Aliens: Rogue

Aliens / Predator / Prometheus Universe

by Sandy Schofield, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith

Welcome to the former penal colony of Charon, where the underground tunnels are home to an alien hive. Here Professor Ernst Kleist rules like the paranoid tyrant that he is, seeing everything, hearing everything, and making humans disappear. Wearing a yellow Harley-Davidson cap and a T-shirt, Captain Joyce Palmer is headed for the universe's darkest hell. Before her stay on Charon is over, she will uncover Kleist's mad plan.

Using the drained bodies of his victims, the professor has given birth to his own murderous creation, the Rogue. He plans to use the monster against the alien queen in a battle for total dominion over Charon. Only Captain Palmer - and a handful of courageous marines - can stop him. Suddenly they are plunged into an all-out firefight against Kleist, the aliens, and the seemingly indestructible Rogue to save innocent lives... including their own.

Genres: Science Fiction, Aliens, Horror, Fiction, Comics, Novels

294 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1995

About the author

Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith use the common pseudonym “Sandy Schofield” for a part of their collaborative works.

Reviews

[Ana Mardoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aliens Novels: Book 7, Rogue / 0-553-56442-0

When I noted in my review for the 5th aliens books ("Alien Harvest") that the plot was almost functionally identical to that of the 4th book ("Genocide"), I had not suspected that we would see a similar pattern with the 6th and 7th books ("Labyrinth" and "Rogue"), and yet we do. The overlaps in basic plot are so strong that a cynical person might suspect the aliens' franchise holder of assigning the same plot to multiple authors and just publishing whatever comes back. Fortunately for all of us, "Rogue" takes the compelling plot of a deranged scientist lording over his trapped minions and using them as bait and breeders in his horrific alien experiments, and expands it with wonderful writing and incredible character insight and development into a novel that will be a pleasure for anyone to read - including those completely new to the aliens series.

There are so many things to love about "Rogue". First and foremost, every character featured in the book is eminently sensible. This is such a welcome relief after so many books that feature incredibly stupid heroes in order to facilitate the demands of the plot. Every single character here is sane, sensible, and smart - from the pilot captain and her mysterious passenger, to the marine squadron stationed on base, to the concerned civilians who have long ago realized that they are constantly under surveillance and in danger of being fed to the aliens at any sign of insubordination and have accordingly formed an intricate and determined resistance movement. When the plot moves, it moves forward cleanly and precisely, in response to the actions of the mad scientist and the reactions of his would-be victims.

What do sensible characters look like? They are sensible enough to recognize that their lives under a mad dictator will be inevitably short (none of this "if I just tow the line, I will be spared" idiocy that we see in "Labyrinth" and, to a lesser extent, "Nightmare Asylum") and they organize, plan, and plot their revolt efficiently, with a keen eye for survival. They split up into sensibly sized groups, in order to avoid detection and increase the chances of survival, but no one goes off alone to perform daring and risky hijinks. They rescue and recruit victims who can be useful in the fight against the professor, but they don't hang around in dangerous areas to have long, expository conversations. They are all capable and intelligent, each in their own unique ways, regardless of race, religion, or gender. They are motivated by a thirst for vengeance and justice, but not at the risk of their own survival which they correctly realize is the most important thing. They don't feel the need to risk their lives in meaningless heroics to save the bad guys when everything goes inevitably wrong. Escape is handled intelligently and efficiently, which such plans as "one pilot per ship" and "as soon as a ship is filled to capacity, launch it immediately" and "don't wait for us if we don't make it". All of that may seem like a small thing, but the difference between a book with sensible characters making the decisions that you would expect them to make, versus a book with stupid characters who continually underestimate the bad guy, walk blindly into his traps, and fail to take the alien threat seriously is the difference between thoroughly enjoying a book and wanting to hurl it across the room for having such willfully dumb characters.

