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Alien: Isolation #0
Alien: Isolation
The product of a troubled and violent youth, Amanda Ripley is hell-bent on discovering what happened to her missing mother, Ellen Ripley. She joins a Weyland-Yutani team sent to retrieve the Nostromo flight recorder, only to find space station Sevastopol in chaos with a Xenomorph aboard. Flashbacks reveal Amanda’s history and events that forced her mother to take the assignment aboard the Nostromo.
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 30, 2019
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October 3, 2020
I do not like the whole “ lets have a flashback” every chapter to buffer a story you clobbed together from a game that was a lot better. Maybe im too much of a Ellen Ripley fan not to give Amanda a chance.
Read
July 19, 2020I'm so very excited for this story to get the fleshing out that it deserves but some of the rumors about Zula's involvement worry me a little. The Defiance comic was one of my favorite Alien-verse comic arcs of all time, and I really hope that her character isn't altered from how she appeared there. Her and Davis's characters (and Amanda's personality as well) are getting glossed over with so little detail or care in the current Resistance arc...
And Amanda Ripley is really special to me as a character: for having so little back story and on-screen dialogue in the game, the writers of Isolation's cutscenes managed to create a very real and solid character. Honestly, the whole speaking cast seemed very solid and movie-script ready with clear motives and personalities: Waits as an antagonist who still had in mind "for the greater good," Ricardo who's loyalty to rules ends up turned over in place of interest of survival but never wavering from good intentions, Samuels the android who was willing to lose everything just to give Amanda a sense of closure, Taylor the young and ambitious legal rep from the Company with a secret--they've all been there for four years waiting for a film, or a book and I'm so glad that they're finally getting one.
Plus in Out of Shadows (I think that was the one?) it was established that Ellen Ripley's parents had a house in France? And I know that canon isn't really a concept in the Alien comics and novels but I had really hoped that considering how close together the release dates of all the recent material have been, that there would be SOME continuity...
Fingers crossed that DeCandido will do this justice and the copyright holders that commissioned it (I'm assuming Fox and Creative Studios?) gave him enough free reign to do something great with it.
I'm also likely going to preorder a copy in, or even just request that my store has it short listed so I can get it on the release day.
EDIT: FULL REVIEW TO COME.
And Amanda Ripley is really special to me as a character: for having so little back story and on-screen dialogue in the game, the writers of Isolation's cutscenes managed to create a very real and solid character. Honestly, the whole speaking cast seemed very solid and movie-script ready with clear motives and personalities: Waits as an antagonist who still had in mind "for the greater good," Ricardo who's loyalty to rules ends up turned over in place of interest of survival but never wavering from good intentions, Samuels the android who was willing to lose everything just to give Amanda a sense of closure, Taylor the young and ambitious legal rep from the Company with a secret--they've all been there for four years waiting for a film, or a book and I'm so glad that they're finally getting one.
Plus in Out of Shadows (I think that was the one?) it was established that Ellen Ripley's parents had a house in France? And I know that canon isn't really a concept in the Alien comics and novels but I had really hoped that considering how close together the release dates of all the recent material have been, that there would be SOME continuity...
Fingers crossed that DeCandido will do this justice and the copyright holders that commissioned it (I'm assuming Fox and Creative Studios?) gave him enough free reign to do something great with it.
I'm also likely going to preorder a copy in, or even just request that my store has it short listed so I can get it on the release day.
EDIT: FULL REVIEW TO COME.
February 3, 2022
In the surprisingly long litany of popular-videogames-turned-novel-adaptations, there aren’t a TON that most would classify as being ‘good’…and unfortunately, ���Alien: Isolation’ isn’t an exception. Author Keith R.A. DeCandido does a credible enough job of layering in a decent degree of emotional exposition that wasn’t as present in the actual game, and the character of Amanda Ripley feels distinctly more fleshed out here, which is a plus. Unfortunately, too much of the book boils down to a stock re-presentation of the game’s events, with Amanda having to go to Location #1 to retrieve this item, then visit Location #2 to give said item to someone, then visit Location #3 else to activate some random thing….you get the drift. In game-form, this type of narrative works well enough; in book-form, it’s unfortunately a bit of a chore. There’s good stuff here, and for ‘Isolation’ completists, it might be worth a read to just get the full scope of Amanda’s character. For anyone else, however, this is a pretty easy skip.
December 16, 2019
Disappointing, way too many flashbacks to childhood and teenage angst, even the parts with the alien were dull.
July 23, 2024
Alien: Isolation
By Keith R. A. DeCandido
I really enjoyed this Alien novel. It takes place 15 years after Ripley is not heard from again. Her daughter was expecting to see her mom, Ripley, from the movies, on the girl's 11th birthday. Instead of Ripley coming home, the daughter finds out her mom is missing. She manages to get a ride with a team to go look out there. They find the monsters that her mom dealt with and more. Great episode! I liked the daughter, she reminded me of Ripley. Lots of action and suspense!
By Keith R. A. DeCandido
I really enjoyed this Alien novel. It takes place 15 years after Ripley is not heard from again. Her daughter was expecting to see her mom, Ripley, from the movies, on the girl's 11th birthday. Instead of Ripley coming home, the daughter finds out her mom is missing. She manages to get a ride with a team to go look out there. They find the monsters that her mom dealt with and more. Great episode! I liked the daughter, she reminded me of Ripley. Lots of action and suspense!
March 5, 2021
I was really looking forward to this, an adaptation of an incredible videogame based on one of my favourite franchises of all time. Unfortunately, the book inherits many of the flaws of the game, namely a shallow, unevenly paced story and uninteresting characters.
Personally, I was eager to see how the author would translate the game's impeccable sense of tension and dread into prose form. However, having read the final product, that didn't seem to be much of a priority. There is only the barest sense of atmosphere. Enemies that are formidable and fearsome in the game are severely downplayed in the book. Little details are weirdly off, too: the Working Joes are described as having purple skin, and the brunette Amanda is described as blonde? Might have been understandable if the author was working off of prototypes and concept art, but the game was released nearly 5 years ago.
Speaking of which, the way Amanda was handled was another letdown. The flashbacks detailing her past are repetitive and largely superfluous to the main story. All the flashbacks say the exact same thing: Amanda has been taken advantage of by others and she doesn't trust other people. This is fine once or twice, but it didn't need to be reinstated as often as it did throughout the story, since it only served to interrupt the present narrative and didn't offer anything insightful or new to Amanda's characterization.
I don't envy the task of an author who has to condense a large game into a readable, 300 page novel. But I feel like this was a missed opportunity - it's just not scary or engaging like the game, and it doesn't improve upon the weak story and characters.
Personally, I was eager to see how the author would translate the game's impeccable sense of tension and dread into prose form. However, having read the final product, that didn't seem to be much of a priority. There is only the barest sense of atmosphere. Enemies that are formidable and fearsome in the game are severely downplayed in the book. Little details are weirdly off, too: the Working Joes are described as having purple skin, and the brunette Amanda is described as blonde? Might have been understandable if the author was working off of prototypes and concept art, but the game was released nearly 5 years ago.
Speaking of which, the way Amanda was handled was another letdown. The flashbacks detailing her past are repetitive and largely superfluous to the main story. All the flashbacks say the exact same thing: Amanda has been taken advantage of by others and she doesn't trust other people. This is fine once or twice, but it didn't need to be reinstated as often as it did throughout the story, since it only served to interrupt the present narrative and didn't offer anything insightful or new to Amanda's characterization.
I don't envy the task of an author who has to condense a large game into a readable, 300 page novel. But I feel like this was a missed opportunity - it's just not scary or engaging like the game, and it doesn't improve upon the weak story and characters.
May 10, 2020
I loved the game, even though I didn't beat it. I got too scared. lol! Maybe one day I'll finish it. But I loved the book too. It had me holding my breath with anxiety on some parts. This was a book I couldn't wait to keep going back to when I had to stop and deal with "life" things.
November 22, 2023
A pretty average story
December 22, 2020
3.5 ⭐️
I really enjoyed this book for what it is: an adaptation of a video game’s story. It zipped along and was fun to read, but was no great piece of literature. It’s plotted like a video game and it doesn’t seem like much work was done to change that, and the ending was particularly bleak. I did enjoy that bit.
