I talked about this topic over on TikTok (yes you read that correctly. If you’re over there throw me a follow!) and I thought I’d get a little more in depth with it here.
I’ve been a fan of the Alien movie franchise for a long time. The first movie Alien is—in my opinion—the perfect example of sci-fi horror. It is a take on the classic monster movie but set it in a futuristic space environment. It’s one of my favorite movies of all time. The sequel, Aliens, is more of an action sci-fi movie than it is horror, though there are still some horrific scenes in the movie itself. The rest of the movies don’t compare to the first two in my pinion, but I don’t think they are bad either, it’s just really hard to compare to those first two movies in the same way The Godfather 3 is unfairly compared to the first two movies which it could never possibly be expected to sit at the same level as the previous two.
Regarding Alien, though, what I hadn’t realized until about a year and a half ago was that there was a whole series of Alien franchise novels that filled in some of the gaps between the movies or that explored other areas of that universe. The first one I read was Aliens: Vasquez by V. Castro (who had become a favorite author for me because of this book and also the deeply personal The Haunting of Alejandra). I loved the Vasquez books and started to do more research about the other books that had been written. I was pretty pumped when I found a huge list of Alien tie in books. I figured I’d start with the first one published and then just go from there. I picked up the first and second one and just started reading. In the past year and a little bit I’ve read 9 of the Alien/Aliens novels and I’m currently reading one right now to bring the total number up to ten. I can’t tell you how good these books are. Some are better than others and none of them are bad. If you’re a fan of the movies and just want more stories in the same universe, these are no brainers to pick up and enjoy.
If there were a few I’d suggest at the top of the list is Aliens: Phalanx by Scott Sigler. This one is totally different from any of the other books in terms of setting and tone. This one is just an all around great book that takes place free from the other Alien lore for most of the book. Alien: River of Pain by Christopher Golden and Aliens: Infiltrator by Weston Ochse are probably the two other books that I thought were the best.
Aside from the Alien books I also finished Ken Folletts newest book recently. He brought us back to Kingsbridge in this one, this time when England isn’t war with Napoleon and France. I always love Folletts books especially the Kingbridge ones because he is able to bring so many different characters to life. It’s also great when he is able to weave his characters into actual historical events.
Writing-wise I’m marching toward the end of the third and final book in the Mr. Nightmare trilogy. This one is a lot darker and a lot longer than the first two books and honestly it might be favorite. I am really excited for readers to finally see the full scope of the Mr. Nightmare tale.
The first week and a half after the release of Never Dead has gone fantastic. Early reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads have been positive so far, I hope that trend continues. If you’ve read it please consider rating or reviewing on one or both of those sites. Even just one rating helps with sales.
Never Dead was also featured on Mystery Tribune as one of the top crime/thriller releases of December. Check it out here.
I will probably post one more time before the end of the year, I’m trying to put together a “Top Reads of 2023” for all of you. I hope you have a happy holiday if you celebrate this month and I will see you all next time…
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