What else do I love about "Rogue"? The character exposition is perfect - not too much and not too little, with everything nicely timed and parceled out in little flashes of insight and retrospection that never interrupt the action of the narrative. The obligatory marine squadron is surprisingly composed of individuals who are tough, competent, highly trained, extremely deadly, and above all intelligent, thinking human beings. In other words, the "marines" in this book resemble real marines (as opposed to painfully stupid cannon-fodder) more than probably any other aliens book or movie. Incredibly, the authors have actually done the research necessary to model the alien behavior, and the result is poetry: aliens behave as they should - swarming towards their victims on ceilings and walls, not just on floors - and the acid blood is handled correctly and creatively. The aliens move with instinctive intelligence, hunting and overwhelming their prey in a manner reminiscent of the hunts in "Aliens". It may seem silly to praise an aliens book for having 'correct' alien behavior, but such conscientious adherence to the source material is becoming a rarity with these books, and "Rogue" is a bright light in the darkness.

There are so many other things to love and list about "Rogue", but I'll end by simply noting that the plot is wonderful. While "Labyrinth" successfully used the "mad scientist" idiom to shock the senses, "Rogue" carefully parcels out the horrors and shocks the reader in sequential batches, allowing us to become accustomed to one outrage before slowly presenting us with another, rather than saving them all up for one big bang. Where "Labyrinth" is like a single mental explosion, "Rogue" is like a fireworks show, a series of controlled explosions that form a beautiful pattern.

The only thing I can criticize about "Rogue" is that I was not particularly thrilled with the two or three brief mentions of female pubic hair included in the story. I really do not want on need details regarding color and density - why are they here?? - but fortunately these odd references are kept short and quickly forgotten, a bizarre-but-minor detail that the authors felt compelled to include. Other than that, though, this novel is a perfect example of how great an aliens novel can be, given the right author.

~ Ana Mardoll

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually in the 4.5-ish range.

Aliens: Rogue was originally published as a comic books series Aliens Volume 6: Rogue. I've read several novelizations of original comic series published by Dark Horse and, I have to say, this is one of the best so far. Sandy Schofield did an excellent job fleshing out the characters and giving them a lot more depth. I actually quite liked the "Rogue" original story by Ian Edgington. I felt he did a pretty good job capturing the mad scientist feel that some of the other comic books lacked up until now.

As with the comics this story centers on Joyce the captain of a shuttle bringing a top secret person to a research facility out on edges of human explored space. The remoteness of the facility sets up the classic situation of the mad scientist researching the Aliens. The Alien Earth war that occured in the comics is referenced at times to give more insight into the characters fear of the Aliens, since they are all survivors of that war, but I do notice that it isn't a major plot theme as it was in earlier books. This is where, I think, Dark Horse started steering away from their original story series because Alien 3 didn't even remotely match up with their predictions. Now they focus on far more original content where they don't try to intersect with the movies too much.

I think that's why I liked the "Rogue" story so much more, it felt more fresh. It felt like totally new characters interacting with the Aliens without worrying about canon consequences. We're just here to enjoy a good sci-fi horror adventure. In that regard Schofield does a great job at capturing that mood. In the comic you get some insight into the isolated mad scientist farming the facility personnel to feed his Alien experiments... but Schofield really fleshes this out quite a bit more. She introduced a new more major character to Joyce in the regards of Hank. Which, I believe was only mentioned in passing in the comic. Here he is a more major player in the game and in Joyce's life, and I actually liked this change a little bit.

One thing that differs quite a bit, and which I find fairly practical, is that a lot more of the marines are in the book and more of the facility staff participate in fighting the mad scientist and Aliens. In a four issue comic series it's impossible to really have this level of characters, so they tend to focus on a few to drive the story. I think it makes more sense to have more marines working with Sargeant Green rather than Green being in a sole survivor role. I think this made it far more plausible to actually escape the Alien horde that existed in these labs. So, while this didn't exactly match the comics, I actually rather liked this change. Most of the changes Schofield inserted into the writing, I thought were fairly good ideas.

