What do you think?
Rate this book
Aliens / Predator / Prometheus Universe
Aliens: Bishop
A direct sequel to Aliens and Alien 3―Weyland-Yutani, the Colonial Marines, and Bishop’s creator all pursue the android for the deadly Xenomorph data contained in his brain. Written by T. R. Napper, author of the acclaimed 36 Streets, whose explosive work explores the artificial intelligence and what it is to be human.
Massively damaged in Aliens and Alien3, the synthetic Bishop asked to be shut down forever. His creator, Michael Bishop, has other plans. He seeks the Xenomorph knowledge stored in the android’s mind, and brings Bishop back to life―but for what reason? No longer an employee of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Michael tells his creation that he seeks to advance medical research for the benefit of humanity. Yet where does he get the resources needed to advance his work. With whom do his new allegiances lie?
Bishop is pursued by Colonial Marines Captain Marcel Apone, commander of the Il Conde and younger brother of Master Sergeant Alexander Apone, one of the casualties of the doomed mission to LV-426. Also on his trail are the “Dog Catchers,” commandos employed by Weyland-Yutani.
Who else might benefit from Bishop’s intimate knowledge of the deadliest creatures in the galaxy?
Massively damaged in Aliens and Alien3, the synthetic Bishop asked to be shut down forever. His creator, Michael Bishop, has other plans. He seeks the Xenomorph knowledge stored in the android’s mind, and brings Bishop back to life―but for what reason? No longer an employee of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Michael tells his creation that he seeks to advance medical research for the benefit of humanity. Yet where does he get the resources needed to advance his work. With whom do his new allegiances lie?
Bishop is pursued by Colonial Marines Captain Marcel Apone, commander of the Il Conde and younger brother of Master Sergeant Alexander Apone, one of the casualties of the doomed mission to LV-426. Also on his trail are the “Dog Catchers,” commandos employed by Weyland-Yutani.
Who else might benefit from Bishop’s intimate knowledge of the deadliest creatures in the galaxy?
420 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 5, 2023
129 people are currently reading
872 people want to read
About the author
T.R. Napper
36 books238 followersT. R. Napper is a multi-award-winning author. His honours include the prestigious Australian Aurealis four times. His short fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Grimdark Magazine, and numerous others. Napper received a creative writing doctorate for his thesis: The Dark Century, 1946 - 2046. Noir, Cyberpunk, and Asian Modernity (yes, he is a Doctor of Cyberpunk).
Before turning to writing, T. R. Napper was a diplomat and aid worker, delivering humanitarian programs throughout Southeast Asia for a decade. During this period he was a resident of the Old Quarter in Hanoi for several years, the setting for his acclaimed debut novel, 36 Streets.
These days he has returned to his home country of Australia, where, in addition to his writing, he runs art therapy programs for people with disabilities.
Before turning to writing, T. R. Napper was a diplomat and aid worker, delivering humanitarian programs throughout Southeast Asia for a decade. During this period he was a resident of the Old Quarter in Hanoi for several years, the setting for his acclaimed debut novel, 36 Streets.
These days he has returned to his home country of Australia, where, in addition to his writing, he runs art therapy programs for people with disabilities.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
November 15, 2024
For a long time, I’ve been looking for an alien book that blends well with the movies, but stand on its own. And I finally found it with this book!
This book taste place shortly after the events of aliens three, it makes a fair amount of references to the events of that book and the characters in it, but it’s not reliant off of them. This is very much as one story with own characters. And understands this and that it’s not a book about xenomorph, even though they do play important part to the story.
We got a castle characters that are worth about the character work done with them is terrific. This book was written with a great understanding of the science and the workings of the Alan franchise. It took that understanding and it’s been upon it beautifully, introducing the new ideas that fit perfectly within the franchise and we get to meet the people behind the scenes that played a great rock ‘n’ roll in the synthetic lives, and we learned about their past present of future.
At the heart of every good story is good characters, and that is true here even with all the action sequences and xenomorph fun.
This book taste place shortly after the events of aliens three, it makes a fair amount of references to the events of that book and the characters in it, but it’s not reliant off of them. This is very much as one story with own characters. And understands this and that it’s not a book about xenomorph, even though they do play important part to the story.
We got a castle characters that are worth about the character work done with them is terrific. This book was written with a great understanding of the science and the workings of the Alan franchise. It took that understanding and it’s been upon it beautifully, introducing the new ideas that fit perfectly within the franchise and we get to meet the people behind the scenes that played a great rock ‘n’ roll in the synthetic lives, and we learned about their past present of future.
At the heart of every good story is good characters, and that is true here even with all the action sequences and xenomorph fun.
March 12, 2024
I must admit that I have always have enjoyed the movies in the Alien movie franchise they all have their own identity. I was somewhat charmed by the smallnes of Alien3 after the bombastic Aliens by Cameron. The Alien3 movie has had its reputation that the studio took it away from his director because they disagreed with Fincher his version. It still was a claustrofobic movie close to its original movie. This book is a direct sequel to Alien3 and works quite satisfactory for any fan of this franchise.
It starts with a platoon of Colonial Marines lead by a certain Appone hunting for the remains of the synth Bishop who after the events taken place in Alien3 is seeked by various parties simply for the knowledge in his brain.
It all starts rather pedestrian, then the creatures enter the story and the screaming starts.
Another tale of Xenomorphic terror and human betrayal against the backdrop of an expanding universe in which the Alien stories take place.
Well worth your reading time if you enjoyed Alien and its sequels.
It starts with a platoon of Colonial Marines lead by a certain Appone hunting for the remains of the synth Bishop who after the events taken place in Alien3 is seeked by various parties simply for the knowledge in his brain.
It all starts rather pedestrian, then the creatures enter the story and the screaming starts.
Another tale of Xenomorphic terror and human betrayal against the backdrop of an expanding universe in which the Alien stories take place.
Well worth your reading time if you enjoyed Alien and its sequels.
November 15, 2023
An Alien novel supposedly about what happened to the beat-up torso of everyone's favourite synthetic Bishop, right after all the happenings in Alien 3. I say supposedly because his story is one of three storylines that are interwoven and finally, of course, come together.
So we have one storyline about Kari, an Australian refugee in the Colonial Marines. The marines are on a mission to find Bishop and his creator, Michael Bishop. They've gone missing, and Weyland-Yutani doesn't like their assets going missing. Kari's commander is the younger brother of Aliens' sergeant Apone (the "Assholes and elbows!" guy).
There's a storyline of a group of Vietnamese people who have been captured by a Chinese ship, and are about to be introduced to a large set of xenomorph eggs.
And then there's Bishop himself, who has been given a new b0dy by his creator. Michael Bishop reaaaaally would like to get his hands on the xenomorph information Bishop the android has stored in his brain. For some reason Michael can't just crack Bishop's memory open and take it by force, Bishop has to unlock it. And he doesn't want to. This data could be used in many, many horrible ways. Oh, Michael tries his hardest to convince Bishop of all the truly super stuff he could do with that lovely data!
The book is split up in small chapters, regularly jumping from character to character, where every set of chapters is headed by the character whose POV we're now inhabiting. It's a bit clunky, but probably the easiest solution.
There's quite a lot of character work, more than I'm used to in an Alien novel, and it's very welcome. Getting to know your characters better before they get ripped apart is so much more effective.
As soon as the storylines start to converge the story starts to feel rushed. Endless battles in corridors ensue, and there's only so many ways you can describe tight spaceship corridors. Also good luck on keeping track of who is standing where and what's happening. I found the Colonial Marine parts of the story quite rote, bordering on the tedious.
I think I would've been more interested in a book solely focusing on Bishop and Michael Bishop - there is some good tension there. What does Michael want with the xeno data? Is he to be trusted? Why is he obsessed with immortality (coughPeterWeylandcough) and uploading his brain to a quantum computer..? Wait, did I forget to mention that..?
(Thanks to Titan Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
So we have one storyline about Kari, an Australian refugee in the Colonial Marines. The marines are on a mission to find Bishop and his creator, Michael Bishop. They've gone missing, and Weyland-Yutani doesn't like their assets going missing. Kari's commander is the younger brother of Aliens' sergeant Apone (the "Assholes and elbows!" guy).
There's a storyline of a group of Vietnamese people who have been captured by a Chinese ship, and are about to be introduced to a large set of xenomorph eggs.
And then there's Bishop himself, who has been given a new b0dy by his creator. Michael Bishop reaaaaally would like to get his hands on the xenomorph information Bishop the android has stored in his brain. For some reason Michael can't just crack Bishop's memory open and take it by force, Bishop has to unlock it. And he doesn't want to. This data could be used in many, many horrible ways. Oh, Michael tries his hardest to convince Bishop of all the truly super stuff he could do with that lovely data!
The book is split up in small chapters, regularly jumping from character to character, where every set of chapters is headed by the character whose POV we're now inhabiting. It's a bit clunky, but probably the easiest solution.
There's quite a lot of character work, more than I'm used to in an Alien novel, and it's very welcome. Getting to know your characters better before they get ripped apart is so much more effective.
As soon as the storylines start to converge the story starts to feel rushed. Endless battles in corridors ensue, and there's only so many ways you can describe tight spaceship corridors. Also good luck on keeping track of who is standing where and what's happening. I found the Colonial Marine parts of the story quite rote, bordering on the tedious.
I think I would've been more interested in a book solely focusing on Bishop and Michael Bishop - there is some good tension there. What does Michael want with the xeno data? Is he to be trusted? Why is he obsessed with immortality (coughPeterWeylandcough) and uploading his brain to a quantum computer..? Wait, did I forget to mention that..?
(Thanks to Titan Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
December 7, 2023
Bishop was destroyed by Ripley on Fury 161, but his memory is still intact. The Colonial Marines, Weyland-Yutani, and Bishop's designer are all fighting to retrieve his remains in order to gain control of the sum total of his memories of the Xenomorph.
Napper has written a fast paced and action packed novel in the 'Aliens' universe, but there is still space for everything to slow down and get some personal and philosophical questions about belonging, especially to one's chosen family.
Napper has written a fast paced and action packed novel in the 'Aliens' universe, but there is still space for everything to slow down and get some personal and philosophical questions about belonging, especially to one's chosen family.
