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Alien: River of Pain
Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
Ellen Ripley finally returns to Earth, only to discover that LV-426 - resting place of the Nostromo and the xenomorph she first encountered - has been renamed Acheron.
Protected by Colonial Marines, the colonists seek to terraform the storm-swept planet against all the odds. But in the face of brutal living conditions and the daily struggles of a new world, there is humanity and hope. Anne and Russell Jorden - two colonists who are seeking a fortune that eluded them on Earth - are expecting their first born child.
The birth of Rebecca Jorden, known to her family as 'Newt', is a cause for celebration. But as the colony grows and expands, so too do the political struggles between a small detachment of Colonial Marines and the Weyland-Yutani scientists posted on Acheron. Willing to overlook their orders in order to serve the Company's interests, these scientists have another far more sinister agenda - to covertly capture a living Alien.
The wildcatters discover a vast, decaying spaceship. The horseshoe-shaped vessel is of particular interest to Weyland-Yutani, and may be the answer to their dreams. But what Anne and Russell find on board proves to be the stuff, not of dreams, but of nightmares.
This terrifying, cinematic, multi-cast dramatization - directed by the multi-award winning Dirk Maggs, best-known for his adaptations of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere for the BBC - is the sequel to Audible Original's Alien: Out Of The Shadows (nominated for Best Audio Drama at the 2017 Audies).
Starring Golden Globe nominated Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies, Limitless), Alexander Siddig (Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Game of Thrones), Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman, Doctor Who), Colin Salmon (Alien vs Predator, Arrow, James Bond), Marc Warren (Mad Dogs, Saving Private Ryan, Hustle) and Philip Glenister (Outcast, Life on Mars), with special guest star William Hope returning as Lt. Gorman from James Cameron's Aliens.
Ellen Ripley finally returns to Earth, only to discover that LV-426 - resting place of the Nostromo and the xenomorph she first encountered - has been renamed Acheron.
Protected by Colonial Marines, the colonists seek to terraform the storm-swept planet against all the odds. But in the face of brutal living conditions and the daily struggles of a new world, there is humanity and hope. Anne and Russell Jorden - two colonists who are seeking a fortune that eluded them on Earth - are expecting their first born child.
The birth of Rebecca Jorden, known to her family as 'Newt', is a cause for celebration. But as the colony grows and expands, so too do the political struggles between a small detachment of Colonial Marines and the Weyland-Yutani scientists posted on Acheron. Willing to overlook their orders in order to serve the Company's interests, these scientists have another far more sinister agenda - to covertly capture a living Alien.
The wildcatters discover a vast, decaying spaceship. The horseshoe-shaped vessel is of particular interest to Weyland-Yutani, and may be the answer to their dreams. But what Anne and Russell find on board proves to be the stuff, not of dreams, but of nightmares.
This terrifying, cinematic, multi-cast dramatization - directed by the multi-award winning Dirk Maggs, best-known for his adaptations of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere for the BBC - is the sequel to Audible Original's Alien: Out Of The Shadows (nominated for Best Audio Drama at the 2017 Audies).
Starring Golden Globe nominated Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies, Limitless), Alexander Siddig (Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Game of Thrones), Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman, Doctor Who), Colin Salmon (Alien vs Predator, Arrow, James Bond), Marc Warren (Mad Dogs, Saving Private Ryan, Hustle) and Philip Glenister (Outcast, Life on Mars), with special guest star William Hope returning as Lt. Gorman from James Cameron's Aliens.
5 pages, Audible Audio
First published November 25, 2014
8 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Golden
798 books2,959 followersCHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, Of Saints and Shadows, and Red Hands. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Lady Baltimore. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden co-hosts the podcast Defenders Dialogue with horror author Brian Keene. In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards. For the Bram Stoker Awards, Golden has been nominated ten times in eight different categories. His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 163 reviews
February 13, 2019
This was a free Audible Original and right up my alley, so I hopped on it.
I especially liked the last one I listened to Alien: Out of the Shadows by Tim Lebbon, so I thought I would enjoy this one just as much. I didn't.
I felt that during the first half, not much happened, other than us meeting everyone, which seemed like a bit of a waste, since
Also, when the action finally started, it was a bit difficult to fathom what was going on-I mean you could figure it out- but it seemed silly to go through all of these performances, screaming and sound effects, only to have to figure out what happened by the actual dialogue before and after the event.
Overall though, this was a free audio and I was entertained- I just didn't get anything new.
Thanks to Audible for the free download.
I especially liked the last one I listened to Alien: Out of the Shadows by Tim Lebbon, so I thought I would enjoy this one just as much. I didn't.
I felt that during the first half, not much happened, other than us meeting everyone, which seemed like a bit of a waste, since
Also, when the action finally started, it was a bit difficult to fathom what was going on-I mean you could figure it out- but it seemed silly to go through all of these performances, screaming and sound effects, only to have to figure out what happened by the actual dialogue before and after the event.
Overall though, this was a free audio and I was entertained- I just didn't get anything new.
Thanks to Audible for the free download.
August 26, 2017
Oh... My... Gods... PERFECT!
