Aliens: Original Sin Volume 1 - Dark Publications

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Product Description
In 1979, science fiction and horror were brought together in director Ridley Scott's classic film Alien. The film follows the crew of a space cargo-ship, the Nostromo, who land on a hostile planet in response to a faint SOS only to discover an abandoned ship with a ravenous alien on board. Alien inspired three movie sequels, and now Aliens: Original Sin expands further on this classic story, bringing back characters like Ripley 8, the clone of Lt. Ellen Ripley, and android Call. It also sorts out unanswered questions from the movies and raises entirely new ones. Was it just coincidence that the Nostromo happened to pass by the desolate planet? Why was the alien on the crashed ship in the first place? The answers, along with intense action, chilling horror and even deeper questions await in suspense virtuoso Michael Jan Friedman's Aliens: Original Sin.

Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...

1 out of 5 stars

The only sin here was publishing this mess June 11, 2006
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

It seems the Alien franchise is fated to be shuffled from one indifferent writer to the next. From films to books, there hasn't been much worth seeing or reading since James Cameron's "Aliens" or Steve Perry's "Earth Hive."

Here in "Original Sin" we get Michael Jan Friedman, writer for franchises such as Star Trek and DC comics, borrowing bits and pieces from the previous films to cobble together a fairly run-of-the-mill Alien story: an isolated group of humans is exposed to a pod, one is impregnated, and soon all the rest are dead. In between, Ripley and the crew of the Betty arrive to help isolate the infection and kick some Alien ass. Done well, it would have been a serviceable novel. But there are simply too many gaps to fill and the novel looks like a house where plywood has been haphazardly hammered into place to try and keep the thing from falling over.

Picking up where "Alien Resurrection" left off, the Betty crash lands in New Zealand, and is put back into service under Ripley, Call, Vriess, and Johner. A couple of other crew members are on hand and the first half of the novel has them slinking about collecting information for purposes that don't become clear until the second half. Along the way the crew also picks up a journalist whose only purpose seems to act in later chapters as prey.

In a major revision of the Alien universe [SPOILER] we eventually find that Ripley and company are hunting a shadowy organization they call Loki, an extra-governmental cabal that has for more than 200 years been in secret contact with the Mala'kak, the giant alien spacefarers (sometimes referred to as The Pilot Race or The Space Jockeys) the Nostromo discovered on Archeron in the first Alien film. It appears there has been a compact of convenience between the Loki and Mala'kak in which the former provide human hosts for breeding Aliens, from which the Mala'kak extract DNA to help treat infertility. In return, the Loki get Mala'kak technology. Besides the fact that it would be impossible to keep such an organization secret for 200 years, the whole idea that live, sentient humans are required for this process is never explained. Why not just replicate the Alien DNA? Assuming that is for some reason impossible, why not create and grow fully functioning human torsos to serve as Alien birthing chambers? And while we're at it, why without explanation do we have a new breed of Alien that can produce multiple offspring from one face-hugger, and which can reach maturity within an hour? And why don't the colonists notice while they've got him in their medical facility that the face hugger has made a deposit in their comrade's stomach? [END SPOILER]

Besides fairly mucking up the history of the Alien universe, Friedman manages to run Ripley and her companions further into the ground, burying them in a hole of cliche. Resurrection wasn't known for its witty dialogue or finely drawn characters. It's perhaps even worse here. Friedman never bothers to explain or even hint at why the crew is motivated to search for Loki or spend its days hunting down aliens. For characters portrayed so hopelessly self-motivated, you can't help but wonder why they all didn't run off as soon as they got back to Earth.

Pity the writer who has to come after and deal with this mess. The best thing that can be said about "Aliens: Original Sin" is that at 250 pages it is mercifully short.

2 out of 5 stars

Alien Borefest! June 7, 2006
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

I really, really, wanted to get into this book - but after halfway thru it - I was left utterly bored. Too bad, too.

I liked the last Alien movie, Alien Resurrection, which this novel starts out at. Sure it had its problems, but overall it was a slick action sci-fi movie by a French filmaker. (Maybe that was the problem? Lol!)

But this author's writing style didn't capture the essence of this franchise. You need to grab your readers by the throat from the get-go. Unfortunately, it didn't happen here. Nor in subsequent chapters.

Being a huge Alien and Predator fan, I was sorely dissappointed.

But I see there's a new Predator novel out! I will definately read that and check it out. The synopsis sounds excellent. We'll see...

3 out of 5 stars

Predictably Sub-par Extension to Resurrection Mythos January 11, 2006
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

This is the first Aliens novel in a -long- time, and as a fan (or at least reader) of all the previous works, I'm happy to see that the series hasn't died yet. It's fitting then that this novel is a unique addition to that universe: it's the first book, aside from the direct movie novelizations, that takes place strictly within the confines of the world established by the movies. In a way, it is similar to the first trilogy of alien novels (which are, along with Harvest and Music of the Spears, the best of all the books), but while those used Ripley, they were forced into a sort of parallel universe by the release of _Alien3_ (the movie) when they were adapted from the comics.

