Alien

Review of Audiobook narrated by Peter Guinness. The last time I saw Alien was 1982, it has taken that long to again face this claustrophobic infection. While the movie is about two hours long, the audiobook is eight - ample time to break overnight and dream, to slow down and appreciate the psychological horror as the tension builds. Occasional music sets the mood.

The best thing about Alien is the creature is rarely seen. Similar to Jaws, it is the monster of our imagination that is most frightening. The length of the novel plays into it extremely well, the alien doesn't appear until more than half way through. The action scenes are mercifully not too long or overwrought. It was a pleasure not to be bludgeoned with gory visual effects show more and thumping music, emerging bleary eyes 90-minutss later with PTSD. Overall I believe I enjoyed the slower pace as much if not more than the movie. It's length and literary details, the ability to go inside what characters are thinking. All the things which give the written word an advantage over film. This isn't to say that movie is bad either, the two are complimentary.

On the narration: Peter Guinness sounds a little out of place for a horror novel and the characters run together there isn't a strong differentiation. Nevertheless, he is not displeasurable to listen to and gets the job done. My preference would be Kevin Pierce, or better yet, a full cast with sound effects. The definitive audio drama has yet to be made. show less

The Nostromo silently glides through space carrying its payload of refined petroleum and the seven crewmembers tucked away in hypersleep until the reach the Milky Way. While they sleep, the ship picks up a faint distress call, and according to company protocol, the ship -- known as Mother to the crew -- begins the process of waking the crew to investigate. They track the signal to a planetoid and manage a difficult landing in the harsh and dust-filled winds. Three crewmembers set out to locate the source of the signal and discover a large, derelict ship almost sprouting from the ground. The three make their way inside a large entry bay but can find no sings of life. Proceeding farther into the ship, they find a deep hole leading into show more blackness and decide to investigate.

Dangling from a cable inside a cavernous room, one of the crew slowly settles to the floor and begins examining the strange pods arranged in a pattern around the room. He touches one and soon regrets it as the creature inside breaks through the skin of the punch and latches onto his faceplate, burning through the glass and attaching itself to his face. When the other two reel him in, their only thought is to get him back to the ship and remove the creature. Aboard the ship, warrant office Ripley refuses to allow her fellow crewmen back onto the ship, following Company protocol, but her decision is overridden by Ash, the science officer.

Nothing they can do will release the vice-like grip of the creature. In time, the creature falls away on its own, unleashing something far worse into the bowels of the ship. What began as a simple distress call turns into a deadly fight for survival....

"Alien" by Alan Dean Foster is a novelization of the 1979 film, and it follows the story very well. In fact, while reading the book, I found myself picturing Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, Tom Skerritt as Dallas, Ian Hom as Ash, and so on. It's very easy to do because I've seen the movie numerous times and still find it one of the scariest movies around. The book actually enhances the film, delving a bit deeper into the personalities of the crew, especially during the opening chapter when each of the characters is given a moment in the spotlight while still in hypersleep. My only gripe is with the transitions between scenes in the book. One moment, I'm reading about Ripley in one section of the Nostromo, then with the next sentence, Parker and Lambert are in the engine area. No pause or break appears; the scenes run into each other, and it's somewhat jarring.

But it's still an effective story that fans of horror, science fiction, and the movies ill most definitely enjoy. show less

Alien…a classic, epic movie. Created from a screenplay, they turned around and made the movie, then made the book off the movie/screenplay – one rarely thinks of this book offspring when they hear the word “Alien.” The movie is better too, but for fans of the series, especially completionists, this spawned book is a good addition to the shelves.

I won’t go into the details of the story – what’s the point? If you don’t know the story of Alien, rent it immediately or miss out. The book stays pretty faithful to the film. This didn’t work for the beginning, though, as reading about drug out technical aspects of landing, planning the course, and positioning lasted far too long and bored me. After page forty or so, my show more interest finally shipped off.

The scene where Lambert, Dallas, and Kane explore the alien vessel and find the chamber is especially eerie and great. In written form, I was able to appreciate the impressiveness and uniqueness of the ship much more than when staring at it on the screen. I think this was due in part to the author taking such time to detail the structure and how truly alien it was, emphasizing this fact further than the movie did. Creepiness was laid on thick as Kane explores the chambers; in written form that daunting climb down seemed longer in length, it’s suspense richer.
After the first half, the book starts changing small things from the movie, which is fine. Overall the deaths in the book were lackluster to the movie though. There wasn’t as much suspense and impact. There is even more kitty emphasis. Mother plays a smaller part, especially at the end. The chase scenes were great and made sense (in other words, they weren’t in trouble because they were acting stupid like some stories rely on, they were acting with intelligence but happened to be up against something stronger than they.)

And of course, there was no underwear showdown!

Character wise, Ridley was less likeable. She is flatter, bitchier, and her arrogance irritated me as well as the crew. Dallas is as likeable in written form as the flick. I cared more about Parker and Brent reading about them. Ash was well done and further fleshed out.

Oddly the alien’s appearance isn’t discussed hardly at all. Weird, right? The author goes into detail about the egg, the facehugger alive and dead. Ash eagerly dishes out revelations and theories about the being’s abilities and superiority, but when it comes to the adult’s alien appearance, it’s ridiculously vague. Was it because the author struggled with the right wording on describing the unique creature right? Writing error and accidentally leaving that description out despite the many chances to include it? Did they want to leave that particular surprise for the movie buffs, what? It bugs me.

Overall fans should read it if they own it or stumble across a copy. The book doesn’t add in any missing pieces or further insight but it’s still an enjoyable read. The characters, even the alien, are flatter – but the action segments work and it’s a fascinating story. It also has made me in the mood to watch the movie again. show less

A successful novelization of one of the most successful and scary science fiction monster movies of all time. Foster is an old hand at novelizations and this is an early effort, fairly successfully transferring the tension and suspense of the movie to this book. The story is well-known and is about the crew of the cargo ship Nostromo as it lands on an alien planet in response to a distress signal, triggering events of a monstrous and cataclysmic nature.

A tremendous adaptation of an incredible film. Faithful and truly beautiful— it captures the essence of the film while still having a little bit of its own style.

You wanna hear an undeniable fact ? Alien trilogy is absolutely and undoubtedly the scariest science fiction horror trilogy ever written, ever created, and ever told ! I remember how scared I was when I saw the Alien for the very first time, and how scared I was when I saw the Alien for the second, and for the third time. The Alien creature scared the bejesus out of me, and I still wanted to see it again and again, for I knew back then that I was watching a masterpiece and not just some science fiction movie with some less known actors and actresses. That said, the book trilogy does not disappoint, it brings Alien creature back to life and is equally scary and terrifying to read about it as it is to watch it. So if you're Alien fan, show more love all the movies, even the fourth installment, I immensely recommend that you take some of your precious time and devour Alan Dean Foster's book and revive all the feelings that you've had when you've seen the movie Alien and the Alien creature for the very first time. show less

I would call this a fast read for Alien fans, better than the average screen-to-book novelization. It tells the story of the crew of the space freighter Nostromo, diverted to investigate a supposed distress call in deep space. The creature they find is an unassailable predator, a vicious hunter with an ability and need to violate its prey in a horribly personal way.