In the end, if you enjoyed the "Rogue" story, you should definitely pick up the novel because Schofields fleshing out of details is really quite well done. This is also one of the better novels in the series so far as well since the Perry novelizations.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, this book isn't as stupid as the other books in this series, but neither is it something I would recommend. The characters aren't strong or memorable, the plot seems to be doing a retread of Nightmare Asylum, and sometimes the dialogue is just straight-up terrible. I expected a little bit more out of the book when I discovered Sandy Schofield is a pseudonym used by husband-and-wife writing team Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch, editors of Pulphouse and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. I was a little disappointed.

Also, I'm starting to make a list of scenes that are required to go into any Aliens book. Here's what I have so far:

1. Someone coming out of cold sleep.
2. Women wearing bikini briefs and a tank top when in cold sleep.
3. Someone trying to capture a live xenomorph for profit/weapons/etc.
4. The above someone has to attempt to impregnate someone with a facehugger.

What else am I missing?

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good Aliens novel, but really they all are starting to feel the same. A mad scientist is experimenting on Aliens at a distant outpost and he snaps and things go to hell. It seems like this is a recurring plotline in the Aliens universe.

That being said, it's still an exciting read with interesting characters and fans of the Aliens franchise should enjoy it.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this novelization, much to my surprise. It moves at a good pace; it sets the tone of the story pretty quick. The character development (such as it is) is decent. We learn bits and pieces about the 'primary characters' as the story progresses, as well as some 'secondary characters' (to a lesser extent; just enough to keep the story moving but not enough to bog down the story with needless details or unimportant information). It is a pretty quick read, overall, and I was somewhat surprised with the ending.

I think part of the reason why I enjoyed this story so much was that the author(s) actually portrayed the Marines as being intelligent, as being smart and "combat-savvy" in regard to their environment. All too often, in the movies and the Dark Horse mini-series, the Marines (and other military personnel) are portrayed as incompetent boobs who merely serve as cannon fodder for the aliens to either kill and eat or capture and impregnate. The survivors in the unit in this book are smart; they ask questions, they offer suggestions, and their leader has their best interests in mind and looks out for them, always working on formulating the best plan that will ensure the maximum number of survivors while inflicting the most damage possible. I think I loved that the most about this book, to be honest. I dimly remember reading the mini-series and being disgusted with how the Colonial Marines were portrayed (even dumber than they were in the Aliens movie); it was pretty insulting. Myself, personally, I would much prefer to see as many aliens killed as possible with as many human survivors as possible, so I was happy with how smart/intelligent these Marines were portrayed as being.

I also liked how the "good guys" (the civilians, too, and not just the Marines) made smart decisions, how they worked together to try and improve their position before moving out and seeking to overthrow the whackjob in command. What they did was well-thought out; they considered the various costs and consequences of what they did, of what they chose to do. I liked that their plans were not haphazardly done, or, showed "uncommonly good sense" when they had to "make it up as they went along." It is always frustrating to see smart people making incredibly dumb decisions that make zero sense; it usually comes across as insulting the audience, somehow, in my opinion, and the author(s) avoided making that mistake.

The villains were . . . different. Various shades of crazy. The 'mad scientist' in charge of it all (Professor Ernst Kleist) was clearly off his rocker. Guy was a nutjob. Well, maybe not 'at first, in the beginning,' but he 'became one' in the end. He had become so focused on the aliens, on his experiments, on succeeding, that he saw humans, saw his employees, as being raw material for his experiments. I thought it was interesting that he 'succeeded' in his 'biggest experiment.' I think "succeeded" is too strong of a word; it was more like he was able to turn failures into either opportunities or successes. He had an interesting way at looking at the world around him, even if it was a bit off. When his "Rogue Male" is revealed, it does not behave the way he expects it to behave. Instead of seeing it as a problem, as a failure, he has some kind of 'epiphany' and sees it, the results of his experiment, in a new light. In this new light, he has succeeded beyond his wildest expectations.