August 25, 2024
4.5 Stars for Aliens: Bishop (audiobook) by T. R. Napper read by Alex Boyles and Shiromi Arserio.
It was great getting to jump back into the Alien universe. It was so interesting to see where Bishop came from and who designed him. And finding out that there’s more crazy people that want to experiment with Xenomorphs. Why won’t they leave the most dangerous creature in the universe alone. They’ll never learn.
It was great getting to jump back into the Alien universe. It was so interesting to see where Bishop came from and who designed him. And finding out that there’s more crazy people that want to experiment with Xenomorphs. Why won’t they leave the most dangerous creature in the universe alone. They’ll never learn.
December 4, 2023
The Aliens franchise has been a personal favourite of mine since a very irresponsible uncle let me watch the second film at no what must have been no more than five years old (I cant remember the exact age, only that it's one of the earliest films I can remember seeing). I came to the franchise through the second film, and as such it's become my favourite, and I love the cast of characters that surround Ripley throughout. One of those I always liked was Bishop, and knowing how the film ends up and how much of a good guy he is I always feel bad for him in the beginning when Ripley knows a plate out of his hands. He deserves some good.
Well, it seems like Aliens: Bishop is setting things right for him, at least a bit. Set after the events of Alien 3, which saw the artificial human broken and smashed beyond repair, the book follows a number of plot threads that work towards bringing Bishop home.
Not long after the events of the film, Bishop wakes up inside a lab, his mind installed into a new body thanks to his creator, Michael Bishop (who we also last saw in Alien 3). Bishops last memory is asking Ripley to shut him off, saying that he might be able to be repaired, but he'd never be perfect again. But it turns out when powerful people want what you know amazing things can happen. Instead of being fixed up Bishop is in a younger, stronger body. A fresh start. His 'father' tells him that he did this because he needs Bishop's help, that he needs the Xenomrph knowledge that he;s carrying inside him.
Whilst Bishop is reluctant to just give this knowledge over, Michael assures him that it's purely for medical research, and that he has no interest in using the aliens as a weapon the way others in Weyland-Yutani do. He's even left the company behind, having defected over to the Chinese superpowers. Bishop wants to believe his creator, and the two of them agree to work together, slowly unlocking the secrets of the Xenomorph whilst Bishop holds the cache of data hostage, waiting to trust Michael fully before giving it over.
Meanwhile, on a Colonial Marine cruiser, Marcel Apone, younger brother of Bishop's former commanding officer, is searching for the android. He wants to learn more about what happened to his brother and his unit, as well as learning all he can to help him destroy the Xenomorphs. New to his unit is Private Karri Lee, an Australian refugee who joined up to get her mother and brothers out of the camps and into a decent home. Having blackmailed herself into a passing grade, she's tested like never before when Apone's unit go after Bishop, forcing her to push herself further and harder than ever before.
There's also a sub-plot about the crew of a Vietnamese smuggling ship who get captured by the Chinese military and forced into a chamber where alien eggs are waiting for them, and the one member of the crew who manages to survive the experience. All three of these stories end up coming together in a violent, bloody finale.
The new Aliens books from Titan have been expanding the universe in fun and exciting ways, and bringing Bishop back into things feels like a great addition to this expanding and evolving new timeline that's being crafted. And for those who might be worried about a beloved Aliens character who died in Alien 3 being brought back to life in a new piece of media, don't be, this is a far step away from Aliens: Colonial Marines and their awful handling of a similar idea.
This is my first T.R. Napper novel, and I didn't know what to expect when I picked it up. I was, to be completely honest, a little worries about what might happen in the book. I liked Bishop and wanted him to be handled well. And Napper does do that. He manages to make Bishop feel new and interesting, having expanded his character in new directions, whilst also keeping him true to what we've seen of him before. Pretty much every line of dialogue he says in the book you can hear Lance Henriksen saying as he's managed to capture Bishops voice.
The other characters are all blank slates, and Napper has pretty free reign to do what he wants with them, and ends up creating an interesting cast. Karri Lee is my favourite of the new characters, and I loved learning more about her over the course of the book. Her backstory was engaging, and at times heartbreaking, and her reasons for doing what she does are very understandable ones. It's also great to see her evolving relationships with the other members of her unit. She's also one of the few queer characters I can think of in the Aliens universe, and if we see more of her in the future I'm hoping that this is something that gets expanded upon beyond a few mentions.
Some of the other characters, like Xuan go through a very rough time, and her experiences as a victim in the book are awful to read. There are times where you're expecting her horrific death to come at any moment, or where you're expecting her to end her own life. Despite this she manages to have a quiet strength to her that keeps pushing her to survive. She doesn't rail against the injustices being forced upon her, she doesn't have a big cathartic moment where she gets to rage against those that harmed her. Instead, she has a much more realistic journey, one where her pain and trauma are going to be following her for long after the book is done.
Other great characters include the arsehole smart-gunner who tries to make Karri's life hell, but ends up as a character you want to see live and whose relationship with Karri is worth seeing, and the Chinese officer being forced by her commanders to do terrible things but knows they're wrong, who ultimately tries to do the right thing. The book also features the return of another character who appeared in Alien 3, who ended up stealing most of the scenes they're in.
The reason I'm talking about the characters over say the horror, or action, of an Aliens book is that despite the book featuring lots of both of those, the majority of the book deals with characters. This is a character driven narrative, one where we spend time getting to know these people, watching them push themselves, evolving into better people. As a result, you care about them when the chaos and the killing begins, and you end up worried for them when the Xenomorphs show up. Not every Aliens book goes out of its way to do this, and this is precisely the reason why this one was so good to read.
Aliens: Bishop could have been a cheap cash-in on nostalgia, another attempt to bring back a beloved character and give the fans something sub-par in exchange for their time and money. But what we got is a great character study, and one of the most enjoyable Aliens books from Titan. I really hope to see more in the series from Napper, and I hope that we get more stories with this cast of characters.
Well, it seems like Aliens: Bishop is setting things right for him, at least a bit. Set after the events of Alien 3, which saw the artificial human broken and smashed beyond repair, the book follows a number of plot threads that work towards bringing Bishop home.
Not long after the events of the film, Bishop wakes up inside a lab, his mind installed into a new body thanks to his creator, Michael Bishop (who we also last saw in Alien 3). Bishops last memory is asking Ripley to shut him off, saying that he might be able to be repaired, but he'd never be perfect again. But it turns out when powerful people want what you know amazing things can happen. Instead of being fixed up Bishop is in a younger, stronger body. A fresh start. His 'father' tells him that he did this because he needs Bishop's help, that he needs the Xenomrph knowledge that he;s carrying inside him.
Whilst Bishop is reluctant to just give this knowledge over, Michael assures him that it's purely for medical research, and that he has no interest in using the aliens as a weapon the way others in Weyland-Yutani do. He's even left the company behind, having defected over to the Chinese superpowers. Bishop wants to believe his creator, and the two of them agree to work together, slowly unlocking the secrets of the Xenomorph whilst Bishop holds the cache of data hostage, waiting to trust Michael fully before giving it over.
Meanwhile, on a Colonial Marine cruiser, Marcel Apone, younger brother of Bishop's former commanding officer, is searching for the android. He wants to learn more about what happened to his brother and his unit, as well as learning all he can to help him destroy the Xenomorphs. New to his unit is Private Karri Lee, an Australian refugee who joined up to get her mother and brothers out of the camps and into a decent home. Having blackmailed herself into a passing grade, she's tested like never before when Apone's unit go after Bishop, forcing her to push herself further and harder than ever before.
There's also a sub-plot about the crew of a Vietnamese smuggling ship who get captured by the Chinese military and forced into a chamber where alien eggs are waiting for them, and the one member of the crew who manages to survive the experience. All three of these stories end up coming together in a violent, bloody finale.
The new Aliens books from Titan have been expanding the universe in fun and exciting ways, and bringing Bishop back into things feels like a great addition to this expanding and evolving new timeline that's being crafted. And for those who might be worried about a beloved Aliens character who died in Alien 3 being brought back to life in a new piece of media, don't be, this is a far step away from Aliens: Colonial Marines and their awful handling of a similar idea.
This is my first T.R. Napper novel, and I didn't know what to expect when I picked it up. I was, to be completely honest, a little worries about what might happen in the book. I liked Bishop and wanted him to be handled well. And Napper does do that. He manages to make Bishop feel new and interesting, having expanded his character in new directions, whilst also keeping him true to what we've seen of him before. Pretty much every line of dialogue he says in the book you can hear Lance Henriksen saying as he's managed to capture Bishops voice.
The other characters are all blank slates, and Napper has pretty free reign to do what he wants with them, and ends up creating an interesting cast. Karri Lee is my favourite of the new characters, and I loved learning more about her over the course of the book. Her backstory was engaging, and at times heartbreaking, and her reasons for doing what she does are very understandable ones. It's also great to see her evolving relationships with the other members of her unit. She's also one of the few queer characters I can think of in the Aliens universe, and if we see more of her in the future I'm hoping that this is something that gets expanded upon beyond a few mentions.
Some of the other characters, like Xuan go through a very rough time, and her experiences as a victim in the book are awful to read. There are times where you're expecting her horrific death to come at any moment, or where you're expecting her to end her own life. Despite this she manages to have a quiet strength to her that keeps pushing her to survive. She doesn't rail against the injustices being forced upon her, she doesn't have a big cathartic moment where she gets to rage against those that harmed her. Instead, she has a much more realistic journey, one where her pain and trauma are going to be following her for long after the book is done.
Other great characters include the arsehole smart-gunner who tries to make Karri's life hell, but ends up as a character you want to see live and whose relationship with Karri is worth seeing, and the Chinese officer being forced by her commanders to do terrible things but knows they're wrong, who ultimately tries to do the right thing. The book also features the return of another character who appeared in Alien 3, who ended up stealing most of the scenes they're in.
The reason I'm talking about the characters over say the horror, or action, of an Aliens book is that despite the book featuring lots of both of those, the majority of the book deals with characters. This is a character driven narrative, one where we spend time getting to know these people, watching them push themselves, evolving into better people. As a result, you care about them when the chaos and the killing begins, and you end up worried for them when the Xenomorphs show up. Not every Aliens book goes out of its way to do this, and this is precisely the reason why this one was so good to read.
Aliens: Bishop could have been a cheap cash-in on nostalgia, another attempt to bring back a beloved character and give the fans something sub-par in exchange for their time and money. But what we got is a great character study, and one of the most enjoyable Aliens books from Titan. I really hope to see more in the series from Napper, and I hope that we get more stories with this cast of characters.