If you like Alien, etc. you’ll enjoy this grim re-telling of a great game that I could just never quite finish.
I really enjoyed this book for what it is: an adaptation of a video game’s story. It zipped along and was fun to read, but was no great piece of literature. It’s plotted like a video game and it doesn’t seem like much work was done to change that, and the ending was particularly bleak. I did enjoy that bit.
If you like Alien, etc. you’ll enjoy this grim re-telling of a great game that I could just never quite finish.
April 26, 2023
DNF 60% Depressing.
I wish I had never started listening. Ripley is poor white trash going from drunken loser to drunken loser, leaving her daughter alone with scumbags. Her daughter grows up a victim, taken advantage of over and over again.
It was so depressing.
Beyond the story, the audiobook was a wet blanket. There was no background sound to increase fear/tension or sound effects to make the Xenomorphs “leap off the page.”
I wish I had never started listening. Ripley is poor white trash going from drunken loser to drunken loser, leaving her daughter alone with scumbags. Her daughter grows up a victim, taken advantage of over and over again.
It was so depressing.
Beyond the story, the audiobook was a wet blanket. There was no background sound to increase fear/tension or sound effects to make the Xenomorphs “leap off the page.”
March 3, 2022
No espaço, ninguém te ouve gritar, nem a ler…
Desde miúdo que sempre gostei da franquia ALIEN e, assim que tive a oportunidade de meter as minhas mãos nesta novelização incrível, aproveitei logo e comprei o eBook! Foi uma leitura rápida e bastante agradável, no entanto, também foi uma leitura com pausas muito longa, o que contribuiu para a demora em concluir esta review que espero que seja do vosso agrado. Sem mais demoras, deixo-vos agora com a minha review de Alien: Isolation!
Vamos começar pelo Resumo: Aproximadamente 15 anos após o desaparecimento do cargueiro espacial Nostromo, Amanda Ripley é encontrada por um representante da Weyland-Yutani Corporation que a informa que a caixa-preta da nave desaparecida está a bordo de Sevastopol, uma remota estação espacial da Seegson Corporation, na órbita do gigante gasoso KG348. Disposta a saber mais sobre o paradeiro da mãe, a tenente Ellen Ripley, Amanda decide viajar até Sevastopol juntamente com o representante da Weyland-Yutani Corporation e outros tripulantes para embarcar numa jornada letal que viria a tornar-se no seu pior pesadelo.
Sobre o Autor: Cá está, mais uma vez, um autor que eu não conhecia e que, por acaso, tem um currículo cheio de obras de ficção-científica. Keith R.A. DeCandido é um escritor e músico norte-americano nascido em Abril de 1969 que escreveu novelizações e banda-desenhada para gigantes da ficção-científica como Star Trek, Doctor Who, Supernatural e para a própria Marvel, trabalhando em bandas-desenhadas do Homem-Aranha e dos X-Men. Além de escritor e músico, Keith R.A. DeCandido também é conhecido por usar um pouco do seu tempo livre para escrever reviews de séries de ficção-científica.
Sobre a História: Alien: Isolation é a novelização do fantástico jogo com o mesmo nome (ALIEN Isolation, disponível para todas as plataformas) que narra a jornada da destemida Amanda Ripley dentro da estação espacial Sevastopol, uma estação espacial que é propriedade da Seegson Corporation e que está a orbitar o gigante gasoso KG348, longe da Terra. Inicialmente com o objetivo de descobrir o paradeiro da mãe, a tenente Ellen Ripley do cargueiro espacial Nostromo que desapareceu há 15 anos atrás, Amanda, esperançosa em obter qualquer tipo de informação possível na caixa-preta sobre o paradeiro da mãe, é agora obrigada a sobreviver dentro de uma estação espacial isolada de tudo. Nesta obra temos um pouco de tudo, desde dilemas éticos de sobrevivência, muito stress e até traições, muitas mortes de personagens e claro, o suspense e terror que podemos encontrar na franquia ALIEN.
Keith R.A. DeCandido fez um trabalho incrível com toda a informação e detalhes que entregou ao leitor, criando uma novelização de leitura leve e capaz de prender o leitor (e gerar algum medo). Por outro lado, vejo-me na necessidade de dizer que a narrativa, por vezes, pode parecer sintética por ser a novelização de um jogo (algumas decisões de Amanda baseiam-se em ir do ponto A para o ponto B para falar com uma pessoa em específico ou para obter uma ferramenta que lhe dará jeito para a Área X e Y). Toda a jornada da Amanda é arrepiante e, através dos flashbacks que surgem após cada capítulo de história corrente, conseguimos perceber o quão desafiante e complexa foi a infância desta jovem adulta que, tragicamente, viveu com um pai adotivo que não tinha um pingo de responsabilidade no sangue e cujas amizades sempre a traíram, explorando a carência maternal da personagem para meios próprios (burlas e chantagem emocional), criando nela uma descrença com pessoas que se demonstram dispostas a “ajudar” (um tópico também explorado na sua jornada dentro da estação espacial). No decorrer da obra conhecemos algumas personagens que acabam por ser importantes não só para o desenvolvimento da personagem da Amanda, como também para a crítica que a franquia ALIEN faz às grandes organizações industriais e megacorporações comerciais, refiro-me há gigante Weyland-Yutani Corp. que anseia meter as mãos gananciosas num exemplar de Xenomorph, enviando a executiva Nina Taylor na missão de recuperar a caixa-preta com o verdadeiro objectivo de capturar um Xenomorph e há ignorante Seegson Corporation, cuja administração ignorou os protocolos de segurança e, assim acabou por desencadear todo o estado de calamidade da estação espacial. Mas nem tudo são rosas, já que existem algumas diferenças entre o livro e jogo que podem causar confusão a alguns leitores mais exigentes como, por exemplo, o facto dos Working Joe's serem roxos ao invés de serem mais cinzentos e o cabelo de Amanda ser loiro, já que no jogo ela tem o cabelo castanho (o que me leva a pensar que esta novelização possa ter sido escrita durante o desenvolvimento do jogo e não após o lançamento do mesmo). Também existem algumas diferenças na personalidade de alguns personagens e um ou outro detalhe que pode ser necessário para uns e desnecessário para outros.
É um facto que há muito para se falar sobre esta obra que, para muitos fãs, é uma autêntica jóia de valor imensurável, contudo, revelar todos os detalhes sobre a narrativa, personagens e momentos de maior suspense acabaria por estragar toda a experiência de leitura.
Sobre as Personagens: Escusado será dizer que, no decorrer da obra, são muitas as personagens que interagem com a Amanda Ripley. Umas com intenções nobres e outras más, cujo único objetivo, assim como o de Amanda, é sobreviverem numa estação espacial sem saída. Não tenciono entrar em grandes detalhes para não estragar a vossa experiência literária, porém, acho que é merecido mencionarmos personagens como o Alex (), que foi a primeira grande ajuda de Amanda, o Dr. Kuhlman () e o Samuels, cuja presença inicialmente duvidosa acaba por gerar um plot-twist interessante (). Todas as personagens são cuidadosamente trabalhadas e desenvolvidas no decorrer dos capítulos e, de uma forma ou outra, acabam por ter algum tipo de ligação com outros filmes da franquia (estou a referir-me às referências das personagens do primeiro filme de ALIEN).
Sobre Amanda Ripley: Antes do jogo e desta novelização maravilhosa, tudo aquilo que sabíamos sobre a personagem da Amanda Ripley era o facto de nunca ter tido a chance de ver a mãe, Ellen Ripley, devido aos eventos dos filmes. Felizmente, o jogo apresentou-nos uma personagem jovem adulta tão forte e incrível quanto a própria Ellen Ripley e a novel explora a fundo, através de flashbacks surpreendentes, a infância e adolescência problemática de Amanda. Uma personagem que nunca teve, de certa forma, paz, amor nem a oportunidade de confiar alguém em toda a vida, cujo único desejo era voltar a ver a mãe, custe o que custar. São poucas as personagens de ficção, com este estilo de passado, que se tornam "heróis" ao invés de "vilões".