I'm sitting here for 10 minutes now not knowing how to start this review. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions.
At first I didn't even want to try it, as ignore is my default reaction when ad bombardment starts. Audible aggresively promoted the book everywhere and it was very hard to ignore. Which was pissing me off.
But as somewhat of a fan of this universe, it would have been irresponsible of me not to give it a fair try. At least that's my rationalization for succumbing to a mass-media pressure. It's a pretty good defense :-)
Third part in the Canonical Alien Trilogy series (which I had no idea about!) and written back in 2014 (which I had no idea about even more!). Some fan I am, right?
Book #1 was turned into an audiobook on 26th of April 2016. And on 26/04/2017 they recorded this one. Huh?
I guess on 26/04/2018 we'll have our second part :-)
So I cared not about the order of things and jumped right into the book #3. And I had a blast!
Acted, not narrated, by the full cast of ~20 people, it was masterfully directed and edited. It was like being there!
Story-wise, it could have been better, but I was enjoying being immersed in it too much to care about kinks here and there. I might have just missed Aliens too much. Or just the general horror genre, not entirely sure.
I see plenty of reviews hitting the book with 2-3*, but I guess they haven't had the audiobook experience I did. It made everything so much better. So, so much better.
Can't see myself rating this less than 5*, considering how much enjoyment I got out of it. I'm still not clear on the previous story of this trilogy - or post-story, since this part is supposed to be a kind of a flashback to previous part... or a clarification, tying loose ends, short story thing - I don't know. Nor do I care.
It plays perfectly as an introduction to the movie Aliens 2, the best sequel of any awesome movie ever. No spoilers! :-)
It was a bit short, though. Not even full 5 hours. But any book that could thrill me like this and run through a vertigo of emotions fully deserves my credit. I'll surely be getting part 1, but I may wait until they record part 2, too.
Grab it from Audible [US/UK] for 15-ish bucks.
They are here... And we're all going to die.
I'm sitting here for 10 minutes now not knowing how to start this review. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions.
At first I didn't even want to try it, as ignore is my default reaction when ad bombardment starts. Audible aggresively promoted the book everywhere and it was very hard to ignore. Which was pissing me off.
But as somewhat of a fan of this universe, it would have been irresponsible of me not to give it a fair try. At least that's my rationalization for succumbing to a mass-media pressure. It's a pretty good defense :-)
Third part in the Canonical Alien Trilogy series (which I had no idea about!) and written back in 2014 (which I had no idea about even more!). Some fan I am, right?
Book #1 was turned into an audiobook on 26th of April 2016. And on 26/04/2017 they recorded this one. Huh?
I guess on 26/04/2018 we'll have our second part :-)
So I cared not about the order of things and jumped right into the book #3. And I had a blast!
Acted, not narrated, by the full cast of ~20 people, it was masterfully directed and edited. It was like being there!
Story-wise, it could have been better, but I was enjoying being immersed in it too much to care about kinks here and there. I might have just missed Aliens too much. Or just the general horror genre, not entirely sure.
I see plenty of reviews hitting the book with 2-3*, but I guess they haven't had the audiobook experience I did. It made everything so much better. So, so much better.
Can't see myself rating this less than 5*, considering how much enjoyment I got out of it. I'm still not clear on the previous story of this trilogy - or post-story, since this part is supposed to be a kind of a flashback to previous part... or a clarification, tying loose ends, short story thing - I don't know. Nor do I care.
It plays perfectly as an introduction to the movie Aliens 2, the best sequel of any awesome movie ever. No spoilers! :-)
It was a bit short, though. Not even full 5 hours. But any book that could thrill me like this and run through a vertigo of emotions fully deserves my credit. I'll surely be getting part 1, but I may wait until they record part 2, too.
Grab it from Audible [US/UK] for 15-ish bucks.
They are here... And we're all going to die.
June 5, 2017
Not quite as good as the last Alien dramatisation by Audible, Alien: Out of the Shadows: An Audible Original Drama, which I loved. This is set just before the arrival of marines in Aliens and while there's a certain delicious tingle you get as a listener knowing everyone is going to die save one little Newt, none of the characters were vivid enough for me to really enjoy their horrible deaths. Not only that, nobody stared dying until at least half way through. Come on producers, all we really want is lots of aliens killing lots of people in imaginative and painful ways. And Ripley being her usual kid ass self. Of course, this had the best soundtrack- the fun noises of aliens, spaceships, loaders, face hugers...
Who am I kidding anyway, i'll be listening to and watching these Aliens things till the end of time, even though the franchise is getting closer to destruction than ever.
Who am I kidding anyway, i'll be listening to and watching these Aliens things till the end of time, even though the franchise is getting closer to destruction than ever.
October 24, 2017
This book is ridiculous.
I'm a sucker for happy endings and always want the best for all the characters. So it's not a good sign when I read something and hope for everyone to die at the end. The team was just so stupid, I was rooting for the Aliens the whole time (who were a lot more intelligent and better organized by the way).