I have to admit, I did find myself laughing at Kleist's exclamations, insults, and curses directed at the Alien Queen. It was just hilarious to me that here was this man, yelling and cursing at the creature that killed his "unkillable Rogue male" out in the open, with little-to-no-weapons to defend him. It was like he could not understand the predicament he was in; he could not comprehend that his creation had been killed in front of his eyes, that he had been wrong multiple times 'that day,' and that he was about to die. At the same time, his comments and intentions seem to imply he did have some kind of 'sense of honor' or something, some inner part of him that desired to see the human race survive and the Alien species exterminated, in the end. So, he was kind-of a mixed bag of tricks as (for) a villain.

His second-in-command, Larson, was a despicable idiot and a thug. I could not tell if he was "originally smart" when he was first introduced and then "dumbed down" as the book progressed or if he was competent in little, minor details but incompetent in terms of 'the big picture.' He had no issues feeding people to the wolves aliens when ordered or in the mood, so his death at the end of the book had some kind of poetic justice to it. It was interesting when he was revealed to be not just incompetent, but extremely incompetent. It was kind-of funny, on the one hand, reading Kleist's growing horror over how "stupid" his Chief Security officer turned out to be; it reached the point where Kleist decided the human race was better off without Larson and Larson's incompetence, without his idiocy.

Grace was crazy! She was Kleist's android secretary and personal body guard. Her manhandling of Sgt. Greene was not-quite-brutal but had a touch of humor to it as well. I did find myself hoping that she might survive in the end (and maybe end up in the arms of Sergeant Greene), but that was not to be. Her 'final words' to Kleist were pretty funny, though, and completely accurate.

I did find myself wishing that more civilians had survived, that more people made it off Charon before the base exploded like it did (what with the Sound Canon overheating and self-destructing, the resulting explosion finished off both the alien-section and the civilian-section of the space station/lab). Sadly, that was not the case. Also, it would be interesting if any of the computers survived, or any memory banks, 'cuz scientists could use that information to improve upon Kleist's experiments in hopes of coming up with 'something' that would kill/defeat the Aliens/bugs. I know "over three hundred aliens" poured into the civilian section, but I know not all three hundred aliens actually made it into that section as there were security forces at the entrance shooting at the aliens and killing them as they poured into the living/lab section of the base. It just seems hard for me to believe that nobody else escaped, that nobody else made it off that rock alive. Granted, that was before I was reminded that the shuttle bay was "right next to" the alien-section of the space station/base, so there is that. Still, though, it seemed like a few more people ought to have survived. As it was, it was around nineteen civilians (one who was a woman) and I do not remember how many Marines.

I liked the interactions between the various characters throughout the book. I felt that most, if not all of them, were believable and realistic, which helped generate the overall tone of the book. I also liked how there was 'hope' at the end of this book, how the survivors had something to look forward to (even if it was nothing more than getting off Charon with their very lives). The comics always had a bleakness to them; the stories were always so depressing and the characters so incredibly stupid that I had to stop reading them. This one ended on a positive note, which I much preferred even if Captain Joyce makes the comment that the aliens 'won' this fight in some empty, vacant sector of space. I would beg to differ, as it would seem to me that the aliens would have been killed in the explosion and resulting collapse of the base, as the base collapsed at least three levels down, if not more, because of the vast network of tunnels underneath the former prison.

I also liked how the book talked about how different technologies and products had been created as a result of the interactions with the alien species. It makes sense that humans would attempt to create products, clothing, and armor that would either negate or counteract the natural defense of the aliens (i.e. – their acid-blood). It was also interesting to learn that humans have learned how to use some of the alien “bio-byproducts” for the benefit of humanity. I was surprised to learn that, especially as the movies never mention anything like that being the case.


