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Alien: The Official Movie Novelization
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Alan Dean Foster is the acclaimed author of movie tie-ins for Star Wars, Alien, Transformers. He was awarded the IAMTW Grand Master Scribe Award in 2008. A best-selling science-fiction and fantasy author in his own right; the popular Pip and Flinx novels and the Founding of the Commonwealth series.
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Start ReadingBook Information
Alien: The Official Movie Novelization
Description
Alan Dean Foster is the acclaimed author of movie tie-ins for Star Wars, Alien, Transformers. He was awarded the IAMTW Grand Master Scribe Award in 2008. A best-selling science-fiction and fantasy author in his own right; the popular Pip and Flinx novels and the Founding of the Commonwealth series.
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The Nostromo silently glides through space carrying its payload of refined petroleum and the seven crewmembers tucked away in hypersleep until the reach the Milky Way. While they sleep, the ship picks up a faint distress call, and according to company protocol, the ship -- known as Mother to the crew -- begins the process of waking the crew to investigate. They track the signal to a planetoid and manage a difficult landing in the harsh and dust-filled winds. Three crewmembers set out to locate the source of the signal and discover a large, derelict ship almost sprouting from the ground. The three make their way inside a large entry bay but can find no sings of life. Proceeding farther into the ship, they find a deep hole leading into blackness and decide to investigate.Dangling from a cable inside a cavernous room, one of the crew slowly settles to the floor and begins examining the strange pods arranged in a pattern around the room. He touches one and soon regrets it as the creature inside breaks through the skin of the punch and latches onto his faceplate, burning through the glass and attaching itself to his face. When the other two reel him in, their only thought is to get him back to the ship and remove the creature. Aboard the ship, warrant office Ripley refuses to allow her fellow crewmen back onto the ship, following Company protocol, but her decision is overridden by Ash, the science officer.Nothing they can do will release the vice-like grip of the creature. In time, the creature falls away on its own, unleashing something far worse into the bowels of the ship. What began as a simple distress call turns into a deadly fight for survival...."Alien" by Alan Dean Foster is a novelization of the 1979 film, and it follows the story very well. In fact, while reading the book, I found myself picturing Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, Tom Skerritt as Dallas, Ian Hom as Ash, and so on. It's very easy to do because I've seen the movie numerous times and still find it one of the scariest movies around. The book actually enhances the film, delving a bit deeper into the personalities of the crew, especially during the opening chapter when each of the characters is given a moment in the spotlight while still in hypersleep. My only gripe is with the transitions between scenes in the book. One moment, I'm reading about Ripley in one section of the Nostromo, then with the next sentence, Parker and Lambert are in the engine area. No pause or break appears; the scenes run into each other, and it's somewhat jarring.But it's still an effective story that fans of horror, science fiction, and the movies ill most definitely enjoy.
Review of Audiobook narrated by Peter Guinness. The last time I saw Alien was 1982, it has taken a while to again face this claustrophobic infection of a story. While the movie is about two hours long, the audiobook is eight - providing ample time to break overnight and dream, to slow down and appreciate the psychological horror and build tension. Occasional music sets the mood. The best thing about Alien is the creature is rarely seen. Similar to Jaws, it is the monster of our imagination that is most scary. The length of the novel plays into it extremely well, the alien doesn't appear until more than half way through. The action scenes are mercifully not too long or overwrought. It was a pleasure not to be bludgeoned with gory visual effects and thumping music, emerging with PTSD. Overall I believe I enjoyed it as much if not more than the movie. It's length and literary details, the ability to go inside what characters are thinking. All the things which give the written word an advantage over film. This isn't to say that movie is bad either, the two make a great compliment. On the narration: Peter Guinness is a British actor whose accent sounds a little affected to my American ear. As well the characters run together there is not a strong differentiation. Nevertheless, he is not displeasurable to listen to and got the job done. My preference for horror is Kevin Pierce, or better yet, a full cast with sound effects. The definitive audio drama has yet to be made.