Alien: Colony War

Aliens / Predator / Prometheus Universe

by David Barnett

Political conflicts on Earth erupt into open hostilities between their colonies in space, with Xenomorphs as the ultimate weapon.On Earth, political tensions boil over between the United Americas, Union of Progressive Peoples, and Three World Empire. Conflict spreads to the outer fringes, and the UK colony of New Albion breaks with the Three World empire. This could lead to a... Colony War. Trapped in the middle are journalist Cher Hunt, scientist Chad McLaren, and the synthetic Davis. Seeking to discover who caused the death of her sister, Shy Hunt, Cher uncovers a far bigger story. McLaren's mission, fought alongside his wife Amanda Ripley, is to stop the militarization of the deadliest weapon of all—the Xenomorph. Their trail leads to a drilling facility on LV-187. Someone or something has destroyed it, killing the personnel, and the British are blamed. Colonial forces arrive, combat erupts, then both groups are overwhelmed by an alien swarm. Their only hope may lie with the Royal Marines unit known as "God's Hammer." Bonus An exclusive new game scenario based on the massively popular, award-winning Alien RPG from Free League Publishing!

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Aliens, Audiobook, Fiction, Media Tie In

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 19, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Bill Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great addition to the Aliens extended universe. Full of great characters (and unexpected deaths), a plot that would serve as a great movie storyline that also adds to the expanded book storyline. Reading others that are connected is helpful but not absolutely necessary to enjoy as a standalone. Definitely set up for sequels.

[Jojo Linkletter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Background: Alien: Colony War takes place shortly after the events of Alien: Into Charybdis, the previous book in the series. It was written by David Barnett and is his first full-length (and hopefully only - sorry, spoilers) work in the Alien series.

Summary: After the Xenomorph outbreak on Hasanova in the previous book, reporter Cherokee Hunt is out for answers on what happened to her sister Cheyenne, who died there. Furthermore, the fallout from the Hasanova incident has sent shockwaves through the political world, and now UK colony New Albion has seceded from its parent government the Three World Empire. And now a French oil-drilling outpost has suffered a similar fate to Hasanova, with New Albion taking a stake in this lucrative and now-(not-quite)-deserted facility. Cher teams up with Chad McLaren, husband of Alien: Isolation star and player character Amanda Ripley, and off we go to fight some Xeno!

Review: Okay. I'm going to topload this review with a word on politics because there has always been a political subtext of some sort in this franchise, from the shades of worker and wage inequality in Alien to the Vietnam parallels and critique of corporate practice in Aliens, and the ethics of cloning in Resurrection. And that's just the films. How about the point made in Tim Lebbon's Alien: Out of the Shadows about the miners of a valuable stone gaining the least from its value?

Alien: Colony War, conversely, foregoes the concept of a political subtext entirely and presents the British colony world of New Albion as a full-on comedy, with omnipresent Cockney characters, faux-London trappings and an ever-rainy climate. Subtle. Naturally, protagonists Cher and Chad (no, seriously, that's his name) have no patience for any of this Englishness and reflect, in near-identical monologues (coz they're the GOOD guys, see) on the hypocrisy and cruelty of the British Empire. Said monologues are sometimes presented on facing pages.

But never mind all that, let's get to the big event - Brexit... no, wait... 3WExit! When Barnett described this thing as "Brexit in space", I was a little intrigued. Would Barnett show a little cleverness with this premise, maybe offer some oblique nods to recent events, perhaps tie Brexit in with the formation of the 3WE? It would explain why we threw in with Japan and India after telling the European Union to do one. Sadly, any notion of this being the case was violently rejected when NA's PM Boris Joh... no, wait, Maurice John... ahem... Pepper showed up, floppy blond barnet and all, and decided to announce that he was taking NA out of the 3WE because something something Empire bulldog fish-n-chips. There's a tenuous connection to the previous novel made around this point but it's quickly glossed over in favour of more Britcom. We get a "hilarious"scene of Chad and Cher getting off-planet by pretending to be Cockney or something and they head for a former French mining depot now claimed by those evil Brits!

From here on out we're treated to the usual "Xenomorphs are loose and kill people" thing, except with characters calling each other "guv" every so often. A reactor threatens to explode (oh, how innovative) and somebody is outed as an android. Wowee! Haven't seen that before! Then the titular war breaks out... on the last page of this novel. Cher and Chadly McStud-Muffin ride into the sunset. Boris/Maurice Johnson/Pepper dispatches ships stuffed with Xeno eggs into the wide blue yonder because BRITISH = EVIL!