E a minha Conclusão Final é: Alien: Isolation, de Keith R.A. DeCandido é uma leitura obrigatória para todos os fãs da franquia ALIEN (e também recomendo muito o jogo). As peripécias de Amanda são de cortar a respiração e a brutalidade dos medonhos ALIENS pode ser sentida a cada página. Estamos a falar de uma obra detalhada, contudo, com os seus defeitos, maioritariamente a quantidade exagerada de flashbacks, que nos são apresentados, por vezes, nos momentos menos oportunos de forma a cortar um pouco do clima que a história transmite. De resto, a única coisa que me resta dizer é uma leitura firme e que poderá vir a ser do vosso agrado!
Desde miúdo que sempre gostei da franquia ALIEN e, assim que tive a oportunidade de meter as minhas mãos nesta novelização incrível, aproveitei logo e comprei o eBook! Foi uma leitura rápida e bastante agradável, no entanto, também foi uma leitura com pausas muito longa, o que contribuiu para a demora em concluir esta review que espero que seja do vosso agrado. Sem mais demoras, deixo-vos agora com a minha review de Alien: Isolation!
Vamos começar pelo Resumo: Aproximadamente 15 anos após o desaparecimento do cargueiro espacial Nostromo, Amanda Ripley é encontrada por um representante da Weyland-Yutani Corporation que a informa que a caixa-preta da nave desaparecida está a bordo de Sevastopol, uma remota estação espacial da Seegson Corporation, na órbita do gigante gasoso KG348. Disposta a saber mais sobre o paradeiro da mãe, a tenente Ellen Ripley, Amanda decide viajar até Sevastopol juntamente com o representante da Weyland-Yutani Corporation e outros tripulantes para embarcar numa jornada letal que viria a tornar-se no seu pior pesadelo.
Sobre o Autor: Cá está, mais uma vez, um autor que eu não conhecia e que, por acaso, tem um currículo cheio de obras de ficção-científica. Keith R.A. DeCandido é um escritor e músico norte-americano nascido em Abril de 1969 que escreveu novelizações e banda-desenhada para gigantes da ficção-científica como Star Trek, Doctor Who, Supernatural e para a própria Marvel, trabalhando em bandas-desenhadas do Homem-Aranha e dos X-Men. Além de escritor e músico, Keith R.A. DeCandido também é conhecido por usar um pouco do seu tempo livre para escrever reviews de séries de ficção-científica.
Sobre a História: Alien: Isolation é a novelização do fantástico jogo com o mesmo nome (ALIEN Isolation, disponível para todas as plataformas) que narra a jornada da destemida Amanda Ripley dentro da estação espacial Sevastopol, uma estação espacial que é propriedade da Seegson Corporation e que está a orbitar o gigante gasoso KG348, longe da Terra. Inicialmente com o objetivo de descobrir o paradeiro da mãe, a tenente Ellen Ripley do cargueiro espacial Nostromo que desapareceu há 15 anos atrás, Amanda, esperançosa em obter qualquer tipo de informação possível na caixa-preta sobre o paradeiro da mãe, é agora obrigada a sobreviver dentro de uma estação espacial isolada de tudo. Nesta obra temos um pouco de tudo, desde dilemas éticos de sobrevivência, muito stress e até traições, muitas mortes de personagens e claro, o suspense e terror que podemos encontrar na franquia ALIEN.
Keith R.A. DeCandido fez um trabalho incrível com toda a informação e detalhes que entregou ao leitor, criando uma novelização de leitura leve e capaz de prender o leitor (e gerar algum medo). Por outro lado, vejo-me na necessidade de dizer que a narrativa, por vezes, pode parecer sintética por ser a novelização de um jogo (algumas decisões de Amanda baseiam-se em ir do ponto A para o ponto B para falar com uma pessoa em específico ou para obter uma ferramenta que lhe dará jeito para a Área X e Y). Toda a jornada da Amanda é arrepiante e, através dos flashbacks que surgem após cada capítulo de história corrente, conseguimos perceber o quão desafiante e complexa foi a infância desta jovem adulta que, tragicamente, viveu com um pai adotivo que não tinha um pingo de responsabilidade no sangue e cujas amizades sempre a traíram, explorando a carência maternal da personagem para meios próprios (burlas e chantagem emocional), criando nela uma descrença com pessoas que se demonstram dispostas a “ajudar” (um tópico também explorado na sua jornada dentro da estação espacial). No decorrer da obra conhecemos algumas personagens que acabam por ser importantes não só para o desenvolvimento da personagem da Amanda, como também para a crítica que a franquia ALIEN faz às grandes organizações industriais e megacorporações comerciais, refiro-me há gigante Weyland-Yutani Corp. que anseia meter as mãos gananciosas num exemplar de Xenomorph, enviando a executiva Nina Taylor na missão de recuperar a caixa-preta com o verdadeiro objectivo de capturar um Xenomorph e há ignorante Seegson Corporation, cuja administração ignorou os protocolos de segurança e, assim acabou por desencadear todo o estado de calamidade da estação espacial. Mas nem tudo são rosas, já que existem algumas diferenças entre o livro e jogo que podem causar confusão a alguns leitores mais exigentes como, por exemplo, o facto dos Working Joe's serem roxos ao invés de serem mais cinzentos e o cabelo de Amanda ser loiro, já que no jogo ela tem o cabelo castanho (
É um facto que há muito para se falar sobre esta obra que, para muitos fãs, é uma autêntica jóia de valor imensurável, contudo, revelar todos os detalhes sobre a narrativa, personagens e momentos de maior suspense acabaria por estragar toda a experiência de leitura.
Sobre as Personagens: Escusado será dizer que, no decorrer da obra, são muitas as personagens que interagem com a Amanda Ripley. Umas com intenções nobres e outras más, cujo único objetivo, assim como o de Amanda, é sobreviverem numa estação espacial sem saída. Não tenciono entrar em grandes detalhes para não estragar a vossa experiência literária, porém, acho que é merecido mencionarmos personagens como o Alex (), que foi a primeira grande ajuda de Amanda, o Dr. Kuhlman () e o Samuels, cuja presença inicialmente duvidosa acaba por gerar um plot-twist interessante (). Todas as personagens são cuidadosamente trabalhadas e desenvolvidas no decorrer dos capítulos e, de uma forma ou outra, acabam por ter algum tipo de ligação com outros filmes da franquia (estou a referir-me às referências das personagens do primeiro filme de ALIEN).
Sobre Amanda Ripley: Antes do jogo e desta novelização maravilhosa, tudo aquilo que sabíamos sobre a personagem da Amanda Ripley era o facto de nunca ter tido a chance de ver a mãe, Ellen Ripley, devido aos eventos dos filmes. Felizmente, o jogo apresentou-nos uma personagem jovem adulta tão forte e incrível quanto a própria Ellen Ripley e a novel explora a fundo, através de flashbacks surpreendentes, a infância e adolescência problemática de Amanda. Uma personagem que nunca teve, de certa forma, paz, amor nem a oportunidade de confiar alguém em toda a vida, cujo único desejo era voltar a ver a mãe, custe o que custar. São poucas as personagens de ficção, com este estilo de passado, que se tornam "heróis" ao invés de "vilões".
E a minha Conclusão Final é: Alien: Isolation, de Keith R.A. DeCandido é uma leitura obrigatória para todos os fãs da franquia ALIEN (e também recomendo muito o jogo). As peripécias de Amanda são de cortar a respiração e a brutalidade dos medonhos ALIENS pode ser sentida a cada página. Estamos a falar de uma obra detalhada, contudo, com os seus defeitos, maioritariamente a quantidade exagerada de flashbacks, que nos são apresentados, por vezes, nos momentos menos oportunos de forma a cortar um pouco do clima que a história transmite. De resto, a única coisa que me resta dizer é uma leitura firme e que poderá vir a ser do vosso agrado!