One thing I did not fully understand was why the Rogue Alien male reacted the way it did when it did. What made it 'suddenly detect' the Alien Queen? What alerted the Rogue Male (which was huge beyond comprehension and sounded bigger than the Queen) to the Queen's presence? It was 'fascinating' that Grace was able to detect the two Titans bickering at each other like they were, using the upper EF band to do so (160). I do not know how future books dealt with this or tried to explain this away, or if Alien:Covenant changed things, but I liked how this book explained how the Alien Queen was able to communicate with the members of her hive. However, that does not explain why the Rogue male did not react to the Queens's presence before it did, or why it did not seek to escape 'before now' in order to confront the Queen for a battle for supremacy (which it lost due to its lack of living experiences, I guess). I thought that was probably the 'biggest weakness' of the book, that the Rogue could neither detect nor communicate with the Queen, until 'the right moment' came for it to do so in the book. In any case, it was a minor question for me and did not detract from my enjoyment of the overall story.

Some random thoughts. I thought it was pretty crazy that over half of a Marine contingent (unit? I am not sure how the sizes work in the Alien-Universe) could be lost and nobody back home would be concerned about it, especially in the Colonial Marine chain-of-command. Forty Marines had been sent to assist with the experiments at this former-prison-turned-science-lab and over half of them had died. There were also numerous other 'civilian deaths,' too, out of the original 1500 people who lived and worked there. Granted, the former prison planet is on the outskirts of known space and isolated, so it probably would not be too hard for information to be contained and secrets kept, the number of losses hidden.

It was also nuts that the scientist in charge "loved" and prized the aliens more than he did his fellow humans; he had no problem condemning people to die in order for his experiments to continue. Some of the humans were used to feed the aliens; others were used in experiments so he could continue to try to find ways to either control the aliens or kill them. The 'scene' in the book where several dozen human heads are found floating in jars of solution with fluids and whatnot still being pumped into them was nuts! Kleist discovered that he had to keep the host bodies alive in order for the facehuggers to implant embryos into them, but he had figured out how to remove the heads to keep the test subject's head alive while being separated from the body while keeping the subject's body alive as well. It was kinda creepy and pretty surreal (but, the heads being alive actually reminded me of one of ERB's John Carter books, in which these Martians could 'detach' their heads from their 'drone bodies' and move around before changing "host bodies" to fit their needs. So, while it was creepy, on the one hand, it also reminded me of a sci-fi classic tale, too! hahahah!), especially when the eyes on all of the heads opened and watched as another victim was taken captive to have the same procedure done to him (Kleist must have 'cloned' the head of the victim and reattached it to the victim's body in order for the procedure to work).

I know the security force was probably manned mostly by thugs and whatnot, but one would have thought they would have put up a better resistance to the aliens pouring into the human section. But, that is just my opinion. Probably one of the weaker moments of the book, as there were supposed to be one hundred security personnel that were heavily armed . . . well, just under one hundred. I forgot that by the time the Rogue male went after the Queen, some of the security personnel had been either killed or incapacitated.

Also, as big as the Rogue male supposedly was, it sounded like it should have dwarfed the Queen, yet they were supposedly close to being the same size. I am not sure how much I believed that to be true, but, whatever. Furthermore, the Rogue was supposed to have taken on the genetic characteristics of those with whom the alien DNA's had been combined with human DNA, so one would have thought it would have been 'the better fighter' than the Queen. I only say that, because the author(s) made such a big deal, at one point, about how varying amounts of different people's DNA had been used to try to find the 'right blend' to make the 'perfect Alien' that could use the abilities and talents of its various "donors" in order to survive.

One final thing about the Rogue and the Queen: I fully expected the two of them to stop fighting and start copulating before the Queen bit off the head of the Rogue a la a praying mantis (or, tore it off, as the case may be). That was what I was honestly expecting to happen (based on comments Kleist was making, some of his implied inferences and whatnot), so it was a bit of a surprise that it did not happen.


