Aliens: Bug Hunt - Aliens Anthology Announced!

Started by alienscollection.com, May 10, 2016, 08:21:28 PM

Author
Aliens: Bug Hunt - Aliens Anthology Announced! (Read 107,883 times)

Hudson

Call me crazy, but this book might actually be getting worse as I progress:

Blowback
Spoiler
Another melodramatic relationship story, but with Dietrich at the forefront this time instead of Hicks. Features many characters from Aliens, but we don't really get anything new or interesting about anyone.
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Exterminators
Spoiler
Somehow another story where Dietrich serves as the main focalizing character. Dietrich and Frost battle some bug-type aliens with a bunch of other anonymous characters. It ends on a really dumb inside joke relating to the film. I actually fell asleep reading this one.
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No Good Deed
Spoiler
Some bounty hunters chase some guys with a price on their head down to Hadley's Hope and battle them in the streets along with some Xenomorphs.
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Zero to Hero
Spoiler
Kind of a comic-relief break about a cowardly corporal. The Colonial Marines fight a bunch of zombified miners.
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Dark Mother
Spoiler
Picks up from where Burke is taken by an Alien in the film. We learn that he was a bed wetter and that his mother brings in exactly 72% of the family income as a prostitute.
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Episode 22
Spoiler
I really really stupid transcript of a TV show episode detailing the history of the pulse rifle, except we're told that the pulse rifle was designed by a guy who's day job was to run a barbecue food truck while working in his workshop in the evenings.  :laugh:
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I think the overall thing disappointing me so far is that instead of this being true to a document like the Technical Manual and expanding upon what was established there, it's just trying to emulate Starship Troopers.

Russ840

Finished the first two now. Although i am enjoying them, i am really not likng how many different alien speices there seem to be in this universe now. What i loved about The Alien series is that it gives you the impression that alien life is a drastically rare thing. This book, so far, has introduced three new species and it seems, by what others are saying, many more are featured. It cheapens things, for me, a little.

Hudson

Quote from: Russ840 on Apr 20, 2017, 09:54:43 PM
Finished the first two now. Although i am enjoying them, i am really not likng how many different alien speices there seem to be in this universe now. What i loved about The Alien series is that it gives you the impression that alien life is a drastically rare thing. This book, so far, has introduced three new species and it seems, by what others are saying, many more are featured. It cheapens things, for me, a little.

It certainly doesn't explain how they failed so bad in the film if the Colonial Marines spend most of their time battling monsters already. Cheapens is the right way to describe it. Gonna try and get through some more of these tonight. I mostly want to read Sea of Sorrows and River of Pain, but I'm already 2/3 in.

SM

RE: Blowback
Spoiler
Another story that started well, continued well, but then when posed with what looked like an impossible task - didn't tell us how they achieved it.
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Hudson

Deep Background on the other hand, I just enjoyed pretty well. That's more of what I was looking for, original stories with original characters. It ties in with film canon if you want, but it doesn't bend over backwards to integrate at the expense of the story like some of the gimmicky movie tie-ins are doing.

SM

RE: Exterminators

Spoiler
The bugs were appropriately gross, if somewhat derivative and it made Dietrich into a bit of damsel while neglecting her position as a medtech.  The last line was corny, but liked it.
[close]

Hudson

Spoiler
Did you (or anyone else) find it really random for Dietrich of all people to essentially voice two stories in a row? I'm not totally sure she was portrayed consistently either.
[close]

Engineer

Quote from: HuDaFuK on Apr 20, 2017, 05:02:00 PM
Also lol @ "Here are fifteen all-new stories" on the back (in bold, exactly like that) when the book actually contains eighteen stories :laugh:

Perhaps they aren't counting some stories as "all new." For example, Dark Mother isn't really new, it was just a different perspective for the final moments of one character from the movie. Kinda trying to give them the benefit of the doubt here... lol

SM

Quote from: Hudson on Apr 21, 2017, 12:24:27 PM
Spoiler
Did you (or anyone else) find it really random for Dietrich of all people to essentially voice two stories in a row? I'm not totally sure she was portrayed consistently either.
[close]

Spoiler
Yeah I found her to be much tougher in Blowback.  And yes it was odd to have her front and centre in two stories in a row.
[close]

drsmuts

The Hicks story.... in Aliens he clearly has no idea what they are up against. Having him facing off with them previously is a real stretch

Russ840

Just finished the Bishop story.

My favourite so far.  I would have liked
Spoiler
Micheal Bishop to have been the one to switch him on
[close]

Hudson

Hudson

#371
I thought the Bishop one was decent, just some missed opportunities and a terrible ending.

This book is very poorly edited. I've caught a "Ridley" in place of Ripley, an author using the word "corp" in place of corps (as in Marine Corps), smaller typos, and one author confusingly referring to Weyland-Yutani as W-T. Also, "double-X" instead of double-Y chromosomes when referring to the Fury 161 prisoners.  ::) I've also read in an Amazon review that author's notes are left in one of the stories? If someone has caught that I'd be interested in page numbers.

Made it through several more:

Deep Background

Spoiler
Pretty good account of an embedded journalist, I thought it had a good ending. This is more of the type of story I was hoping for.
[close]

Empty Nest
Spoiler
I remember this one being decent, but kind of forgettable. The inclusion of Xenomorphs and other creatures so often throughout this kind of cheapens the idea that the Colonial Marines were unprepared in Aliens.
[close]

Darkness Falls
Spoiler
This took me three sittings because I kept falling asleep. Features Xenomorphs birthed from centipedes. Silly.
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Hugs to Die For
Spoiler
This one was decent because of the characters. Mostly focused in an attack by a giant pile of facehuggers.
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Deep Black
Spoiler
This one is probably my favorite in the book so far, about a special ops team that returns to Fiorina 161 and discovers a ship has landed and the crew has been killed by aliens. This is the one where the author refers to WY as W-T for some reason, and referenced "double-X" chromosomes. Other than that, I thought the story was well done and really interesting, a good concept that hasn't been explored. Unfortunately it ended right as it could have potentially got interesting. So, in many ways, another missed opportunity. Seemed like a good start to a novel though.
[close]

EDIT:

Finished it, and of the last three, Dangerous Prey is really good and the other two are forgettable. Overall I'm disappointed.


Russ840

Man i am finding this to be a slog. Just finished Hicks' story. All i can say is cheap

HuDaFuK

Sad to hear the apparent consensus that this isn't much, I had high hopes it would at least be interesting.

Finished my current book last night so I should be getting started on this today.

Russ840

Quote from: HuDaFuK on Apr 25, 2017, 09:01:46 AM
Sad to hear the apparent consensus that this isn't much, I had high hopes it would at least be interesting.

Finished my current book last night so I should be getting started on this today.

Dont let the comments deter you dude. You may enjoy it more for having low expectations.

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