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

[The Alien Predator]

I think that, as Hicks had pointed out, the

Spoiler

Faze fled because its task was done. It wasn't there to destroy humanity, just halt our technological progress and our spread throughout space.

Elder Kalakta did say that the Drukathi made the Faze to stop other civilizations from becoming too advanced. He also hinted to Isa Palant by saying it's not the Rage who are "too advanced", which is to say, it's Mankind.

And by pushing us back by 500 years, its purpose was fulfilled.

Maybe this was also the fate of the Dog-Aliens, they weren't destroyed but simply pushed back.

Somehow the Yautja may or may not have avoided a similar fate. But due to being such a primordial species, they either may have had their own "Rage War" or may have witnessed countless other civilizations experiencing a "Rage War" (aka "restart button") and that's how the Yautja seem to have known about the Drukathi's purpose and this could explain why they're so wary of them.

They're kind of like Reapers in Mass Effect, targeting advanced species but they don't destroy or harvest civilizations, just push them back.

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[Thomas H.]

I'm going to have to sit down and re-read this three at some point next year. I liked it overall, but it Lebbon's style isn't completely my thing, so at times I had to read a passage again, it just didn't really come together. The ending of book three felt rushed, after all the effort it took to get where everyone needed to be.
The concept though, of the current status quo.... That I liked!! There's some good potential for stories there.

[SpreadEagleBeagle]

I have no intention to read these books, but please feel free to persuade me to do so.

So far it sounds like Lebbon is coming up with his own sci-fi world within the Alien universe and it sounds like a lot of the concepts are kind pushing the Alien into the shadows (no pun intended - I promise!) and into the peripheries. Do they feel in anyway "related" to the feeling, theme and concept established in the original three Alien movies? Or does it feel more like a spin-off based on the amalgam of A:R, Prometheus and more recent EU story lines?

As you may know from the other thread I'm NOT a huge fan of the Alien universe being "crowded" by sentient life-forms and advanced life, which includes the Predators as well.

[SM]

It's unlike most other Alien stuff (apart from the original three comic series) in that it's a sprawling war epic.  The technological advancements feel natural enough due to the far future time frame.  In that regard, it's an interesting change of pace from the 'small group of people trapped somewhere just trying to survive' type of story.

[The Alien Predator]

What SM said.

Also, it's not packed with technological alien life. In fact, that's rare, the only ones we keep encountering a lot are the Predators, and that's only because the gits keep coming to hunt us. Everything else is so far away that it's economically implausible to keep contacts with them. Literally, everyone's on their own.

Even our very first encountered alien race, the Arcturians, are so distant and silent to us. The human settlers on Arcturus have been isolated there for long enough to start developing their own racial traits, you could tell an Arcturian human just as easily as you could tell a member of a different race such as an Asian or an African etc. No Arcturians or humans from that system appear, this is just mentioned by a human reporter who encountered some human Arcturians.

It still feels like Alien at times. Space travel is still difficult and takes a long time to get to places. The universe still seems to be callously trying to murder us in many ways or break our minds as we try to take shortcuts through wormholes. Lebbon truly respects the scale and dangers of outer space and our inability to adapt to it.

Aliens are by no means placed to the side, I don't know why it seemed that way. They were the most dangerous Xenomorphs I have ever seen personally. Right from the first book I gained a ton more respect for the Alien monster. And by the third book, I see exactly why Weyland-Yutani keep busting their arses trying to weaponize the bloody things lol.

Spoiler

The Dog-Alien ruins are still mysterious and it makes you question their fate a bit. Things seem different compared to their colony on LV-178 and this artificial world of Midsummer.

Just who are those creators of the Faze, biomechanical slug things that build and improve upon existing technology but with a mysterious agenda? Are they even sentient or simply tools left behind by long gone creators?

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Overall, it's really refreshing. It's not the usual "Predator hunt" or "Alien infests ship/colony" story. It has elements of those two, but it delves into a much grander picture. Aliens infest en masse, controlled by a very human enemy using ancient leftovers from a mysterious civilization to control them. The alliance with the Predators was the most natural alliance I have seen that could possibly happen with them.

It was filled with distrust, filled with tension that the two allies could turn on each other at any moment. There's no patting each other's backs, not even

Spoiler

at the end lol. They pissed off with all the leftover alien tech, leaving us 500 years back now that all our dropholes are gone and we're pretty much back to Alien era ship travel.

