BookGirl's BookNook: Alien™: Out of the Shadows

Monday, March 17, 2014

Alien™: Out of the Shadows - Review

Title: Alien™: Out of the Shadows

Author: Tim Lebbon

Series: Alien™ Trilogy #1

Synopsis: “As a child, Chris Hooper dreamed of monsters. But in deep space, he found only darkness and isolation. Then on planet LV178, he and his fellow miners discovered a storm-scoured, sand-blasted hell – and trimonite, the hardest material known to man.

“When a shuttle crashes into the mining ship Marion, the miners learn that there was more then trimonite deep in the caverns. There was evil, hibernating – and waiting for suitable prey.

“Hoop and his associates uncover a nest of Xenomorphs, and hell takes on new meaning. Quickly they discover that their only hope lies with the unlikeliest of saviors…

“Ellen Ripley, the last human survivor of the salvage ship Nostromo.”

Review: I love the Alien™ movies. Ellen Ripley is one of my heroes. I’ve talked about my love for science fiction and strong female characters in this space before, so I won’t go into it all over again. But, that is why I picked this novel up during my birthday trip to Barnes and Noble (I go every year on my birthday, see my birthday post from last year here). I had all of my books picked out, and was heading to the register to check out when this small book caught my eye and I picked it up and added it to my pile. I had planned on reading the whole book in one day, but I got distracted by the television show my fiancé was watching (Worst Cooks in America is hilarious by the way) so I didn’t quite finish in one day. While I did like Alien™: Out of the Shadows, I was a bit disappointed as well.

What I loved: Tim Lebbon is a wonderful author. The suspense in this novel had me grinding my teeth and holding my breath as Ripley and her companions rounded corners and boarded elevators. I found myself shouting at the book, “No! Don’t go in there! He’s dead for sure!” The story idea itself fits well into the Alien™ franchise and was wonderful, fairly original, and at times had me wondering how they were going to pull it off.

What I didn’t love: Ripley was not the strong female character who does not need a man to rescue her that is represented in the Alien™ movies. She leans on Hoop too much and, while still strong willed, it seems as if without him she would not have made it. I was disappointed. I’m sick of the female characters in my novels needing a man to rescue them. This is a stereotype that needs to stop. Had Hoop been another female character I would not have minded nearly as much.

I am looking forward to the next one, even though it’s not by Lebbon, and reading this book made me want to watch the Alien™ movies again. I ordered the boxed set from Amazon because of this book.