I had the pleasure of reading Alien: The Cold Forge by Alex White. I say pleasure because the 5 movie, yes 5 movie sequels to the original film started losing it’s… well, bite, after the second one. Game over man…game over! (a fan favorite line)
I didn’t think the original scariness of ALIEN could be recaptured until Alex White penned this original novel based on the original films. If this book were made into a movie it would fit in right after the 1986 second installment, ALIENS.
Here’s the scoop on The Cold Forge:
Weyland-Yutani Industries lost tons of money with the failure of Hadley’s Hope on moon LV-426. Fans know why. If you don’t, watch the second film installment ALIENS. As dangerous as these aliens were on LV-426, Weyland-Yutani is continuing its quest to find a military application for the beasts. Remote station RB-232, far away from prying eyes has a team of scientists testing ways to weaponize the Xenomorphs.
Weyland-Yutani wants results today… no yesterday! Major research projects are behind schedule or are over budget, so the company sends in a cold cruel auditor by the name of Dorian to put a fire under everyone’s ass. This man, with daddy issues, loves his job too much. He plans to report back to Weyland-Yutani a recommendation to fire all the scientists…after he seduces a female team leader worried about her job. Why? Just because he can. This guy is an HR nightmare.
But we can’t have all bad, without some good. Dr. Blue Marsalis, a severely physically handicapped scientist with a degenerative terminal disease is secretly working on a cure for her and humanity instead of working on Xeno weaponizing. Yea! She works by remote controlling a synthetic (android) for day to day tasks, while her frail body lies in her room. Believe me, that is some cool tech.
Also, we can’t have a story without some espionage too. As Dr. Marsalis tries to hide her work from Dorian, someone has downloaded Silversmile, a computer virus designed to destroy networked systems, the same systems that keep the Xenomorphs in check!
Before the climactic ending, people are eaten, choked by facehuggers, (in gory detail) and are victims of chestbursters. Yikes!
There is much more to this brilliant novel to keep you turning the pages, so I have decided not to let the Xenomorph out of the egg, but give you my star rating:
“Game Over” fan favorite line by Bill Paxton (rip) in Aliens, 1986:
Fictionista 
Definitely game over on the movie front, they dilute the best flicks by overdoing it and stringing it out until it’s tasteless and thin. I hadn’t come across this book but it sounds like an interesting read, especially being based on the original films. It certainly seems like it packs a punch with action, tech, a bit of gore (people being eaten always makes thing interesting) and suspense. Brilliant review! xx
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The action, horror and plot make this a winner. Only thing missing is Sigourney Weaver calling the xenomorph bitch! This is a sleeper hit that fans of the movies need to read. Thanks for the comment Caz.
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Our favorite lines were “punch it Bishop,” and of course the best…”how do I get out of this chicken-shit outfit?” LOL
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Great Lines! I loved them! Thanks for the comment.
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