Alien: Covenant -- Origins by Alan Dean Foster

 

(pb; 2017: book-only prequel to Alan Dean Foster’s 2017 movie tie-in novelization of Alien: Covenant)

 

From the back cover

“The Covenant mission is the most ambitious endeavor in the history of Weyland-Yutani. A ship bound for Origae-6, carrying two thousand colonists beyond the limits of known space, this is a make-or-break investment for the corporation—and for the future of mankind.

“Yet there are those who would die to stop the mission. As the colony ship hovers in Earth orbit, several violent events reveal a deadly conspiracy to sabotage the launch. While Captain Jacob Branson and his wife Daniels complete their preparations, security chief Daniel Lupé recruits the final key member of his team. Together they seek to stop the perpetrators before the ship and its passengers.

Review

This official prequel to the events of Alien: Covenant (2017; director: Ridley Scott) is a well-written but superfluous, fill-in-all-the-timeline-blanks work. Foster, a consistently solid-to-great author, penned a solid novella-length story with solid characters—a few of whom appear in Scott’s Alien: Covenant, e.g., Daniels, Tennessee and Lupé. Unfortunately, Covenant—Origins isn’t a novella, it’s a novel, with a story that feels lightweight, character and event-wise, compared to the bigger-in-scope Alien works, an entertaining but overlong trifle in a series studded with some excellent entries, cinema and book-wise.

I’d recommend Covenant—Origins if you’re a die-hard/completist fan of the Alien franchise, looking for story- and character expansions you won’t get in the films and other books. This is a worthwhile read, if you’re of those mindsets and keep your expectations of Covenant—Origin’s stakes relatively low, and enjoy sporadic bits of gunplay/action, corporate intrigue, roughshod revolutionaries (the Earthsavers), and don’t expect a lot of monsters (besides those clawed shadow-things in Duncan’s apoplectic nightmares).

The Thing by Alan Dean Foster

 

(pb; 1982: movie tie-in novel)

 

From the back cover

“TWELVE MEN

Trapped in the Antarctic.

 

“ELEVEN

Discover the intruder.

 

“TEN

Battle the alien force.

 

“NINE

Agonize for the answer.

 

“EIGHT

Desperate to be spared.

 

“SEVEN

Consumed one by one.

 

“SIX. . . FIVE. . . FOUR. . . THREE. . .

 

“They will all die.

Unless something stops THE THING.”

 

Review

Foster’s movie novelization, based on Bill Lancaster’s original screenplay, like its filmic counterpart, is compelling, paranoid, brutal, horrific, and freezing (in its implications, stakes, and setting). In Foster’s book, though, the characters’ backstories and inclinations are more explicit (e.g., Macready’s acknowledgment of his Vietnam experiences) than the movie. Also, the characters’ relationships are shown more—in the book, Childs and Macready are friends; its theatrical counterpart reveals a terser (prior to their current harrowing circumstances) relationship between them. Not only that, the fates of certain characters (no spoilers) are considerably different than the movie version.

The Thing is one of my favorite remakes (check out the fun, also-great source, 1951’s The Thing from Another World), and Foster’s fast-paced, immediately immersive, and character- and backstory-delving expansion of it makes it one of my all-time favorite flick tie-in novelizations. Out of print, and possibly pricy, it’s worth getting, not only for its relative rarity, but Foster’s consistently worthwhile writing—Foster, for a while, seemed to be one of the busiest book-adaptation authors in the genre, and for good reason.

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The excellent counterpart film was released stateside on June 25, 1982. John Carpenter directed it from a screenplay by Bill Lancaster.

Kurt Russell played Macready. Wilford Brimley, billed as A. Wilford Brimley, played Dr. Blair. Keith David played Childs. Donald Moffat played Garry. Richard Masur played Clark. T.K. Carter played Nauls. David Clennon played Palmer. Richard Dysart played Dr. Copper. Charles Hallahan played Vance Norris. An uncredited Adrienne Barbeau lent her voice to the “Computer”. 

Clash of the Titans by Alan Dean Foster

 

(pb; 1981: movie tie-in novel, based on the screenplay by Beverley Cross)

From the back cover

“He was Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae, born in disgrace, exiled to perish at sea, fated to survive at heavenly caprice─until he met his love, defied the Gods and dared to fight them or die.

“She was Andromeda, enslaved by her own beauty which beggared the heavens and brough a curse upon her city, her home, heart. . . until Perseus accepted the Devil’s own challenge, answered the deadly riddle and rode forth on his winged horse Pegasus to claim his love and to face the last of the Titans, armed only with a bloody hand, a witches’ curse and a severed head.”

Review

Clash is a fun, action-dominated and lightweight-take-on-Greek-mythology read, one that reflects the tone of its counterpart-source film. Foster, no stranger to writing movie tie-in books, penned Clash with well-edited verve, his descriptions appropriately cinematic vivid and his prose and characters lively. If you liked the 1981 film a lot and are looking for a light, quick and familiar-story book, chances are you’ll enjoy Clash.

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The film was released stateside on June 12, 1981. Desmond Davis directed it, from a screenplay by Beverley Cross.

Harry Hamlin played Perseus. Judi Bowker played Andromeda. Burgess Meredith played Ammon.

Lawrence Olivier played Zeus. Claire Bloom played Hera. Maggie Smith played Thetis. Ursula Andress played Aphrodite.

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There was a remake in 2010, but I have zero interest in it.

Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster

(pb; 1978)

From the back cover

"Luke Skywalker expected trouble when he volunteered to follow Princess Leia on her mission to the planet Circarpous. But he discovered that hidden on the planet was the Kaiburr crystal, a mysterious gem that would give the one who possessed it such powers over the Force that he would be all but invincible. In the wrong hands, the crystal could be deadly. So Luke had to find this treasure and find it fast."