December 16, 2023
If you’re an Aliens fan, you have to read this one!!!
July 23, 2024
Aliens: Bishop
By T.R. Napper
I really enjoy the Alien series, movies, or books. This book comes after the third Alien movie. It has some Marines in it that Bishop apparently worked with before, and some of them were fond of him.
He is trapped on a ship with a crazy man and aliens. The Marines come to the rescue!☺️
By T.R. Napper
I really enjoy the Alien series, movies, or books. This book comes after the third Alien movie. It has some Marines in it that Bishop apparently worked with before, and some of them were fond of him.
He is trapped on a ship with a crazy man and aliens. The Marines come to the rescue!☺️
January 11, 2024
One of the best novels from the aliens universe. An excellent sequel to alien 3.
April 14, 2024
A+ Continuation from Alien 3.
This is the direction I prefer to the ressurection stage that we were originally offered.
I am going to go back and reread the entire series.
Thick with action, marine comedy gold, and plenty of Xenomorph activity this novel by T.R. Napper sits in a perfect alignment with the first 3 books.
I'm not going to lie: it was so good to see Bishop again, even if he is just a copy of a copy of a copy, it is still Bishop at the heart of it all.
Shame about Michael, though...
Will possibly update my review after I have reread the first three and then: Bishop.
This is the direction I prefer to the ressurection stage that we were originally offered.
I am going to go back and reread the entire series.
Thick with action, marine comedy gold, and plenty of Xenomorph activity this novel by T.R. Napper sits in a perfect alignment with the first 3 books.
I'm not going to lie: it was so good to see Bishop again, even if he is just a copy of a copy of a copy, it is still Bishop at the heart of it all.
Shame about Michael, though...
Will possibly update my review after I have reread the first three and then: Bishop.
December 24, 2023
Received an ARC from Titan Books:
4.5 Rounded down
This was a really really outstanding book, with some true depth to its characters. Much better than I was expecting.
The horror elements of Alien were executed outstandingly, with some truly unique in depth explorations of how Synthetics work in the Alien universe.
My only critique and it is minor but the UPP in concept are very dated Soviet Union analogs and the more modern relatable elements of the book clash a bit with their Retro Futurism ascetic.
Upon a re-read my opinions may have changed as this book reads EXTREMELY well and has some outstanding action bits, it will certainly be read again in the future.
4.5 Rounded down
This was a really really outstanding book, with some true depth to its characters. Much better than I was expecting.
The horror elements of Alien were executed outstandingly, with some truly unique in depth explorations of how Synthetics work in the Alien universe.
My only critique and it is minor but the UPP in concept are very dated Soviet Union analogs and the more modern relatable elements of the book clash a bit with their Retro Futurism ascetic.
Upon a re-read my opinions may have changed as this book reads EXTREMELY well and has some outstanding action bits, it will certainly be read again in the future.
November 22, 2023
Title: Aliens: Bishop
Authors: T. R. Napper
Publisher: Titan Books, 20th Century Studios
Release Date: December 5, 2023 (USA / CA) / December 12 2023 (UK)
Price: Hardback only– US $24.95 / CA $33.95 / UK £15.09
The following review contains mild spoilers.
For those who grew up with the Alien films, the iconic science-fiction and horror franchise represents the pain of a promise squandered, the sting of Icarus flying too close to the sun. The first two films each left an indelible mark on cinema. Ridley Scott’s Alien practically wrote the book on claustrophobic horror, withholding sight of the monster for most of the film and allowing the terror to build. James Cameron took a bold risk shifting the genre of the second installment to action; while some lamented the shift from unkillable beast to bug infestation, the film won over critics and audiences while defining the genre for the next forty years. From the Halo video games series to James Cameron’s reimagination in Avatar, Colonial Marines have dominated the storytelling landscape.
Following up these two masterpieces was always going to be difficult, but the third film suffered terribly under the shifting leadership decisions at 20th Century Studios. Despite near constant interference from the powers that be, director David Fincher did manage to craft a fitting, albeit dark conclusion to the trilogy, exploring the bleakness of hyper-capitalism and human cruelty. The film has aged well and has looked better with the passage of time, particularly with the Assembly Cut.
Alien: Resurrection however was a disaster. The studio insisted on bringing Ripley back; and while Sigourney Weaver turned in another masterful performance, the decision eroded the power of Ripley’s sacrifice at the end of Alien 3. Add to that the bizarre Newborn Alien, and many fans would rather the film was never made; indeed most pretend it wasn’t.
For years, hardcore Alien fans have wondered if the magic could be recaptured, if the franchise might be saved by going back and building off of the original trilogy or even pretending the third film never happened. Thankfully, T. R. Napper has given fans the best of both worlds in his soon-to-be released Aliens: Bishop. The novel brings together the best of the original trilogy and integrates it beautifully into the new storytelling universe brought together by Titan Books.
Plot Synopsis
In a true continuation to the story of the Alien film trilogy, Aliens: Bishop begins in the days following the events on Fiorina 161, the prison planet where Ellen Ripley died killing the last-known Xenomorph specimen and where Weyland-Yutani recovered the remains of synthetic Lance Bishop, whose “death” locked away priceless research on the Xenomorph XX121 species.
While Ripley was lost, the terrifying creatures she fought were not. The company had always known more specimens existed; and the knowledge possessed by Bishop is now priceless, a surefire competitive advantage for unlocking the potential of the Xenomorph biology and its technological applications.
But the Weyland-Yutani Corporation isn’t the only one seeking Bishop’s remains; a contingent of Colonial Marines has located the USCSS Patna, the Conestoga-class troop transport ship, owned by Wey-Yu and converted to a medical frigate. Colonial Marines Captain Marcel Apone, brother of the fallen Master Sergeant Alexander Apone, arrives at the USCSS Patna via the USS Il Conde as the novel begins. For Apone, finding and reactivating Bishop is the only chance at discovering what really happened to his brother and exacting revenge; beyond that, Lance Bishop served the Colonial Marines–for Apone, that means leaving him behind is not acceptable.
Xenomorphs Stalk the Pages of this Well-Paced Drama
From the opening pages of the novel, Aliens: Bishop reunites readers with the beloved world they left behind in the 80s: fans are caught up once more in a “chicken-shit outfit,” guided by the firm hand of Apone. The instant nostalgia is an effective hook for the story while characters are established and set pieces are placed. Readers don’t have to wait too long for the action to begin however as the marines are soon riding “an express elevator to hell.”
From there, the novel is structured around three distinct storylines that intertwine to create razor-sharp tension: Colonial Marines, the Union of Progressive Peoples, and the Bishops. Indeed, within each of these groupings are rather compelling subplots that give a depth to the story and deliver to the reader a sense that very real lives hang in the balance.
The introduction of the Xenomorph in the novel is one of my favorites in recent memory. I won’t give away major spoilers here, but by including more nations and interested parties than the original films did, we get a fresh experience. This isn’t your typical “marines stumble into a hive” moment. The terror that these characters feel as they suffer shock from what’s happening and struggle to survive is damn compelling. Napper also utilizes fresh language to describe the various phases of XX121, much in the same manner that Scott Sigler did in Aliens: Phalanx when he referred to them as demons. These altered lexicons deepen the mystique of the Perfect Organism and add to its mythos.
Napper also works to develop empathy in readers for his characters far before they play cat and mouse with the Xenomorph; as such, there is an intense longing for these characters to survive these encounters, beyond just the typical “rooting” for the humans win. Character such as Private Karri Lee, who joined the Colonial Marines to win housing for her refugee-camp-bound family; Xuan Nguyen, a Vietnamese smuggler betrayed by her comrades, a victim of both racism and classism that have rendered her little more than livestock in the eyes of powerful nation states; these characters are easy to root for, and we feel their pain radiate from the novel’s pages.
While the Xenomorphs may not lurk on every page of this story, their presence is always felt. In this sense, Napper accomplishes the art of horror and tension mastered by Ridley Scott in Alien. Napper, like many of the newest contributors to the Alien storytelling universe, does an excellent job of balancing the power of soldiers and the terrifying nature of the creatures. Badass marines let their pulse rifles do the talking, but even then, the Xenos are resilient and damn hard to kill. A blown off limb or fractured piece of chitinous armor won’t stop their relentless charge. I’ve come to really appreciate writers who can balance these forces in the Alien novels, and T. R. Napper does this well.
"The beast was black, and monstrous, and had no eyes. No eyes, by the heavens, no eyes, and below the place its eyes should be, a demon maw filled with razor-sharp teeth, dripping, drooling, seeking." --Aliens: Bishop, T. R. Napper
The novel is officially divided into three acts. While the first focuses on world building, the desire to reunite with characters from the films and explore familiar places carries the story in a way that never feels slow or monotonous. By the time the second and third acts get going, readers will feel like they don’t know which story arc they want to read most–a mark of a true page-turner. I found myself yelling at the end of chapters only to remember how much I wanted a resolution to the next character’s chapter.
Synth, Interrupted
Questioning the nature of life and whether artificial persons deserve the rights and respect of “real people” aren’t new ideas in science-fiction; but T.R. Napper’s Aliens: Bishop goes far beyond these philosophical quandaries in ways that are deeply satisfying and feel like the next evolution of the discussion.
Lance Bishop isn’t just a synthetic person. He’s a synthetic suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"Bishop closed his eyes, involuntarily, for a moment. In that blink he saw friends terrified, confused, wounded from acid burns. He saw a moon colony, its infrastructure disintegrating under an imminent nuclear explosion. He saw a black curved blade connected to the tail of the Xenomorph Queen, sticking out of his chest. Felt it. He put his hand where it had pierced him." --Aliens: Bishop, T. R. Napper
Fear that stays with us; the sense that we’ve failed some crucial task and try as we might, cannot fix what’s broken, cannot save those we’ve lost; these are the experiences that mark our humanity, the legacy of primates standing upon the edge of the evolutionary knife. That Bishop feels these pains too makes him one with humanity and marks the next step in our evolution. Some indescribable essence has been passed from organic life to synthetic. It is ironic then that Michael Bishop seeks this very accomplishment as he pursues immortality even as his greatest accomplishment sits unappreciated in front of him in Lance Bishop.