I am glad that I took a chance and read this book; it was a pleasant surprise to read. Hopefully, if I decide to read any other books in the series, they will also be good (I do not know that I can reasonably 'expect' them to be just as good as this one was and is, but I can hope).

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

With the departure from the original main story line in the last two books, the fate of this particular Aliens universe was sealed. More than any of the others, this story was a one-off tale simply set in that universe. On a planet once used as prison mining facility a giant biotech firm (image that!) has repurposed it into a giant base, half filled with scientists, space marines, guards and other civilians, the other half an active xenomorph hive, with a reproducing queen and all. The Professor, head scientist at the facility, is, of course, an total mad man who's doing all sorts of research based on the aliens intended on helping humanity fight back against them. And/or to make lots of money based on the type of war-machine advances they can achieve basing it on xenomorph physiology. Ho hum. Been there, done that. But this Professor is more bat-shit crazy and dictatorial than preceding ones. Anyone who falls out of his favor - including his own personnel and especially the marines - get turned into alien cocoons or other experiments. The authors (husband and wife who share the pen name of Schofield) apparently felt they had to one-up all the previous cray-cray from stories that used these same tropes. And in some respects, they hit the bullseye. As far as quality story, they missed by a pretty big margin. It wasn't nearly as bad as the previous novel, but it was mostly potboiler action story with a lot of borrowed elements. Except for a few things, such as the constant reminder (like every couple chapters) of the rotten egg like stench given off by everything xenopmorph. Funny, but in my viewings of the various movies and reading several novels and comics based on Aliens, not once did I ever see a character not surprised by aliens hiding around the corner because of an intense rotten egg stench. Not. Once. Not even in Aliens when Ripley accidentally backs up into the queen's laying chamber because somehow she didn't smell it. Hmmm. Anyway, it was a quick read, since I found it wasn't worth putting too much concentration into it and mostly sped read my way through, but it doesn't give me much hope for the remaining entries in this original Alien series.

[the tony. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really found myself enjoying this novel, enthralled in the fact the this was my initial Alien novel to have read. Fortunate to have many of my “first” of a certain genre to be a profound success. Not only was it a book of aliens, action, sci-fi, considerable characters and interesting plot, it kept me engaged from start to finish. Much like The Walking Dead, the author indulges in the concept that sometimes humans are to be feared just as much, if not more, than anything else in this world (Or beyond this world). It was a novel of human vs human, human vs alien, alien vs human and alien vs alien and with much credit to the team of authors, it was a fun and exhilarating read that kept me wanting more. Highly recommend. 4.5 stars if I could.

[Sebastian · Rating 3 out of 5]

[After a quick peek at the relevant dates on IMDB] … Okay, was this the template they used to make Alien: Resurrection? ‘Cause much of the story is here, albeit considerably jumbled around regarding the characters, their roles and timelines, the cloning theme is just a passing-mention thing in a completely different context, but if you squint, it’s all kinda there, only not nearly as polished-up as the movie was. Some characters are comically exaggerated stereotypes, others are half-formed “here’s their rubber ducky moment” sketches, some are introduced at great length only to be killed in an almost offhanded by-the-way manner, but the whole thing moves along quickly enough that it gives you pretty much just what you’d expect to get from book #6 in a series of tie-in novels.

[Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not my sort of thing to just pick up random expanded universe paperback sci-fi pulp fiction, but when I saw this at a book fair for $3 I figured I didn't have much to lose. I'm a huge fan of the film franchise, so while this book wasn't exactly good it was definitely entertaining enough. It's competently written, though it's pretty much just cover to cover tropes. Nothing is terribly new, but it's like a trashy action movie in book form. It's an easy read and probably will only be memorable to me as my first dip into the Aliens EU.