The humans made so many dumb decisions. They kept saying things like "For crying out loud, it's some kind of snake, not the boogeyman" even after five Aliens were on the loose and people have been killed. They also constantly wandered off alone, even though team members went missing and kept forgetting to lock doors behind them ("I didn‘t think it mattered!").
Another problem for me was the big cast. So many characters with so little personal information, therefore I didn't really care for any of them. Although Anna Friel did a good job as Anne, I still think that Laurel Lefkow as Ripley works a lot better as the lead. For me Ripley will always be the most interesting character in the Alien Universe, but she was hardly in this book.
And the kid voice actors were really annoying, especially Tim with his habit to perform his lines as if he where in a stage production and not in an audio book. He kept emphasizing every other word in his lines while the rest of the cast spoke in a rather normal, more realistic manner and it annoyed me to death.
This book is not as thrilling and fast-paced as the prequel, it actually takes until 50% of the book to get exciting, when finally the Aliens show up. And even then it's not exactly thrilling. It's still a lot better than Prometheus and Alien: Covenant though. At least the idiots in Alien: River of Pain put on helmets before going out and exploring unknown territory.
I'm a sucker for happy endings and always want the best for all the characters. So it's not a good sign when I read something and hope for everyone to die at the end. The team was just so stupid, I was rooting for the Aliens the whole time (who were a lot more intelligent and better organized by the way).
The humans made so many dumb decisions. They kept saying things like "For crying out loud, it's some kind of snake, not the boogeyman" even after five Aliens were on the loose and people have been killed. They also constantly wandered off alone, even though team members went missing and kept forgetting to lock doors behind them ("I didn‘t think it mattered!").
Another problem for me was the big cast. So many characters with so little personal information, therefore I didn't really care for any of them. Although Anna Friel did a good job as Anne, I still think that Laurel Lefkow as Ripley works a lot better as the lead. For me Ripley will always be the most interesting character in the Alien Universe, but she was hardly in this book.
And the kid voice actors were really annoying, especially Tim with his habit to perform his lines as if he where in a stage production and not in an audio book. He kept emphasizing every other word in his lines while the rest of the cast spoke in a rather normal, more realistic manner and it annoyed me to death.
This book is not as thrilling and fast-paced as the prequel, it actually takes until 50% of the book to get exciting, when finally the Aliens show up. And even then it's not exactly thrilling. It's still a lot better than Prometheus and Alien: Covenant though. At least the idiots in Alien: River of Pain put on helmets before going out and exploring unknown territory.
May 2, 2019
5/10
The previous audiobook was fun and had me wanting to listen more and more. This one forgot the fun element and was a bit of a bore. It's a lot of scene setting for an end result of lots of machine gun noises and people you don't care about dying.
The production was top notch, can't fault that. The story was boring. I doubt I'll listen to any more unless they pop up as a freebie.
The previous audiobook was fun and had me wanting to listen more and more. This one forgot the fun element and was a bit of a bore. It's a lot of scene setting for an end result of lots of machine gun noises and people you don't care about dying.
The production was top notch, can't fault that. The story was boring. I doubt I'll listen to any more unless they pop up as a freebie.
October 22, 2018
This full cast audible drama was amazing! 5 stars for the audible and 3 stars for the overall story.
We do learn some interesting things such as why Burke went along with the marines and all about Newts family.
The voice actors were a good match to known characters and the MC marine sounded just like Ron Perlman. But no one can scream like Newt.
Solid read to celebrate Alien Day.
September 5, 2019
Wie diese Hörspiele in den offiziellen Canon integriert sind, gefällt mir bedeutend besser als die filmischen Neuaufgüsse der letzten Jahre.
Durch die Originalsounds aus dem Archiv und, soweit es möglich war, den Originalsprechern ist es ein gutes Hörerlebnis. Natürlich weiß man, wie die Geschichte ausgeht, wenn man Aliens gesehen hat.
Trotzdem finde ich die Story ganz gut. Wenn man bedenkt, dass es vorm 2. Alien Film eine ganze Kolonie bis auf Newt auf LV426 bzw. Acheron dahingerafft hat, hat mich schon immer interessiert, was sich da zugetragen haben soll. Klar, jeder Alien Film und auch bisher jedes Hörbuch läuft in dem Universum nach dem selben Schema F ab. Damit muss man wohl leben. Aber da es auch offizieller Canon ist, kann man so kleine Sachen, die man bisher nicht wusste für bare Münze nehmen.
Zum Beispiel die Erwähnung von Bishop und warum er nicht so ein Arsch ist, wie Ash.
Alles in allem eine runde Sache.
Durch die Originalsounds aus dem Archiv und, soweit es möglich war, den Originalsprechern ist es ein gutes Hörerlebnis. Natürlich weiß man, wie die Geschichte ausgeht, wenn man Aliens gesehen hat.
Trotzdem finde ich die Story ganz gut. Wenn man bedenkt, dass es vorm 2. Alien Film eine ganze Kolonie bis auf Newt auf LV426 bzw. Acheron dahingerafft hat, hat mich schon immer interessiert, was sich da zugetragen haben soll. Klar, jeder Alien Film und auch bisher jedes Hörbuch läuft in dem Universum nach dem selben Schema F ab. Damit muss man wohl leben. Aber da es auch offizieller Canon ist, kann man so kleine Sachen, die man bisher nicht wusste für bare Münze nehmen.