August 21, 2019
Alien book publishing has gone through a sort of renaissance in the past few years, due in large part to the solid effort of the people at Titan Publishing. Authors like Tim Lebbon, Christopher Golden, Alex White, Alan Dean Foster and now Keith R.A. DeCandido have been publishing some real powerhouse novels that are fun to read and add to Alien lore in exciting ways. Now, enter Alien Isolation, the 2014 videogame. Taking a cue from a most interesting deleted scene from the film "Aliens," Isolation tells the story of Ripley's daughter, and her search for her missing mother following the events of the first Alien film. While well-received, the game did not sell extremely well, and interest in developing sequels ground to a halt. But surprise! Five years later--out of nowhere-- we get a novelization of the game. It's curious, and I ask "why now?" Better late than never, I suppose.
NOTE: If you haven't played the videogame, fear not! The novelization works very well on its own, and you will still have a great reading experience.
The plot of the novel follows the story beats from the game quite closely. However, there is a lot of added content to the book, and some of this new content is actually the most interesting. The novel begins by relaying the story of the Anesidora and how it comes to pick up the flight recorder and alien creature. I was glad this story was told in one cohesive section at the beginning of the novel, rather than being broken up, as it was in the game. There is also a substantial amount of story content with Amanda Ripley that takes place before she is recruited to tag along on the journey to Sevastopol Station. This extra content has some really interesting info about Ellen and Amanda Ripley's personal lives that was heretofore unknown to me. The extra scenes really help the reader understand the psyche of Amanda in particular, what makes her tick, and why she is so jaded.
The novel is well-written and moves a good clip. Author DeCandido does a good of following the plot of the game while also truncating exploration as needed, so you won't have to read extended sequences of people hiding in lockers, reading emails on computers, etc. The game exuded a strong sense of mood, and the author emulates this very well in the book. He is also quite faithful to Alien source material at large, and obviously has a strong grasp on the universe. I was delighted with the novel's characterization, particularly that of the protagonist, Amanda. DeCandido really turns the two-dimensional character from the game into a compelling specimen. Amanda's caustic sense of humor is priceless. I also appreciated the author re-working the ending, which in the game was underwhelming.
While the flashback scenes were entertaining and informative, I found they did slow the action, perhaps intentionally? I would've preferred more fleshing out of the main storyline over the flashback scenes, which occasionally felt shoehorned in. Other than that, my complaints were few.
Alien fan? Looking for a dynamite read? Stop reading this stupidly long review and go pick up the novel, already! Kudos to Keith R.A. DeCandido for writing a novel that succeeds on many fronts: as great novelization, great Alien tie-in, and great science fiction. The Alien: Isolation novelization is a wonderful expansion of the lore we love, and hope to see more coming soon!
NOTE: NOTE: You'll be hungry for a sequel after reading the novel. The sequel is told in the form of a comic--Aliens: Resistance, which is available in one volume or four separate shorter volumes. There is also another comic about Zula Hendricks, which is called Aliens: Defiance. It is available in two volumes or as eight shorter volumes. Confusing, I know!
NOTE: If you haven't played the videogame, fear not! The novelization works very well on its own, and you will still have a great reading experience.
The plot of the novel follows the story beats from the game quite closely. However, there is a lot of added content to the book, and some of this new content is actually the most interesting. The novel begins by relaying the story of the Anesidora and how it comes to pick up the flight recorder and alien creature. I was glad this story was told in one cohesive section at the beginning of the novel, rather than being broken up, as it was in the game. There is also a substantial amount of story content with Amanda Ripley that takes place before she is recruited to tag along on the journey to Sevastopol Station. This extra content has some really interesting info about Ellen and Amanda Ripley's personal lives that was heretofore unknown to me. The extra scenes really help the reader understand the psyche of Amanda in particular, what makes her tick, and why she is so jaded.
The novel is well-written and moves a good clip. Author DeCandido does a good of following the plot of the game while also truncating exploration as needed, so you won't have to read extended sequences of people hiding in lockers, reading emails on computers, etc. The game exuded a strong sense of mood, and the author emulates this very well in the book. He is also quite faithful to Alien source material at large, and obviously has a strong grasp on the universe. I was delighted with the novel's characterization, particularly that of the protagonist, Amanda. DeCandido really turns the two-dimensional character from the game into a compelling specimen. Amanda's caustic sense of humor is priceless. I also appreciated the author re-working the ending, which in the game was underwhelming.
While the flashback scenes were entertaining and informative, I found they did slow the action, perhaps intentionally? I would've preferred more fleshing out of the main storyline over the flashback scenes, which occasionally felt shoehorned in. Other than that, my complaints were few.
Alien fan? Looking for a dynamite read? Stop reading this stupidly long review and go pick up the novel, already! Kudos to Keith R.A. DeCandido for writing a novel that succeeds on many fronts: as great novelization, great Alien tie-in, and great science fiction. The Alien: Isolation novelization is a wonderful expansion of the lore we love, and hope to see more coming soon!
NOTE: NOTE: You'll be hungry for a sequel after reading the novel. The sequel is told in the form of a comic--Aliens: Resistance, which is available in one volume or four separate shorter volumes. There is also another comic about Zula Hendricks, which is called Aliens: Defiance. It is available in two volumes or as eight shorter volumes. Confusing, I know!
September 21, 2019
I have a little confession to make, I've never been able to finish playing Alien Isolation. I've had it since it was released in 2014, and have tried finishing it at least once a year since, but it's just way too scary for me. As such, when it was announced that Titan were releasing a novelisation I was over the moon, as I'd finally get to find out how the story of Amanda Ripley would end.
Whilst this is an adaptation of the game, Keith R.A. Decandido adds a lot more to the story, exploring Amanda's past and filling in a lot of the gaps to her story. Not only do we get to see her having to face off against the killer alien, but we see how the loss of her mother affected her life growing up.
Ripley having a daughter was a major character beat that was cut out of Aliens, and it was a shame as it gave a lot more context to her relationship with Newt. Since the release of the special edition fans have been wanting to know more about Ripley and her daughter, and this novelisation gives us the most insight to date.
We get to see Ripley and Amanda before the events of the original movie, where she's a mother trying her best to support her daughter despite her long distance job that takes her away from home for months at a time. We discover that despite the rocky relationship with Amanda's step-father, Ripley always tries to do the best she can by her daughter, and loves her deeply.
Once Ripley and the Nostromo disappear we learn the affect this had on Amanda. We discover that her whole adolescence was shaped by this disaster, and that the pain of her loss never left her. Whilst this is included to a small degree in the game here it becomes a focal point. It's not just the motivation for Amanda travelling to Sevastopol station, but something that shaped her entire life.
Amanda was left in a less than ideal home situation, living with an alcoholic step-father who can't get his shit together. This leads to her being unable to finish her education and becoming a full engineer, which limited her employment options and effectively left her poor her entire life. Ripley's disappearance began a cascade of events that led Amanda to coming face to face with the same creatures that took her mother away from her.
Decandido doesn't just build this new backstory, but has the difficult job of condensing down the whole game-play scenario into a story that wont leave readers bored. Whilst walking through countless corridors for hours on end worked for the game, thanks in large part to the massive levels of tension the game built, it wasn't going to make an entertaining read. Thankfully, the books narrative is able to capture a lot of this atmosphere, and hits all of the major beats of the game.
This doesn't just include the big story moments, which of course would be included, but little things like the scrawled graffiti players find on the walls, Amanda making smoke-bombs out of scrap materials, and having to collect tools to progress through the station. Sometimes game adaptations can feel like poor novels as the writers work hard to include as much of the game-play experience as they can. I found this to be true in the Resident Evil novel series, where the game adaptations were not quite as good as the stories that the writer was able to craft themselves. Thankfully, this kind of thing didn't happen here, largely thanks to the inclusion of all of the backstory segments.
Whether you're like me, and haven't been able to complete the game, or someone who has experienced the whole thing there's something for everyone in this adaptation. The book takes the source material and doesn't just adapt it, but expands upon it to give an even bigger experience. An ideal read for Alien fans and those that enjoy horror.
Whilst this is an adaptation of the game, Keith R.A. Decandido adds a lot more to the story, exploring Amanda's past and filling in a lot of the gaps to her story. Not only do we get to see her having to face off against the killer alien, but we see how the loss of her mother affected her life growing up.
Ripley having a daughter was a major character beat that was cut out of Aliens, and it was a shame as it gave a lot more context to her relationship with Newt. Since the release of the special edition fans have been wanting to know more about Ripley and her daughter, and this novelisation gives us the most insight to date.
