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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
Aliens: Phalanx takes us to the world of Ataegina, where a medieval society is fighting for survival against deadly demons, holed up in mountain fortresses.
We follow Ahiliyah Cooper, a "runner". Her job: transport goods and information from one hold to another...and try not to get killed or snatched by a demon along the way. She is accompanied by two supporting characters: Brandun and Creen, who are not only her crew, but also her friends.
And the demons? You may know them by another name: Xenomorph XX-121.
The timing of my reading of this book is interesting. My obsessive Alien phase was coming to an end, and I was beginning to shift towards a Fantasy obsession. Fortunately, this book reads very much like a medieval fantasy novel, making it the perfect book for this transitionary period.
This book boasts some incredible world-building, doing an excellent job of setting up this (compared to the rest of the settings in the Alien Universe) very primitive world. There are tense politics, exotic lifeforms, and everything is described in the perfect manner. I particularly liked how the "Demons" were described, with "backsticks" and "toothtongues".
The story did an excellent job of making the Xenomorph terrifying. They were a constant threat throughout, existing as part of the mythology of the world; the characters know very little of the Xenomorph, and so have created their own legends (sometimes tied into their religions) about just what the "demons" are.
The characters, too, were very well-written, and though the story was told from Ahiliyah's perspective, it was easy to see into the minds of other characters and feel how they were reacting to the events unfolding around them. They were all multi-faceted characters as well, with personalities that could both clash and coordinate, and no one remained entirely unlikeable or entirely goody-two-shoes; they had flaws. They felt real. And I cared for everyone in some way, even if that "care" was a hope that someone would get what they deserved.
Something I absolutely loved, though, was how the first half or so of the novel focused more on the interpersonal politics of this world; the different holds had developed their own cultures, which brought them into conflict, and were too busy looking after their own to unite against the true threat.
And then the latter half turned things around and made the Xenomorph the true threat once again, with twists and turns along the way that kept me guessing about what was yet to come. The writing didn't give the ending away at all, and I was left uncertain all the way up to the end as to whether we were going to get a happy ending or not.
There were also some incredibly well-written fight and battle scenes, and as someone who feels they struggle with writing such things, I was very, very impressed.
I would highly recommend this book. The author clearly displays a passion for both the Alien Universe and the fantasy genre, and does an excellent job of marrying the two together, including some revelations along the way that I found particularly mind-blowing.
We follow Ahiliyah Cooper, a "runner". Her job: transport goods and information from one hold to another...and try not to get killed or snatched by a demon along the way. She is accompanied by two supporting characters: Brandun and Creen, who are not only her crew, but also her friends.
And the demons? You may know them by another name: Xenomorph XX-121.
The timing of my reading of this book is interesting. My obsessive Alien phase was coming to an end, and I was beginning to shift towards a Fantasy obsession. Fortunately, this book reads very much like a medieval fantasy novel, making it the perfect book for this transitionary period.
This book boasts some incredible world-building, doing an excellent job of setting up this (compared to the rest of the settings in the Alien Universe) very primitive world. There are tense politics, exotic lifeforms, and everything is described in the perfect manner. I particularly liked how the "Demons" were described, with "backsticks" and "toothtongues".
The story did an excellent job of making the Xenomorph terrifying. They were a constant threat throughout, existing as part of the mythology of the world; the characters know very little of the Xenomorph, and so have created their own legends (sometimes tied into their religions) about just what the "demons" are.
The characters, too, were very well-written, and though the story was told from Ahiliyah's perspective, it was easy to see into the minds of other characters and feel how they were reacting to the events unfolding around them. They were all multi-faceted characters as well, with personalities that could both clash and coordinate, and no one remained entirely unlikeable or entirely goody-two-shoes; they had flaws. They felt real. And I cared for everyone in some way, even if that "care" was a hope that someone would get what they deserved.
Something I absolutely loved, though, was how the first half or so of the novel focused more on the interpersonal politics of this world; the different holds had developed their own cultures, which brought them into conflict, and were too busy looking after their own to unite against the true threat.
And then the latter half turned things around and made the Xenomorph the true threat once again, with twists and turns along the way that kept me guessing about what was yet to come. The writing didn't give the ending away at all, and I was left uncertain all the way up to the end as to whether we were going to get a happy ending or not.
There were also some incredibly well-written fight and battle scenes, and as someone who feels they struggle with writing such things, I was very, very impressed.
I would highly recommend this book. The author clearly displays a passion for both the Alien Universe and the fantasy genre, and does an excellent job of marrying the two together, including some revelations along the way that I found particularly mind-blowing.
This was an excellent entry into the ‘Alien’ universe, and weeks later I still can’t get it out of my head. A bronze-age world controlled by "demons" didn’t initially strike me as something I wanted, but by the end of this book I was entirely devoted to it. I’ll go one step further to say that this is one of the only franchise books I think would make a fantastic one-off story for the big screen. Ahiliyah, like Ripley, is the type of hero I would actually follow into a hopeless war.
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The battle scenes were really fun! But this didn't feel like part of the Alien universe, and definitely didn't feel like sci-fi.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a fun adventure in the Aliens universe. I used to read the Versus line of comics back in the day (Aliens Vs Predator, Aliens Vs Superman, Predator Vs Batman, etc.) and this could easily have been "Aliens Vs Hoplites" or something similar. I've never listened to a book narrated by Bronson Pinchot but he does a great job. The characters have distinct voices and he really gets into narrating the horror elements. I'd happily go to the theater to watch an adaptation of this book
If you like Aliens as a franchise I'm pretty sure you won't come away from this one disappointed
If you like Aliens as a franchise I'm pretty sure you won't come away from this one disappointed
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
i’m a huge fan of aliens but only recently got into reading books about them. this was an excellent book and i highly recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Rape, Xenophobia
Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Alcohol
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Classic feminist Aliens-franchise story. 👌🏻