Zum Beispiel die Erwähnung von Bishop und warum er nicht so ein Arsch ist, wie Ash.
Alles in allem eine runde Sache.
March 15, 2018
This is an Audible exclusive radio drama, with a full cast, sound effects and music. A bit different to your average audio book, and for me the quality of the voice acting and production were outstanding. I got totally immersed in the story even though I pretty much knew where it was going. (It's an Alien story and they all pretty much have the same pattern.)
The drama fills in a part of the story not covered in the movies. It's about the fate of the colony on LV-426, then know as Acheron. The story starts some ten years after the initial colonization of the planet and before they discovered anything unusual on the planet. They find the alien spaceship and what happens next is pretty much what you would expect:) It ends right at the point where the young girl Newt is discovered by Ripley (near the beginning of the movie Aliens).
Excellent production and entertainment, not quite 5 stars because of predictability.
The drama fills in a part of the story not covered in the movies. It's about the fate of the colony on LV-426, then know as Acheron. The story starts some ten years after the initial colonization of the planet and before they discovered anything unusual on the planet. They find the alien spaceship and what happens next is pretty much what you would expect:) It ends right at the point where the young girl Newt is discovered by Ripley (near the beginning of the movie Aliens).
Excellent production and entertainment, not quite 5 stars because of predictability.
December 10, 2018
I'll leave my review of the story to my read of the actual book, this is purely looking at the Audible drama version.
It was fun.
The acting generally was good with nothing detracting from the action and story except for Newts scream. Seriously this was just bad.
The sound effects and dialogue was fitting to the story and authentic to the series and it was an enjoyable romp as it dipped in and out of the films scenes. What was Dr Bashir doing in it though? I know he's an actor doing other stuff but I cant hear his voice and not think of Bashir.
Looking forward to Sea of Sorrows Audible drama now.
It was fun.
The acting generally was good with nothing detracting from the action and story except for Newts scream. Seriously this was just bad.
The sound effects and dialogue was fitting to the story and authentic to the series and it was an enjoyable romp as it dipped in and out of the films scenes. What was Dr Bashir doing in it though? I know he's an actor doing other stuff but I cant hear his voice and not think of Bashir.
Looking forward to Sea of Sorrows Audible drama now.
August 7, 2023
Actual score more like a 2.5 but 2 stars feels a little harsh and goodreads doesn’t do half stars so…
Where Out of the Shadows was at least a fairly enjoyable story that shouldn’t exist, this one feels like a Star Wars story that’s shoehorned between movies where basically nothing unexpected is allowed to happen.
River of Pain is the story of how the Hadley’s Hope colony from Aliens becomes overrun, which may have worked well in a videogame where you get to walk through everything and see it happen, but as a book or audio drama it felt like there was too little room to do anything interesting. It hints at how the Xenomorph queen comes into existence, but having someone more clearly see some of that happening probably would have been the most interesting thing the book could do, and it doesn’t happen.
The story can be summarized as the colonists of Hadley’s Hope find the derelict ship from the original movie, bring an alien back on someone’s face, aliens wipe out everyone in the colony. Almost an exact rehash of the events of first movie.
A few of the new characters introduced were alright and the production was once again fairly well done. Most of the voice acting performances were good with the exception of a child voice actor that was pretty rough, but that’s often how that goes.
I don’t really recommend this one unless you’re in dire need to consume some James Cameron’s Aliens tie in content.
Where Out of the Shadows was at least a fairly enjoyable story that shouldn’t exist, this one feels like a Star Wars story that’s shoehorned between movies where basically nothing unexpected is allowed to happen.
River of Pain is the story of how the Hadley’s Hope colony from Aliens becomes overrun, which may have worked well in a videogame where you get to walk through everything and see it happen, but as a book or audio drama it felt like there was too little room to do anything interesting. It hints at how the Xenomorph queen comes into existence, but having someone more clearly see some of that happening probably would have been the most interesting thing the book could do, and it doesn’t happen.
The story can be summarized as the colonists of Hadley’s Hope find the derelict ship from the original movie, bring an alien back on someone’s face, aliens wipe out everyone in the colony. Almost an exact rehash of the events of first movie.
A few of the new characters introduced were alright and the production was once again fairly well done. Most of the voice acting performances were good with the exception of a child voice actor that was pretty rough, but that’s often how that goes.
I don’t really recommend this one unless you’re in dire need to consume some James Cameron’s Aliens tie in content.
December 20, 2024
Not as good as the first one unfortunately, but still entertaining! Precious little Newt tho 🥹
November 2, 2022
Seguimos con las dramatizaciones de estas novelas que se ubican entre las películas de la saga de Alien, En este caso Alien, Río de dolor se encuentra a caballo entre la primera y la segunda película. Parte de la novela se ve en los primeros minutos de la película, y la segunda película luego ya transcurre cuando el libro termina.