These lines cross in all kinds of interesting ways in the novel. Michael becomes less human as he seeks to upload his consciousness into the cloud while Lance draws near to the essence of humanity as he faces his own trauma. It is in his willingness to grapple with the deaths of his friends on LV-426 and Fiorina 161 that he achieves the best of our own humanity.
An Expanded Universe Befitting an Era
If Alien was truckers in space and Aliens an allegory for Vietnam, Aliens: Bishop is a beautiful and fitting amalgamation of late cold-war politics and twenty-first century cynicism. Napper both captures the natural progression of the narrative told in the original trilogy while integrating the fears and new threats of the 2020s, a world bursting with international tensions alongside the nearly limitless application of artificial intelligence–a world where everything must be questioned: our loyalties, our politics, our definition of life itself.
I had a chance to chat with T. R. Napper about his novel and the expanded universe of the story. He noted that the geopolitical aspects mattered to him as much as the philosophical questions about life and human nature.
“I think it’s fair to say I wanted to give readers what they would expect, in terms of Bishop (and what it means to be human) and the terror of the Xenomorphs,” Napper explained. “But also explore corners of the universe they were unfamiliar with, such as China, Vietnam, Australia, the Australia Wars, the Dog Wars.”
Prior to his career as a writer, T.R. Napper served as a diplomat and aid coordinator, securing humanitarian assistance in Southeast Asia for a decade. He even received a commendation from the government of Laos for his work. These experiences give his storytelling a mark of authenticity in Aliens: Bishop; the collisions between the Chinese and Vietnamese, Eastern and Western nations, and the people who guarded refugee camps and those who fought to survive. These add depth to the novel’s overlapping conflicts. The narrative tension succeeds at each level from the desperation to survive the Xenomorph to the indictment of twenty-first century global politics.
Perhaps most poignant is Napper’s critique that we consider the possible rights of artificial intelligence and synthetics while ignoring the rights of marginalized human populations. As humanity barrels forward into the twenty-first century, Napper’s concerns seem not only relevant, but prescient.
Final Score
It gives me a strange mixture of anguish and joy to reflect on T. R. Napper’s novel. If I could journey back in time and give this book to my younger self, the one who waited decades for this epic to continue, I know there would be elation. But it is also true that the lost years for this franchise cultivated an ownership in the Alien community that might not otherwise exist.
To persist as a fan during the brutal years following Alien: Resurrection, one had to live in their own imagination, to take sustenance from rewatching the original trilogy or from pouring over the Dark Horse comics and wondering what could have been, what still might be. Those decades of yearning made Aliens: Bishop hit home in a way that’s special. This is the story I’d been waiting for, the continuation all of us in the community deserved. And some part of me, a large part if I’m being honest, hopes that the powers that be will consider adapting it into a proper film. So thank you T.R. Napper–not bad for a human.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
David Lasby is the Editor-in-Chief for Boss Rush Network. His favorite video games are The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and the Aliens franchise. You can find him on Twitter to talk all things Nintendo, sci-fi / fantasy, and creative writing.
Authors: T. R. Napper
Publisher: Titan Books, 20th Century Studios
Release Date: December 5, 2023 (USA / CA) / December 12 2023 (UK)
Price: Hardback only– US $24.95 / CA $33.95 / UK £15.09
The following review contains mild spoilers.
For those who grew up with the Alien films, the iconic science-fiction and horror franchise represents the pain of a promise squandered, the sting of Icarus flying too close to the sun. The first two films each left an indelible mark on cinema. Ridley Scott’s Alien practically wrote the book on claustrophobic horror, withholding sight of the monster for most of the film and allowing the terror to build. James Cameron took a bold risk shifting the genre of the second installment to action; while some lamented the shift from unkillable beast to bug infestation, the film won over critics and audiences while defining the genre for the next forty years. From the Halo video games series to James Cameron’s reimagination in Avatar, Colonial Marines have dominated the storytelling landscape.
Following up these two masterpieces was always going to be difficult, but the third film suffered terribly under the shifting leadership decisions at 20th Century Studios. Despite near constant interference from the powers that be, director David Fincher did manage to craft a fitting, albeit dark conclusion to the trilogy, exploring the bleakness of hyper-capitalism and human cruelty. The film has aged well and has looked better with the passage of time, particularly with the Assembly Cut.
Alien: Resurrection however was a disaster. The studio insisted on bringing Ripley back; and while Sigourney Weaver turned in another masterful performance, the decision eroded the power of Ripley’s sacrifice at the end of Alien 3. Add to that the bizarre Newborn Alien, and many fans would rather the film was never made; indeed most pretend it wasn’t.
For years, hardcore Alien fans have wondered if the magic could be recaptured, if the franchise might be saved by going back and building off of the original trilogy or even pretending the third film never happened. Thankfully, T. R. Napper has given fans the best of both worlds in his soon-to-be released Aliens: Bishop. The novel brings together the best of the original trilogy and integrates it beautifully into the new storytelling universe brought together by Titan Books.
Plot Synopsis
In a true continuation to the story of the Alien film trilogy, Aliens: Bishop begins in the days following the events on Fiorina 161, the prison planet where Ellen Ripley died killing the last-known Xenomorph specimen and where Weyland-Yutani recovered the remains of synthetic Lance Bishop, whose “death” locked away priceless research on the Xenomorph XX121 species.
While Ripley was lost, the terrifying creatures she fought were not. The company had always known more specimens existed; and the knowledge possessed by Bishop is now priceless, a surefire competitive advantage for unlocking the potential of the Xenomorph biology and its technological applications.
But the Weyland-Yutani Corporation isn’t the only one seeking Bishop’s remains; a contingent of Colonial Marines has located the USCSS Patna, the Conestoga-class troop transport ship, owned by Wey-Yu and converted to a medical frigate. Colonial Marines Captain Marcel Apone, brother of the fallen Master Sergeant Alexander Apone, arrives at the USCSS Patna via the USS Il Conde as the novel begins. For Apone, finding and reactivating Bishop is the only chance at discovering what really happened to his brother and exacting revenge; beyond that, Lance Bishop served the Colonial Marines–for Apone, that means leaving him behind is not acceptable.
Xenomorphs Stalk the Pages of this Well-Paced Drama
From the opening pages of the novel, Aliens: Bishop reunites readers with the beloved world they left behind in the 80s: fans are caught up once more in a “chicken-shit outfit,” guided by the firm hand of Apone. The instant nostalgia is an effective hook for the story while characters are established and set pieces are placed. Readers don’t have to wait too long for the action to begin however as the marines are soon riding “an express elevator to hell.”
From there, the novel is structured around three distinct storylines that intertwine to create razor-sharp tension: Colonial Marines, the Union of Progressive Peoples, and the Bishops. Indeed, within each of these groupings are rather compelling subplots that give a depth to the story and deliver to the reader a sense that very real lives hang in the balance.
The introduction of the Xenomorph in the novel is one of my favorites in recent memory. I won’t give away major spoilers here, but by including more nations and interested parties than the original films did, we get a fresh experience. This isn’t your typical “marines stumble into a hive” moment. The terror that these characters feel as they suffer shock from what’s happening and struggle to survive is damn compelling. Napper also utilizes fresh language to describe the various phases of XX121, much in the same manner that Scott Sigler did in Aliens: Phalanx when he referred to them as demons. These altered lexicons deepen the mystique of the Perfect Organism and add to its mythos.
Napper also works to develop empathy in readers for his characters far before they play cat and mouse with the Xenomorph; as such, there is an intense longing for these characters to survive these encounters, beyond just the typical “rooting” for the humans win. Character such as Private Karri Lee, who joined the Colonial Marines to win housing for her refugee-camp-bound family; Xuan Nguyen, a Vietnamese smuggler betrayed by her comrades, a victim of both racism and classism that have rendered her little more than livestock in the eyes of powerful nation states; these characters are easy to root for, and we feel their pain radiate from the novel’s pages.
While the Xenomorphs may not lurk on every page of this story, their presence is always felt. In this sense, Napper accomplishes the art of horror and tension mastered by Ridley Scott in Alien. Napper, like many of the newest contributors to the Alien storytelling universe, does an excellent job of balancing the power of soldiers and the terrifying nature of the creatures. Badass marines let their pulse rifles do the talking, but even then, the Xenos are resilient and damn hard to kill. A blown off limb or fractured piece of chitinous armor won’t stop their relentless charge. I’ve come to really appreciate writers who can balance these forces in the Alien novels, and T. R. Napper does this well.
"The beast was black, and monstrous, and had no eyes. No eyes, by the heavens, no eyes, and below the place its eyes should be, a demon maw filled with razor-sharp teeth, dripping, drooling, seeking." --Aliens: Bishop, T. R. Napper
The novel is officially divided into three acts. While the first focuses on world building, the desire to reunite with characters from the films and explore familiar places carries the story in a way that never feels slow or monotonous. By the time the second and third acts get going, readers will feel like they don’t know which story arc they want to read most–a mark of a true page-turner. I found myself yelling at the end of chapters only to remember how much I wanted a resolution to the next character’s chapter.
Synth, Interrupted
Questioning the nature of life and whether artificial persons deserve the rights and respect of “real people” aren’t new ideas in science-fiction; but T.R. Napper’s Aliens: Bishop goes far beyond these philosophical quandaries in ways that are deeply satisfying and feel like the next evolution of the discussion.
Lance Bishop isn’t just a synthetic person. He’s a synthetic suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"Bishop closed his eyes, involuntarily, for a moment. In that blink he saw friends terrified, confused, wounded from acid burns. He saw a moon colony, its infrastructure disintegrating under an imminent nuclear explosion. He saw a black curved blade connected to the tail of the Xenomorph Queen, sticking out of his chest. Felt it. He put his hand where it had pierced him." --Aliens: Bishop, T. R. Napper
Fear that stays with us; the sense that we’ve failed some crucial task and try as we might, cannot fix what’s broken, cannot save those we’ve lost; these are the experiences that mark our humanity, the legacy of primates standing upon the edge of the evolutionary knife. That Bishop feels these pains too makes him one with humanity and marks the next step in our evolution. Some indescribable essence has been passed from organic life to synthetic. It is ironic then that Michael Bishop seeks this very accomplishment as he pursues immortality even as his greatest accomplishment sits unappreciated in front of him in Lance Bishop.
These lines cross in all kinds of interesting ways in the novel. Michael becomes less human as he seeks to upload his consciousness into the cloud while Lance draws near to the essence of humanity as he faces his own trauma. It is in his willingness to grapple with the deaths of his friends on LV-426 and Fiorina 161 that he achieves the best of our own humanity.
