With Titan Books recently publishing new books in the Alien and Predator universe, it was great news to hear that they’re also releasing omnibuses of previous Alien novels, and starting with Steve Perry’s trilogy in The Complete Aliens Omnibus Volume 1. Containing Earth Hive, Nightmare Asylum, and The Female War, these novels were released pre-Alien: Resurrection, a fact that is obvious once you start reading them, though they are no less relevant or enjoyable in a post-Resurrection, Prometheus, and AvP world.
As I’ll be discussing all three books be aware that there will be spoilers as the review makes its way to the second and third novels.
Earth Hive by Steve Perry is the first instalment in an Aliens trilogy released as a tie-in when Alien 3 hit the cinema back in 1992, and taking place later than the film. The discovery of a derelict spacecraft in Earth orbit that houses a xenomorph leads to the location of the presumed alien homeworld, and a race to get there to capture and exploit the xenomorphs for military purposes. Wilks, a disgraced marine, and Billie, a young woman held in a mental institute, are the only two survivors of an infestation on Rim, a far-flung colony world. When a mission is put together to head to the alien planet Wilks is brought on board due to his experience, but before the journey begins he breaks Billie out of the institute and brings her along. Unknown to the military, a xenomorph queen is in the possession of a company on Earth, while a fanatical religious group is obsessed with the xenomorph. With events both on- and off-Earth quickly deteriorating, it quickly becomes about survival of the species.
While initially planned to follow on from the events in Aliens, the main characters of Earth Hive, Wilks and Billie, were originally due to be Hicks and Newt. However, with the novel releasing around the same time as Alien 3 changes needed to be made. This is fairly obvious within the story, though the amendments are enough to not cause an undue issue. Perry has managed to craft some interesting characters here, though as is expected with a novel in this setting, not all survive, and it’s often telegraphed which ones will bite the dust. Not that this is a problem, it’s simply the nature of the beast.
As a fan of the Alien films (not so much of Resurrection and Prometheus), it’s really nice to see a story set post-Alien 3, and one that feels right in this universe. There is enough of what makes the Alien films so enjoyable, but also plenty of new aspects that add to, and enrich, the story. Perry manages to drop a few surprises here and there, and with a short page count Earth Hive delivers just what I wanted from an Alien story.
In Nightmare Asylum, events continue with Wilks and Billie escaping and an alien-infested Earth, but ending up on a ship to a military research outpost commanded by General Spears. Spears is far from sane, and his plan to create an army of xenomorphs controlled by him has led to the deaths of everyone in the nearby civilian colony, all in an effort to grow his forces. With the arrival of Wilks and Billie, Spears’ time is clearly at an end – they won’t stand by while his plan to retake Earth from hordes of aliens by using ones under his control inches ever closer to fruition.
Another blast from start to finish, Nightmare Asylum has much of what made the film Aliens so great: Colonial Marines, a planet in the process of being terraformed, and xenomorphs galore. There is, of course, plenty of action, and some very good character building in the crazy General Spears. Despite how mad his plan is, he clearly believes that what he is doing is right, and he has no qualms about getting results however he sees fit. All of this culminates in the final act, with Nightmare Asylum leaving the door wide open for the final novel to hit the ground running.
And hit the ground running we do in The Female War, the final part of this trilogy. With Earth completely fallen to the xenomorphs, Wilks and Billie join forces with a new ally – none other than Ellen Ripley herself. With many inhabitants of Gateway Station in Earth orbit dreaming of an alien Queen, and the plea in those dreams for them to come to her, a plan slowly comes together to bring this queen of queens to Earth. The hope behind this plan is that doing this will being all xenomorphs to one location in order to finally destroy them and win the battle for the planet. If only it was so easy…
The Female War is perhaps the weakest link in this trilogy, which is a shame as it was building to a point that could have been epic. There are a number of places where the issues creep in, the first of which is the introduction of Ripley. While this was done in the closing pages of Nightmare Asylum, it’s here where we start to see the direction the story is heading. Clearly this isn’t actually Ellen Ripley, especially since these events take place post-Alien 3, and the revelation when it does come is neither surprising or entirely satisfactory. Add to this the (frankly suicidal) plan to visit another alien world to capture the Queen Mother, then transport her to Earth, and things really do feel like they’re falling apart.
However, despite the dodgy plot threads and very shaky plans that our group go with, The Female War does deliver on the action front with some pretty intense and hefty scenes. It also expands the mythos of the xenomorphs, giving their societal structure and hierarchy more depth. The main problem is that the ending is somewhat lacklustre with no real sense of closure given. While enjoyable in parts, The Female War doesn’t quite do this trilogy justice.
The Complete Aliens Omnibus Volume 1 presents an enjoyable and solid story over the three novels despite some issues that creep in towards the end. It has interesting characters and fascinating world-building, especially when expanding details with the xenomorphs. Given that these novels are now over twenty years old they may be more suited to fans of the series rather than casual readers. I, however, found them to be just what I needed to read – they have a familiarity to them that is comforting, and they tread both new and old ground in doing so.
Publisher: http://titanbooks.com/
Author: http://www.soulofacarp.com/sperry/
January 2016, 832 Pages
Paperback, ISBN: 9781783299010
Review copy received from the publisher
© 2016 Mark Chitty