De nuevo el cast de actrices y actores es espectacular, y este libro me ha gustado mucho más. Se ambienta en Aqueronte, un planetoide al que estan intentando terraformar para que la vida tal como la conocemos sea posible en esa roca.
En este libro por supuesto aparecerán los aliens, no os sintáis defraudados, pero también se ve mucho el funcionamiento de esa colonia de humanos aventureros que decidieron dejar sus vidas en la Tierra para colonizar otros lugares.
De nuevo el cast de actrices y actores es espectacular, y este libro me ha gustado mucho más. Se ambienta en Aqueronte, un planetoide al que estan intentando terraformar para que la vida tal como la conocemos sea posible en esa roca.
En este libro por supuesto aparecerán los aliens, no os sintáis defraudados, pero también se ve mucho el funcionamiento de esa colonia de humanos aventureros que decidieron dejar sus vidas en la Tierra para colonizar otros lugares.
February 7, 2018
I liked this but not quite as much as Out of the Shadows. This is basically a prequel to Aliens that shows what happens to the colony on Acheron. Getting a better understanding of how the fate of the colony came to be was pretty good and I enjoyed the scenes with Newt in it. It did take awhile to get to the actual aliens part though.
January 9, 2020
Less Ripley in this version and keen to see how the ending plays into the 3rd audible original.
Honestly thought that Newt was going to die at the end after Decker and his surviving marines left Acheron. Later find that Ripley and the marines with her rescue Newt. How did Newt survive for the time between Decker's departure and Ripley's arrival with all the xenomorphs running around the base?
Honestly thought that Newt was going to die at the end after Decker and his surviving marines left Acheron. Later find that Ripley and the marines with her rescue Newt. How did Newt survive for the time between Decker's departure and Ripley's arrival with all the xenomorphs running around the base?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2022
I was surprised to find the audiobook was a performance. Some of the fooly and sound mixing was unpleasant, mostly the first part, but still really good voice acting and atmosphere.,
January 23, 2023
Free radio drama on Audible. A lot of fun for fellow Alien super-fans. Headed by Dirk Maggs, the talent behind the excellent The Sandman Audible dramatizations.
October 16, 2025
A nice piece that fills in the experience on LV426 (aka Acheron) between the first two films.
The "old flame" side story was very ugh, but otherwise the characters were generally great.
I thought I recognised the voice of the Captain from Red Dwarf but I didn't verify that so don't trust me on it.
The "old flame" side story was very ugh, but otherwise the characters were generally great.
I thought I recognised the voice of the Captain from Red Dwarf but I didn't verify that so don't trust me on it.
July 2, 2024
It was an interesting take on Newts story before Ripley arrived
June 20, 2025
Another spectacular audio drama from Dirk Maggs.
Special mention must be made of Alexander Siddig's nuanced, thought-provoking performance, which elevates what could have been a minor role as a heartless Weyland-Yutani researcher, and proves that there are no small parts, only small actors.
Special mention must be made of Alexander Siddig's nuanced, thought-provoking performance, which elevates what could have been a minor role as a heartless Weyland-Yutani researcher, and proves that there are no small parts, only small actors.
May 4, 2017
My original ALIEN: RIVER OF PAIN audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.
Alien: River of Pain, the latest Audible Original Drama to commemorate Alien Day (4/26, as in the planetary vacation hot-spot LV-426), picks up right on the heels of the film, Alien, and last year’s audiodrama, Alien: Out of the Shadows. Here, a group of colonists have begun settling and terraforming the inhospitable rock cataloged as LV-426, now renamed Acheron. Fans of the movie Aliens know exactly where things are headed, though, and this story serves as a direct prequel and side-story to that film, as author Christopher Golden takes us through the xenomorphic siege of the lost colony.
Much of this production’s first half is a slow burn, as listeners are introduced to the various factions and individuals within the colony. There’s the colony administrator, the various teams of surveyors, including Russ and Anne Jorden and their children (one of whom is the first human born on Acheron and goes by the nickname Newt), scientists from the Weyland-Yutani mega-corporation, and a team of marines, led by their new commander Damien Brackett. Interspersed between the story of Acheron’s development are snippets of Ellen Ripley’s recovery, much of which is lifted straight out of Aliens and provides a timeline of continuity between the two stories. Fans of Laurel Lefkow will be pleased to know the actress returns from Out of the Shadows to once again voice Ripley, delivering a pitch-perfect performance that eerily and uncannily resembles Sigourney Weaver’s original performance.
It’s not until the mid-way point of the production that things kick into high gear after the Jorden’s receive orders from Weyland-Yutani to survey a set of very specific coordinates, which lead them to a very familiar derelict ship, and a very familiar discovery. From that point on, the production gets it Alien freakshow going good.