An Expanded Universe Befitting an Era
If Alien was truckers in space and Aliens an allegory for Vietnam, Aliens: Bishop is a beautiful and fitting amalgamation of late cold-war politics and twenty-first century cynicism. Napper both captures the natural progression of the narrative told in the original trilogy while integrating the fears and new threats of the 2020s, a world bursting with international tensions alongside the nearly limitless application of artificial intelligence–a world where everything must be questioned: our loyalties, our politics, our definition of life itself.
I had a chance to chat with T. R. Napper about his novel and the expanded universe of the story. He noted that the geopolitical aspects mattered to him as much as the philosophical questions about life and human nature.
“I think it’s fair to say I wanted to give readers what they would expect, in terms of Bishop (and what it means to be human) and the terror of the Xenomorphs,” Napper explained. “But also explore corners of the universe they were unfamiliar with, such as China, Vietnam, Australia, the Australia Wars, the Dog Wars.”
Prior to his career as a writer, T.R. Napper served as a diplomat and aid coordinator, securing humanitarian assistance in Southeast Asia for a decade. He even received a commendation from the government of Laos for his work. These experiences give his storytelling a mark of authenticity in Aliens: Bishop; the collisions between the Chinese and Vietnamese, Eastern and Western nations, and the people who guarded refugee camps and those who fought to survive. These add depth to the novel’s overlapping conflicts. The narrative tension succeeds at each level from the desperation to survive the Xenomorph to the indictment of twenty-first century global politics.
Perhaps most poignant is Napper’s critique that we consider the possible rights of artificial intelligence and synthetics while ignoring the rights of marginalized human populations. As humanity barrels forward into the twenty-first century, Napper’s concerns seem not only relevant, but prescient.
Final Score
It gives me a strange mixture of anguish and joy to reflect on T. R. Napper’s novel. If I could journey back in time and give this book to my younger self, the one who waited decades for this epic to continue, I know there would be elation. But it is also true that the lost years for this franchise cultivated an ownership in the Alien community that might not otherwise exist.
To persist as a fan during the brutal years following Alien: Resurrection, one had to live in their own imagination, to take sustenance from rewatching the original trilogy or from pouring over the Dark Horse comics and wondering what could have been, what still might be. Those decades of yearning made Aliens: Bishop hit home in a way that’s special. This is the story I’d been waiting for, the continuation all of us in the community deserved. And some part of me, a large part if I’m being honest, hopes that the powers that be will consider adapting it into a proper film. So thank you T.R. Napper–not bad for a human.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
David Lasby is the Editor-in-Chief for Boss Rush Network. His favorite video games are The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and the Aliens franchise. You can find him on Twitter to talk all things Nintendo, sci-fi / fantasy, and creative writing.
December 5, 2023
The Alien Franchise (tied with the Predator one) is probably one of my favourites out there. I love Xenomorphs and have enjoyed several of the books set in the universe. I also love the synthetics/androids in the franchise and finally I adored Napper’s 36 Streets that I read last year. So it’s safe to say when the chance came to read an ARC of Aliens Bishop I was more than a little excited and that excitement was not misplaced.
For me the writing was perfect. I was instantly immersed in the world of Alien and I loved every minute. It was interesting to see a different side to Bishop, or at least to see how those around them wanted to use the knowledge of the Xenomorphs and for what reasons. Tied to the writing is the way Napper brings Bishop to life, figuratively and literally (since he is given a new body). I found Napper kept the synthetic true to his characters from the films (not an easy feat sometimes) but did give him a bit of freedom and further developed his character as well. I also loved the new characters as well that are fleshed out and enjoyable, I particularly loved Karri. While there a lot of a new characters the few, including Bishop that are ’canon’ in the sense they are connected and developed in the franchise already are true to their existing character as well.
The other thing I liked about this novel is while it has action and horror, what else would you expect from an Aliens novel, Napper focuses on the characters. On what they go through, how they interact and react. Now that isn’t to say there’s no action, or it’s some psychological study of the characters but I often find in horror particularly that the characters suffer, both figuratively and literally again, and the focus is on the horror, gore or action. For me that can sometimes disconnect me from the story. Why do I care if someone gets captured, or killed or anything for that matter if the characters have no personality? If I haven’t been given enough to bond or at least like or dislike them (looking at Cortazar there) how am I meant to be invested if they manage to live or die? Well Napper does make sure you care about the characters and he does it well.
In short if you love the Aliens franchise you will enjoy this novel, or if you are looking for a good sci-fi horror and not really into the franchise that much you still might enjoy it. I know I did!
For me the writing was perfect. I was instantly immersed in the world of Alien and I loved every minute. It was interesting to see a different side to Bishop, or at least to see how those around them wanted to use the knowledge of the Xenomorphs and for what reasons. Tied to the writing is the way Napper brings Bishop to life, figuratively and literally (since he is given a new body). I found Napper kept the synthetic true to his characters from the films (not an easy feat sometimes) but did give him a bit of freedom and further developed his character as well. I also loved the new characters as well that are fleshed out and enjoyable, I particularly loved Karri. While there a lot of a new characters the few, including Bishop that are ’canon’ in the sense they are connected and developed in the franchise already are true to their existing character as well.
The other thing I liked about this novel is while it has action and horror, what else would you expect from an Aliens novel, Napper focuses on the characters. On what they go through, how they interact and react. Now that isn’t to say there’s no action, or it’s some psychological study of the characters but I often find in horror particularly that the characters suffer, both figuratively and literally again, and the focus is on the horror, gore or action. For me that can sometimes disconnect me from the story. Why do I care if someone gets captured, or killed or anything for that matter if the characters have no personality? If I haven’t been given enough to bond or at least like or dislike them (looking at Cortazar there) how am I meant to be invested if they manage to live or die? Well Napper does make sure you care about the characters and he does it well.
In short if you love the Aliens franchise you will enjoy this novel, or if you are looking for a good sci-fi horror and not really into the franchise that much you still might enjoy it. I know I did!
January 1, 2024
As a big fan of the expanded Aliens franchise, this is one of my favourite books in the series. With a good amount of character work and background information adding to the larger setting, I thought this was a great jumping on point for the wider universe - assuming you’ve seen the film version of Aliens of course…
January 30, 2024
Aliens: Bishop is a new (seemingly-canon) entry into the Aliens universe, following on from the events of Alien3 with a platoon of Colonial Marines sent out to retrieve the remains of the Bishop android that his creator, Michael Bishop, has absconded with. Michael is keen to extract the memories and intel from his "son" to help understand the xenomorph, getting first-hand insight into its manoeuvring and life cycle.
The plot unfolds from numerous points of view in order to give a complete overview - predominantly Karri Lee, a young inexperienced marine who is driven by a need to serve in order to get a better life for her refugee family on Earth. Lee is a good new addition to the list of strong female lead characters in the Alien universe, albeit with some conflicting moments of behaviour (the same mousey girl who is pushed around by her new crewmates is the same one that has blackmailed superior officers in the past).
Another addition is the younger brother of Apone from Aliens, who is a carbon copy of the well-known commanding officer.
We also see some events from the view of a Vietnamese ship crew who are boarded and taken hostage by a Chinese ship and used as fodder to harvest some xenomorphs from a batch of alien "eggs".
The marines lead a mission to reclaim Bishop, who is reluctant to release his memories out of respect to his former crew and also to protect the secrets from corrupt corporate hands. We never really find out why they are so keen to get him back - he has no value and as Michael Bishop already has a batch of eggs, there is no real need to preserve the secrets of the xenomorphs.
I felt the action sequences quite poorly narrated and was never truly able to picture what was happen - these scenes either have to be intimately and carefully detailed or they have to be described like someone is watching it - just glimpses of bits and pieces (which would better suit the PoV nature of the book). We somehow fall between the two and I struggled to see how things had unfolded (two examples stick in my mind are the scene where the Vietnamese crew are sealed inside a vault, and one crew member somehow loses a foot and a Chinese soldier is chopped in half - I could not picture what arrangement of bodies would lead to those things happening - and when Apone leads a boarding mission on the Chinese ship - again I couldn't picture the angle of attack and how they moved from there into the ship. Given Alien stories hinge on the suspense and horror, giving the reader an immersive experience is the key to success and I found myself really struggling to be immersed even after rereading passages.
The author has picked up some really bad habits around the use of short sentences. While these can indeed give the reader a sense of excitement, they still have to be sentences, not just half a sentence blurted out weirdly.
If not for the sequences around Bishop and his exploration of where he belongs and his loyalties, this would be nothing more than mediocre fan-fiction, but the use of Bishop really made this feel like an Alien story. However, I much prefer the Stephen Perry books of the 90s, which were sadly rendered non-canon when Alien3 came along and blew away the main characters. Most of the marines are carbon copies of those from the Aliens films and which have been stereotyped to death.
A good re-edit and this book would be right up there with some of the other non-film entries to the universe (and at least this one doesn't use Ripley and have to clumsily wipe her memory to preserve the canon). it certainly points to more to come, i just wonder if the author has overstepped in introducing world governments/authorities to the universe.
The plot unfolds from numerous points of view in order to give a complete overview - predominantly Karri Lee, a young inexperienced marine who is driven by a need to serve in order to get a better life for her refugee family on Earth. Lee is a good new addition to the list of strong female lead characters in the Alien universe, albeit with some conflicting moments of behaviour (the same mousey girl who is pushed around by her new crewmates is the same one that has blackmailed superior officers in the past).
Another addition is the younger brother of Apone from Aliens, who is a carbon copy of the well-known commanding officer.
We also see some events from the view of a Vietnamese ship crew who are boarded and taken hostage by a Chinese ship and used as fodder to harvest some xenomorphs from a batch of alien "eggs".
The marines lead a mission to reclaim Bishop, who is reluctant to release his memories out of respect to his former crew and also to protect the secrets from corrupt corporate hands. We never really find out why they are so keen to get him back - he has no value and as Michael Bishop already has a batch of eggs, there is no real need to preserve the secrets of the xenomorphs.