Review

The first Star Wars spin-off novel, published between films A New Hope (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980), is fun, action-packed and has the science fiction serial feel of its source film. There are minor character and plot inconsistencies with Star Wars sequel ─ it had not that Luke and Leia were siblings, unbeknownst to each other, and, because of that, it was also not known that she had a special connection to the Force (making her a  possible Jedi practitioner). If you can overlook that, this an entertaining and well-written expansion of the franchise, one worth reading.

Futureshocks edited by Lou Anders

(pb; 2006: science fiction story anthology)

From the back cover

“Experience sensory overload in this anthology from today's masters of speculative fiction as they reveal the terrors, triumphs, and seeming impossibilities awaiting humanity in the years to come. From artificial intelligences and bioengineering to transhumans threatening to make mankind obsolete, these cutting-edge tales present a future in which every day brings shocking new developments undreamed of the day before – a future in which tomorrow never knows what may follow...”

Overall review

Exemplary anthology.


Review, story by story

“Shuteye For The Timebroker” – Paul Di Filippi: San Francisco, mid-twenty-first century. Cedric Swann, once wealthy, loses his status and his job because of a gambling addiction, ending up as a welfare-recipient sleeper in a (mostly) sleep-banished world. Sly, humorous and lean-prosed, this is an excellent tale. Those familiar with San Francisco (and the surrounding East Bay) should get an extra kick out the locales Di Filippi utilizes here. Highly recommended, this.

“Looking Through Mother's Eyes” – John Meaney: A womb-trapped child shares her mother's awareness. Not bad, not great, with a predictable ending.

“The Man Who Knew Too Much” – Alan Dean Foster: In Northern California, in an unspecified future, those truly addicted to the written word can download entire novels into their heads, perusing tomes as giant as Moby Dick in a couple of hours. But like any addiction, too much can be a bad thing...

Well-written, light-hearted literary romp about those readers who've taken their literary head-romps to a dangerous level. Worth your time, this.

“The Engines of Arcadia” –  Sean McMullen: A time-traveler encounters schizophrenic, medieval – and possibly unvarying – futures. Solid, ironic, quirky.

“The Pearl Diver” – Kaitlin R. Kiernan: In an Orwellian society, a woman's dreams – somehow linked to the mysterious messages and packages she's receiving in real life – dramatically alter her life. Okay, if dystopian-familiar, story, with a semi-elliptical close.

“Before The Beginning” – Mike Resnick & Harry Turtledove: When four cosmologists, studying a video of the Beginning of Creation, die in front of their time-viewers (which records past events so people from the future can view them), another cosmologist takes up the case. Amusing, world-shaking events result. Laugh-out-loud satirical, inspired and original; one of the best entries in the anthology.

“Man You Gotta Go” – Adam Roberts: An A.I. being (Greensilk) is created to solve mankind's major problems. From what I read, the story tracks Greensilk over the course of the next five hundred years. I stopped reading this early on, as it bored me with its familiarity, though it seemed okay otherwise.

“Homosexual Damned, Film At Eleven” – Alex Irvine: In a theocratic military-minded society, an old man, once a genetic engineer (now a prisoner under house arrest) is forced to watch the execution of “homosexual terrorists” on his television, one of the so-called “terrorists” somehow linked to him. Provocative, okay story that would benefit from trimming – it lacks the edge necessary for this kind of work. In the hands of somebody like Richard Christian Matheson, this would be stunning.

“Contagion” – Chris Roberson: Jaidev Hark, a Middle Caste cryptogen messenger (one who briefly carries a disease strain, and its cure, in his body) is hunted by a Lower Caste thug. Thrilling, heartbeat-quick twists made this tale, which has a structure and ideas like William Gibson's short story, “Johnny Mnemonic,” a pleasure to read. One of the best stories in this collection.

“Absalom's Mother” – Louise Marley: Affecting, emotional tale about thirteen mothers who refuse to allow the military to take their children – some as young as eleven – by putting themselves forth as replacement inductees. Powerful, timely work. Again, one of the best stories in this collection.

“Job Qualifications” – Kevin J. Anderson: Berthold Ossequin, a political candidate hoping to rule the world, and his eighteen clones, take the phrase “there's no substitute for experience” to a chilling new level. Excellent, this.

“The Teosinte War” – Paul Melko: Ryan Greene, a university student, takes part in a time-travel experiment with mixed results. A wonderful pseudo-twist caps this intriguing, layered story.

“Slip” – Richard A. Metzger: Phillip K. Dick-worthy tale about a man who moves between two realities, the Slip and outside the Slip, hunting Horatio, a killer – invisible to those within the Slip – who might be more or less than he seems. Engrossing, invigorating, cool.

“All's Well At World's End” – Howard V. Hendrix: A soldier who's become a lab rat for his religious-minded (so-called) superiors turns the tables on them. Memory and amnesia, religion and unbound nature form this chatty, politically-charged tale.

“Flashes” – Robert J. Sawyer: Extraterrestrials, beaming human-enlightening information from outer space, inadvertently cause despair and destruction among those on Earth. Decent 9/11-tinged story, nothing special.

“The Cartesian Theater” – Robert Charles Wilson: Toby Paczovski, a young man living in the twenty-second century, visits the recorded personality of his dead grandfather to ask him for advice regarding Toby's recent, and possibly future, employment seeking out questionable entertainers – like Jafar Bloom, a disturbed basement dweller who puts on shows that emulate machine-born death-images. Strange, rambly tale with an unexpected finish.