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[Corporal Hicks]

I've got the interview from Tim back. Hope to get it up by the end of the day.

[Nostromo]

I've got the interview from Tim back. Hope to get it up by the end of the day.

Cool

By the way, just noticed the Tim Lebbon AVP rage war is out on Audiobooks. Was it always there? I only recall Out of the shadows being listed.

I'm listening to the samples just now and am I really hearing this correct? There's a ship called the Aaron Percival. Effin cool man lol.

[Corporal Hicks]

By the way, just noticed the Tim Lebbon AVP rage war is out on Audiobooks. Was it always there? I only recall Out of the shadows being listed.

They're out in audio book, just now audio drama from what I remember.

I'm listening to the samples just now and am I really hearing this correct? There's a ship called the Aaron Percival. Effin cool man

Haha. Yeah! I've got a ship named after me in the Rage Wars.  Tim named pretty much everything after people on his friends list on Facebook.

[SM]

I've got the interview from Tim back. Hope to get it up by the end of the day.

Cool

By the way, just noticed the Tim Lebbon AVP rage war is out on Audiobooks. Was it always there? I only recall Out of the shadows being listed.

I'm listening to the samples just now and am I really hearing this correct? There's a ship called the Aaron Percival. Effin cool man lol.

It was first mentioned at the end of Incursion.

[Corporal Hicks]

I've got the interview from Tim back. Hope to get it up by the end of the day.

Interview is up: http://www.avpgalaxy.net/website/interviews/tim-lebbon-the-rage-war/

Answers to the Drukathi are in there. And I was completely wrong.

It was first mentioned at the end of Incursion.

It gets a mention in all 3 of them. 

[Ultramorph]

Great interview, Hicks! So the Drukathi

Spoiler

are the dog-aliens after all. I guess you we don't have to say "dog-alien" anymore!  I actually like that a lot. It's cool that there are other mysterious forces out there besides the Engineers. I really hope we get to learn more about their long history with the Predators. Now that we know they're the dog-aliens, it sort of makes sense why the Yautja never went against them, dog-people don't really seem like great sport!

Maybe the Drukathi took down the Engineers. That would be something.

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[The Alien Predator]

So my initial guess was right about he Drukathi until you gentlemen planted my head with conspiracies about Engineers. *Puts on tinfoil cap*

That was a very good interview Hicks, I like how the things will be heading straight back to how they were between humans and Yautja. Reminds me of that ending in the Capcom game where the Predators give a reward to the human characters for fighting well, and then say "we'll see you again" in a rather menacing manner while aiming their lasers at them. Aka "hunt you soon" LOL!

I love that about the Yautja, they're such a barbaric and alien species! Utter monsters! No mercy, no compassion, not even gratitude! Not that we "did" much for them to be honest, but we stuck together and helped each other. I like how in the second book, Yautja attacks were still reported despite the alliance. They're so fragmented just like us, no unity. I love how diverse the Predators can be. Tim really knew what he was doing with them.

I look forward to his two short stories in the anthologies, both focus on Akoko Halley before the Rage War, I am glad we hear what other E.T. she'll fight in Bug Hunt, it's mentioned in the third book as he said, it shows up in a Yautja lab as one of the experiments. I was so curious when Halley said she encountered them some decades ago with her team, glad we'll see that event unfold soon! Can't wait.

Hicks, I've been meaning to ask, will we have an "Ask Tim Lebbon" thread? Like with Perry, Shirley and VanderMeer?

What if the

Spoiler

Drukathi clean up after the Engineers? They're probably as old as them, likely not created by them. They showed an interest in one of their creations, the Xenomorphs. But everything else they may have seen as a pollution that needs to be contained.

And in 2692 AD, it was our turn.

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[SpreadEagleBeagle]

It sounds epic and all, but still... I'm a skeptic. I really don't like the whole AVP concept to begin with and would probably be more ok with the inclusion of these Dog-Aliens, Fazers and whatnot if it wasn't for the presence of Predators. I always felt that the Predators demystified the Alien and its universe.

Interesting how Lebbon covered his bases with the Arcturians with them both being a separate alien species native to the Arcturus star system as well as the human population (colonists) occupying the same space.