I felt the action sequences quite poorly narrated and was never truly able to picture what was happen - these scenes either have to be intimately and carefully detailed or they have to be described like someone is watching it - just glimpses of bits and pieces (which would better suit the PoV nature of the book). We somehow fall between the two and I struggled to see how things had unfolded (two examples stick in my mind are the scene where the Vietnamese crew are sealed inside a vault, and one crew member somehow loses a foot and a Chinese soldier is chopped in half - I could not picture what arrangement of bodies would lead to those things happening - and when Apone leads a boarding mission on the Chinese ship - again I couldn't picture the angle of attack and how they moved from there into the ship. Given Alien stories hinge on the suspense and horror, giving the reader an immersive experience is the key to success and I found myself really struggling to be immersed even after rereading passages.
The author has picked up some really bad habits around the use of short sentences. While these can indeed give the reader a sense of excitement, they still have to be sentences, not just half a sentence blurted out weirdly.
If not for the sequences around Bishop and his exploration of where he belongs and his loyalties, this would be nothing more than mediocre fan-fiction, but the use of Bishop really made this feel like an Alien story. However, I much prefer the Stephen Perry books of the 90s, which were sadly rendered non-canon when Alien3 came along and blew away the main characters. Most of the marines are carbon copies of those from the Aliens films and which have been stereotyped to death.
A good re-edit and this book would be right up there with some of the other non-film entries to the universe (and at least this one doesn't use Ripley and have to clumsily wipe her memory to preserve the canon). it certainly points to more to come, i just wonder if the author has overstepped in introducing world governments/authorities to the universe.
December 7, 2023
This was fun! Unlike previous novels, this author doesn't disrespect the previous work by diminishing the characters that were created before. It's modern, it will have LGBTQ representation, but also military leadership males and silly ones with humor just the way I like it to make it balance it all. Two words for you: SPACE BEAST" ahahah this character was so much fun.
I love a big cast, the audiobook has multiple narrators. We're given some nostalgic (reminiscent) scenes that aren't just copies of what was done before but put us in the same mind space as when we watched the original movies... and lots of action that we can still enjoy in the video games as well. I have many favorite characters, I'm always excited when the voice changes and we're in the head of another, they all have their personal goals and Bishop is just awesome. The author is good at balancing the action scenes, but also the human vs human and human vs alien scenes.
The audiobook was easy to listen to and fun. Looking forward to more from this author.
What do I like? (Star Trek: Data, the original Aliens, Avatar, military sci-fi, Star Wars: Badbatch, Game: Aliens Fireteam Elite)
Audiobook with Libro.Fm
I love a big cast, the audiobook has multiple narrators. We're given some nostalgic (reminiscent) scenes that aren't just copies of what was done before but put us in the same mind space as when we watched the original movies... and lots of action that we can still enjoy in the video games as well. I have many favorite characters, I'm always excited when the voice changes and we're in the head of another, they all have their personal goals and Bishop is just awesome. The author is good at balancing the action scenes, but also the human vs human and human vs alien scenes.
The audiobook was easy to listen to and fun. Looking forward to more from this author.
What do I like? (Star Trek: Data, the original Aliens, Avatar, military sci-fi, Star Wars: Badbatch, Game: Aliens Fireteam Elite)
Audiobook with Libro.Fm
November 22, 2023
A very enjoyable return to the Aliens universe. This time it's Bishop who has his turn in the light and for the most part, this is great fun to read. The plot isn't Shakespeare, but I don't think you need that.
Essentially, discovery, intrigue, containment, betrayal and escape.
All that said, it's a lot of fun to read and there are some really interesting characters to discover and it's always interesting to read how the same story is told again. Very entertaining and I'm grateful for the publisher in sharing this with me.
Essentially, discovery, intrigue, containment, betrayal and escape.
All that said, it's a lot of fun to read and there are some really interesting characters to discover and it's always interesting to read how the same story is told again. Very entertaining and I'm grateful for the publisher in sharing this with me.
December 27, 2023
This is terrible. What am i reading? Spec-op teams doing bunch of domestic operations, chapter after chapter. 5 chapters in a row? Daughter and her ill father. Again, how many chapters now? This is not Alien! DNF at 36%.
April 4, 2024
This was a lot of fun. Plenty of action and, most importantly, plenty of facehuggers.
Perfect for fans of the Alien franchise. Quite a convoluted plot but I didn't mind the constant jumps from one POV to another.
Perfect for fans of the Alien franchise. Quite a convoluted plot but I didn't mind the constant jumps from one POV to another.
January 3, 2025
As I continue to dip my toe into Alien spinoff books now, “Aliens: Bishop” was one of the few books that caught my eye. “Aliens” is one of my favorite movies and one part of it I really liked was Lance Henrikson’s “Artificial Person” character Bishop. Like a lot of things though, “Alien 3” dropped the ball with Bishop. So a follow-up on both Aliens and Alien 3 that continues Bishop’s story had some appeal.
It takes a while for Bishop the book to actually get to Bishop-ing, the first act is entirely about Colonial Marines looking for him. That’s fine, I do love me some Colonial Marine action. When it does get to Bishop, that’s when the book really took off for me. I’ve been saying for a while now one of the best parts of the Alien franchise is the "Artificial Person" characters and the exploration of themes related to AI and synthetic humans like Bishop. So it does work at how much the book explores this (i.e., how much of Bishop’s thoughts are natural vs programming, one AI sharing two bodies, etc.). It’s not particularly groundbreaking if you’ve read other books on AI but its still a nice bit of sci-fi philosophizing for the franchise to dwell, buoyed by how these topics are explored by a character that I like.
The rest of the book is pretty jam packed with subplots about the search for Bishop by two of the Marines (including a relative of one of the ones in Aliens), a Vietnamese smuggling crew, a Chinese military ship trying to experiment on the Xenomorphs, and Bishop coming into contact with Henrikson's Alien 3 character. I did like learning more about this new interstellar version of the Cold War (the audiobook version of the Alien 3 draft I listened to a few months ago previously introduced me to this) via the Chinese characters. I did wish more had been done exploring their POV beyond just being an antagonistic faction. The Vietnamese characters are a bit better as they’re the ones that get the front row seat to the horror of the Xenomorph life cycle. Most of this content, the expansion of the lore beyond the films, and the set pieces are pretty entertaining and made me enjoy the book. I will say that I do think the book was a bit too stuffed with content and plotlines that did prevent some of the stories and characters from being fully fleshed out (with some being cut off too abruptly). Otherwise I just had some a nitpick - I thought it was weird that some of the book’s characters had limited knowledge of both the events of the movies and the Xenomorphs from the start. I’d think Weyland-Yutani would want to be hush-hush on that information but maybe that was leaked off screen somehow in another book/comic.
In the end, while I don’t think “Aliens: Bishop” is particularly groundbreaking for the franchise and the genre, it was a better expansion of the Alien series than some of the other spin-off material of the series I’ve encountered. More hardcore fans could give you a better sense on how it matches up to other spin-offs but for me at least I enjoyed Aliens Bishop as a pretty good and entertaining follow-up to one of my favorite movies and treats the titular character better that a different movie in the series had.
It takes a while for Bishop the book to actually get to Bishop-ing, the first act is entirely about Colonial Marines looking for him. That’s fine, I do love me some Colonial Marine action. When it does get to Bishop, that’s when the book really took off for me. I’ve been saying for a while now one of the best parts of the Alien franchise is the "Artificial Person" characters and the exploration of themes related to AI and synthetic humans like Bishop. So it does work at how much the book explores this (i.e., how much of Bishop’s thoughts are natural vs programming, one AI sharing two bodies, etc.). It’s not particularly groundbreaking if you’ve read other books on AI but its still a nice bit of sci-fi philosophizing for the franchise to dwell, buoyed by how these topics are explored by a character that I like.
The rest of the book is pretty jam packed with subplots about the search for Bishop by two of the Marines (including a relative of one of the ones in Aliens), a Vietnamese smuggling crew, a Chinese military ship trying to experiment on the Xenomorphs, and Bishop coming into contact with Henrikson's Alien 3 character. I did like learning more about this new interstellar version of the Cold War (the audiobook version of the Alien 3 draft I listened to a few months ago previously introduced me to this) via the Chinese characters. I did wish more had been done exploring their POV beyond just being an antagonistic faction. The Vietnamese characters are a bit better as they’re the ones that get the front row seat to the horror of the Xenomorph life cycle. Most of this content, the expansion of the lore beyond the films, and the set pieces are pretty entertaining and made me enjoy the book. I will say that I do think the book was a bit too stuffed with content and plotlines that did prevent some of the stories and characters from being fully fleshed out (with some being cut off too abruptly). Otherwise I just had some a nitpick - I thought it was weird that some of the book’s characters had limited knowledge of both the events of the movies and the Xenomorphs from the start. I’d think Weyland-Yutani would want to be hush-hush on that information but maybe that was leaked off screen somehow in another book/comic.
In the end, while I don’t think “Aliens: Bishop” is particularly groundbreaking for the franchise and the genre, it was a better expansion of the Alien series than some of the other spin-off material of the series I’ve encountered. More hardcore fans could give you a better sense on how it matches up to other spin-offs but for me at least I enjoyed Aliens Bishop as a pretty good and entertaining follow-up to one of my favorite movies and treats the titular character better that a different movie in the series had.
January 19, 2025
If you loved Aliens then you will love this book. It’s an absolute rip snorter.
When I bought and started this book I thought it was an alternate Alien 3 like the Gibson/Cadigan book. But this book is actually set after Alien 3 and respects the events and continuity of all 3 movies. How can you have a Bishop book after Alien 3 since Ripley toasted him? Significant plot point and spoiler if I explain, so I won’t, but it’s legit and great story-telling.
While it acknowledges the first 3 movies, the greatest homage is given to Aliens. Chapter 1 begins:-
When Captain Marcel Apone walked out on to the deck, and stood tall, hands behind his back, everyone shut the f*ck up.
Yep, that Apone. Marcel is his kid brother who also joined the colonial marines, but went to officer training much to his brothers disappointment.
What follows from that opening sentence is a variation of the briefing on the hanger deck from the movie. But it doesn’t feel like a cheap plagiarising copy. It’s has all the elements from the movie scene, but serves as a vehicle to introduce the characters in this book, but also tie it back to the movies. It mentions briefing documents from the incidents on LV-426 (Alien and Aliens) and Fiorina 161 (Alien 3). Shortly after this scene we also get mess scene with a variation of the cornbread incident, with a tray of cornbread as the link. And again, it’s a respectfully homage to the second movie rather than a cheap knockoff. All of this is to set the tone, introduce the characters, and let the reader know they’re in for an ass-kicking bug hunt.