[Jason Bleckly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ain't Shakespeare, it is precisely what you would expect from judging the book by its cover. It's a couple of hours of frivolous fun. A bunch of humans and aliens battle it out with a high body count on both sides. If you've had a long day dealing with stupid people, this sort of mindless entertainment is the perfect antidote.

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is in my my top five favorite alien books. It's hilarious and everything about it great. The mad scientist, and the evolution of Aliens in this, are done so well.
It's just a great one to read, recommend to read if you love aliens.

[Hodgey · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first read Aliens: Rogue over ten years ago I remember enjoying it so much I read it cover to cover in one sitting. I was wondering how I would feel about the novel coming back? Was it as good as I remember? The answer is yes and no. I think Rogue has a fantastic pace that never slows down and never gets boring. The action is visceral and gritty. The aliens are described terrifyingly. The book isn't doing anything revolutionary, however. When I was an adolescent it was everything I wanted to be entertained and now I think it's a standard Aliens story. It does the job extremely well and Rogue is the first novel to take the mad scientist angle so it gets a pass on the derivative scale. The concept of the King Alien is cool and Dr. Kleist is a bastard who you want to see get his just desserts. Rogue is one of the strongest Aliens stories but since its inception I believe there have been others that have done the mad scientist story better. I still would recommend this novel for any Aliens fan that wants pulse pounding pulp action! A little fun fact the Kramer assault rifle in this book would be featured as a weapon in the Aliens Fireteam Elite video game so it was amazing to see how Cold Iron Studios went back to the classics to pull ideas for their game!

[The Honest Book Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I was torn between three and four stars for this novel, so rounded up.

As far as other Aliens novels I've read, this isn't bad. It would have to be one of the better in the franchise. Why? Well, for starters the Xenomorphs actually make a bit of an impact in this novel. Some of the other novels have been a bit light on Xenomorphs. Another positive is the characters seem more realistic. They have clear motivations, and the heroes of the piece aren't deluded, and make decent decisions. Having another mad scientist in the story kind of felt like a wash and repeat process, yet I still enjoyed this character. He came across as a bit farcical in some aspects, and that kind have amped up the energy in the novel.

It's true that parts of this novel have similarities to other Aliens novels - that fact can't be missed and shouldn't be avoided. Yet, if I were to judge this novel on it's own merit, I'd have to say it does bring the Aliens to life, and it would make me want to read further into the franchise.

[Ryan Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was skeptical going into Aliens: Rogue after a majority disappointing and bad experience with Aliens: Genocide. I loved the first three novels in the Bantam Aliens series (Earth Hive, Nightmare Asylum, and Female War), and Aliens: Genocide was a very unpleasant splash of cold water to say the least.

I am proud to say that none of the issues that plagued that book have transferred over to Aliens: Rogue. The characters are well-written, the story moves at a solid pace, and there are actually Aliens in my Aliens book!

This is a fun, action-filled, science-fiction, romp through familiar territory that Sandy Schofield breathes fresh air into. The stakes were high, major characters were actually in peril, and the bad guy is fun to hate.

Schofield dedicates this book to Steven Perry, the author of the first three Aliens novels in this series. As well they should as this feels like a worthy successor to those novels.

[OmniBen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 3.75/5
A tad formulaic perhaps, given that so many of these Alien comics follow a fairly standard template. But given the overall strength of the writing and art, it was enough to rise this above average. Even if it fell short of the greatness it threatened at times, with the final issue being somewhat deflating, given the enjoyable build up. Whilst the art was the main attraction here, I was quite surprised to find that there was only one artist across these four issues. It genuinely felt as though there were two pencillers here, sharing art duties. Needless to say, half of the art here is good, whilst half is outstanding. More of the latter and a stronger end might have earned 5 stars. Good, but a ways short of greatness, unfortunately. 3.75/5


OmniBen.

