Alien: River of Pain by Christopher Golden is the final novel in the new Alien trilogy release last year by Titan Books. The first two books, Alien: Out of the Shadows and Alien: Sea of Sorrows, focused on the planet LV-178 and told two semi-connected stories set a couple of hundred year apart. Alien: River of Pain, meanwhile, returns us to very familiar surroundings: LV-426. Acheron. Hadley’s Hope.
From the publisher:
Concluding the all-new, official trilogy set in the Alien Universe!
A new adventure featuring the Colonial Marines and leading directly into the second movie, Aliens.
The massively acclaimed Alien franchise is one of the most successful of all time, beginning with the first film in 1979. When Ellen Ripley finally returned to Earth, she learned that the planet LV-426–the planet from Alien–has been colonized. This novel will reveal for the first time the fate of the colonists, of the Colonial Marines who accompanied them, and how there came to be one survivor: the girl known as Newt.
Alien: River of Pain sits firmly between the first two Alien films, with the majority of the story set in Hadley’s Hope on Acheron, the planet we know as LV-426. Early passages in the novel are simply scenes from the films (one from Alien, more from Aliens) in order to set the scene of the events Ripley went through during Alien and the effects the aftermath of those events had on her. From there we alternate with scenes from Hadley’s Hope in its early days, to the events during the early part of Aliens where Ripley is on the space station orbiting Earth. After this scene-setting, and Carter Burke’s message to the colony to investigate the coordinates the Nostromo landed at, we switch entirely to Acheron, finding out just what happened to Hadley’s Hope before the arrival of the Sulaco in Aliens.
I’m a big Alien fan. I love the films, with Aliens being my favourite of them all (and in my top 3 movies of all time), so being able to read the story of Hadley’s Hope appealed massively to me. I’m not sure what newcomers will think, but there is enough background given in the early parts of the novel to bring them up to speed enough to immerse in the story. For those that have seen the films it’s a great premise, but one that doesn’t entirely work, unfortunately.
Firstly, what does work is the way Golden tells the story, building characters and examining the psyche of both Ripley and those on Acheron, particularly the Jordan family – Anne, Russ, Time and Newt – and Demian Brackett, the new CO for the marine detachment based in Hadley’s Hope. We see more of the alien ship as Anne and Russ investigate it prior to his facehugger attachment, and also the way that this is dealt with by both those in the employ of Weyland-Yutani, and of Brackett and the marines.
Characters are a clear strength throughout the novel, with Golden particularly gifted at examining the issues being part of a frontier colony has, as well as the psychological effects it has on its inhabitants. Other, more interpersonal, relationships also work very well, with the history between Anne Jordan and Demian Brackett adding another layer to the events as they unfold.
Golden also balances the build-up and pay-off well, with roughly the first half of the novel giving depth to both characters and setting before the shit hits the fan. When it goes wrong, it really goes wrong, and there was no point I didn’t feel that the xenomorphs weren’t truly dangerous and deadly.
However, not all runs smoothly in Alien: River of Pain. The biggest issue I had with the novel was the inclusion of the marine detachment in Hadley’s Hope. Within the context of the story it does work, but when looked at as a prequel to Aliens, it just doesn’t. Including something that was never mentioned, or even hinted at, during that film really grated on me, and I’ve found it very difficult to get past this glaring issue. There are also other, smaller aspects that, as a fan of the director’s cut of Aliens, stood out like a sore thumb. Events portrayed in that cut of the film were changed slightly on the page and, while this shouldn’t be much of a problem, I came away annoyed that they weren’t addressed and amended to reflect what was seen on screen. This isn’t a completely brand-new story, and as such those parts that were recycled from the film should have been kept as they were.
There is also the issue of how the scientists deal with the emergence of the chestbusters. It’s a given that they first time it happens and the xenomorph swiftly runs into the ducts would come as a surprise, but once they know what to expect restrictions and controls should be put in place, but they weren’t. It’s a shame that small points like this take away from what could have been a solid story.
Taken at face value, Alien: River of Pain is the best novel out of the new trilogy. The story of Hadley’s Hope and its inhabitants is strong and gripping, but minor issues that could of (and should of) been addressed take away from this strength. However, the major issue of marines present in the colony is one that I simply can’t ignore or overlook, and it’s a damned shame. Despite this I’d recommend the novel to Alien fans and newcomers alike, perhaps others can look past the issues that I had.
Publisher: http://titanbooks.com/
Author: http://www.christophergolden.com/
November 2014, 352 Pages
Paperback, ISBN: 9781783292868
Review from a purchased copy
© 2015 Mark Chitty
Looks like a worthy addition to the Alien saga. Definitely adding it to my reading list!
It’s definitely worth reading, and is enjoyable – hope you like it and can move past the issues I had.