Alien: Isolation

The Alien™ Series

By: Keith R.A. DeCandido

Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

The action-packed official adaptation of Alien: Isolation and a revealing look into the lives of Ellen Ripley and her daughter, Amanda Ripley.

The product of a troubled and violent youth, Amanda Ripley is hellbent to discover what happened to her missing mother, Ellen Ripley. She accepts an assignment with a Weyland-Yutani team being sent to retrieve the Nostromo flight recorder from space station Sevastopol, which they find out of control due to a Xenomorph that was brought there with the recorder. A conspiracy unfolds, revealing ever greater threats - including an entire Xenomorph hive. Over the course of the novel, Amanda’s history is revealed beginning with her childhood. Her father Alex’s battle with alcoholism caused her mother, Ellen Ripley, to sue for divorce. Ellen was forced to take off-world assignments, ultimately leading to her assignment aboard the Nostromo. Left behind, Amanda became determined to find out what happened to her mother, learning more and more about Ellen and the events that led up to her disappearance. Along the way, Amanda develops a fast friendship with Colonial Marine Zula Hendricks (from the Alien: Defiance Dark Horse series).

©2019 Keith R. A. DeCandido (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

great story plagued by mundane backstories

alien isolation is a game i still have ptsd from - amazingly well crafted story atmosphere and gameplay melded into one to create the perfect alien game and arguably the scariest survivor horror games to date - so this was a no brainer right? this book glosses over the main action points to delve into the most boring long winded backstory tales for amanda which offer very little in interesting lore or have anything to do with the current story. i was waiting for something to tie the last flashback into the main story in some fulfilling way but that was not the case. not sure what the author or producers were thinking when they thought "YES alien fans will love the 7th flashback of amanda drinking coffee and worrying about money" yikes man

Meh. Forgettable.

Meh. Forgettable. The Narrorator helped me fall asleep on rough nights though. But I suppose that wasn't the point...

Amazing story

I suggest you see a Gameplay of Alien Isolation before hearing this book. It makes the whole story better.

Finally a story about Amanda Ripley

The story line, the plot, the ending were decent. definitely worth a listen. I wondered how long before Audible would release a story about Amanda Ripley, It didn't disappoint. Can not wait for the next one.

Good even if you never played the game

I had my doubt the book would be as good as the game but it is!

Engrossing storytelling, some nice background information of the characters, and definitive horror one would expect from an Alien book

A fun listen

I enjoyed this story. It fleshed out Amanda’s story from the game, which if you haven’t played was masterfully done. Put it this way, I’m a grown ass man and had to play it with the lights on. It harnessed the raw power of the first Alien film. You can watch a playthrough of the game on YouTube I’ll take about the same amount of time as the book. That being said, this book sort of missed that. It didn’t really convey that suspense. The narration wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. She did really well in delivering Amanda’s sorrowful life story, but that’s sort of like Millie Bobbie Brown either brooding or crying all the time. Sort of a one trick pony. All male voices are either British, hick or gruff deuce. Sort of the same with female characters: sad, posh British or bitch.
That being said I didn’t hate the experience. Easy to be a critical I guess. As far as alien books go it’s kind of fluff, enjoyable fluff

Great story

I enjoyed this novel. I did feel the author needs to expand his vocabulary. Every other word is the F-Word--which personally I felt detracted from the story. It was used like the multi-tool wielded by Amanda Ripley. The over use of the F-Word is just lazy writing when the author can't pull out other ways to express emotion.

Fell Short of Expectations

Having played the game this is based upon, the game is significantly more impactful and suspenseful. The book, particularly the narration feels flat and uninspired. Even big climatic moments are spoken so dully and glossed over. Then the book is over. Not encouraged.

Great listen. Different from game.

Enjoyed the story. Glad it had some aspects of the game. But, still fresh enough to keep me engaged.

Just as good as the video game

Really enjoyed the audio novel, and the additional backstory of the central character. The additional elements added in covering some of Ellen Ripley’s prior missions, and personal life experiences was a nice touch also. Wish they’d do another game based on Amanda Ripley and accompanying audio novel. Alien Blackout was a bit of a let down.