That said, the book is not on a level of quality with the first alien trilogy, though better than token, empty efforts such as Berserker. It is a direct sequel to _Resurrection_, which is unfortunate, because that is, hands down, the worst instalment in the Alien series (including AvP!). As another reviewer has mentioned, Friedman has the characters down... but he may be taking it too far. _Resurrection_ was plagued by a poor, one-liner ridden script with overblown attitude, and Friedman only kicks this up a notch. You would think, after surviving through that mess, the characters would be a little less mellow with each other. They remain characatures, however.

Friedman's references to the old movies are profuse, but unfortunately of mixed quality. I am not competent enough to comment on the correctness of his quoting of Ash (it's hard for me to tell some of what Ash says in the scene mentioned), but Friedman makes far too liberal use of past scenes. He repeats Kane's face-hugging problem, complete with the mess-hall scene (though with a variation), and also re-uses the foot massage scene from _Resurrection_. Then he is also playing out an idea that was in the original _Resurrection_ script--aliens in an artificial jungle environment. He also reinterprets much of the happenings in the first movie. Now, here it gets delicate--most of his new ideas are great, but they are mixed in with the flagrantly wrong that it's difficult to enjoy the book as a whole.

For instance, Ripley and Simoni come to the conclusion that the creature on board the derelict spacecraft in the first movie had to give birth to a queen--how else would all those eggs get there? Well, where was the queen? Why, then, were all the eggs neatly arranged beneath a red laser that seemed to be some kind of containment field?

There is also the issue of believability. While Call's motivation to stop alien attacks is grounded in the first movie, I can't imagine Johner, Vriess, or even Ripley caring at all whether 10 or so people die at the other end of the universe. And getting 3 more people to follow them around? Unlikely. Simoni, a wasted character, is the only one with genuine motivation.

As I said, this is all unfortunate, since Friedman does expand the actual mythos--something most authors have been either afraid or forbidden to do in previous books. He takes the only good idea that ever came out of _Resurrection_--second generation androids--and implements it, though in a rather disappointing way. These androids have free choice--we want to see them as villains who chose that path, or as heroes, but at any rate, as real characters. If you need a stock villain, please, just use a regular first generation andriod. To my knowledge they are not gone.

His idea for Loki is interesting, but I find it hard to believe that that shadow organization could be so easily matched by Ripley's little crew. It is sort of ridiculous that the whole pirate vessel flies half-way across the galaxy to save a handful of people, but they end up only saving one--and lose a crewmate. So what exactly was the whole point of the novel? Better to let the Mala'kak (why oh why did Friedman have to give them a name?) have their aliens--then everyone would have benefited. Admittedly, Angie is an interesting character, but why do we need to make another insanely quirky female addition to the crew?

And yes, the liberties taken with the alien are numerous and unnecessary. The decision to make the human race in contact with the pilot aliens is a risky one--it is handled well here, but could have been done with more suspense, a la an encounter with the species themselves. Now we have all the explication, and an encounter with them wouldn't hold too many surprises.

If a movie were made based on this book, it would be just a little worse than _Resurrection_--but let's hope that never happens.

4 out of 5 stars

Another addition to the Ripley mythos January 11, 2006
4 out of 7 found this review helpful

Picking up where Alien 4 left off, Original Sin follows Ripley, Call, and the rest of their rag tag crew as they try to figure out what to do with their lives next. It's not long at all before the Aliens we've known to fear and despise raise their black obsidian heads, ready to strike. Before the end of the novel, a new crewmember is added and the reader is left with the distinct feeling this is the beginning of a new line of Aliens novels.

I think this is a nice solid start to a new line of Aliens books. Frankly, that's too long in coming. After coming out with both Aliens and Predator books for a while, they dried up years ago. Their return is most welcome.

Fans of the Aliens movies will love these books as they read like extensions of the film. The writing is well executed, with a nice balance of pace and characterization. However, do not buy this if you're expecting something new and earth shattering- these are pretty pat.

Overall, recommended.

3 out of 5 stars

Back again February 13, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

While not a great book, it does serve a great purpose: continuing the Aliens novel franchise. After years of waiting and wondering and worrying that the series has met it's final end we are presented with Original Sin, a unique plot set a short time after Resurrection telling how Ripley 8 and the surviving members of the 4th film discover that maybe that ill fated Nostromo wasn't such a horrific coincidence that we all thought it was...
Has lots of potential, unfortunately it doesnt really grab you the way it could. I read it in 3-4 days and was satisfied, but not overly eager to re-read it anytime soon.
I do reccomend it for any fan. And just know that this is a nice start for DHPRESSBOOKS (who have currently another Alien title in the works as well as a single Predator title due in April.)

I give it 3 outta 5. Not great, but worth reading.

***All of the Alien novels from the past (including this one) have always had potential to be great... but always seems to fall short. I'm a huge fan, but I think 1 to many times the authors lose sight of the characteristics of what made the Alien franchise so interesting. They always have stories of capturing Aliens and using them for weapons, drugs, compainions!? but rarely do we get a knock down drag out WAR! or better still, a really good hunt! Some books of the past nailed those qualities while all the others just seemed.... ridiculous! AH WELL THATS MY SOAP BOX)***

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