Space Beast by Robert Morse

[Frosty Venom]

Who would be interested in the idea of a full version of "Space Beast" by Robert Morse?

I think it would be cool to have a novel that tells the events of Alien 3 completely from Morse's perspective. It could go into the events of his crime, arrest and time on Fiorina 161 prior to Ripley's arrival as well as the events afterwards including him being in the custody of Weyland Yutani and his eventual relocation to another Class-C prison facility where he would suffer from graphic nightmares of the Xenomorph and lose his faith in God.

[The Old One]

No interest.

I don't love "Space Beast" as it is.

[SM]

No need for a longer version.  We effectively have one - called Alien 3.

[Xenomrph]

No need for a longer version.  We effectively have one - called Alien 3.

That's kind of like saying we don't need movie adaptations because we have books.

I think it could be a neat opportunity to explore a character's mental state, his interactions with the other prisoners (and as a byproduct, give them characterization that's lacking in the movie), maybe play around with unreliable narrator elements (Morse being unsure if the Alien came from a dog or ox, as an example). Star Wars recently had a book called 'From A Certain Point Of View', which was a bunch of movie scenes as retold by random side characters (complete with their inherent flaws and biases). I'm picturing something in that vein.

[Frosty Venom]

It would be good to get some backstory & characterization for these otherwise fairly shallow characters and learn about how the imprisonment process works, how Weyland Yutani treated Morse and Morse's afterthoughts of the events.

Plus it'd be cool to own an in-universe copy of Space Beast.

[Corporal Hicks]

It's something I'd love to see. I know we've seen Alien 3 already but as Xenomrph says, it'd be interesting to see it all from a different POV. S.D Perry did do a tiny little thing for the WY Report which, honestly, I was pretty disappointed with as I've always been hoping for something more substantial.

[Hudson]

It's something I'd love to see. I know we've seen Alien 3 already but as Xenomrph says, it'd be interesting to see it all from a different POV. S.D Perry did do a tiny little thing for the WY Report which, honestly, I was pretty disappointed with as I've always been hoping for something more substantial.

I thought Perry captured Morse's voice perfectly. If she was brought in to expand it to full length, I'd absolutely read it.

[Xenomrph]

It's something I'd love to see. I know we've seen Alien 3 already but as Xenomrph says, it'd be interesting to see it all from a different POV. S.D Perry did do a tiny little thing for the WY Report which, honestly, I was pretty disappointed with as I've always been hoping for something more substantial.

I thought Perry captured Morse's voice perfectly. If she was brought in to expand it to full length, I'd absolutely read it.

The problem with the WY Report version is that it feels ultra mega condensed, like we're reading snippets from the introduction of the book and that the meat and potatoes in-depth recounting of the events is somewhere else in the book. Well, either that or 'Space Beast' is in total like 11 pages cover-to-cover, given how quickly the snippets breeze through major events.

[The Old One]

I have a list of minor problems with the W-Y Report, but this isn't one of them.

[Hudson]

It's something I'd love to see. I know we've seen Alien 3 already but as Xenomrph says, it'd be interesting to see it all from a different POV. S.D Perry did do a tiny little thing for the WY Report which, honestly, I was pretty disappointed with as I've always been hoping for something more substantial.

I thought Perry captured Morse's voice perfectly. If she was brought in to expand it to full length, I'd absolutely read it.

The problem with the WY Report version is that it feels ultra mega condensed, like we're reading snippets from the introduction of the book and that the meat and potatoes in-depth recounting of the events is somewhere else in the book. Well, either that or 'Space Beast' is in total like 11 pages cover-to-cover, given how quickly the snippets breeze through major events.

Well, if we're going to air grievances about The WY Report, mine is that it's a coffee table book. I mean, it's neat and all, very pretty to page through and 'interesting' for the most part when we get all of these details and whatnot in the voice that it's in. For me, there's not the kind of substance you get with the Colonial Marines Technical Manual.

On the topic of this thread, I thought it was a neat idea that Space Beast was included, but I was miffed that it was relegated to, essentially, a pamphlet and not really a 'book' per se, which is how I've always conceptualized Morse's supposed writings.

[Xenomrph]

It's something I'd love to see. I know we've seen Alien 3 already but as Xenomrph says, it'd be interesting to see it all from a different POV. S.D Perry did do a tiny little thing for the WY Report which, honestly, I was pretty disappointed with as I've always been hoping for something more substantial.

I thought Perry captured Morse's voice perfectly. If she was brought in to expand it to full length, I'd absolutely read it.

The problem with the WY Report version is that it feels ultra mega condensed, like we're reading snippets from the introduction of the book and that the meat and potatoes in-depth recounting of the events is somewhere else in the book. Well, either that or 'Space Beast' is in total like 11 pages cover-to-cover, given how quickly the snippets breeze through major events.

Well, if we're going to air grievances about The WY Report, mine is that it's a coffee table book. I mean, it's neat and all, very pretty to page through and 'interesting' for the most part when we get all of these details and whatnot in the voice that it's in. For me, there's not the kind of substance you get with the Colonial Marines Technical Manual.

I had a similar complaint, and I talked with S.D. Perry about it a while back - apparently the "coffee table book" angle was pretty much intentional. It's meant as a very visually pretty "greatest hits" for casual fans, with a sprinking of some new stuff on top. It was never meant to be the Colonial Marines Technical Manual 2.0.

While it's unfortunate, I've come to terms with it and I'm able to enjoy the book on its own merits.

[Hudson]

I think that's all well and good, but damn, if they're going to spend that much money printing something I'd rather they would've saved that money and pay her to novelize AvP Three World War. SD Perry is a good writer with a strong following, and I felt her talents were wasted on essentially writing a bunch of blurbs, instead of writing a damn novel. Also, the WY Report could have easily been a novel in experimental form, epistolary for instance. And after looking at Earth Hive (which Titan even republished), formal experimentation in fiction isn't off-limits when it comes to novels in the Alien franchise.

[SM]

Why would they make a novel when they didn't want a novel?

[Hudson]

Why would they make a novel when they didn't want a novel?

Because they could have and it would've been more interesting and unexpected in terms of form. I don't know, SM, what's the right answer?

I might just give you the last word on this one until someone else responds, because this wasn't even the point Xenomrph and I were arguing. Our opinion of the WY Report is that it's lack of substance in terms of a narrative (the structure that every Alien film takes: a narrative, which even emerges in the final portions of the CMTM) is made up for by the fact that it's a giant hardcover book with pretty, glossy pictures.

[The Old One]

The W-Y Report is perfect reference material IMO.

(It's only the last portion of the book I dislike, with the ridiculous visualisations of utilizing the Alien's biology.)