All of the above happens in the first 25 pages, so isn’t a spoiler. After that the book starts charting it’s own course, but the reader has a fair idea what to expect.
That said, the book goes well beyond just a bug hunt. It’s called Bishop for a reason. We get a large section told from his point of view reflecting on what it is to be a synthetic person. I wasn’t expecting that, however it is beautifully handled. I suspect this aspect of the book draws on Tim’s other cyberpunk style novels, which I’m now really keen to read based on the strength of this book.
In conclusion this book is brilliant, but only if you love the 2nd movie. This book has the heart and soul of Aliens at its centre.
When I bought and started this book I thought it was an alternate Alien 3 like the Gibson/Cadigan book. But this book is actually set after Alien 3 and respects the events and continuity of all 3 movies. How can you have a Bishop book after Alien 3 since Ripley toasted him? Significant plot point and spoiler if I explain, so I won’t, but it’s legit and great story-telling.
While it acknowledges the first 3 movies, the greatest homage is given to Aliens. Chapter 1 begins:-
When Captain Marcel Apone walked out on to the deck, and stood tall, hands behind his back, everyone shut the f*ck up.
Yep, that Apone. Marcel is his kid brother who also joined the colonial marines, but went to officer training much to his brothers disappointment.
What follows from that opening sentence is a variation of the briefing on the hanger deck from the movie. But it doesn’t feel like a cheap plagiarising copy. It’s has all the elements from the movie scene, but serves as a vehicle to introduce the characters in this book, but also tie it back to the movies. It mentions briefing documents from the incidents on LV-426 (Alien and Aliens) and Fiorina 161 (Alien 3). Shortly after this scene we also get mess scene with a variation of the cornbread incident, with a tray of cornbread as the link. And again, it’s a respectfully homage to the second movie rather than a cheap knockoff. All of this is to set the tone, introduce the characters, and let the reader know they’re in for an ass-kicking bug hunt.
All of the above happens in the first 25 pages, so isn’t a spoiler. After that the book starts charting it’s own course, but the reader has a fair idea what to expect.
That said, the book goes well beyond just a bug hunt. It’s called Bishop for a reason. We get a large section told from his point of view reflecting on what it is to be a synthetic person. I wasn’t expecting that, however it is beautifully handled. I suspect this aspect of the book draws on Tim’s other cyberpunk style novels, which I’m now really keen to read based on the strength of this book.
In conclusion this book is brilliant, but only if you love the 2nd movie. This book has the heart and soul of Aliens at its centre.
January 7, 2024
I don’t think this is the perfect Aliens book, and I still think of the new novels (basically anything post 2004, though I think the license changed hands at some point around 2011-14?), Into Charybdis remained my favorite in terms of the writing + world building. But overall, I think Napper does a fantastic job of quite a few things here.
He REALLY captures the portrayal of Bishop by Lance Henriksen, which starts to seem like a skill set when you see how he handles voice/accent for other legacy characters like Morse and Michael Bishop from Alien 3 and newcomer Karri Lee. He also does a great job bringing in a heretofore never mentioned brother to Apone — he feels similar, but wholly distinct and gets the hero moments Apone never quite gets in Aliens. I saw some other reviews talking about the rushed pacing at the end, and I honestly thought it was impressive how Napper had successfully built up my investment in the survival of about 6-7 characters and that several of them make it by the end — but not all.
Also, like White’s writing in Into Charybdis, Napper makes a lot of characters round enough that you can see some of where they’re coming from enough to not adore and not hate them, all without becoming apathetic about their survival. W-Y stooge Schwartz and asshole smart gunner Cortazar are solid examples of these types of characters. This book is long, and sometimes it does earnestly bum me out that no one wants to maybe spend a book setting up some of these characters in greater depth to THEN imperil them in a subsequent book. I honestly think if this were adapted as a script, it could make a movie maybe not comparable to Alien or Aliens, but certainly a worth successor and sequel to the latter.
Finally, some notes — this is the second legacy book in the series like Vasquez, and it honestly reads a lot better (though I thought Castro was a much more deft handler of culture…specifically Chicanx Futurist culture). These have been missing the RPG supplements of Enemy of my Enemy and Colony War, which I think is a bummer. Free League stuff is fun! And finally, I’d like to note that this book spends probably more thoughtful time thinking about the ethics and quandaries of synthetics in several moments with Michael, Morse, and Bishop, but doesn’t really do a ton with that? I was waiting for a Scott-Blade Runner connection, which I know is oft discussed but yet to meaningfully manifest. It was interesting, and I almost want Napper to do more with that free of the xenomorphs.
Also also…when does this take place? It seems to before most of the other recent novels (right after Aliens and Alien 3) so I’m not sure if or how that impacts anything in those other books? Maybe it doesn’t even matter a little!
He REALLY captures the portrayal of Bishop by Lance Henriksen, which starts to seem like a skill set when you see how he handles voice/accent for other legacy characters like Morse and Michael Bishop from Alien 3 and newcomer Karri Lee. He also does a great job bringing in a heretofore never mentioned brother to Apone — he feels similar, but wholly distinct and gets the hero moments Apone never quite gets in Aliens. I saw some other reviews talking about the rushed pacing at the end, and I honestly thought it was impressive how Napper had successfully built up my investment in the survival of about 6-7 characters and that several of them make it by the end — but not all.
Also, like White’s writing in Into Charybdis, Napper makes a lot of characters round enough that you can see some of where they’re coming from enough to not adore and not hate them, all without becoming apathetic about their survival. W-Y stooge Schwartz and asshole smart gunner Cortazar are solid examples of these types of characters. This book is long, and sometimes it does earnestly bum me out that no one wants to maybe spend a book setting up some of these characters in greater depth to THEN imperil them in a subsequent book. I honestly think if this were adapted as a script, it could make a movie maybe not comparable to Alien or Aliens, but certainly a worth successor and sequel to the latter.
Finally, some notes — this is the second legacy book in the series like Vasquez, and it honestly reads a lot better (though I thought Castro was a much more deft handler of culture…specifically Chicanx Futurist culture). These have been missing the RPG supplements of Enemy of my Enemy and Colony War, which I think is a bummer. Free League stuff is fun! And finally, I’d like to note that this book spends probably more thoughtful time thinking about the ethics and quandaries of synthetics in several moments with Michael, Morse, and Bishop, but doesn’t really do a ton with that? I was waiting for a Scott-Blade Runner connection, which I know is oft discussed but yet to meaningfully manifest. It was interesting, and I almost want Napper to do more with that free of the xenomorphs.
Also also…when does this take place? It seems to before most of the other recent novels (right after Aliens and Alien 3) so I’m not sure if or how that impacts anything in those other books? Maybe it doesn’t even matter a little!
December 15, 2023
The concept of this book had me hooked when I read the blurb. Bishop was one of my favorite characters in Aliens and I wanted to see what happened to him after Alien 3. This story is told from a variety of viewpoints, in audiobook, they are all voiced by different narrators. I think it unfolds better on audio. Sgt Apone's brother mounts an unauthorized mission to rescue Bishop's remains. His turns out not to be the only one. Others are interested in what his brain knows, including Bishop's creator Michael Bishop. Weyland Utani is not the only organization looking to weaponize the Xenomorphs, several other groups as well. We are introduced to a Chinese effort. The story jumps back and forth between viewpoints instead of a straight narration. The first part drags a bit, but my favorites were the Bishop episodes. They really dealt with the creator's motives and Bishop's growing conscience. Needless to say, things happen, it all goes south and who is left standing. Once it gets going, its pretty good.
January 13, 2024
I really thought I would enjoy this book more. It has a lot of good thing going for it:
This is a real sequel to Alien³, where we find out the fate of characters still alive at the end of the film. Namely, Robert Morse, Bishop (the android) and Michael Bishop (the human). If you remember, at the end of the film, Michael Bishop, head of Weyland-Yutani's bio-weapons division and creator of the Bishop line of synthetics, was sent to recover Ellen Ripley who had crashed on the prison colony planet Fiorina 161. But he arrived too late: Ripley sacrificed herself in front his eyes as he was screaming in frustration (with his left ear dangling loose after being hit by a prisoner) in loosing all that Xenomorph queen material she had inside her. Then, they close down the facility, and leave with the last surviving prisoner Robert Morse, and presumably the remains of the android Bishop.
The book picks up shortly after. How soon is not mentioned, but Michael says he is aged 53 and knowing (from Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report ) he was born in 2127 would place this story around 2179-2180. But enough time has passed that Michael is no longer employed by the company, left the starship USCSS Patna and struck out on his own to continue his research, bringing with him the remains of the Bishop android. He made a deal with the Jùtóu Combine and now works aboard the Weyland-Yutani-constructed Xinjiang, the flagship of the Chinese fleet, part of the Union of the Progressive Peoples (UPP).
The story starts when the android Bishop wakes up to find that his creator Michael downloaded his memory in a brand new body. Bishop trusts Michael at first, but he finds his trust was misplaced as the story progresses. Meanwhile, we have a main protagonist, a female Australian private of the Colonial Marines named Karri Lee, whose squad leader is Captain Marcel Apone. Apone is the younger brother of Aliens' Master Sergeant Al Apone. Having a squad of marines, including a couple of smartgunners and Apone, brings familiarity to the story for fans of the movies. The novel pays homage more to James Cameron's movie than it does to Alien³, understandably a least-favorite among reasonable people. But still that later movie is still canon hence the inclusion of Morse and Michael Bishop.
I won't go into details of the rest of the story, but I like that the author did some research, or at least got help finding information. Hence the mention of Morse in the process of writing a book titled Star Beast (which will get published in 2183; Morse dies later in 2208). Also the mentions of the various political factions of Earth and the Middle Heavens (the "galaxy"), and about some colonized planets, probably culled from Alien: The Roleplaying Game and previous recent novels and anthologies published by Titan Books.
One small detail, which might not be a mistake, and it's a SPOILER but Michael Bishop appears to die in this book as he was trapped aboard the Xinjiang when it exploded, and later his "consciousness" makes a deal with a Weyland-Yutani rep to get downloaded into a super-computer so he can basically live forever. This contradicts Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report which mentions that he dies in 2194 after complications during a surgery. But maybe there's just more to this story that could explain what happens between the two events.
