[Review]—Ellen Ripley Returns in "Alien: Out of the Shadows"

While I've been a lifetime fan of the Alien franchise, I've never really dug into the expanded universe; knowing how much of a book lover I am, I'm shocked I've never read the tie-in books. That takes us to Alien: Out of the Shadows, a 2014 Titan Books sequential novel penned by Tim Lebbon and released to span the gap between Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) and James Cameron's Aliens (1986).  

Are you scratching your head? I can't say I blame you. We all know Ellen Ripley was in cryosleep for 57 years, but apparently, Ripley had a few adventures before being discovered by a deep-sea rescue crew. During the first Alien film, Ash, an android, appears to have transferred his AI consciousness into the Narcissus' shuttle system off-screen. After 37 years of floating in space, Ash detects a xenomorph breakout on DSMO Marion— a mining vessel orbiting above LV-178— and sends the Narcissus to intercept the ship.

Shortly after awakening, Ripley learns of the horrors endured by the Marion crew's surviving members (Hoop, Sneddon, Baxter, Kasyanov, and Lachance)—the trimonite miners beneath the surface of LV-178 were viciously attacked by a swarm of aliens (Xenomorphs). Marion's shuttles, Samson and Delilah, were launched in an unsuccessful rescue attempt. On the way back, Delilah collides with a section of Marion, killing the captain and a security guard. Samson successfully docks, but with four Xenomorphs on board. With no other option, the now-commanding Chief Engineer, Chris "Hoop" Hooper, shuts the shuttle off from the non-damage sections of Marion, which was knocked out of orbit by the crash. 

Time is running out till Marion hits the atmosphere of LV-178, and the Narcissus is their last hope of survival. The plan is to flee in Ripley's escape pod and alternately utilize the stasis pod for six months until they are rescued or die of old age. There's just one problem: the fuel cell is empty, and the only spare is in a mine on LV-178. The only way to get to the planet is by employing Marion, but first, they must battle with the four Xenomorphs, and then, after they reach the planet's surface, the alien hive.

Alien: Out of the Shadows is the first book of a trilogy; the other titles are Alien: Sea of Sorrows by James A. Moore and Alien: River of Pain by Christopher Golden; from what I gather, these are both separate stories—my library doesn't have any of them, so I don't plan on reading them anytime soon, if at all. 

Tim Lebbon is a gifted author; his abilities are evident in this narration. Following the recon-setup is a predictable round of alien blood, guts, and pandemonium, as one would expect from an "Alien" tale. Then there's the memory-erasing thing, which feels like a copout but is the only way to explain why Ripley has no recall of her trip when she is reawakened twenty years later in Aliens. If you can get past the "Ripley is awake" part, Alien: Out of the Shadows is a fascinating science fiction horror frolic with a slew of Xenomorphs roaming wild. ╌★★★★✰