While River of Pain is an entertaining listen, due largely to Dirk Maggs’ intense production values and fully immersive soundscape, and solid performances across the board from the drama’s large cast, this does come with a caveat. This is an enjoyable listen, but nothing about the story is particularly surprising. Anybody who has seen Aliens knows exactly what this story is about and how it will unravel right from the very start (although the very last moments do provide an interesting twist and potential for future exploration). The cast and crew are certainly game for it all, though, and I’m certainly happy to listen to an Audible Original, particularly when it involves one of my favorite sci-fi horror franchises. From a production standpoint, this book is certainly a success and is chock-full of atmosphere, gunfire, screams, and alien threats lurking right behind you.
With this latest release, Audible has now produced two dramas based on novels originally published as part of Titan Books’ 2014 trilogy. Alien: Sea of Sorrows, written by James A. Moore, has yet to be adapted, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an Alien Day 2018 release.
Alien: River of Pain, the latest Audible Original Drama to commemorate Alien Day (4/26, as in the planetary vacation hot-spot LV-426), picks up right on the heels of the film, Alien, and last year’s audiodrama, Alien: Out of the Shadows. Here, a group of colonists have begun settling and terraforming the inhospitable rock cataloged as LV-426, now renamed Acheron. Fans of the movie Aliens know exactly where things are headed, though, and this story serves as a direct prequel and side-story to that film, as author Christopher Golden takes us through the xenomorphic siege of the lost colony.
Much of this production’s first half is a slow burn, as listeners are introduced to the various factions and individuals within the colony. There’s the colony administrator, the various teams of surveyors, including Russ and Anne Jorden and their children (one of whom is the first human born on Acheron and goes by the nickname Newt), scientists from the Weyland-Yutani mega-corporation, and a team of marines, led by their new commander Damien Brackett. Interspersed between the story of Acheron’s development are snippets of Ellen Ripley’s recovery, much of which is lifted straight out of Aliens and provides a timeline of continuity between the two stories. Fans of Laurel Lefkow will be pleased to know the actress returns from Out of the Shadows to once again voice Ripley, delivering a pitch-perfect performance that eerily and uncannily resembles Sigourney Weaver’s original performance.
It’s not until the mid-way point of the production that things kick into high gear after the Jorden’s receive orders from Weyland-Yutani to survey a set of very specific coordinates, which lead them to a very familiar derelict ship, and a very familiar discovery. From that point on, the production gets it Alien freakshow going good.
While River of Pain is an entertaining listen, due largely to Dirk Maggs’ intense production values and fully immersive soundscape, and solid performances across the board from the drama’s large cast, this does come with a caveat. This is an enjoyable listen, but nothing about the story is particularly surprising. Anybody who has seen Aliens knows exactly what this story is about and how it will unravel right from the very start (although the very last moments do provide an interesting twist and potential for future exploration). The cast and crew are certainly game for it all, though, and I’m certainly happy to listen to an Audible Original, particularly when it involves one of my favorite sci-fi horror franchises. From a production standpoint, this book is certainly a success and is chock-full of atmosphere, gunfire, screams, and alien threats lurking right behind you.
With this latest release, Audible has now produced two dramas based on novels originally published as part of Titan Books’ 2014 trilogy. Alien: Sea of Sorrows, written by James A. Moore, has yet to be adapted, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an Alien Day 2018 release.
March 8, 2018
Characters so stupid and unlikable, ended up rooting for the Xenomorphs.
God, where to start...
Prior to this I listed to the dramatization for "Out of Shadows" which I absolutely adored, but "River of Pain" got on my nerves, BIG TIME!
I would give 5 stars for the way the dramatization was made, for the sound effects which were on point, for the whole Alien atmosphere, which they managed to create.
Was lovely and allowed me to emerge myself into the story.
However, I would give 0 stars for the story, the characters and dialogues...Jesus Christ!
It's was interesting to know what happened to the colony on LV 426, how they ended up all huddled together ...dead or "impregnated" with monsters, prior to the arrival of the Marines from "Aliens" , but the story itself, as it was portrayed in this dramatization ..made me want to flung my phone across the room, at least a dozen times!
There were no characters that I could root for or care about. The amount of stupidity portrayed in the dialogues is out of this world; the characters unlikable and incapable.
I finally gave up and just rooted for the Xenomorphs to kill everyone, because I just could not take it anymore.
I would like to say that Russel and Anne Jorden, would definitely deserve the medal for the worsts parents in the universe! For goodness sake..how these 2 would ever managed to get a job as prospectors, scientists, on the colony is beyond me (It doesn't matter we're talking about fictional characters, we should still have standards.); considering the limitless stupidity they displayed throughout this book, Anne's 2nd grade vocabulary and observation skills and Russel's damn annoying self.
I absolutely loathed these 2 characters, even more than Dr. Reese, if that was ever possible. It was an especially bad combination : the stupidity of the dialogues and the 2 actors voices : Anne Friel and Marc Warren, which simply annoyed me beyond belief.
I'm sorry to say, but Tim Lebbon definitely did a much better job than Christopher Golden, "Out of Shadows" was 10 times better, when it comes to the story and the characters.
I don't have words to express how utterly stupid everyone on LV 426 was and how a high level of imbecility seemed to be the primary factor in choosing who got to be on LV 426, in the 1st place.