The End. Oh look, a role-playing supplement! BUY MORE ALIEN STUFF!

Seriously, so much is wrong with this novel, and I'm not even talking about the muffed Brexit parallels, or how Barnett doesn't seem to grasp that the real thing was the outcome of a democratic vote and had little to nothing to do with resurrecting the British Empire. Both of our protagonists have no real characterization beyond spouting simplistic ideals and are utterly bland, as is every other character here. The Brits are barely dimensional and range from child-killers to religious fundamentalists with no nuance whatsoever, and all speak in Cockney parlance that wouldn't look out of place in Dickens. Given that we've seen British characters in Alien 3, it's not like Barnett had no frame of reference!

Any actual Alien lore takes the form of info-dumps that look copied from sourcebooks, with the most egregious being the contrived appearance of a Praetorian near the end of the novel despite the fact that the hive would not be nearly developed enough for Praetorians to be present. And I'm not even going to talk about Chad's robot canine companion Davis. The aforementioned lack of nuance permeates everything, from Cher flying on RyanSpace - RyanAir is an Irish airline, wouldn't "British Spaceways" have worked better? - to Reuters having a presence on New Albion. It reads like an actual news report rather than an Alien novel. I know the franchise ostensibly takes place in the "Real World" and there are plenty of "Real World" references and concepts in the films. But I'm sorry - when Barnett is naming the members of a British strike team after characters in Trumpton (I won't say which ones, I'm sure you can work it out) then it just speaks to an over-reliance on existing media rather than the ability to create anything himself.

The real kicker, though, is that this novel moves nothing forward. I could forgive all of the above if something interesting actually happened, but it doesn't. The pathogen bombings on frontier colonies (y'know, with the gunk from Prometheus) are only barely mentioned, and anything remotely intriguing is shunted aside to shoehorn in more gags about how stupid British culture and society are. Going by the official Alien timeline, Brexit took place around the same time that Peter Weyland patented the first atmospheric processor - that pretty much demonstrates how this subject has no place in the Alien universe, and I can only guess at what the point of it all is.

Don't bother.

F.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid Alien adventure! I think I enjoyed the different characters and the way the story lines came together - I do wish there was more to the political aspects to the start of the war.

[Stephen McGowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author seems to want to write a pastiche of Brexit (TWExit?!) and British culture rather than an alien novel. The USCM are one dimensional bad guys, the Colonists are new Albion are from spitting image and the less said about the commando team’s names the better.
All of it took me out of the story and the story and it felt like a anticlimax after the previous novel’s ending.

Read it if you’re a fan of the series and the rpg and you don’t want to miss anything.

[Jess Big Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a standalone story to help promote a TTRPG Alien: Colony War isn't too bad.

It ticks pretty much all of the classic Alien boxes, crew wakes up unexpectedly, bad things happen, Xenos show up on a distant politically significant colony, rouge synths, space colonial marines, and everyone's favorite shadow organization. But Colony War also changed up the formula a little as well, Now Weyland Yutani isn't the only bad guy, the other military group's characters are super religious, complete with 40k-esque pre battle speech.
My favorite part was towards the end when the two synths decide to work together was really touching and interesting.

The thing is I feel like they're trying to make an 'epic' style interconnected universe with overlapping characters and I personally don't feel like that's the right direction for such an iconic horror series...When you have all these different corporations and governments fighting over the xenomorphs it feels much more action-y and less scary. These new iconic characters are bringing a bunch of meta-information which again takes away from the horror aspect. But I'm a sucker for alien bug monsters so I'll probably get the next one when it comes out.

[Derek Smyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll admit it - I really got this because I'm a huge fan of Alien: The Roleplaying Game and wanted the bonus content for that. The novel itself is all right. I was entertained, even if it wasn't at all scary, and wasn't quite what I wanted. There were a few creepy, clever things done with the Aliens that I hadn't seen before, at least.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️
Weyland-Yutani's really beating this one strategy right into the ground, huh.
Maybe the (mostly) good guys will get 'em next time.

[Chris The Lizard from Planet X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alien: Colony War By David Barnett is a movie tie-in novel based on the Alien film franchise.

the story focuses on the British Colony of New Albion where a Journalist named Cher Hunt has traveled to find out what happened to her sister. She is soon met with Chad McLaren and his synthetic partner Davis as they look to expose the Xenomorph threat which has made McLaren and Davis fugitives. At the same time, the political tension in the galaxy has boiled over and the various factions find themselves in conflict with one another which is the catalyst for an Arms Race involving the deadly aliens. When a colony known as LV-187 is seeded with Alien eggs and decimated, Cher, McLaren, and Davis find themselves faced with enemies on all sides, not just the Aliens as their search for proof of the Alien existence has put them squarely in the middle of ground zero.

While many Alien books take too much liberty for my taste in terms of the creatures and their behavior or have conflicting canon regarding tech and timelines, this new entry does not wander on and become overly long and self-indulgent like so many have before.

Readers are given an exciting adventure where the tension mounts and Barnett cleverly keeps the audience guessing such as introducing characters that are implied to be significant to the story and dispatching them early on or suddenly in favor of newly introduced characters.

While the basic premise of a group being attacked by the creatures remains a constant theme in the various Alien stories and how they must find a way to eliminate the threat, stay alive, and escape, this story adds in the political factor of divided loyalties and how morality can be tossed aside for convenience and profit as one faith-based character decides that while he considers the Aliens beings literally from Hell, it is better than their enemies have them dropped on them so they do not have to deal with them in person and rations they would do the same to us if they had the chance.

The characters are interesting and do have relations to characters in the greater Aliens expanded universe which makes for a very nice touch as well.

All in all, While it may not tread new ground in terms of the Aliens, it does offer plenty of action and well-developed characters whose motivations are well-defined which helps them become more than cannon fodder for the ravenous hordes.

[clumsyplankton · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a standalone this is pretty good.

[cosmic_truthseeker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well...this was a disappointing first (full) read of my latest Alien fixation. Before I go into more details, I think it's safe to say that the Alien Universe has become a bit...muddled, lately.

Not to be needlessly harsh to the lore consultants, but I think they've tried a little too hard at being crowd-pleasers rather than prioritising proper consistency.

That, or they're too reluctant to step in and correct authors.

OR, they're stepping in too much and messing with authors' visions. I don't know what it is, but the Alien RPG, which is a big influence on the plot and presentation of this book, doesn't make things as clear as it claims to and tries too hard to implement ideas that were discarded by previous creators.

Anyway...

This book starts off a bit of a mess. POVs are chaotic; we're thrust into what feels like a halfway point in events without them being adequately explained in this novel or previous novels (the information is pretty much exclusively available in the aforementioned Alien RPG, and even then there are gaps); it has a very prevalent air of being a parody for several chapters.

Particularly, so many characters felt more like caricatures. I don't go into a dark franchise like Alien expecting caricatures.

It found its footing later on, when the galactic politics the plot was centred on became more of a background element and survival against Xenomorph-XX121 became the priority, but even then it was messy.

And I disliked the handling of certain lore elements - again, a side effect, probably, of the lore consultants and the clunkiness of trying to make everything canon to appease all corners of the fanbase. In my opinion, anyway.

One of the main redeeming features was Merrilyn and her daughter, Therese. They provided the main emotional hook to the story as they struggled to survive and got drawn into these interplanetary intrigues involving the Xenomorph. I was rooting for them the whole time - even if I did predict the twist.

And the story certainly had its share of good set pieces, even if I wasn't always a fan of how they were connected. It's just a bit of a mess, overall, unfortunately, with bland, underdeveloped characters (and the aforementioned caricatures) and questionable decisions regarding lore (at least from my perspective).

Maybe part of my problem is that I'm just unhappy with certain decisions made regarding the "official lore" of the franchise (including too many inconsistencies), but sadly this also just wasn't a particularly impressive entry to this sprawling series.

Here's a couple of spoiler elements:

Davis as a talking synthetic dog ruined some moments of tension based entirely on the ridiculousness of it.

The Praetorian was depicted more like a Crusher, and the explanation of how they're made felt so inconsistent with the Xenomorph as a creature. Why, when numbers are their strength, would a bunch of them kill each other just so one becomes a Praetorian. I think it more reasonable that, in a larger hive, the most mature Xenomorphs trigger a dormant gene that allows them to grow into a Praetorian, but there's a pheromonal factor (produced by a Queen) that prevents too many from forming. They are guards and Queens-in-Waiting, after all, so they shouldn't be too numerous.
Oh, and where the hell was this one (and the second that's there, according to the RPG material in the back of the book) when the Queen was fighting the marines?

A mess.

But I finished it and got some enjoyment along the way, so I can't justify lower than three stars in my eyes.

[Beth O’Halloran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This past year I suffered really bad mental health. I also discovered the Alien and Predator franchises, binge-watching all the movies on Disney+ and then constantly re-watching them. It is a weird thing to find comfort in, but those movies really, really brought me a lot of comfort during this horrible past year. So as I looked into the lore of these franchises, I was really happy to discover that there were expanded universe novels.

Colony War was my first foray into the literary side of the Alien universe. I read that it was the first of three loosely-connected planned books, although it also seemingly follows some of the previous novels, which I perhaps could have read first, although I never felt confused so I don’t imagine there is a strict reading order.

I don’t go into media tie-in novels expecting much, but I truly enjoyed this book. It was great to get lost in; it was a lot of fun and just what I needed. The story was fast-paced and gripping. I appreciated getting to explore more of Human society and politics in this universe. The characters were the unexpected highlight for me. I really liked Cher and - in terms of her personality and occupation - I found her to be a refreshing heroine. However, Davis was my absolute favourite!

Just like the movies, this is a novel that I will definitely come back to!

[Kaisersoze · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very easy read that ticks all the boxes of a solid Alien novel without breaking the mould in any way, shape or form, Colony War is a perfectly fine addition to this Universe.

Fans are unlikely to be surprised by any of the developments in this one, but there are at least two character deaths that are a surprise for when they happen rather than the fact that they occurred, so that was a nice touch.

Barnett also sets things up nicely for human kind to be in a state of upheaval and threatening to go to war with itself, when the proper threat - everybody's favourite creature with two mouths and acid for blood - is about to loom large.

3 Newly Independent Governments for Alien: Colony War.

[Vikas Pissay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Xenomorphs are so easily killed in this book that I am still struggling to digest. The acid blood which usually contributes a lot of the story does next to nothing here. The twist of someone who is considered human actually being a Synth is getting really old. First alien book that has left me dissatisfied.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Caveat going into this story is that it is very much connected to the larger Alien expanded universe (Comics, Videogames, Novels, and EVEN the RPG), so I'd be interested to hear how this reads from an uninitiated perspective. It was a bit jarring at first since most Alien novels are pretty self contained. That being said it plays around with your expectations in the best way.

It is a book very much focused on exploring the history of the British Empire and if, like me, you are a sucker for worldbuilding you will enjoy this book. The interstitials with various News Reports were very entertaining.

Definitely not focused on the guns...everything is very inconsistent (pulse rifles are lasers...then they aren't?) so if you are a hardcore Alien fan those little things will stick out. I care less about the guns then I do the story but I still noticed the inconsistencies.

Beyond the macro Alien WORLD, its characters are really great. I listened to this on audiobook and it has the same narrator as Aliens: Into Charybdis. Shiromi Arserio is an outstanding narrator and I may actually start seeking out other audiobooks just because she narrates them. The characters all have well thought out arcs and the plot had some very entertaining twists. I was hesitant due to how connected it is to certain stories I dislike (not a fan of Alien: Defiance) but by the end it won me over. There is a lot of humour on display but it never took me out of the horror aspects of the book.

Not everything works and certain plot developments I felt were very telegraphed. Some characters have an odd voice that will either work for you or won't.

I will be interested to see how it holds up to a re-read.

[Thomas Norford · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better Alien novels, along with Phalanx and The Cold Forge. A good.mix of characters and a lively, fast moving plot. The whole Empires Are Bad thing was laid on a little thick, although the thinly veiled comparison between the New Albion Prime Minister and Boris Johnson made me laugh. The problem with Alien novels is that the allure of the franchise rests so heavily of the visual impact of the xenomorphs, something that's hard to capture in prose. This novel did a good job though of capturing the terror of the aliens, particularly in the early sections.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid book in the Aliens universe.
It takes place after Alien Into Charybdis and ends with a setup for a much wider Colony War in the stars. I hope they write more book with this Alien universe. Interesting dynamics.

[Mike Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book in the series . Different story with intermingled characters and a lot of 'I must read the next bit'!!! Very good.

[Andrew Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m surprised by the negative reviews. Most people seem to be fixating over one or two sentences early on in the book. Overall it’s a pretty good story, and some nice writing. It’s definitely wackier than most of the recent stories, but that made it refreshing.

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I wanted to read something that was new in the Alien franchise. There are some neat inclusions into the saga, but sadly more just hit tropes in the series that demonstrated that this franchise may be empty.

A ship, filled with eggs, crashes onto a colony world that has harsh storms that render the electronics on this world unreliable. (All done in Alien and Aliens). A Chad McLaren, a former biologist for Weyland-Yutani, has gone to reporter Cher Hunt to expose the immoral testing by the company using the xenomorphs. Cher will do so only if she can see one of the creatures. (This was new and was good). Once on the planet Chad and Cher encounter a mother and daughter, the sole survivors on the colony who tell them they have to get off the planet. (Aliens). An momentary interesting thread is that the planet has been claimed by a country of Earth as salvage, spiraling the homeworld into a civil war. However, that's put aside for the expected slow picking off of the humans. Worse is the arrival of Colonial Marines, who are the most cliche characters in all of the Aliens franchise--more so than any I've encountered in the Aliens comic books, and I've read them all. Things go even further down the drain for character development when an opposing force arrives to battle the marines, and their leader is an over-the-top religious nut. I couldn't wait for him to exit the book. The bad aside, there are two fantastic new characters, with one being the smallest of all.

I have other Aliens books to read, but my hopes aren't high for what they'll be like after reading this one.

[Amy Walker - Trans-Scribe Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Alien series has always done social commentary, whether it's looking at the corruption of large companies and the way they treat those who work for them as expendable resources, the over confident military system that thinks it can solve every problem with superior technology being beaten by 'primitive' foes, or incarceration and the way prisoners are treated. This is a series that has always had something to say, even if some folks miss those themes and focus on the killer aliens and the horror. Alien: Colony War is possibly one of the more overt books in this regard, and because it's taking a look at politics rather than corporations (though the two are so often linked) it seems to have thrown a few people and garnered some mixed reviews. However, thanks to some interesting political commentary, some good characters, and set-up for bigger things in the future, I think this is one of the more interesting entries in the series to date.

Alien: Colony War ties into several other novels, such as Alien: Isolation, and Alien: Prototype, as well as a few of the comic series that have explored characters such as Amanda Ripley, Zula Hendricks, and Davis. As such, if you're not completely up to date with everything there will be some sections of the book where you'll be having to play catch-up (I was in this category), but David Barnett does give the reader all of the important information that you need as the story unfolds; meaning that you're not going to come out of the book without understanding what happened.

The story begins on a private towing and salvage ship, the Clara, which is secretly transporting a cache of Xenomorph eggs they found on a salvage mission. They wake up in the Weyland Isles System, a part of space that has been colonised by the British. They learn that whilst they were asleep in cryo someone snuck onto the ship and stole the eggs. Unfortunately for them, they don't have long to ponder this issue as the ship was also sabotaged, and they crash onto the planet below, New Albion.

At the same time we're introduced to Merrilyn Hambelton and her daughter Therese on the French controlled world of LV-187, a small colony set up to mine the vast quantities of oil beneath the planet's surface. The colony came under attack by Xenomorphs a few weeks before, the creatures killing or capturing most of the colonists. Merrilyn and Therese have manged to survive by hiding and sneaking around, but their odds of survival are going down.

We're also introduced to Cher Hunt, a journalist who is looking into the death of her sister. After receiving cryptic messages about the incident she travels to New Albion hoping to find answers. It's here that she meets her contact, Chad McLaren, husband of Amanda Ripley, and the rogue AI Davis, who's inhabiting the body of a synthetic dog. Chad and Davis outline the details of Cher's sister's death and the existence of the Xenomorphs. The three of them decide to head to LV-187 to try and find proof of their existence, and evidence that can be used against those trying to weaponize the creatures. Little do they know, they've just entered a web of political double-dealing and plots that could plunge this part of the galaxy into war.

There are a lot of threads in Alien: Colony War, a lot of things going on in the background and characters to keep track of. If you're looking for a simple story of a group of characters fighting the Xenos to stay alive you do get that here, but of that's all you're after this book might be giving you more than you were expecting. In a lot of ways this feels like a middle part of a series, a stepping stone in a larger story; and that might put some casual readers off. We have the history of returning characters like Chad and Davis, and their history with the Xenos and other important figures to deal with. There's also the feeling like this book is setting up a lot of stuff that's going to be important going forward, with an ending that seems like it's going to reverberate into the rest of the Alien universe for a long while to go.

But how does it read if you're not abreast of everything? Well, it's still a good book, and you shouldn't be put off reading it just because you don't know everything. The stuff that happens on LV-187 is good, scary Xnomorph stuff, with a small group of survivors trying to stay alive long enough to escape the ever growing hive. There are some great tense moments as the characters are sneaking through the dark halls of the facility, trying to get to the next place they hope can provide shelter, and when the Xenos come they're fast, brutal, and frightening; which is everything you need from this kind of story.

Barnett also does a decent job of getting you invested in the characters quickly, thanks in part to Merrilyn and Therese. This mother daughter relationship gets you attached fairly fast, and it's a common type of relationship to the series. It hearkens back to Ripley and Newt in Aliens, and I like those kind of themes coming back from time to time, as motherhood and family are important parts of the franchise. There are some less savoury characters that make appearances on the colony too, and whilst at first you don't like them they do begin to grow on you over time and win you over because they're not outright evil, and you end up sighing with disappointment when they invariably meet an awful end because you actually find yourself wanting them to stick around more.

The characters and the sections of the book that I've seen receive the most discussion is the politicians on New Albion and the themes of British patriotism and imperialism. It's pretty obvious from the book that David Barnett is not a fan of 'Britain', and I say that in the sense of the kind of people who voted to leave the EU, who trash the streets when their teams lose at football, who vote Tory, and who we in the UK like to describe as 'flag-shaggers'. The book has a very negative view of this new upsurge in isolationism that Britain has, and transcribes it to the narrative here. Instead of breaking away from the EU, New Albion is declaring itself independent, trying to recapture the 'glory' of the British Empire. I guess they'll be doing some genocides then.

These sections of the book are very on the nose, and the leader of New Albion, Maurice Pepper, was instantly Boris Johnson in my head. In the few scenes he was in Barnett managed to inject him with the same kind of mannerisms and jumped up sense of self importance that Johnson has. It was surprisingly well done, and did make me instantly hate this man. So if that was the goal, it was achieved brilliantly. The political parts of the book aren't the main focus, and there's definitely much more of the book given over to Xenomorphs and the traditional elements of the series; but these sections are important and seem to be setting up larger changes to come.

There is something else in this book that I've seen people talk about, and it is a pretty big spoiler for the ever unfolding lore, so if you don't want spoilers jump ahead to the next paragraph. Some folks learnt in this book that the death of Amanda Ripley as we were told in Aliens is in fact a lie. I don't know how much of this was known before this point as I'm not fully up to date on all the comic releases, but we get told here that Amanda Ripley didn't die as an old woman a few years before Ripley came back, and is instead in cryo to stop cancer from killing her after spending years fighting Weyland-Yutani and the Xenomorphs. I've seen some people disliking this, and I can understand this reaction, but I kind of like it. I like it because this series is always expanding and changing, so having characters like Amanda out there that can be used is always a good thing. I also like it because it makes the second film so much more tragic. Ripley was suffering because she thought her daughter had died. She went to LV-426 in large part because of that loss. And all of that happened whilst her daughter was still alive, and walking a similar path to her. It makes it feel all the more tragic because she could have had that reunion she wanted so badly, but missed out on it. I also don't agree that is messes up continuity, as Amanda's death was faked for her protection, and we got told of her death bu Weyland-Yutani, who we know are not to be trusted. It changes things, yes, but I don't think it breaks things. And I think it adds some interesting developments to the series and the Ripley family.

I've seen some criticism of this book online, some folks who didn't like some of the new developments as mentioned in the above paragraph, and some people who weren't as fond of the political stuff. But these elements mixed in with the more traditional fight for survival story made this more interesting for me. I found that it tried some new things and did stuff differently, and because of that I think this is an enjoyable read that Alien fans will want to try out.

[Marc · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I personally didn't have an issue with the politics and the different nations. I surprisingly liked the fact that the story tried to expand outside the normal alien in a corridor, which does happen but at limited capacity.

We've all read about using the eggs and aliens to some company/group/persons advantage, it was kinda nice to read it being achieved and the what comes next.... an interesting storyline I wouldn't mind reading more of.

What falls apart, for me, was the actual alien encounters themselves and the "why". The author did a good job setting up some interesting story narratives with the different factions but delivering on said story was poor.

And I couldn't get into caring about the characters either, which to me is a big deal. I like being invested in what's going on with them, what their feeling etc... I couldn't stand Cher's character and she ended up being extremely annoying by the end. If a story of the three people continue, I doubt I'd read it because they weren't the ones keeping me continuing the book.

It's definitely a flawed book and in the very low ranking but for me, brought in some interesting story plots that can be done far better by someone else at the helm.

[David Lasby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Title: Alien: Colony War
Author: David Barnett
Publisher: Titan Books, 20th Century Studios
Release Date: April 2022

It’s a good time to be a fan of the Alien franchise. Since Disney purchased the rights, a television series has been in production, a stand-alone film is set to release in 2023, and a steady stream of books have been released in conjunction with publisher Titan Books. David Barnett’s Alien: Colony War is the latest to join the franchise’s expanding narrative universe.

Synopsis

Trapped in the middle [of a colony war] are journalist Cher Hunt, scientist Chad McLaren, and the synthetic Davis. Seeking to discover who caused the death of her sister, Shy Hunt, Cher uncovers a far bigger story. McLaren’s mission, fought alongside his wife Amanda Ripley, is to stop the militarization of the deadliest weapon of all–the Xenomorph.

Alien: Colony War builds off of the work of previous novels, Alien: Into Charybdis, Alien: Isolation, and Alien: Prototype, connecting its complicated story with the events experienced by Shy Hunt, Zula Hendricks, Amanda Ripley, and Davis the synthetic. Central to the plot of this story is the desire by Cher, Chad, and Davis to make right the unresolved conflicts of their loved ones. To that end, the novel explores what happens when the three converge on LV-187, a colony that has suffered from a mysterious cataclysm.

What the Novel Does Well

As a career journalist and writer for the British news outlet, The Guardian, David Barnett has a nuanced and masterful understanding of global politics, of the dangers posed by nationalism and imperialism. Simply put, Barnett’s novel shines when navigating the highly complex and dynamic political realm of human space colonization.

The dynamic interplay between the Union of Progressive Peoples (UPP), the United Americas (UA), the Colonial Marines, the Three World Empire, and the Independent Core Systems Colonies (ICSC) is thrilling and immersive. Indeed, the critique of greedy political powers and corrupt corporations is the bedrock of the Alien franchise dating back to the original film in 1979. Barnett’s novel fits well within this universe.

Perhaps the most compelling moments in the novel, however, come with Barnett’s pondering of artificial intelligence and synthetic life. Without revealing spoilers, it’s worth noting that synthetic life plays a central role in the story, and with that come the deepest and most emotionally moving passages in the novel. Barnett’s love of philosophy and the human condition ring true and clear.

Where the Novel Falls Short

Unfortunately, anything involving the Xenomorph itself is woefully inadequate. The problem manifests in several ways, the culmination of which leaves the horror genre’s greatest monster bland and tame. As such, the novel fails to earn its place among the other works within the narrative universe, particularly those published by Titan Books.

The novel lacks pacing and rhythm. On multiple occasions, during what should be the height of narrative tension and action, Barnett’s characters become lost in philosophical musings, somehow shielded from the raging Xenomorphs crawling the room, instead bantering with one another like pals at the pub. The effect pulls the reader out of the conflict and defangs the danger posed by the creatures.

To make matters worse, the dialogue is nearly unbearable at times, particularly during moments of dramatic tension. Typically, as danger increases, the length of character dialogue should shorten, pacing itself with the urgency of the moment. In contrast, Barnett’s characters often slip into full speeches during these critical junctures, with the characters failing to even use contractions or other forms of speech that often mark the need for haste. The effect makes the situations feel laughable—not exactly the desired tone for horror fiction.

But the worst offense is the novel’s treatment of the Xenomorphs. Ironically, one of the characters in the story feels distraught over a pompous soldier’s description of the creatures as “an uncoordinated mob of blood-crazed animals.” If only Barnett shared the disgust of such an assessment of science-fiction’s perfect organism.

Nearly every encounter with the Xenomorphs presents the creatures as slow, stupid, and easily disposed of vermin. Characters with no military experience or weapons training causally pick up rifles and blast the aliens without so much as a sweat. Xenos stumble around rooms dazed and confused, unable to decide how to attack. At one point two women pin an attacking Xenomorph to the wall by merely pushing a table against it and holding it suspended there until help arrives. It’s sacrilegious.

When combined with the poor pacing and quality of dialogue, Barnett’s disrespect of the Xenomorph makes the novel nearly unreadable.

Final Thoughts

⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.

I wanted to like this novel. I’m a huge fan of the franchise and have read nearly every Alien and Aliens novel written, own the comics, and played through the many video games published over the decades. The idea of a novel building upon the stories of characters I love, while also adding in layers of political intrigue and the tension of imperialism seems tailor made for someone like me.

Unfortunately, Alien: Colony War breaks the cardinal rule of content creation for Ridley Scott and James Cameron’s masterpiece franchise—always respect the Xenomorph. As such, I hope the powers that be at Titan Books pay close attention to the reception the novel has received and think twice before entrusting Barnett with another novel. That said, I do think Barnett’s skills in thinking big, along with his understanding of politics and international conflict would make him an ideal partner for planning future novels, but perhaps the work would shine best if co-written with another author.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

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.

[Justin Cox · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initially bought this for the Roleplaying Game content alone, being an ALIEN superfan, decided I'd read the book too, and I found strong interest at first which quickly devolved into a slog of disappointment. For a novel written in the ALIEN universe, it had very little focus on the titular beasts, choosing to focus more on some rather uninteresting characters (despite my thoughts I enjoyed getting to hear about Amanda and her husband's exploits against WeyYu)

Noticed several inconsistencies in Barnett's writing, such as the Xenomorph being pinned by the table, despite it's acidic blood being a direct challenge to this, or how about the mother and her daughter? Just going to shoot a xenomorph at point blank without splashing yourself with any acid blood? Kind takes me back to a certain elevator scene, no?

In the end, a quick summary, felt that the author focused more on a 3WE parallel to the Brexit, and a mockery of British stereotyping, and less on actually contributing something to the ALIEN universe

[David Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

The coolest thing about this Alien novel is that it's connected to the Alien rpg, and has a good scenario for that game included in the back.
The novel itself was just ok. The characters aren't particularly likeable or well fleshed out. The greater events going on in the setting seem to barely affect the story. The worst part is that the Xenomorphs are not scary here. They are easily dispatched and never really present much of a menace to any of the main characters. They aren't clever, or sneaky, or scary, or "alien." The "surprises" are also all pretty predictable. It felt a bit like the Disney/Marvel version of Alien, light and safe.

SPOILERS ALERT!
The Xenomorph's eggs falling into a minor powers hands to be weaponized, when Weyland Yutani has been after them for years also really flies in the face of sense. Finally, Xeno's are always dangerous,in every situation,but that fact is entirely ignored here.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

In space no one can hear you remoan!

I really enjoyed "Into Charybdis", so I was a little wary of this follow-up not being penned by Alex White. In the end I like this one fairly well, though I do kinda hope White gets another go at the wheel in the future to write a book focusing on all-out war between the various colonial factions (this book, despite its title, does not focus on that but kicks the can down the road for another book to pick up).

I don't love bringing back the Dark Horse-era comic characters (think they've been milked too many times). I'm holding out hope that David 8 might show up in a novel someday though.

[Dillon · Rating 2 out of 5]

David Barnett ensures the reader that anyone can be a published author. I was genuinely surprised that this book made it through a publishing house. My primary criticisms are:
•Excessive use of cursing made characters unbelievable. Certain emotional situations were erroneously handled by lines such as "Holy sweet f***". Embarrassing.
•Heavy handed use of cliches and 21st-century social commentaries on events that took place over 200 years ago were oversimplified and poorly handled for the sake of making the main cast appear smart and morally superior.
•Silly action scenes.

[Will Wilson]

I was actually surprised at how bad this book is. The reason I say that is this most recent batch of alien tie in novels has actually been quite good. This by far is the weakest so far since 2014 .The story feels very flat this is almost a chore to finish ,nothing is really a big surprise and the talking dog really really takes you out of the horror experience. I recommend just skipping this one

[Iain Dalziel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m being very generous giving this dross 2 stars. I’m a huge Aliens fan and read many books based on them, thankfully this isn’t my 1st book into the genre as no doubt it would have been my last. If you are a fan Of Aliens my advice is to give this a miss.

[Adam Stevenson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't get past the appalling one dimensional politics. A truly horrendous load of lefty nonsense that satires British history to the point of parody. Not subtle, not clever, not even well written. What a waste of £6.99 but at least it was on offer.

[Larry White · Rating 2 out of 5]

my last 'alien' franchise book......they seem all repetitive.....even reusing plot devices and dialogue from the movie franchise.

I'm glad I ground through this though, because I will never waste my time reading another. :)