We get to see Ripley and Amanda before the events of the original movie, where she's a mother trying her best to support her daughter despite her long distance job that takes her away from home for months at a time. We discover that despite the rocky relationship with Amanda's step-father, Ripley always tries to do the best she can by her daughter, and loves her deeply.
Once Ripley and the Nostromo disappear we learn the affect this had on Amanda. We discover that her whole adolescence was shaped by this disaster, and that the pain of her loss never left her. Whilst this is included to a small degree in the game here it becomes a focal point. It's not just the motivation for Amanda travelling to Sevastopol station, but something that shaped her entire life.
Amanda was left in a less than ideal home situation, living with an alcoholic step-father who can't get his shit together. This leads to her being unable to finish her education and becoming a full engineer, which limited her employment options and effectively left her poor her entire life. Ripley's disappearance began a cascade of events that led Amanda to coming face to face with the same creatures that took her mother away from her.
Decandido doesn't just build this new backstory, but has the difficult job of condensing down the whole game-play scenario into a story that wont leave readers bored. Whilst walking through countless corridors for hours on end worked for the game, thanks in large part to the massive levels of tension the game built, it wasn't going to make an entertaining read. Thankfully, the books narrative is able to capture a lot of this atmosphere, and hits all of the major beats of the game.
This doesn't just include the big story moments, which of course would be included, but little things like the scrawled graffiti players find on the walls, Amanda making smoke-bombs out of scrap materials, and having to collect tools to progress through the station. Sometimes game adaptations can feel like poor novels as the writers work hard to include as much of the game-play experience as they can. I found this to be true in the Resident Evil novel series, where the game adaptations were not quite as good as the stories that the writer was able to craft themselves. Thankfully, this kind of thing didn't happen here, largely thanks to the inclusion of all of the backstory segments.
Whether you're like me, and haven't been able to complete the game, or someone who has experienced the whole thing there's something for everyone in this adaptation. The book takes the source material and doesn't just adapt it, but expands upon it to give an even bigger experience. An ideal read for Alien fans and those that enjoy horror.
August 31, 2021
It works well in the first half as it sets the stage and establishes Amanda Ripley’s backstory. I actually didn’t mind the flashbacks. In fact, I think I would have preferred a novel just about Amanda doing… well, not this. The second half is a bit of a slog, moving from “level to level” with very little atmosphere or sense of dramatic rhythm. It feels like a summary of a video game… without any of the tension one gets from playing a video game.
February 14, 2020
Wow this really felt like a sequel to the original story. Don't get me wrong Aliens is great and I love it but it's got a completely different atmosphere than Alien.
Alien Isolation gives us the best of both worlds. You get the tense isolated horror of the Alien stalking Amanda in the beginning and more action-packed race against time twords the end.
I also liked the use of the "Joe's" (semi mindless drones, instead of Androids like Ash or Bishop) and other survivors to keep the tension up between Alien encounters.
The segments between chapters where they talk about Amanda's past where okay, not super exciting or really insightful towards the universe itself. They're more of a look at her life specifically which was really depressing because I know a lot of people that were basically Amanda growing up (minus the whole xenomorph thing).
Alien Isolation gives us the best of both worlds. You get the tense isolated horror of the Alien stalking Amanda in the beginning and more action-packed race against time twords the end.
I also liked the use of the "Joe's" (semi mindless drones, instead of Androids like Ash or Bishop) and other survivors to keep the tension up between Alien encounters.
The segments between chapters where they talk about Amanda's past where okay, not super exciting or really insightful towards the universe itself. They're more of a look at her life specifically which was really depressing because I know a lot of people that were basically Amanda growing up (minus the whole xenomorph thing).
September 1, 2024
I wasn’t too sure what to expect of this- only other video game tie in novels I’ve read turned out to be basically walk through guides of the game- this wasn’t quite like that.
Big fan of the background into young Amanda Ripley and life with everyone’s favourite sci fi heroine, however the parts that addressed the horrifying survival horror of the game fell a bit flat, the antagonist is mentioned in passing a few times (at least compared to how often it hunted and killed me in the game- which I’ve never managed to get past level 5: the med bay mission).
Worth a read since I beleive it’s become canon now.
Big fan of the background into young Amanda Ripley and life with everyone’s favourite sci fi heroine, however the parts that addressed the horrifying survival horror of the game fell a bit flat, the antagonist is mentioned in passing a few times (at least compared to how often it hunted and killed me in the game- which I’ve never managed to get past level 5: the med bay mission).
Worth a read since I beleive it’s become canon now.
August 16, 2024
Based off the atmospheric video game of the same name, the novel feels more like a series of events stated rather than fully described. The same atmosphere and dread felt by the xenomorph in the game is lacking in this novel and the tension never really amounts to much. There are definitely better reads set in this universe and I would only recommend this for the most ardent of fans.
August 27, 2024
Quick read and did well not to feel like it's just trudging through the motions of a game. Some interesting stuff looking at Amanda's life before the station but at times felt like it was distracting from the main story to much.
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
July 12, 2022
Got the book since I suck at videogames, but really wanted to know what happened here.
The concept is good (clearly, as it made for a fantastic game), but the execution is cluncky. The style really didn't do much for me, it reads like a not-so good fanfiction.
The concept is good (clearly, as it made for a fantastic game), but the execution is cluncky. The style really didn't do much for me, it reads like a not-so good fanfiction.
August 18, 2019
Not as Good as the Original Alien Trilogy Books
I am a fan of the Alien series, especially the books, audiobooks and audio dramas. I am not a gamer and am not familiar with the Isolation story. I'm coming to this particular story as a newbie.
Amanda shares many traits with her mother and I enjoy the the fact that she is an engineer in all but name. Parts of the backstory were interesting, but became tedious after a while. Part of this were implausible as well. Lots of moving through vents of the crazy infected station. Little food or rest and constantly having to keep going. This just didn't hold my interest the way Alien books normally do. The encrypted transmission communications between didn't really pick up until nearly the end of the book. There were so many different things happening, it got difficult to follow. The machinations of the company are some of my favorite parts of the Alien books. Little of that is here. I also don't feel the immersion in a future world like I normally do. The Alien Covenant prequel book was a great book that really gave a sense of how the company operates. The book didn't so much as end, but stop, leaving the possibility of another book. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audio book. The narrator was ok, I would've preferred the excellent Tom Taylorson who did both Covenant books. This book was just meh for me.
I am a fan of the Alien series, especially the books, audiobooks and audio dramas. I am not a gamer and am not familiar with the Isolation story. I'm coming to this particular story as a newbie.
Amanda shares many traits with her mother and I enjoy the the fact that she is an engineer in all but name. Parts of the backstory were interesting, but became tedious after a while. Part of this were implausible as well. Lots of moving through vents of the crazy infected station. Little food or rest and constantly having to keep going. This just didn't hold my interest the way Alien books normally do. The encrypted transmission communications between didn't really pick up until nearly the end of the book. There were so many different things happening, it got difficult to follow. The machinations of the company are some of my favorite parts of the Alien books. Little of that is here. I also don't feel the immersion in a future world like I normally do. The Alien Covenant prequel book was a great book that really gave a sense of how the company operates. The book didn't so much as end, but stop, leaving the possibility of another book. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audio book. The narrator was ok, I would've preferred the excellent Tom Taylorson who did both Covenant books. This book was just meh for me.
January 23, 2021
Felt like it was written by two people.
Ah I really enjoyed the start of this book, I was glued for the first 100 pages. Nice details of what Ripleys daughter was doing and the build up to the alien.
However, it just seemed to be written by someone else as the story progressed. The awe and horror of the alien was gone, no build up or tense. It become more of "you know what the alien is, so I won't discribe it and just skip past it so can carry on the adventure".
I understand the flash backs but it should at the start of a story not halfway during a intense scene. It kills all forward momentum.
I'll just end saying that if you love Aliens it's interesting to read what happend to Ripleys daughter but you'll find her an annoying, huffy teenager and the story has No horror element.
It's told more as if a idea being written instead of building a story with excitement and thrill. Like a mate telling you what happens in a horror film then going to watch and experiencing it yourself.
Ah I really enjoyed the start of this book, I was glued for the first 100 pages. Nice details of what Ripleys daughter was doing and the build up to the alien.
However, it just seemed to be written by someone else as the story progressed. The awe and horror of the alien was gone, no build up or tense. It become more of "you know what the alien is, so I won't discribe it and just skip past it so can carry on the adventure".
I understand the flash backs but it should at the start of a story not halfway during a intense scene. It kills all forward momentum.
I'll just end saying that if you love Aliens it's interesting to read what happend to Ripleys daughter but you'll find her an annoying, huffy teenager and the story has No horror element.
It's told more as if a idea being written instead of building a story with excitement and thrill. Like a mate telling you what happens in a horror film then going to watch and experiencing it yourself.
July 16, 2021
Just OK. Should have been better written.
This book was a bit of a disappointment even though it was a little entertaining. The fact that it was based on the hugely popular video games raised the bar high. I'm surprised that the editors and the publisher didn't tackle the issue of the book's lackluster writing. Some of it was so bad, I almost stopped reading it a couple of times.
The storyline was scattered and the plot was ambiguous. The characters were not very believable, especially Rippley's daughter. I just felt it needed something extra. Like making a sauce for a dish and not using the right ingredients and spices.
This is disappointing considering that most of the Alien books have been phenomenal.
This book was a bit of a disappointment even though it was a little entertaining. The fact that it was based on the hugely popular video games raised the bar high. I'm surprised that the editors and the publisher didn't tackle the issue of the book's lackluster writing. Some of it was so bad, I almost stopped reading it a couple of times.
The storyline was scattered and the plot was ambiguous. The characters were not very believable, especially Rippley's daughter. I just felt it needed something extra. Like making a sauce for a dish and not using the right ingredients and spices.
This is disappointing considering that most of the Alien books have been phenomenal.
May 6, 2022
I tried playing the Alien: Isolation video game a few years back and made it a few hours into the adventure before a corrupted save broke my will to continue. For whatever reason, the file froze a pop-up screen in the center of the display, obstructing action items and new messages, making the game unplayable. I never did muster up the will to start over all the way back to the start of the game, but I sank into Keith R.A. DeCandido's adaptation eager to see how things would finally resolve. I even recognized a few story segments from my own limited play-through before the plot really heated up and grew unfamiliar.
Amanda Ripley, daughter of the ill-fated Nostromo's warrant officer, Ellen Ripley, has been searching for any clue she can find to locate her missing mother. When she's offered the chance to help recover a flight data recorder from the Nostromo, discovered by another ship responding to a distress call on LV-426, she jumps at the chance. When she arrives at Sevastopol Station, though, she finds way more than she bargained for. An insectile alien creature is rampaging through the station, leaving a large body count in its wake, and - if that wasn't bad enough - every Working Joe android is malfunctioning and have turned awfully homicidal. As Amanda notes at one point, it's "Just another fun day at Apocalypse Station."
I wasn't too far into Alien: Isolation before I began wondering (aside from the Fox-Disney merger) why the hell we haven't gotten any Amanda Ripley movies starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ellen's daughter, because that feels like a no-brainer Hollywood goldmine. Which probably also explains why it hasn't been done...it just makes too much damn sense. That aside, the Amanda Ripley presented here is a terrific heroine, and she truly carries on the legacy of her absent mother. Alien fans will know that at this point in the timeline, Ripley is floating through space in cyrosleep aboard one of Nostromo's lifeboats and it'll be another 57 years before she's recovered. Plenty of time, then, for Amanda to do her own thing and encounter her fair share of Xenomorphs while she searches for dear ol' Mom.
What makes Amanda's adventures through Sevastopol so engaging is DeCandido's focus on what makes her tick as a human being. We get plenty of flashbacks to Amanda's childhood and her time with Ellen, as well as with her useless drunk of a stepfather, and the years following her eleventh birthday - and Ellen's disappearance - as she attempts to make her way through the universe on her own. Amanda's a nicely complicated character, distrusting of virtually everyone around her thanks to her stepfather's failures and people who have used her mother's disappearance and subsequent search for answers to swindle her. She's a hardbitten women who has been repeatedly screwed over by the universe, and I found her to be highly sympathetic, familiar, and engaging. She's easy to root for, not just because she's a Ripley, but because DeCandido takes the time to step away from the video game plotline to build her up as a well-rounded woman who has been thrust into a ridiculously insane situation.
However, knowing Alien: Isolation is an adaptation, and having played a little bit of the game it's based on, makes some of the scenarios and situations Amanda is confronted with feel a little bit forced. DeCandido never quite overcomes the video game logic of the story, and certain elements carry a little too much of that video game contrivance. Several moments, like Amanda's discovery of a discarded smoke bomb recipe and a tool to open locked doors, feel a bit shoehorned into the narrative, reminding you repeatedly that this book is indeed based on a video game. It reads too much like a tutorial session in print, and where these "coincidental" discoveries are familiar hallmarks of a video game training you on how to play your way through the narrative and get you acquainted with the game's mechanics and tools, it feels clumsy in prose. Ditto the introduction of various side-characters, who exist in the single-player video game to assign missions that push the plot forward, feel rather flat with their "go here, do this" assignments for Amanda, who has to tackle every issue aboard the station all on her own while various men sit around on their useless asses.
While Isolation never manages to fully escape the limits of being a video game adaptation, DeCandido does offer up enough compelling character moments in Amanda's flashbacks, and suitably explores the familiar relationships that have shaped her. It's a solid introduction to this character and her place in the franchise, and one that immediately had me searching for other stories involving her. Aside from some Dark Horse Comics and a mobile game sequel to Isolation, though, there's sadly little tie-in lit. It's an oversight I hope to see corrected as Titan Books continues to develop their line of original stories in the Alien universe. After all, Ellen is still floating out there somewhere, and now, too, so is Amanda - and who knows what she'll find in a universe of Xenomorphs, Engineers, and Yautja...
Amanda Ripley, daughter of the ill-fated Nostromo's warrant officer, Ellen Ripley, has been searching for any clue she can find to locate her missing mother. When she's offered the chance to help recover a flight data recorder from the Nostromo, discovered by another ship responding to a distress call on LV-426, she jumps at the chance. When she arrives at Sevastopol Station, though, she finds way more than she bargained for. An insectile alien creature is rampaging through the station, leaving a large body count in its wake, and - if that wasn't bad enough - every Working Joe android is malfunctioning and have turned awfully homicidal. As Amanda notes at one point, it's "Just another fun day at Apocalypse Station."
I wasn't too far into Alien: Isolation before I began wondering (aside from the Fox-Disney merger) why the hell we haven't gotten any Amanda Ripley movies starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ellen's daughter, because that feels like a no-brainer Hollywood goldmine. Which probably also explains why it hasn't been done...it just makes too much damn sense. That aside, the Amanda Ripley presented here is a terrific heroine, and she truly carries on the legacy of her absent mother. Alien fans will know that at this point in the timeline, Ripley is floating through space in cyrosleep aboard one of Nostromo's lifeboats and it'll be another 57 years before she's recovered. Plenty of time, then, for Amanda to do her own thing and encounter her fair share of Xenomorphs while she searches for dear ol' Mom.
What makes Amanda's adventures through Sevastopol so engaging is DeCandido's focus on what makes her tick as a human being. We get plenty of flashbacks to Amanda's childhood and her time with Ellen, as well as with her useless drunk of a stepfather, and the years following her eleventh birthday - and Ellen's disappearance - as she attempts to make her way through the universe on her own. Amanda's a nicely complicated character, distrusting of virtually everyone around her thanks to her stepfather's failures and people who have used her mother's disappearance and subsequent search for answers to swindle her. She's a hardbitten women who has been repeatedly screwed over by the universe, and I found her to be highly sympathetic, familiar, and engaging. She's easy to root for, not just because she's a Ripley, but because DeCandido takes the time to step away from the video game plotline to build her up as a well-rounded woman who has been thrust into a ridiculously insane situation.
However, knowing Alien: Isolation is an adaptation, and having played a little bit of the game it's based on, makes some of the scenarios and situations Amanda is confronted with feel a little bit forced. DeCandido never quite overcomes the video game logic of the story, and certain elements carry a little too much of that video game contrivance. Several moments, like Amanda's discovery of a discarded smoke bomb recipe and a tool to open locked doors, feel a bit shoehorned into the narrative, reminding you repeatedly that this book is indeed based on a video game. It reads too much like a tutorial session in print, and where these "coincidental" discoveries are familiar hallmarks of a video game training you on how to play your way through the narrative and get you acquainted with the game's mechanics and tools, it feels clumsy in prose. Ditto the introduction of various side-characters, who exist in the single-player video game to assign missions that push the plot forward, feel rather flat with their "go here, do this" assignments for Amanda, who has to tackle every issue aboard the station all on her own while various men sit around on their useless asses.
While Isolation never manages to fully escape the limits of being a video game adaptation, DeCandido does offer up enough compelling character moments in Amanda's flashbacks, and suitably explores the familiar relationships that have shaped her. It's a solid introduction to this character and her place in the franchise, and one that immediately had me searching for other stories involving her. Aside from some Dark Horse Comics and a mobile game sequel to Isolation, though, there's sadly little tie-in lit. It's an oversight I hope to see corrected as Titan Books continues to develop their line of original stories in the Alien universe. After all, Ellen is still floating out there somewhere, and now, too, so is Amanda - and who knows what she'll find in a universe of Xenomorphs, Engineers, and Yautja...
November 4, 2020
A solid retelling of the alien isolation game if you have played it you don't need to read this. If you are unable to continue playing the game but want to finish the story this book is for you.
June 5, 2022
I didn't really like this book. I feel like there's not much Alien media out there but this still managed to do pretty much everything I don't like with the alien. Like don't get me wrong I really like (but didn't beat) the game, it was spooky and atmospheric and is God tier alien media. But if you're adapting something like this you have to change what's scary to the media you're writing, like, he described exactly how the alien moves in the game and it takes away all the tension and scariness in book form because all it does is make a noise and slither. Make it do more. Make more than one interaction with an alien more than a page long. This was very not-frightening. Especially after reading Phalanx I was disappointed.
My main thing with this book is that by trying to make Ellen Ripley a more relatable character that lived on Earth and had a child (which is all good and fine), they make her a worse character in retrospect by having her come home to a shitty husband when she's not on jobs. I really like all the stuff between Amanda and Ellen, when it came to her leaving, and Amanda meeting the Nostromo crew (her and Dallas had the best part in the whole book), but just giving her two shitty significant others didn't progress anything I felt. Amanda should have been on her own the whole time or, maybe she was adopted by Zula's (who should have been in this more) family or something and that's how she knows her. I don't know, but I'm not being paid to come up with quality ideas for a book.
If I were on Letterboxd I would use my tag 'someone better suited should retry this'. I think this book would have been way more interesting if there was a female writer for the book, one who kind of gets how it is to be a young girl looking out for herself, I think that would have actually made the shitty stepdad angle more interesting. I'm shocked how interested I am in Alien Echo after this, Mira Grant probably would have handled this well.
All in all this book was pretty disappointing, both as a video game novelisation and an alien mid-sequel (?). It felt unscary, and a little without stakes, I wasnt worried about Amanda at all, it felt like she was hardly in danger because all she had to do was hide. Imagine if an alien had actually found her in a hiding spot instead of zombie shambling because our protag has plot-armour.
My main thing with this book is that by trying to make Ellen Ripley a more relatable character that lived on Earth and had a child (which is all good and fine), they make her a worse character in retrospect by having her come home to a shitty husband when she's not on jobs. I really like all the stuff between Amanda and Ellen, when it came to her leaving, and Amanda meeting the Nostromo crew (her and Dallas had the best part in the whole book), but just giving her two shitty significant others didn't progress anything I felt. Amanda should have been on her own the whole time or, maybe she was adopted by Zula's (who should have been in this more) family or something and that's how she knows her. I don't know, but I'm not being paid to come up with quality ideas for a book.
If I were on Letterboxd I would use my tag 'someone better suited should retry this'. I think this book would have been way more interesting if there was a female writer for the book, one who kind of gets how it is to be a young girl looking out for herself, I think that would have actually made the shitty stepdad angle more interesting. I'm shocked how interested I am in Alien Echo after this, Mira Grant probably would have handled this well.
All in all this book was pretty disappointing, both as a video game novelisation and an alien mid-sequel (?). It felt unscary, and a little without stakes, I wasnt worried about Amanda at all, it felt like she was hardly in danger because all she had to do was hide. Imagine if an alien had actually found her in a hiding spot instead of zombie shambling because our protag has plot-armour.
December 28, 2021
I haven't played the video game of which this is the novelisation, though I have fast-forwarded through some of a Let's Play—it looks like a plausibly faithful adaptation of the basic content. The dialogue is certainly that "witty"/edgy banter typical of 201X 3D action-adventure video games, and the narrative is a fairly constant stream of narratively nonsensical staple "puzzles" (
"I'll activate this one," Axel said. "You go 'round and do the other at the same time."
) alternating with obvious cutscenes. It seems pretty bad at capturing the atmosphere, however: it's my understanding that in the game, you're on your own almost all of the time—isolated, if you will—and only rarely run into other people. The book tends to rush through or even skip over those lonely stretches in order to fit in more dialogue, which also removes any aspect of horror from the story.
The other significant divergence from the game is the frequent flashbacks to protagonist Amanda Ripley's childhood—DeCandido correctly intuited that a play-by-play account of a very linear video game doesn't make for a very compelling novel, so he tried to break it up and make Ripley, the mostly-silent video game protagonist who by necessity is in every scene (other than the prologue, also not in the game), a more interesting character at the same time. He failed—hell, Ellen Ripley couldn't even really carry a movie, and Amanda doesn't actually have any distinguishing features other than "daughter of". Still, nice that the effort was made.
If you like the Alien: Isolation video game (and it seems okay, as the genre goes—at least it doesn't have a 3rd-person camera), this novelisation isn't better or worse than video game novelisations usually are, even if it does miss the point of the game. On its own, it doesn't hold up; even if you've never heard of the game, there's no way you're ever going to mistake this for anything other than a video game novelisation.
The other significant divergence from the game is the frequent flashbacks to protagonist Amanda Ripley's childhood—DeCandido correctly intuited that a play-by-play account of a very linear video game doesn't make for a very compelling novel, so he tried to break it up and make Ripley, the mostly-silent video game protagonist who by necessity is in every scene (other than the prologue, also not in the game), a more interesting character at the same time. He failed—hell, Ellen Ripley couldn't even really carry a movie, and Amanda doesn't actually have any distinguishing features other than "daughter of". Still, nice that the effort was made.
If you like the Alien: Isolation video game (and it seems okay, as the genre goes—at least it doesn't have a 3rd-person camera), this novelisation isn't better or worse than video game novelisations usually are, even if it does miss the point of the game. On its own, it doesn't hold up; even if you've never heard of the game, there's no way you're ever going to mistake this for anything other than a video game novelisation.
October 11, 2021
Before I say anything else, know that my rating comes with a big asterisk. This book is best read after playing the game. On its own, it's more like a 3 star.
It's difficult to convert a game story into a novel. Because a lot of the time in-game is spent figuring out problems, dealing with enemies etc (or hiding in a locker in the case of this one), you either have to make a shorter novella or pad it out. This author decided to go down the padding out root. That's not to say that was a bad call, but unless you've played the game previously it can feel a bit weak.
First, the story. The story is decent, it covers generally what I already knew from playing the game, leaving a few sections out and adding a few more details. One of which actually helped explain an incident at the end of the game a bit better so I was thankful for that. There was only one really odd scene that I think could have been done better. There was a minor reveal that Amanda reacted overly casually to and I think they messed up with some of the side content. Between chapters often you get to read emails etc from the people on the station, which often give more context on what happened before Amanda arrived. One of these emails/reports etc, reveals a major plot twist way earlier than the characters (and by extension the reader) are meant to know about it. If I'd read this before playing the game it would have spoilt things for me. Not to mention that for the next scene the characters sort of speak like they know the plot twist, then after the scene revert back to not knowing. Honestly I think it was just an oversight, but it's a shame it got left in there.
Second, the padding. So the padding covers the Ripley families history through flashbacks. Specifically what life was like growing up for Amanda and how eventually her mother doesn't return from her ill-fated trip on the Nostromo. While I can see some people being frustrated by it dropping out the main story to tell a tale from Amanda's life before that point, I found them really interesting from a character development point of view. Amanda is definitely a more well defined character in the Alien universe for me now and I appreciate that.
So yeah. Pretty good, worth a casual read for more context if you've played the game. Probably not worth it on it's own.
It's difficult to convert a game story into a novel. Because a lot of the time in-game is spent figuring out problems, dealing with enemies etc (or hiding in a locker in the case of this one), you either have to make a shorter novella or pad it out. This author decided to go down the padding out root. That's not to say that was a bad call, but unless you've played the game previously it can feel a bit weak.
First, the story. The story is decent, it covers generally what I already knew from playing the game, leaving a few sections out and adding a few more details. One of which actually helped explain an incident at the end of the game a bit better so I was thankful for that. There was only one really odd scene that I think could have been done better. There was a minor reveal that Amanda reacted overly casually to and I think they messed up with some of the side content. Between chapters often you get to read emails etc from the people on the station, which often give more context on what happened before Amanda arrived. One of these emails/reports etc, reveals a major plot twist way earlier than the characters (and by extension the reader) are meant to know about it. If I'd read this before playing the game it would have spoilt things for me. Not to mention that for the next scene the characters sort of speak like they know the plot twist, then after the scene revert back to not knowing. Honestly I think it was just an oversight, but it's a shame it got left in there.
Second, the padding. So the padding covers the Ripley families history through flashbacks. Specifically what life was like growing up for Amanda and how eventually her mother doesn't return from her ill-fated trip on the Nostromo. While I can see some people being frustrated by it dropping out the main story to tell a tale from Amanda's life before that point, I found them really interesting from a character development point of view. Amanda is definitely a more well defined character in the Alien universe for me now and I appreciate that.
So yeah. Pretty good, worth a casual read for more context if you've played the game. Probably not worth it on it's own.
September 15, 2024
It’s a solid read! I love the expansion to Amanda’s character and backstory especially. It’s basically what made the book for me.
I also like the writing style of the author for the most part, and some of the adaptations that were made to keep the story flowing.
It’s funny how a game’s narrative is so different to that of a film or book. You don’t really think about it. But there’s so much backtracking and exploration, equipment collecting and sneaking and combat and so on… and it really doesn’t translate to any other medium that well. Probably why film adaptations of games suck!
It’s kinda the same with Alien: Isolation. Not that this is a dull or bad book. Far from it! I couldn’t put it down at times. But it’s definitely a story that’s 100% suited for a video game. As a book? Sometimes it rushes and sometimes it drags. I was amazed at just how much got dropped and how much got rushed… stuff that, to me, was very essential in making the game succeed as a story.
Even the alien didn’t feel very intimidating in this book! But I suppose that’s a given, because when you strip away all of your intimate (and completely random) gameplay encounters with it, and focus purely on its story beats… it really doesn’t do much! So a big air of tension was lost in translation, unfortunately.
Still, it was a very entertaining read and a great precursor to the Zula Hendricks storyline that I’m about to delve into. I’m looking forward to the comic series she’s a part of, but mostly I’m looking forward to Alien: Prototype, and consuming some new stories in this BEAST of a franchise.
I also like the writing style of the author for the most part, and some of the adaptations that were made to keep the story flowing.
It’s funny how a game’s narrative is so different to that of a film or book. You don’t really think about it. But there’s so much backtracking and exploration, equipment collecting and sneaking and combat and so on… and it really doesn’t translate to any other medium that well. Probably why film adaptations of games suck!
It’s kinda the same with Alien: Isolation. Not that this is a dull or bad book. Far from it! I couldn’t put it down at times. But it’s definitely a story that’s 100% suited for a video game. As a book? Sometimes it rushes and sometimes it drags. I was amazed at just how much got dropped and how much got rushed… stuff that, to me, was very essential in making the game succeed as a story.
Even the alien didn’t feel very intimidating in this book! But I suppose that’s a given, because when you strip away all of your intimate (and completely random) gameplay encounters with it, and focus purely on its story beats… it really doesn’t do much! So a big air of tension was lost in translation, unfortunately.
Still, it was a very entertaining read and a great precursor to the Zula Hendricks storyline that I’m about to delve into. I’m looking forward to the comic series she’s a part of, but mostly I’m looking forward to Alien: Prototype, and consuming some new stories in this BEAST of a franchise.
August 5, 2023
I have to give this book two ratings.
Rating as an original story: 4
Rating as an adaption of the game: 2
Overall, the book did an okay job following the plot of the game. It also fluffed it up with Amanda Ridley’s history. I thought that her backstory was interesting to learn. It wasn’t in the game, but it was cool to learn about.
My main problem with it as an adaption is the inaccuracies. I will describe some of them below:
•Book - “Amanda ran silently down the hall to avoid the alien.”
•Game - “Amanda stomps down the hall as if she is wearing lead-soled boots and attracts every alien and robot and crazy person in a five mile radius.”
•Book - “Amanda accomplishes many tasks and explorations without even seeing the alien.”
•Game - “That hell-beast is around every corner.”
•Book - “Amanda kills the android with a well placed shot to the head.”
•Game - “Amanda shoots the android in the head only to have it grab and strangle her as the alien drops down to eat her after hearing all the noise.”
•Book - “Amanda emptied the entire flamethrower on the alien and killed it.”
•Game - “Amanda emptied the entire flamethrower on the alien, made it mad, and got skewered by its tail about 5 seconds later.”
Do you see what I mean? For inconsistencies like that, among others, I am giving this book a 3.
Rating as an original story: 4
Rating as an adaption of the game: 2
Overall, the book did an okay job following the plot of the game. It also fluffed it up with Amanda Ridley’s history. I thought that her backstory was interesting to learn. It wasn’t in the game, but it was cool to learn about.
My main problem with it as an adaption is the inaccuracies. I will describe some of them below:
•Book - “Amanda ran silently down the hall to avoid the alien.”
•Game - “Amanda stomps down the hall as if she is wearing lead-soled boots and attracts every alien and robot and crazy person in a five mile radius.”
•Book - “Amanda accomplishes many tasks and explorations without even seeing the alien.”
•Game - “That hell-beast is around every corner.”
•Book - “Amanda kills the android with a well placed shot to the head.”
•Game - “Amanda shoots the android in the head only to have it grab and strangle her as the alien drops down to eat her after hearing all the noise.”
•Book - “Amanda emptied the entire flamethrower on the alien and killed it.”
•Game - “Amanda emptied the entire flamethrower on the alien, made it mad, and got skewered by its tail about 5 seconds later.”
Do you see what I mean? For inconsistencies like that, among others, I am giving this book a 3.
January 26, 2021
Even though I'm a 'fraidy cat, I kinda wanna play the game now.
What I loved about this book is that it gives some backstory to Ripley's pre-Nostromo life and follows her daughter. I've listened to some of the other books that follow Ripley and others, and I've always wondered what happened to her daughter. And voila! Here we are.
It does read a bit like it's a game world.
There's this space station and there's an alien loose! And the people are hostile! Oh! and let's throw in some homicidal robots for good measure! That's probably what the meeting was like.
She has tasks to do, people to save and despite her best efforts things just get worse and worse.
Add some backflashes, and you get the gist.
If that's for you, enjoy! If not, steer clear.
What I loved about this book is that it gives some backstory to Ripley's pre-Nostromo life and follows her daughter. I've listened to some of the other books that follow Ripley and others, and I've always wondered what happened to her daughter. And voila! Here we are.
It does read a bit like it's a game world.
There's this space station and there's an alien loose! And the people are hostile! Oh! and let's throw in some homicidal robots for good measure! That's probably what the meeting was like.
She has tasks to do, people to save and despite her best efforts things just get worse and worse.
Add some backflashes, and you get the gist.
If that's for you, enjoy! If not, steer clear.
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