Thank goodness I finished this and my phone survived the experience.
God, where to start...
Prior to this I listed to the dramatization for "Out of Shadows" which I absolutely adored, but "River of Pain" got on my nerves, BIG TIME!
I would give 5 stars for the way the dramatization was made, for the sound effects which were on point, for the whole Alien atmosphere, which they managed to create.
Was lovely and allowed me to emerge myself into the story.
However, I would give 0 stars for the story, the characters and dialogues...Jesus Christ!
It's was interesting to know what happened to the colony on LV 426, how they ended up all huddled together ...dead or "impregnated" with monsters, prior to the arrival of the Marines from "Aliens" , but the story itself, as it was portrayed in this dramatization ..made me want to flung my phone across the room, at least a dozen times!
There were no characters that I could root for or care about. The amount of stupidity portrayed in the dialogues is out of this world; the characters unlikable and incapable.
I finally gave up and just rooted for the Xenomorphs to kill everyone, because I just could not take it anymore.
I would like to say that Russel and Anne Jorden, would definitely deserve the medal for the worsts parents in the universe! For goodness sake..how these 2 would ever managed to get a job as prospectors, scientists, on the colony is beyond me (It doesn't matter we're talking about fictional characters, we should still have standards.); considering the limitless stupidity they displayed throughout this book, Anne's 2nd grade vocabulary and observation skills and Russel's damn annoying self.
I absolutely loathed these 2 characters, even more than Dr. Reese, if that was ever possible. It was an especially bad combination : the stupidity of the dialogues and the 2 actors voices : Anne Friel and Marc Warren, which simply annoyed me beyond belief.
I'm sorry to say, but Tim Lebbon definitely did a much better job than Christopher Golden, "Out of Shadows" was 10 times better, when it comes to the story and the characters.
I don't have words to express how utterly stupid everyone on LV 426 was and how a high level of imbecility seemed to be the primary factor in choosing who got to be on LV 426, in the 1st place.
Thank goodness I finished this and my phone survived the experience.
June 19, 2023
There is a fundamental problem with audio dramas - and that is what this is, don't let anyone tell you different. The characters have to describe for the audience what is going on, what they can see, because there is no narration in audio drama, neither is there a picture. This may sound obvious, but the inevitable result is that the dialogue is often stilted and expositional by necessity. "Oh no, the alien's climbing the framework and dropping down on the other side where it can get us!" There is no other way to do this, and the end result is often so contrived that it does make one wonder why anyone bothered. Money, presumably.
It's a pity, because there is a stellar cast in this adaptation, but they don't have a great deal to work with. The dialogue tends to be prosaic shoot-'em-up gruntspeak: eat lead, alien scum; that sort of thing. Although, that is better (just) than the deafening rattle of gunfire that populates more of the last act of this production.
This story fills the gap between the movies Alien and Alien 2. I presume there's a market for this sort of thing, but that's another drawback of novelisations, they are innately less inventive than the original property, because the remit is to cleave to that original property; give the audience what it wants. But of course this is not what the audience wants, really. Because what the audience loved was the original material, that was created with the intention of doing something different, pushing boundaries. Well, there are no boundaries being pushed here.
It's a pity, because there is a stellar cast in this adaptation, but they don't have a great deal to work with. The dialogue tends to be prosaic shoot-'em-up gruntspeak: eat lead, alien scum; that sort of thing. Although, that is better (just) than the deafening rattle of gunfire that populates more of the last act of this production.
This story fills the gap between the movies Alien and Alien 2. I presume there's a market for this sort of thing, but that's another drawback of novelisations, they are innately less inventive than the original property, because the remit is to cleave to that original property; give the audience what it wants. But of course this is not what the audience wants, really. Because what the audience loved was the original material, that was created with the intention of doing something different, pushing boundaries. Well, there are no boundaries being pushed here.
April 14, 2021
I enjoyed this one quite a bit - I love the audiobooks that are like the old-fashioned radio dramas. This multi-cast with sound effects, music, was well-done and fun. As an alien fan, it was interesting to see some of the sequences in between the original Alien and Aliens, including a bit more detail of Ripley's time on Earth (besides not hearing about her daughter...thinking they changed that because of some of the other stories they've come out with for Audible stories.)
I've seen some complaints on the Audible website about the children being obnoxious - I'm not seeing it, though. They weren't on "page" much at all, and when they were, I found their voices and dialogue fine. It takes awhile for the aliens to make themselves known, but when they come, you get intense scenes with segregated groups between the marines, civilians, and 'scientists'. The point of the capitalist, greedy company being the true evil is enforced as strongly in this story as it was in the original movies.
Well worth it for alien fans - a fun production that flies by.
I've seen some complaints on the Audible website about the children being obnoxious - I'm not seeing it, though. They weren't on "page" much at all, and when they were, I found their voices and dialogue fine. It takes awhile for the aliens to make themselves known, but when they come, you get intense scenes with segregated groups between the marines, civilians, and 'scientists'. The point of the capitalist, greedy company being the true evil is enforced as strongly in this story as it was in the original movies.
