien organisms, sentient or not, around every corner.

Then we get to the EU for the series and hey hey, it's exotic organisms around every other corner.

I agree, that is an essential part of the alien universe.  Arcturians are not aliens dammit!!!!

It's a cold, drab future, an amplification of the kind of society we have today.

[Xenomrph]

Wait, what? Arcturians definitely are aliens if Frost can't tell if one is male or female and he'd still have sex at it and it wouldn't matter.
Not to mention Hudson's line of dialogue about "bug hunts", implying that the Marines routinely get sent on such missions. What a "bug hunt" means is up for debate (well, the Aliens RPG and the USCM Tech Manual both give the same definition: Marine deployment to eliminate bothersome/hostile lifeforms) but I imagine it doesn't involve human targets. I mean, even in the ICC interrogation, the corporate talking heads aren't completely blown away that Ripley encountered a freaking extraterrestrial; that should have been a landmark, paradigm-shattering, world-altering event: interaction with some sort of other life form that's not from Earth, proof that there's other life in the galaxy. Instead the ICC people are just like "Eh we've got no records of something matching that description before". Kinda implies that they HAVE encountered other life forms.

[SiL]

Wait, what? Arcturians definitely are aliens if Frost can't tell if one is male or female and he'd still have sex at it and it wouldn't matter.

Not "definitely", no.

I mean, even in the ICC interrogation, the corporate talking heads aren't completely blown away that Ripley encountered a freaking extraterrestrial; that should have been a landmark, paradigm-shattering, world-altering event:

Did you miss the part where they didn't believe a word she said about the Alien itself?

[SM]

There's nothing definate about Arcturians - but I think the stuff about "bug hunts" says enough that there are extra terrestrials lifeforms in the Alien universe beyond Aliens and Jockies (even if Jockies aren't around anymore).  The fact that we don't get any indication of ETs in Resurrection would imply to me that said ETs encountered are most likely animals - ie. the bugs marines sometimes have to hunt.

[Corporal Hicks]

Didn't O'Bannon say something about wanting the universe to be contained and not to make it like Star Trek? Can someone find a quote?

[Xenomrph]

Wait, what? Arcturians definitely are aliens if Frost can't tell if one is male or female and he'd still have sex at it and it wouldn't matter.

Not "definitely", no.

How wouldn't it be?
You understand human anatomy, right? You understand how humans have sex, yes?
How would you mistakenly have sex with a man, and then not care about it "because it's Arcturian"?
Doesn't sound human to me at all.

I mean, even in the ICC interrogation, the corporate talking heads aren't completely blown away that Ripley encountered a freaking extraterrestrial; that should have been a landmark, paradigm-shattering, world-altering event:

Did you miss the part where they didn't believe a word she said about the Alien itself?

Yes, they didn't believe her because they didn't have any extraterrestrials like that on record for LV-426, not because they'd never seen an extraterrestrial before.
You'd think if they'd never seen an extraterrestrial before, they'd be VERY interested in what she has to say, even if every single thing she said ended up being completely wrong.

There's nothing definate about Arcturians - but I think the stuff about "bug hunts" says enough that there are extra terrestrials lifeforms in the Alien universe beyond Aliens and Jockies (even if Jockies aren't around anymore).  The fact that we don't get any indication of ETs in Resurrection would imply to me that said ETs encountered are most likely animals - ie. the bugs marines sometimes have to hunt.

Are you talking about "sentient" ETs? Even in the Aliens/Predator/AvP EU, there aren't that many. There's the Space Jockeys, Aliens (if you can call them sentient), Predators, the ones from "Aliens: Alien", the one from "Aliens: Taste", whatever the ones were in 'Aliens: Steel Egg', the ones from "Aliens: Reapers", and I'm pretty sure that's it. So out of hundreds and hundreds of surveyed worlds, that's 7 sentient species, 3 of which it's inconclusive if humans have even encountered.

I think the fears of there being some sort of Star Trek/Star Wars/Babylon 5-esque universe where there's a million races all trading and warring and interacting and forming federations and shit are pretty unfounded.

[SiL]

How wouldn't it be?
You understand human anatomy, right? You understand how humans have sex, yes?
How would you mistakenly have sex with a man, and then not care about it "because it's Arcturian"?
Doesn't sound human to me at all.

Someone hasn't had a really, really, really bad night out drinking.

You'd think if they'd never seen an extraterrestrial before, they'd be VERY interested in what she has to say, even if every single thing she said ended up being completely wrong.

Some guy sinks a freight ship in the middle of the ocean and says a water monster made him do it.

Do you think everyone's going to be "Holy shit! A water monster! Let's investigate!"?

No. They're going to call him insane and send him for psychiatric evaluation.

Which is what they did to Ripley.

[Xenomrph]

The important part is that Frost doesn't care specifically because it's Arcturian. That doesn't sound human at all.

Some guy sinks a freight ship in the middle of the ocean and says a water monster made him do it.

Do you think everyone's going to be "Holy shit! A water monster! Let's investigate!"?

No. They're going to call him insane and send him for psychiatric evaluation.

Which is what they did to Ripley.

Actually, I'm sure a fair percentage of the scientific community would actually give a shit and investigate the validity of his claims.

Like, seriously, extraterrestrial contact would be a world-shattering event, but the ICC people treat it like it's an everyday occurrence.
Probably because it is.

It just seems kinda silly.
Oh, there are Aliens out there. But they're the only ones, honest.
Well, except for those Space Jockeys, they're out there too. But that's it, honest.
Well, except for the Predators. But really, that's it. We're serious this time.
Oh yeah, and all the skulls inside the Predator ships. Those things are out there, too.

The original intention was to have an "empty" universe with just Aliens (and Space Jockeys)? Well, yeah, that was for the first movie. Things have changed within just the movies themselves, not to mention the EU.
You want to put the genie back in the bottle? Uh, okay.