Still, I prefer my Arcturians to be humans (i.e. originally originating from Earth) as I'm not a fan of human-looking extraterrestrials populating the universe of Alien. Can't help but finding it cheap; doesn't matter it they're "created" by the same creators that "created" us, the Engineers and possibly the Predators. Just feels like a cop-out to me even though I get the inherent logic of it all. It simply doesn't jive well with me.

[The Alien Predator]

It sounds epic and all, but still... I'm a skeptic. I really don't like the whole AVP concept to begin with and would probably be more ok with the inclusion of these Dog-Aliens, Fazers and whatnot if it wasn't for the presence of Predators. I always felt that the Predators demystified the Alien and its universe.

Interesting how Lebbon covered his bases with the Arcturians with them both being a separate alien species native to the Arcturus star system as well as the human population (colonists) occupying the same space.

Still, I prefer my Arcturians to be humans (i.e. originally originating from Earth) as I'm not a fan of human-looking extraterrestrials populating the universe of Alien. Can't help but finding it cheap; doesn't matter it they're "created" by the same creators that "created" us, the Engineers and possibly the Predators. Just feels like a cop-out to me even though I get the inherent logic of it all. It simply doesn't jive well with me.

We both win thanks to this guy. I get my aliens, you get your Space Bangkok. 

And we both win in terms of the galaxy being quite empty and barren with very few intelligent aliens dotted around.

I think you'll be pleased to know that the focus on the Predators is very small in the first book, it's just hostile encounters as is usual in a Predator story. Aliens show up for a bit.

Their focus in the second book is even more minimal as it focuses on Colonial Marines fighting the invading Rage and their Xenomorph armies.

It's the third book that focuses on both creatures a lot, but the centre point is still on the human characters.

Hicks, you mentioned in the interview that

Spoiler

there are still some shipborn Rage left. I don't recall this being mentioned, where was it stated? I thought Liliya made all the generals self-destruct which would've caused the Rage ships to explode (the ones they're in.)

On Maloney's ship, there were around 100 or so shipborn in the entire mothership alone.

I know it mentioned "Titan Ships", but those are the human drophole building ships which are now pretty much f**ked as they're stranded out there. Most won't survive just like most colonies. Some may get lucky and manage to find or terraform a planet. It really is a grim dark ending.

Although it's interesting that Tim didn't comment on you saying there's shipborn remaining... hmmm... maybe there are. XD

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[SpreadEagleBeagle]

It sounds epic and all, but still... I'm a skeptic. I really don't like the whole AVP concept to begin with and would probably be more ok with the inclusion of these Dog-Aliens, Fazers and whatnot if it wasn't for the presence of Predators. I always felt that the Predators demystified the Alien and its universe.

Interesting how Lebbon covered his bases with the Arcturians with them both being a separate alien species native to the Arcturus star system as well as the human population (colonists) occupying the same space.

Still, I prefer my Arcturians to be humans (i.e. originally originating from Earth) as I'm not a fan of human-looking extraterrestrials populating the universe of Alien. Can't help but finding it cheap; doesn't matter it they're "created" by the same creators that "created" us, the Engineers and possibly the Predators. Just feels like a cop-out to me even though I get the inherent logic of it all. It simply doesn't jive well with me.

We both win thanks to this guy. I get my aliens, you get your Space Bangkok. 

And we both win in terms of the galaxy being quite empty and barren with very few intelligent aliens dotted around.

I think you'll be pleased to know that the focus on the Predators is very small in the first book, it's just hostile encounters as is usual in a Predator story. Aliens show up for a bit.

Their focus in the second book is even more minimal as it focuses on Colonial Marines fighting the invading Rage and their Xenomorph armies.

It's the third book that focuses on both creatures a lot, but the centre point is still on the human characters.

Hicks, you mentioned in the interview that

Spoiler

there are still some shipborn Rage left. I don't recall this being mentioned, where was it stated? I thought Liliya made all the generals self-destruct which would've caused the Rage ships to explode (the ones they're in.)

On Maloney's ship, there were around 100 or so shipborn in the entire mothership alone.

I know it mentioned "Titan Ships", but those are the human drophole building ships which are now pretty much f**ked as they're stranded out there. Most won't survive just like most colonies. Some may get lucky and manage to find or terraform a planet. It really is a grim dark ending.

Although it's interesting that Tim didn't comment on you saying there's shipborn remaining... hmmm... maybe there are. XD

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Btw... What is the Rage? Wouldn't mind having it explained to me

Spoiler

if you have the time to do that. Kind of curious I have to admit[/quote]

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