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Book Gulp (I’ll send a cookie to whoever can point out why we named it this in the comments!) is a new feature here at Rely on Horror where we’ll be looking at horror novels/comics/ graphic novels. It won’t be traditional reviews as far as numbering goes at the end for an overall rating, but we will be offering you a brief opinion on the book we’re covering. For this first installment, we’ll be looking at a novel that’s quite relevant to an upcoming survival horror game.
Alien – Out of the Shadows
Alien has been a huge influence not only in film, but also in gaming. Ridley Scott’s classic sci-fi horror film inspired games like the Metroid series and Dead Space. And now we get to see the events that transpired right after the original film, leading up to the events of Aliens. Tim Lebbon bridges the gap with Alien: Out of the Shadows.
The story follows ship engineer Chris Hooper and his crew aboard the Marion as they conduct a mining operation on planet LV178. As expected, things in space don’t stay quiet for long. Something has gone awry in the planet below, forcing the miners on its surface to make an escape. Of course, that doesn’t work out as planned. A pair of drop ships with frightened miners ends up crashing right into the Marion, sending the giant ship into a slow descent down towards the planet of unknown horrors (I’m sure we all know what resides there!). Ripley makes a return after the events of the original film and we get to see her awaken after a long slumber in her shuttle, which ends up getting picked up by the Marion weeks after the damaged ship sends out a distress call. Ripley’s appearance could be seen as a curse to the crew.
Lebbon did a great job with the characterization for each of the main players, stripping them of the generic familiarity that’s expected from character types in the genre. Hooper and Ripley are the main stars, though. Getting into Ripley’s head and seeing the amount of torment affecting her proves to be a scary experience in and of itself, especially with all those twisted visions she has of her daughter, Amanda. On the other hand, Hooper is also facing a personal crisis, feeling the strong guilt of leaving his family behind after so many years being out in space. They’re both broken characters and they make for a very intriguing and engaging dynamic once they become acquainted with one another. Oh, and while Ripley can still kick ass, all the bad-ass-untouchable heroine antics is kept to a minimum.
The build-up to the reveal of the Xenomorphs’ presence is well-done, and it makes for quite a page-turner, keeping you on the edge of your seat waiting to see when those slimy aliens will pop up next. The inclusion of the AI Ash also provides another layer of suspense, knowing what he’s capable of doing to make sure he gets his mission done. The action, that brings along some pleasantly gory scenes, is kept at a minimum, reserved for key moments. The book has a stronger focus on the tension amongst the characters, and the mystery of what went wrong on planet LV178, which eventually leads to the chaos aboard the Marion. There are some extremely cringe-worthy moments here and nice thrills throughout the book, which doesn’t drag despite the page count.
If you’re a fan of Xenomorphs or just enjoy great sci-fi/horror books, then you should definitely check out this novel. It will help whet your appetite as we await the release of Alien: Isolation later this year.
