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kyle_j_durrant 's review for:
Alien: Sea of Sorrows
by James A. Moore
Alien: Sea of Sorrows takes us back to LV-178, now known as New Galveston, roughly 340 years after the events of Alien: Out of the Shadows, and over a century after the events of Alien Resurrection.
Weyland-Yutani have returned, and are back to their old habits: seeking out specimens of Xenomorph XX-121 at the expense of many innocent lives.
We follow Alan Decker, an engineer with a special ability. He's an empath, and this ability means he can feel the "emotions" of the Aliens. When the old mines on New Galveston, and the ship within them, are rediscovered, he is tasked with aiding a squad of mercenaries in retrieving Xenomorph specimens.
But things won't be so simple, and the Aliens can sense Decker too. What's more, he is somehow connected to the Destroyer; the woman who attempted to wipe out the Aliens on LV-187: Ellen Ripley.
This was a decent story. Not great, not bad, but decent. I did enjoy it. Generally speaking, the plot moved at a good pace, and it was mostly well-written. I was easily able to read the book 100 pages at the time, without feeling like I was slogging along.
It did get a bit confusing at times with so many points of view throughout, especially when events occasionally overlapped between scenes. They were easy enough to interpret, but the rapidity of changing scenes did mean it could be a bit difficult to keep up with sometimes.
There were quite a few scenes written from the perspective of the Aliens' collective mind. These occasionally got repetitive, and perhaps felt a little unnecessary, but they also did a good job of portraying their single-minded desire to kill "the Destroyer". The author also didn't fall into the trap of humanising their thoughts too much; they still felt somewhat alien.
Occasionally the writing style seemed to become a bit simplistic, with little variation in structure. Description was also sometimes rather limited, leaving some scenes feeling a bit empty, but the author compensated elsewhere with vivid scenes of death, combat and emotional upheaval.
Internal monologues, too, were very well-written, and really helped me to get into the heads of the characters.
On the subject of characters, however, none of them seemed particularly likeable. Perhaps it was intended as a reflection of a corporate-run future where greed and selfishness are the only ways to get ahead, but I personally struggled to find any redeeming traits, even in Decker. They weren't all awful people, they were just unlikeable.
But that may entirely be down to my own personal interpretation, and I feel that other people may connect differently than me. As we all know, different personalities will connect or clash with certain other personalities.
The book also seems a little unimaginative in regards to it resetting things to the status quo that existed before Resurrection. Weyland-Yutani are back; the Colonial Marines exist again. It's all very familiar. I can't help but feel this time setting was chosen only as a means to justify Decker somehow being related to Ellen Ripley, perhaps as a grandson of her clone (unconfirmed).
It would perhaps have been better served by having Decker not being related, and instead being connected to Hoop from Out of the Shadows - he had kids waiting for him at home. Then it could have also been set in the space between Alien 3 and Resurrection instead, where the status quo would not have needed to be conveniently restored.
That said, this is a good, enjoyable book, with an effective story full of twists, turns, and tension. I would recommend picking it up, without a doubt.
My only remaining gripe is that it is meant to also connect to River of Pain, yet I don't actually understand how, even with the ending of that novel (which I will not mention here). Oh well. Still a good book.
Weyland-Yutani have returned, and are back to their old habits: seeking out specimens of Xenomorph XX-121 at the expense of many innocent lives.
We follow Alan Decker, an engineer with a special ability. He's an empath, and this ability means he can feel the "emotions" of the Aliens. When the old mines on New Galveston, and the ship within them, are rediscovered, he is tasked with aiding a squad of mercenaries in retrieving Xenomorph specimens.
But things won't be so simple, and the Aliens can sense Decker too. What's more, he is somehow connected to the Destroyer; the woman who attempted to wipe out the Aliens on LV-187: Ellen Ripley.
This was a decent story. Not great, not bad, but decent. I did enjoy it. Generally speaking, the plot moved at a good pace, and it was mostly well-written. I was easily able to read the book 100 pages at the time, without feeling like I was slogging along.
It did get a bit confusing at times with so many points of view throughout, especially when events occasionally overlapped between scenes. They were easy enough to interpret, but the rapidity of changing scenes did mean it could be a bit difficult to keep up with sometimes.
There were quite a few scenes written from the perspective of the Aliens' collective mind. These occasionally got repetitive, and perhaps felt a little unnecessary, but they also did a good job of portraying their single-minded desire to kill "the Destroyer". The author also didn't fall into the trap of humanising their thoughts too much; they still felt somewhat alien.
Occasionally the writing style seemed to become a bit simplistic, with little variation in structure. Description was also sometimes rather limited, leaving some scenes feeling a bit empty, but the author compensated elsewhere with vivid scenes of death, combat and emotional upheaval.
Internal monologues, too, were very well-written, and really helped me to get into the heads of the characters.
On the subject of characters, however, none of them seemed particularly likeable. Perhaps it was intended as a reflection of a corporate-run future where greed and selfishness are the only ways to get ahead, but I personally struggled to find any redeeming traits, even in Decker. They weren't all awful people, they were just unlikeable.
But that may entirely be down to my own personal interpretation, and I feel that other people may connect differently than me. As we all know, different personalities will connect or clash with certain other personalities.
The book also seems a little unimaginative in regards to it resetting things to the status quo that existed before Resurrection. Weyland-Yutani are back; the Colonial Marines exist again. It's all very familiar. I can't help but feel this time setting was chosen only as a means to justify Decker somehow being related to Ellen Ripley, perhaps as a grandson of her clone (unconfirmed).
It would perhaps have been better served by having Decker not being related, and instead being connected to Hoop from Out of the Shadows - he had kids waiting for him at home. Then it could have also been set in the space between Alien 3 and Resurrection instead, where the status quo would not have needed to be conveniently restored.
That said, this is a good, enjoyable book, with an effective story full of twists, turns, and tension. I would recommend picking it up, without a doubt.
My only remaining gripe is that it is meant to also connect to River of Pain, yet I don't actually understand how, even with the ending of that novel (which I will not mention here). Oh well. Still a good book.