The Complete Aliens Omnibus Volume 3 collects two novels from two different authors: Aliens: Rogue by Sandy Schofield, and Aliens: Labyrinth by S.D. Perry. I’m a big fan of the Aliens universe and have, on the whole, enjoyed the previous two omnibuses despite issues with the last novel. I had hoped that this third omnibus would deliver some great stories, but unfortunately that wasn’t entirely to be the case…
From the publisher:
Escape from Charon or die in the grip of the ultimate weapon.
Welcome to the former penal colony of Charon, where a labyrinth of underground tunnels offer shelter to an Alien hive. Professor Ernst Kleist rules — a paranoid tyrant who sees and hears all. His speciality is making humans disappear…
Captain Joyce Palmer is bound for Charon. Only she and a few hand-picked Marines can stop Kleist in his tracks. Only they can stop the professor’s most insane creation — the ROGUE.
On the space station Innominata the infamous Dr. Paul Church has built a maze of tunnels. Church is hiding the results of his latest experiments. His aim… to bring human and alien together as one being!
Colonel Dr. Tony Crespi has one ambition — to work with Church, a brilliant scientist. But one by one the men on Innominata have been dying in the attempt to meld alien and man. When Crespi finds his way to the heart of the labyrinth he discovers a chamber of horrors — will he ever be able to find a way out…?
Contains Rogue by Sandy Schofield and Labyrinth by Stephani Perry.
While previous novels in the Aliens series have followed in each other’s footsteps, keeping the history and consistency as novel builds upon novel, Aliens: Rogue is presented in a stand-alone way that lets it fit right into the established milieu without unnecessary bloat. It works well, introducing us easily to the characters of the novel: Palmer, starship pilot on a well-paid route to help her family back home; Cray, passenger on Palmer’s ship come to investigate Kleist’s work; Kleist, mad scientist conducting experiments on the xenomorphs; Green, sergeant of the Colonial Marines stationed at Charon base. It’s through the eyes of these four that we follow the story in Aliens: Rogue, learning bits and pieces of information as the novel unfolds until the inevitable disaster occurs.
Schofield (the pen name of husband & wife team Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch) delivers a good story here, sticking mostly to established lore yet managing to make it feel fresh. The characters are definitely a strong point, bringing much needed humanity to the situation or, in the case of Kleist, an egomaniacal scientist convinced he’s the doing the greatest work of his generation. The action set pieces work well and the marines are a much-welcome aspect of the novel, giving the insurrection on Charon base some solid backup, yet they are more than just cannon fodder.
On the whole it’s a good novel, though there are a few issues present – dead and buried convicts still possessing valuables, Palmer’s grasp on military tactics is perhaps too good, and (most of all) the way that the smell of the xenomorphs is highlighted constantly despite this not playing much of a role in previous books/films. Minor issues, yet present nonetheless. As for high points, well, the Rogue of the title is certainly one, giving fans something different that is presented in a way that suits the setting and established history. Overall a good entry in the Aliens universe.
Aliens: Labyrinth is, however, a different kettle of fish. Where Aliens: Rogue was not only believable in its story and setting, it was also very readable, but Aliens: Labyrinth is neither of these. The story, that of (another) mad scientist, Church, trying to control the xenomorphs while running his experiments, simply goes over well-trodden ground without much originality at all. While we do have the good guys – new assistant Crespi and Colonial Marine lieutenant McGuinness – these feel like token characters despite the effort that goes into their backstory. Crespi is perhaps the deeper of the two, yet his constant flip-flopping between being appalled by Church’s work and engrossed by it is off-putting to say the least. The impression given is that he’s there to be used to convey different sources of information, rather than having a larger cast of characters to achieve this properly. Church is simply ridiculous in his efforts, yet his backstory does try to add something different and new, despite it not working given the vast history in the Aliens setting.
Unfortunately the prose doesn’t help matters for Aliens: Labyrinth. Keeping things relatively simple, Perry manages to tell the story but without adding much emotion or feeling into it. Given some of the scenes and events it’s hard to connect in the way you should with characters, and it ultimately adds to the disappointment. Perry can’t be wholly blamed for this seeing as Aliens: Labyrinth is an adaption of the comic of the same name, and while it’s not one I’ve read, the move from one form of fiction to another clearly hasn’t worked in this case.
So, another mixed bag for this omnibus edition. Aliens: Rogue has issues, but it ultimately works well, yet Aliens: Labyrinth fails more or less consistently throughout its story. I’m glad I’ve read them both, and I’ll be eager to pick up the next omnibus regardless, but it’s hard not to be disappointed when one of your favourite fictional creations is mishandled.
Publisher: Titan Books
Author: Sandy Schofield & S.D. Perry
December 2016, 496 Pages
Paperback, ISBN: 9781783299058
Review copy received from the publisher
© 2017 Mark Chitty | @chitman13