[Andrew Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good! It's the standard "mad scientist experimenting on xenomorphs" plot, but with some strong twists and engaging characters who actually behave intelligently. The writing style didn't make me feel like I was in elementary school, and the titular rogue alien felt more intimidating as a result (rather than simply a gimmick). It walks a fine line between horrific and fun sci-fi camp -- one chapter involving heads in a jar had me cringing with existential dread and cackling with glee in equal measure. As far as the novels from the original run go, this is definitely one of the better ones.

[Weyland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is based on a comic but improves on it in almost every way. It developers the characters better, fixes plotholes and even makes the heroes more competent. It is action packed and really fun to read. I would say this is one of the best Alien books ever (check out the others at https://www.avpcentral.com/top-alien-...).

[Danny Dahms · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the best book in the series since the original three. Pretty much classic Aliens action all the way through and the most likeable characters since Hicks and Newt.

Do yourself a favor and skip the two books before this and go straight to Rogue.

[Tylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a genuine breath of fresh air from Alien Harvest. This felt like a real attempt at creating a good Alien story, and with Alien Earth being a fun watch, this was definitely the right time to read this. I had fun.

[Charlie Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 to 3.75 stars; I wish Goodreads would do half stars. This is a fun, easy read not requiring deep thinking. Not all books should and there's room for all kinds.

[Exanimis · Rating 5 out of 5]

another great entry into the franchise.
Franchise book #15
First novel series #6

[clumsyplankton · Rating 2 out of 5]

could have been a lot better. Wasn't an enjoyable read

[Bo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot almost identical to Nightmare Asylum.

[user48573452 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool story... just it needed more aliens, more deaths, and less boring scenes about humans and tunnels.

There were some interesting and quite funny moments too however

[Robert Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down, the antagonist was a little crazy but he was a threat. The aliens were well done, the tension and action were properly paced and the characters were interesting

[My Realm of Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

The saga alien is very interesting but some of these novels aren't very good but they are interesting.

[Jean-Francois Boivin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book opens with this dedication: "For Steve Perry, one of the finest writers of them all."

It is fitting because married couple Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith, here writing under the pseudonym "Sandy Schofield" are up there as well.

This is the 1995 novelization of the 1993 four-issue comic ALIENS: ROGUE by Ian Edginton. Very much like Perry's own ALIENS comics adaptations, this one is very faithful to the original, and expands the characters in a lot of interesting ways. There are a few minor differences (i.e. marine Choi is a Private instead of a Corporal; Mr. Kray is spelled Cray) and a few major ones in the form of additional characters. For example, in the comic Kray/Cray becomes the love interest for the main character Captain Joyce Palmer as they run for their lives in the alien-overrun Charon Base, while in the novel a new character Hank is introduced that Palmer knew for a while as a lover. Hank is also part of a group of underground revolutionaries who secretly fight against the insane scientist who runs the installation for Z.C.T. Corporation, Dr. Ersnt Klein, who are also a new element. Also, unlike in the comics Sgt. Reuben Green is not the only marine who survives the doctor's machinations.

All these elements serve the narrative while keeping the original story intact. The writing style flows very well and is a quick read, mostly because it is so riveting and well written.

NOTE: While KKR and DWS have written a lot of novels together and separately included STAR TREK book, only a few were published under the Schofield name: a DEEP SPACE NINE novel, a QUANTUM LEAP novel, and later for Bantam/Dark Horse a PREDATOR adaptation novel.

[Saskia (Smitie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, simple action novel with aliens, marines, a crazy professor and a transport ship captain who gets involved into all the craziness. Because the story is short, the whole plot does not rise above the average action SF book. There are no clever sub plots and the characters have some personality, but nothing special. Still, I enjoyed the book and I would like to read more books in this series.

[Alex Klimkewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it back in middle school. Enjoyed it then, along with several other Aliens, Predator, and Aliens vs. Predator books, but I probably wouldn't read it again.