This is a real sequel to Alien³, where we find out the fate of characters still alive at the end of the film. Namely, Robert Morse, Bishop (the android) and Michael Bishop (the human). If you remember, at the end of the film, Michael Bishop, head of Weyland-Yutani's bio-weapons division and creator of the Bishop line of synthetics, was sent to recover Ellen Ripley who had crashed on the prison colony planet Fiorina 161. But he arrived too late: Ripley sacrificed herself in front his eyes as he was screaming in frustration (with his left ear dangling loose after being hit by a prisoner) in loosing all that Xenomorph queen material she had inside her. Then, they close down the facility, and leave with the last surviving prisoner Robert Morse, and presumably the remains of the android Bishop.
The book picks up shortly after. How soon is not mentioned, but Michael says he is aged 53 and knowing (from Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report ) he was born in 2127 would place this story around 2179-2180. But enough time has passed that Michael is no longer employed by the company, left the starship USCSS Patna and struck out on his own to continue his research, bringing with him the remains of the Bishop android. He made a deal with the Jùtóu Combine and now works aboard the Weyland-Yutani-constructed Xinjiang, the flagship of the Chinese fleet, part of the Union of the Progressive Peoples (UPP).
The story starts when the android Bishop wakes up to find that his creator Michael downloaded his memory in a brand new body. Bishop trusts Michael at first, but he finds his trust was misplaced as the story progresses. Meanwhile, we have a main protagonist, a female Australian private of the Colonial Marines named Karri Lee, whose squad leader is Captain Marcel Apone. Apone is the younger brother of Aliens' Master Sergeant Al Apone. Having a squad of marines, including a couple of smartgunners and Apone, brings familiarity to the story for fans of the movies. The novel pays homage more to James Cameron's movie than it does to Alien³, understandably a least-favorite among reasonable people. But still that later movie is still canon hence the inclusion of Morse and Michael Bishop.
I won't go into details of the rest of the story, but I like that the author did some research, or at least got help finding information. Hence the mention of Morse in the process of writing a book titled Star Beast (which will get published in 2183; Morse dies later in 2208). Also the mentions of the various political factions of Earth and the Middle Heavens (the "galaxy"), and about some colonized planets, probably culled from Alien: The Roleplaying Game and previous recent novels and anthologies published by Titan Books.
One small detail, which might not be a mistake, and it's a SPOILER but Michael Bishop appears to die in this book as he was trapped aboard the Xinjiang when it exploded, and later his "consciousness" makes a deal with a Weyland-Yutani rep to get downloaded into a super-computer so he can basically live forever. This contradicts Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report which mentions that he dies in 2194 after complications during a surgery. But maybe there's just more to this story that could explain what happens between the two events.
Yet somehow, I wasn't super thrilled with the book. The fact that the protagonist is the same nationality is the same as the author's is a minor pet peeve (much like half of Stephen King's protagonists are professional novelists). It's just the overall simplicity of the whole thing. At its core, it's a story of a squad of marines from Aliens conducting a mission to rescue Bishop from Aliens. A bunch of Xenomorphs are let loose and a lot of people die. I'm not expecting Shakespeare of a movie franchise book, but I've read other stories that are more creative and imaginative (and some that are a lot worse). Also, the character Morse brings nothing to the story, it just feels like he was included to close a loose end or as fan service. And the almost-500-page book is split up in 86 short chapters, each with the name of the protagonist as if the reader could not figure out the narrative switches on his/her own. Also, 86 chapters means a lot of blank spaces at the end of chapters, probably 50 pages worth of blank. Is this the author's style, is it contractual, I don't know but I'm not a huge fan of this format. So the attempt at nostalgia, the simplicity of the plot and the formatting is counter-balances with the interesting characters and the satisfaction of getting a sequel to Aliens and Alien³, which is the reason I like and don't love the book. (FYI the 2013 video game Aliens: Colonial Marines did a better job of these elements, but concerning the fate of Colonel Hicks instead.)
NOTE: Synthetic android Bishop's established first name Lance is only mentioned once, probably because it's a bad idea that the author prefers not to mention (I agree that Bishop androids should not have first names). It's a pet peeve of mine that the Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report book gave the same first names of the Colonial Marines as the actors who played them.
January 11, 2025
I'll push this to 4.5 stars...it's so full of characters and multiple plot threads that your head threatens to explode your mind trying to keep track of it all. But it moves at a terrific pace, and it works as a sequel to both "Aliens" and "Alien 3" by threading much that is new, through the threads left dangling by the previous two films. A very satisfying, if overflowing read.
April 5, 2024
A strong entry into the Alien universe featuring Bishop, one of my favorite characters, and a bunch of very well-written new characters. Really does a fantastic job fleshing out the sociopolitical situation of earth that we haven't seen much of in other Alien media.
January 10, 2025
Really good story, feels like it would make a great movie.
March 31, 2024
Nothing really new going on here. Another Alien novel that is centered around a character from the movies we love. Also some relative of another character plays a role. Big bad company wants to study the Aliens. There is a rival company that wants the same thing. They birth some Aliens. The Aliens get loose (shocker!). Colonial marines get their asses kicked by Aliens despite having pulse rifles, smart guns, sentry guns, and grenades. Throw in some bad robots. Throw in at least one Alien jettisoned into space. Make a few cornbread references. Meh.
They have an entire universe to play with in these novels and they continue to rehash the same stories. Are the writers given certain objectives they have to meet in order to get published? Is this the Disney checklist?
- bad android
- alien jettisoned into space
- cornbread
- pulse rifle
- evil corporation
- making aliens a bioweapon that can be controlled
Stop with this shit already. I have a shelf full of books rehashing the same shit. The movies did it better than the books. We don’t need a retelling of the movies. Give us something new and original and bigger than the movies can do. Give us a galaxy full of Aliens on tons of random planets and moons light years apart, which has been that way for millions of years for unknown reasons that we need to solve. Give us the reason they have acid blood is because on their homeworld, it is to protect them from being eaten from something much worse. Give us facehuggers on other life forms. Give us other species of facehuggers and Aliens. Give us a real fucking space jockey that isn’t a man in a suit. Give us engineers that worship or study the jockey, which explains Prometheus jockey suit compared to giant from Alien. Humans are now engineered in this universe. Put other humans on other planets that are not earthlings. Make them good or evil. Make then millions of years old. Or extinct because of Aliens. That would be cool and terrifying. A failed human civilization that is just like ours. I don’t care, just something new. Fuck, I don’t care about the cornbread either. I don’t care about how Vazquez met Drake and became friends. I don’t care about what Apone’s brother is up to. No one does. The star if the show shouldn’t even be the Alien. It is the universe that the Alien lives in. Give us that. Lots of that.
They have an entire universe to play with in these novels and they continue to rehash the same stories. Are the writers given certain objectives they have to meet in order to get published? Is this the Disney checklist?
- bad android
- alien jettisoned into space
- cornbread
- pulse rifle
- evil corporation
- making aliens a bioweapon that can be controlled
Stop with this shit already. I have a shelf full of books rehashing the same shit. The movies did it better than the books. We don’t need a retelling of the movies. Give us something new and original and bigger than the movies can do. Give us a galaxy full of Aliens on tons of random planets and moons light years apart, which has been that way for millions of years for unknown reasons that we need to solve. Give us the reason they have acid blood is because on their homeworld, it is to protect them from being eaten from something much worse. Give us facehuggers on other life forms. Give us other species of facehuggers and Aliens. Give us a real fucking space jockey that isn’t a man in a suit. Give us engineers that worship or study the jockey, which explains Prometheus jockey suit compared to giant from Alien. Humans are now engineered in this universe. Put other humans on other planets that are not earthlings. Make them good or evil. Make then millions of years old. Or extinct because of Aliens. That would be cool and terrifying. A failed human civilization that is just like ours. I don’t care, just something new. Fuck, I don’t care about the cornbread either. I don’t care about how Vazquez met Drake and became friends. I don’t care about what Apone’s brother is up to. No one does. The star if the show shouldn’t even be the Alien. It is the universe that the Alien lives in. Give us that. Lots of that.
August 29, 2024
I hate writing reviews for books I love. Every page, every tense moment, every hiss from the xeno was so expertly crafted off the page in this canon novel that takes place shortly after Alien 3. A deep dive into the consequences of corporate greed and absolute power.
Bishop (the android) once again proves that it is entirely possible for the androids to develop feelings and drive past their creators or directives. I love getting fill in material between 3 and resurrection; it's 300 years of us assuming Ripley took out the aliens.
Also, the two twin androids that were Michael's "muscle" tall, attractive, blonde, blue eyed..... were they the David model?
Bishop (the android) once again proves that it is entirely possible for the androids to develop feelings and drive past their creators or directives. I love getting fill in material between 3 and resurrection; it's 300 years of us assuming Ripley took out the aliens.
Also, the two twin androids that were Michael's "muscle" tall, attractive, blonde, blue eyed..... were they the David model?
August 12, 2025
Aliens: Bishop picks up some time after the events of the film Alien 3. Bishop, the Colonial Marines synthetic who was permanently deactivated by Ripley, though now just a ruined body is still being sought out. Captain Marcel Apone, younger brother of Master Sergeant Alexander Apone from Aliens, is determined not to leave any Marine behind, and he takes his platoon on a mission, with a corporate man along for the ride, to retrieve Bishop's remains. Also wanting Bishop is his creator, Michael Bishop, who has abandoned Weyland-Yutani for another benefactor, with designs on utilizing the knowledge about the Xenomorphs the android's brain still contains. Unexpectedly revived, Bishop finds himself in the middle of everyone still obsessed with the potential of the aliens.
This was a relatively epic novel in the Alien series, exploring familiar territory while also expanding it in new directions, as well as adding new depth to the Alien universe. A Colonial Marine Captain out for revenge, a rookie Marine looking for redemption, Vietnamese smugglers, the Chinese military and a determined Michael Bishop all come together in a rip-roaring action story replete with a depth sorely lacking in many of the other Alien universe stories. 4.5/5*
This was a relatively epic novel in the Alien series, exploring familiar territory while also expanding it in new directions, as well as adding new depth to the Alien universe. A Colonial Marine Captain out for revenge, a rookie Marine looking for redemption, Vietnamese smugglers, the Chinese military and a determined Michael Bishop all come together in a rip-roaring action story replete with a depth sorely lacking in many of the other Alien universe stories. 4.5/5*
Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews