The American Library Association calls Weston Ochse “one of the major horror authors of the 21 st Century.” He has been praised by USA Today, The Atlantic, The New York Post, The Financial Times of London, Publishers Weekly, Peter Straub, Joe Lansdale, Jon Maberry, Kevin J. Anderson, David Gerrold, William C. Dietz, Tim Lebbon, Christopher Golden, and many more of the world’s best-selling authors. His work has won the Bram Stoker Award, been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and won multiple New Mexico Arizona Book Awards.
A writer of nearly thirty books in multiple genres, his military supernatural series SEAL Team 666 has been optioned to be a movie starring Dwayne Johnson and his military sci fi trilogy, which starts with Grunt Life, has been praised for its PTSD-positive depiction of soldiers at peace and at war.
Weston has also published literary fiction, poetry, comics, and non-fiction articles. His shorter work has appeared in DC Comics, IDW Comics, Soldier of Fortune Magazine, Cemetery Dance, and peered literary journals. His franchise work includes the X-Files, Predator, Aliens, Hellboy, Clive Barker’s Midian, and V-Wars. Weston holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and teaches at Southern New Hampshire University. He lives in Arizona with his wife, and fellow author, Yvonne Navarro and their Great Danes.
Perfectly captures the spirit of both movie franchises with Predators, Aliens and humans caught in the middle of their battle. A fun adventure on an alien world where a drug cartel is harvesting a potent drug. It just so happens that the Predators have seeded the planet with Xenomorphs in preparation of their youngling blooding ritual. Chaos soon breaks out as the aliens have incubated in a local flying species and have now gained the ability of flight!
Imma be honest...I keep forgetting I've read this one. (March 2024 edit for a July 2023 read/review)
Not terrible, but it's somewhat on the mediocre scale compared to some other AVP titles I've read previously.
Planet LV-363 is being used as a station to collect a drug found on it, but the people who gather it have started taking said drug, turning them into addicts (not a good combo when they're supposed to be collecting the stuff for the company).
Some Predators show up, throw in some Xenos, and a new kind of species that--correct me if I'm wrong--- are found exclusively in this novel. The yautja speaking in English took a little while to get used to, but I liked the glossary at the end of the book, labeling some of the yautja's language. It was something new and we Predator fans are always open to more lore.
5 Stars for Aliens Vs. Predators: Rift War (audiobook) by Yvonne Navarro and Weston Ochse read by Kate Rudd.
We get a glimpse into the Predator’s culture as they seed a planet with Xenomorph eggs in preparation for a ritual hunt. Strange Xenomorph hybrids are born on this planet , some with the ability to fly. This turns this deadly species into an unstoppable monster.
This was a really compelling action book and it does feature some compelling depth within its roster of characters.
I am a bit undecided as to the final conclusion in the book as it came off as a little mean spirited. Especially when I felt like the authors were really trying to write characters in the throughs of addiction with empathy up to that point. It just pulled the rug out from under me a little bit.
The Predator stuff, which is the main plotline in the book was a lot of fun, and I felt some real emotion near the climax. It took a bit to get acquainted to the style of writing used for them but once I got into the groove their POV worked well. I continue to enjoy the fact that the expanded Predator universe is leaning a lot on female Predators.
This books rating may go either up to 4 stars or down to 3 depending on how I process that ending. Currently sitting at a confident 3.5 rounded up.
Alien vs. Predator: Rift War By Weston Ochse & Yvonne Navarro is a media tie-in novel based on the universes of the “Alien and Predator movie franchises.”
A powerful human drug cartel controls the remote planet of LV-363. Where they periodically they send mixed group of drug addicted workers and security forces to harvest the planet’s rare flower Khatura that has rare addictive drug properties that fetch a high price across human space. When workers start turning up dead the local animal life is blamed. Completely unaware that it is actually the hunting groups of the Yautja race a.k.a Predators. Who happens to turn up and seed the world with Xenomorph eggs! Soon chaos reigns supreme and everyone is at war.
If you’re like me and you’ve read nearly all of the adaptations, novelizations, sequels, and spin-offs to the Alien and Aliens movies, you might be surprised at how different these sci-fi horror tales play out when you add the sci-fi hunters of Predator and Predators to the mix. Authors Weston Ochse and Yvonne Navarro take up the challenge in Aliens vs Predators: Rift War. This story is for anyone who wanted to see more of the third Predator movie: 2010’s Predators, as it could easily take place right after that movie.
In Predators–the movie–the audience didn’t get anything by way of explanation, watching as individuals presumably from all over the galaxy are deposited on a planet, solely for target practice by Predators. In Rift War, the authors give a voice to the Predators (called Yautja) and it’s neither like the stilted dialogue of alien warrior races we’ve seen before (like the Klingons from Star Trek or The Sangheili From Halo video games) nor a primitive dialect. Predators speaking like humans takes some adjustment for the reader. At the same time the Xenomorphs speak like someone without a language, rudimentary and using only a few words. Somehow that makes them endearing, which is a strange reaction to those fearsome monsters.
Maybe its instinctive that readers and moviegoers are drawn to side with the bipeds without built-in body armor over the arthropods with it. Maybe Predators are just not so much that H.R. Giger brand of freakish and disturbing as Xenomorphs. But the authors begin to develop a detailed military structure for this group of Predators. What do the rest of the Yautja do? We’re not told, maybe they are like Spartans, maybe back home there is a leisure class?
The set-up for the story assumes substantial backstory between the Predators and the Xenomorphs, as the Predators have figured out how to use Xenomorphs as a weapon. But that’s not what they do here. Here they are depositing Xenomorph eggs on a planet so they inhabit local species. This is all for the purpose of bringing warrior recruits to get “blooded,” or certified for various battle-ready uses. It’s a big open-world Thunderdome where they fight Xenomorphs to the death to prove which Predators are worthy to move on.
You can tell the authors must have had fun playing in these two sandboxes, as they create a new human-sized flying creature called riftwings for this planet, which soon gets infected by the Alien beasts to become ferocious Xenowings hybrids. Ultimately they get around to crossover battles and mash-ups and team-ups of all varieties, with the added levels of Xenomorph biology as more fodder for ugly ends for mostly unlikeable and unsympathetic humans, but also noble and not-so-noble Predators.
The action–and it is mainly action in Rift War–follows several beats from Jurassic Park, including bumbling humans as an embarrassment to our species. The leaders in charge of the setting (where we’d normally find Weyland-Yutani) belong to a drug cartel employing drug addicts who are locked to their duty machines as they collect addictive pollen that they aren’t really supposed to be consuming. These poor souls are sitting ducks for both the Xenomorphs and the Predators, except for one thing: the Predators aren’t interested in the humans because we clearly are a threat to no one. And those Xeno-hybrids could easily be cousins to Velociraptors.
This brings us to the genre mash-up here. You’d probably expect Aliens as horror in a sci-fi setting, and Predators as sci-fi with some horror elements. In AvP: Rift War the authors lean into the horror, with both those typical graphic conflicts from both franchises, and the kind of psychological brand you won’t always find in these kinds of tie-in novels. The stoned human workers are really screwed and die in slow, agonizing ways. And one of the better written humans, a former Colonial Marine turned mercenary called Shrapnel, has an imagining of what he’d like to do to his boss Murray involving some killer ants, which is a classic co-worker moment of the darkest fantasy horror variety. This all feels more like Guillermo del Toro fantasy horror than the Ridley Scott/James Cameron sci-fi horror you might expect.
Names like Ptah’Ra make the Predators have an ancient Earth vibe. Keep an eye out for a Predator warrior named Ca’toll, the best character introduced in the story. This follows the tried-and-true horror format of plucking off humans one by one to get the last man and/or woman standing on the final page. Personally I was disappointed in who the authors chose to save from the human side. You win some, you lose some.
Overall, I really enjoyed AvP: Rift War It’s definitely one of the more entertaining in the Aliens / Predator / Prometheus series. It does a great job at making the Yautja alien but very human in their ways and plot twists though easy to spot were well written and played out. While it doesn’t add much to the larger AvP universe it’s still a fun action packed sci-fi horror ride that any fan of the Alien or Predator franchises will love to read.
Good entry into the Alien / Predator universe. Thankfully it's not plagued by the boring human politics of recent Alien novels and it has all the necessary ingredients to make a good AVP story. There's alot of interesting Predator lore in this but I did get confused with the names and groups of the Predators involved. I don't know if this was because I listened to it on audiobook though. Overall i found it enjoyable and I'd recommend it.
Rift War is an exciting, fun, and entertaining addition to the AVP franchise, and I loved it.
Full disclaimer: I'm a huge fan of the AVP/Alien/Predator series (books and movies), so it takes a lot for me not to enjoy something from this universe.
What I enjoyed the most, right off the bat, is that we finally, finally get a goddamned female Yuatja hunter. And her trajectory is NOT a “girl amongst men who has to prove herself” (as much as I do like that trope). She’s a competent hunter with an interesting backstory. Ca’toll, quite frankly, really boosted this novel for me over the edge in terms of enjoying it, because I've always wanted to read about female Yuatjah (aside from the minor character in Tim Lebbon's series) and I really hope the next movie has one. I mean, there’s enough damn fanart and cosplay about them that it’s overdue.
The other characters have appropriate depth for an AVP novel. We have a few unlikable mercs (a man named Shrapnel haha), a few pitiable drug addicts, a large cast of Yuatja, and a new xenomorph variation. More about the Yuatja characters in a bit.
I’m a bit torn between how the addicts were handled in the novel. I thought the attempt to show what led to their addictions as something we should be sympathetic towards rather than disdainful was admirable - it definitely wasn’t a novel that disparages addicts as weak or bottom feeders or whatever other people with no compassion say about them, but I also don’t think we really needed them to be addicts to further the plot. They could have just been people desperate for cash. One of them could have been an addict, but all of them being such didn’t really add anything to the story.
Unlike the Lebbon series, which was definitely a “save the world/universe” idea, this book took us to an isolated incident on a crappy uninhabited world. And I liked that about it too - I love stories of a small group in a weird situation that has no impact on the universe at large. The planet was fun too - it has these gouges in the earth that make the situation unique and contribute to the title of the book.
This leads me to what I really loved. I love love love alien cultures. And this book, while still not entirely fleshing out the Yuatja society (in terms of how things function when the Predators aren’t in a hunt), still gave a lot of insight into things we haven’t seen before. Honestly, though, I think part of why I'm obsessed with Predators is because they don’t tell you all their cultural backstory in the movies and books. We get it in bits and pieces, sometimes contradictory, like with the “Hish” version of Predators that appear in the Dark Horse versions (and have been explained to be a different culture of Yuatja).
Anyway, the Yuatja characters in this novel are three teacher hunters and nine young “unblooded” undergoing the ritual hunt. There were too many young ones, which made them a bit hard to tell apart, but the main four master hunter Yuatja are very well-distinguished from one another, and have motivations and actions that make sense. The sections with the Yuatja were obviously my favourites, and I loved what the limited amount of info we get on them says about Yuatja culture.
Ochse and Navarro manage to put new twists on the “let’s fight xenomorphs” scenes so they were fun, exciting, and well-described, and not just because of a new variation of xenomorph. I would have liked a few of the fight scenes replaced with more of the Yuatja cultural stuff, but I would honestly read a book about Yuatja just sitting around talking so I’m sure if it's AVP action you want you’ll like this book a lot.
Now, because I can’t just gush, I will say I did find the arc with Ar’Wen could have been stronger. It also felt like information about him and Ca’toll was deliberately withheld - I think had we known this information earlier, the arc would have been more impactful. I also think the Yuatja cast could have been smaller, as I said.
Overall though, these are minor complaints. If you like AVP, the movie, you will likely really enjoy this new addition to the universe, as it’s a fun, exciting, and addictive read.
So I really don't know why more people haven't read this book already, this is the book that I've been wanting most books say Predator and have very little Predator action this one has a whole bunch and of course the Xenomorph is in there also with some new really creepy things that the eggs create very little human interaction there's more characterization with the Predators but humans are part of the story they're more there for the slaughter though,this is an action-packed romp on another planet that I wish was 200 Pages longer I loved everything about this book,great Predator lore and action if you like either the alien or Predator I don't see you being disappointed in this fast paced Alien vs Predator extravaganza read it now
I wanted to like this one, especially with the positive reviews, but I couldn't get into it. It definitely has potential with the storyline but the characters and personalities of the hunters I couldn't get into. They came off too human to me, personality-wise. I did find the idea of team leaders and their wards an interesting take but growing up with the older AvP and Predator novels and lore...not just the lore, with some of the novels that did have the hunter's perspective on things there was enough depth with the characters to understand they had a completely different mindset as humans and weren't so emotional with their decisions. I couldn't enjoy this one the way I usually do. I really wanted to especially when some reviews mentioned how they focused more on the yautja. I see where the writer was going story wise, which I like. Character wise, for the hunters (I'm always invested in my hunters) I just couldn't enjoy this like I usually did. I was excited about being introduced to new hunters but I couldn't invest in them. The hunters used a lot of human terminology, "xenomorphs" instead of "kainde amedha" or "hard meat" etc. They have some curse words in the language, and a few other words here and there. I may be a little picky in regards to that. I enjoyed seeing whole phrases every once in a while in their language in other books. And the terminology for the equipment they used was in their language, not humans. A little more would have been appreciated, there was more towards the end but I wanted to see it throughout the book. And there were certain hunters that died off in ways that I felt wouldn't or shouldn't have happened the way it did especially for the ones who were in higher-ranking and had more experience.
I think for people who don't know much about the lore of predators and haven't read previous novels, comics and graphic novels, will enjoy it.
The hunter's personalities seemed too human which i couldn't get on board with.
If you know me, you know I love the Alien and Predator franchises immensely. I'm very vocal about my likes and dislikes, and I've developed an in-depth perspective of what I believe they should be — sometimes to the detriment of my enjoyment.
So for me to give something from this shared universe (yes, I see Alien and Predator as one Universe and I probably always will) less than 3 stars is quite the event.
So why is that?
Overall, this was disappointing. In short: Poor portrayal of the two alien species; the human characters were uninteresting and added little to the story; the plot was barebones yet somehow its continuity was still rough; the action was written well, and from that perspective it was decent, but characterisation and worldbuilding was severely lacking, with plenty of places where the lore was, in my opinion, disrespected.
It's another AvP story that reduces the Xenomorph to "dumb bugs", and its attempts to introduce a new level of threat to the Xenomorph feels lacklustre whilst also, as far as I'm concerned, thoroughly misunderstanding Xenomorph biology. Without spoiling it too much, as far as I'm concerned it should be "add host qualities to the Xenomorph", not "stick some Xenomorph stuff on the host", if that makes sense.
But also, I think, plenty of descriptors that misunderstand the organism. It should be intelligent, agile, dangerous, not fodder.
On the other side, the Yautja were written in a way that felt far too human. Plenty of aspects there also felt inconsistent with Yautja lore as I understand it. There is a subplot of intrigue and vendettas involved here, yet it feels inconsistent and contradictory, like multiple ideas were proposed and they all got jumbled up. Maybe it was intended to feel like "this is what they believe but here's the truth", but that's not how it landed for me.
Sadly, a lot of this book feels forgettable, and what wasn't feels more frustrating for me. It's not one I'd recommend, to be honest.
A final note relates specifically to my attempts to construct a combined Alien/Predator Universe canon list. For a time, I thought this would be a story that "fits in loosely", requiring some aspects (e.g. Eggmorphing — that shouldn't be a thing; Ridley Scott deleted it from the theatrical cut, which was his intended version, making it a non-canon aspect, and only added it back in years after ALIENS because of pettiness about James Cameron creating the Xenomorph Queen) to be ignored.
However, having reached the end with more continuity issues and the like, including a nonsensical epilogue that, again, misunderstands Xenomorph biology, plus more, I just don't see this is a story that I consider canon to the Alien/Predator Universe as I see it.
On LV-363 a cartel oversees the harvesting of Khatura pollen, a powerful and addictive narcotic. The operation is soon to be disrupted, however, when the planet is seeded with Xenomorphs by the Predators to host the ceremonial first hunts of a group of unblooded Predators.
I liked seeing a bit more of Yautja (the Predators) culture here as three experienced warriors take a group of eager young hunters on training mission that will see them complete the sacred rite of passage of killing a Xenomorph. We get to learn a lot about the Predators' sense of honour, the rules of their hunts and some of their hierarchy, as well as getting to explore the ways in which the Xenomorphs are an integral part of Yautja culture. There're also some interesting subplots going on, with treachery and dishonour coming from within the Predator team itself.
The Aliens themselves are also on top form, showing their vicious persistence and the different natures of their life-cycle, each being a threat in an of itself. We also get to see the Xenomorphs incorporating some of the biology of their host fauna into their adult forms (like the Dog Alien in Alien 3), as some of them emerge from giant flying insects called riftwings. They make a convincing new threat for the otherwise near-invincible Predators.
The let-down that stops this good book from every being great is the human element. Across the book we're introduced to various human characters, including a cartel agent, a mercenary and a couple of enslaved drug addicts, who try to survive as conflict between the titular monsters erupts around them. The problem is that none of these characters is particularly likeable, competent or engaging and you never really feel invested in them 'winning', per se. Honestly they're such a distraction from the far more interesting conflict of, lets not forget, Aliens versus Predators that you'll almost be hoping they die so you can get back to the good stuff. The humans in these sort of stories are usually our access point as a readers, but with the Predators being fully fleshed-out characters here, that leaves the humans as entirely superfluous. This is made worse by the total lack of anything approaching a satisfying ending for the human aspect of the story.
Aliens Vs Predators Rift War. A great novel set in this universe. This is a fast paced novel with some great written action scenes and some interesting lore added to the universe it's a simple story but there's a lot of decent twists and the story keeps your attention. They also do a lot of interesting things with the Xenomorphs in this one which I like.
The story is interesting and a very simple set up that works for the novel it tells of Unblooded Yautja that are on a test to hunt Xenos on a planet called Rift World. It's an interesting set up and you get a lot of intriguing lore about the rankings of Yautja. For example one particular Yautja called Nayy Tap who because he was Battlemaster gave up the right to become an Elder it's interesting seeing how the rankings work
They also do some interesting stuff with the Xenomorphs and bring back one of the more interesting points from Alien3 Where the Xenomorph takes on attributes from whatever they breed from and in this one you get some flying Xenos which is cool. Also the Riftwings were definitely an interesting species to bring into the universe and it's interesting seeing new aliens in this franchise.
My only issue with this novel is that the human sections aren't that interesting and they get overshadowed by the Xeno and Yautja. However there are two humans Enid and Fetch that have some interesting moments and have an emotional ending in the final chapter. But other than them two the sections with humans aren't that interesting although I enjoy the introduction of the Khatura pollen which was an interesting addition to the lore.
My favourite character is definitely Ca toll she's an interesting Yautja and the story with her not completing her blooding was very interesting. She also has an interesting interaction with a character called Ar Wen and that leads to an interesting twist in the novel and it's definitely the highlight of the novel in my personal opinion.
Verdict ⭐⭐⭐⭐. A great fast paced novel with a simple set up but, interesting story the human sections can be a little boring and they get overshadowed by the Yautja and Xenos apart from Enid and Fetch. Great novel for fans of Alien Vs Predator.
With AVP: RIFT WAR, you pretty much get exactly what you're signing up for—Yautja fighting xenomorphs, humans trying to stay out of the way (or unwisely trying to fight alongside), and a whole lot of gnarly action. If you're expecting anything more or less...well, this book might not be fore you.
What I think Ochse and Navarro do especially well is to create a context in which the Yautja youngbloods are fighting the xenomorphs. Sometimes, authors (or movies) don't do a great job at creating a plausible reason why these species might encounter each other, but this book sets that up expertly, believably. I loved reading so much from the predator's POV, and I thought the xenomorphs were as scary and predictably unpredictable as they should be.
The human side of this story was neat too. The aliens and predators encounter each other on a world where the mob is harvesting dust that they sell as a narcotic, so many of the human characters are part of that racket, mercenaries hired to protect them, and addicts working for the next hit. It paints these people experiencing addiction as real people—and victims—with complex lives. The layer added something interesting to this novel.
Some of the action became a little hard to follow—especially the fights—but I found myself excited to flip between perspectives, which added momentum to the story. If you're a fan of either franchise, you'll enjoy RIFT WAR. And if you're a fan of AVP books, they don't get much better than this one.
Finally, an AVP story that I can rate as more than a 3-star!
I thought I'd give this book the benefit of the doubt despite all the bad reviews I'd read.
The xenos in this book cause more mayhem compared to all the other AVP stories I've read (with the exception of maybe a handful from Ultimate Prey). So for that reason I prefer this over the Rage War trilogy or the original 90s AVP stories, where the xenos just all get completely massacered.
The xeno action did tail off for the last 30–50% of the book which I wasn't too happy about, but before that it was great. I also found the addition of the Riftwings (even the none-xeno versions) to be an exciting addition
I thought Ca'Toll was a cool character too although I eventually grew tired of her constant effortless victories... I think any hero needs to struggle at times otherwise it gets boring, she was far too perfect and invincible for my liking by the end of it.
The predator feuds were also really cool to read about, even though they felt pretty anti-climactic.
I didn't care too much for the human characters, though I dont think we were supposed to lol.
In future I'd much prefer an AVP novel with around 10–12 xenos... I really dont get why they always needs to be in their hundreds and thousands!
Also I'd like it for all the predators and xenos to just wipe each other out... rather than it just being one predator victory after the next
Fast moving, well-written escapism along the Predator vs Alien franchise lines with a few poor, pitiful humans thrown in as hapless pawns in the game.
Of interest is that most of the plot is written using Predator POV.
The Predator culture is based on what is essentially an indigenous, largely egalitarian, hunter/warrior ethos. It’s easy, entertaining and it works, but doesn’t necessarily get the reader into what feels like a really alien mindset (actually just hinted at by the occasional switching into an Alien inner dialogue).
Predators have seeded a planet with their favourite prey, in what is a sort of training boot camp for young Predators, small groups of “unbloodied” warrior candidates who violently encounter Aliens, local monsters and a newly created Alien/monster hybrid.
This planet is also being used by an intergalactic drug cartel to harvest an addictive, illicit, mind altering substance, harvested by a motley collection of human mercenaries and drug slaves who get wiped out in the ensuing foray.
The characterisation is pretty good, with identifiable character development.
I am more of an Aliens fan than a Predator one, and this book is more about the latter. So, I have some bias, but even with that being said, there’s just not a whole lot to recommend this book for. The writing is well done, and the story is coherent, but it just doesn’t add anything new to the world of AvP. There’s a new kind of planetary setting, and there’s a new kind of xenomorph introduced, but I didn’t really care about either. I know it’s hard to create really novel material in a franchise where so much already exists. So, I guess this is okay. However, most of the book felt like Predator fighting descriptions. I didn’t care for the lengthy discussions the Predators had with each other, or hearing the Aliens’ thoughts. Those just seem too far away from what those creatures are. The human chapters were more interesting, but a little repetitive and one-note. Overall, as an Aliens fan, I could have done without this one.
I don’t think I gelled very well with how the Predators were portrayed, and because they carry so much of the narrative, that was always going to hinder my enjoyment—but I think that’s more to do with how these beasties have been portrayed across decades of expanded material, rather than any technical limitations of the writing, which is fine for the most part. I suspect if I’d been a big fan of AVP for years, then this would have been right up my alley. But as I was always a little more intrigued by the horrifying mystique and themes championed by earlier franchise iterations, this sadly came off a little OTT and even silly in places.
I'm a big Predator fan, so I really enjoyed this book. There were a lot of great Yautja characters and even the humans characters all had interesting backstories/personalities. I liked the setting and the main conflict, and I was delighted to see so many different named Yautja characters that all got to have their own idiosyncrasies/flaws.
I felt that a lot of twists/surprises were all a bit piled together towards the climax, but overall, it was a very entertaining story. Lots of gruesome gore, which was terrifying but ultimately added to the intensity of the story.
I tried to like this one. I couldn't finish this, despite my impulse to keep pushing through to the end. There was what seemed like endless battle with no real end in sight. I got to page 243 and just couldn't stomach much more. The Yautja perspective was a huge part of the book. They were portrayed as lesser civilized humans that focus on battle. I don't know if that's true with other AVP books, but it felt a bit bland to me. I think the hardcore readers of AVP would love this book, but it just wasn't for me.
Hard to find a character to root for. Aliens want to kill everyone. Predators want to kill ALMOST everyone. And the humans here are (mostly) terrible. Apart from a couple of the addicts who have little to no agency or stuff to do other than run, cry, fight a little and get killed.
I enjoyed it despite a certain degree of mindlessness. The few character moments that it had were interesting. They were crowded out with lots of "action" that got repetitive.
This book made me want to die the whole time I was reading it. Totally ignored all the Yautja culture and language that was wonderfully built and written prior to this book that they could’ve used, but instead all the predators were bland cardboard cutout losers. The only selling point of this book is that the Xenomorphs can fly now, whoop-de-doo and they only get five minutes of attention and die instantly anyways. Waste of time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
You are taken on a journey to a world were there are aliens and predators are on this planet. But the predators are hear to train there young bloods for there first kill. But things go wrong fast for them, the author keeps you wanting more with book . The author did a good job with the book.
I loved this book. All three species were adequately represented and fleshed out, but especially the yautja who were developed further than I ever expected. A couple of them were my favorite characters in a while. The conflict scenes flowed well and were extremely well written. No weak spots… I hope we get another installment from the authors!!! Also… this would make a great movie, right??? 😁
Not my favorite. I'm more an Aliens fan than a Predator fan but I love the AVP crossovers. This one felt like it was more one sided, highly favoring the back story two Youtja and very little of the xenomorphs short of a couple of scenes when they attack a drug harvesting operation. There were also no compelling human characters, you pretty much rooted for all of them to get eaten.
The book is fast paced and interesting due to learning more about Predator rituals as we are led through a blooding hunt on a dangerous world. The aliens can also take on strange forms due to the indigenous hosts and it's all mixed with the presence of humans. Good stuff.
Not quite as bad as a 1 star rating but not as good as a 2 star rating, if only you could give a half star rating 🤔. I’m a huge Alien and Predator fan so was looking forward to reading this book, started off ok then got went down hill pretty fast.
New take on the Alien V Predator stories. I liked the Pedator characters to know what they were thinking. It gives more understanding of there culture. I was rooting for them against the Aliens and Humans. Possibility for a sequel.
The book promised new versions of Xenos. This promise is barely kept. Yes we have the Xeno-wing but nothing much was done with it. With too many characters and moving parts, the required depth is barely reached. It is not bad either, just decent. If you are new to the franchise, do not start here.