Well worth it for alien fans - a fun production that flies by.
November 7, 2021
I totally enjoyed listening to this. It is exceptionally well written if you know the story that it was taken from and expanded upon. I like that the story of what happens on the planet and the story told in the second movie are linked. The characters that we never really got to know are very well fleshed out and it lends a whole new dimension to the story and how things play out off stage.
The story is set mainly on Acheron, LV 426 the moon that Ripley and her crew set down on all those years ago and found a species so deadly they were all wiped out except for her. They go back to the establishing of the colony with the birth of Rebecca 'Newt' Jordan and her family as the center of a lot of the action. We get an insight into the company and how they use and manipulate the colonists for their own gain as they establish themselves.
Good listen from start to finish and held me more than ready to delve into more. Worth taking the time for.
The story is set mainly on Acheron, LV 426 the moon that Ripley and her crew set down on all those years ago and found a species so deadly they were all wiped out except for her. They go back to the establishing of the colony with the birth of Rebecca 'Newt' Jordan and her family as the center of a lot of the action. We get an insight into the company and how they use and manipulate the colonists for their own gain as they establish themselves.
Good listen from start to finish and held me more than ready to delve into more. Worth taking the time for.
December 21, 2018
I listened to the Audible 5-hour audiodrama. I had also listened to the first book in the series, Alien: Out of the Shadows, as an Audible audiodrama. I truly enjoyed Alien: Out of the Shadows and was excited about River of Pain, but it just fell flat.
The characters were forgettable, the scenario was unoriginal and the pace was lagging. I love the Aliens series (minus the Aliens vs. Predators films), but I felt like this story had all the passion and drive of watching deleted scenes from Aliens. You watch those scenes and say "Wow, the movie was much better without including these scenes. I'm glad they left them out." That's how I felt about this book that the backstory was better left to our imagination than with the weak story that was presented.
The characters were forgettable, the scenario was unoriginal and the pace was lagging. I love the Aliens series (minus the Aliens vs. Predators films), but I felt like this story had all the passion and drive of watching deleted scenes from Aliens. You watch those scenes and say "Wow, the movie was much better without including these scenes. I'm glad they left them out." That's how I felt about this book that the backstory was better left to our imagination than with the weak story that was presented.
March 8, 2022
Llegué a un punto en que si disfruté el libro pero me di cuenta que es más por el formato que por la historia en si misma. Lo mencioné anteriormente y lo vuelvo a hacer, que todos mueran menos los personajes principales se torna aburrido.
Mencioné con alguien que hubiese sido genial que hubiese una lucha entre humanos para escapar de la colonia. Me lo imaginé todos encerrados en el mismo lugar echando a la gente del lugar por no querer cooperar y suena mucho más divertido. Que la compañía que siempre prescindió de la gente ahora tenga tener bajas en su grupo suena mucho más emocionante para mí, no obstante, aún es extraño cómo funciona eso porque nadie menciona quién es la cabecilla de grupo. ¿Será que es una IA? 🤔
Mencioné con alguien que hubiese sido genial que hubiese una lucha entre humanos para escapar de la colonia. Me lo imaginé todos encerrados en el mismo lugar echando a la gente del lugar por no querer cooperar y suena mucho más divertido. Que la compañía que siempre prescindió de la gente ahora tenga tener bajas en su grupo suena mucho más emocionante para mí, no obstante, aún es extraño cómo funciona eso porque nadie menciona quién es la cabecilla de grupo. ¿Será que es una IA? 🤔
May 4, 2017
4.5
Bravo and encore!
Great range of voice actors; one reprising his role from Aliens (2) - William Hope/Lt. Gorman.
Cpt. Demian Brackett, played superbly by Colin Salmon... is, as Pvt. Hudson said, "an ultimate bad-a$$".
The story is clever and it integrates with the initial events in the second Alien movie.
Sound effects are top notch and I LOVE the trilling, shrieking, guttural sounds of the Xenomorphs!
High caliber production, all around. Really enjoyed this.
Audible.com... keep them coming.
Bravo and encore!
Great range of voice actors; one reprising his role from Aliens (2) - William Hope/Lt. Gorman.
Cpt. Demian Brackett, played superbly by Colin Salmon... is, as Pvt. Hudson said, "an ultimate bad-a$$".
The story is clever and it integrates with the initial events in the second Alien movie.
Sound effects are top notch and I LOVE the trilling, shrieking, guttural sounds of the Xenomorphs!
High caliber production, all around. Really enjoyed this.
Audible.com... keep them coming.
August 12, 2019
This a very high-quality audio production with a storyline that perfectly dovetails with the plot of the movie Aliens, filling in some of the backstory nicely. Recommended for fans of Alien and Aliens.
August 16, 2018
Pretty decent Audible drama, but it was not for me. Also I felt that both the dialogue and voice acting of the children were terrible, though there were plenty of adult voice lines that were delivered equally poorly.
July 2, 2019
This was the Audible dramatisation, and it was surprisingly decent. The story was a bit trashy but as an entry into the Alien stories it fit very nicely, setting up the second movie. Good fun overall.
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