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river of pain audio drama sound effects christopher golden sigourney weaver renamed acheron alien river aliens production ripley shadows colonists marines colony newt fans acting jorden movies scientists
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H. Cross
5.0 out of 5 stars Slam dunk
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2017
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After the disappointment of Alien Covenant, I was left craving for a fix of new Aliens-universe content. River of Pain more than made up for it. Thoroughly entertaining, if you like Aliens and you're on the fence, get it. First time I've ever listened to an "e-book", it has opened me up to the whole genre. I listened to it in the car with my wife over a few long drives and we were sad every time we reached our destination because we had to pause it!
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Bob Leedom
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent “theater of the mind” entertainment.
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2019
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Great story, characters and production value. Very entertaining.
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Alex B.
5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks Amazon. This was great !
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2019
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I am loving these Alien audio performances !! It’s like listening to a whole new alien movie.
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carlbob22
5.0 out of 5 stars Bringing the book to life.
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2018
Verified Purchase
Very happy with this. Read the book years ago, and this audio drama really does it justice!
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R. R. Andreea
2.0 out of 5 stars Characters so stupid and unlikable, ended up rooting for the Xenomorphs.
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2018
God, where to start...

Prior to this I listed to the dramatization for "Out of Shadows" which I absolutely adored, but "River of Pain" got on my nerves, BIG TIME!
I would give 5 stars for the way the dramatization was made, for the sound effects which were on point, for the whole Alien atmosphere, which they managed to create.
Was lovely and allowed me to emerge myself into the story.

However, I would give 0 stars for the story, the characters and dialogues...Jesus Christ!
It was interesting to know what happened to the colony on LV 426, how they ended up all huddled together ...dead or "impregnated" with monsters, prior to the arrival of the Marines from "Aliens", but the story itself, as it was portrayed in this dramatization ..made me want to flung my phone across the room, at least a dozen times!
There were no characters that I could root for or care about. The amount of stupidity portrayed in the dialogues is out of this world; the characters unlikable and incapable.
I finally gave up and just rooted for the Xenomorphs to kill everyone, because I just could not take it anymore.

I would like to say that Russel and Anne Jorden, would definitely deserve the medal for the worsts parents in the universe! For goodness sake..how these 2 would ever managed to get a job as prospectors, scientists, on the colony is beyond me (It doesn't matter we're talking about fictional characters, we should still have standards.); considering the limitless stupidity they displayed throughout this book, Anne's 2nd grade vocabulary and observation skills and Russel's damn annoying self.

I absolutely loathed these 2 characters, even more than Dr. Reese, if that was ever possible. It was an especially bad combination : the stupidity of the dialogues and the 2 actors voices : Anne Friel and Marc Warren, which simply annoyed me beyond belief.

I'm sorry to say, but Tim Lebbon definitely did a much better job than Christopher Golden, "Out of Shadows" was 10 times better, when it comes to the story and the characters.

I don't have words to express how utterly stupid everyone on LV 426 was and how a high level of imbecility seemed to be the primary factor in choosing who got to be on LV 426, in the 1st place.
Thank goodness I finished this and my phone survived the experience.
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Michael Hicks
4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Listen
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2017
Alien: River of Pain, the latest Audible Original Drama to commemorate Alien Day (4/26, as in the planetary vacation hot-spot LV-426), picks up right on the heels of the film, Alien, and last year’s audiodrama, Alien: Out of the Shadows. Here, a group of colonists have begun settling and terraforming the inhospitable rock cataloged as LV-426, now renamed Acheron. Fans of the movie Aliens know exactly where things are headed, though, and this story serves as a direct prequel and side-story to that film, as author Christopher Golden takes us through the xenomorphic siege of the lost colony.

Much of this production’s first half is a slow burn, as listeners are introduced to the various factions and individuals within the colony. There’s the colony administrator, the various teams of surveyors, including Russ and Anne Jorden and their children (one of whom is the first human born on Acheron and goes by the nickname Newt), scientists from the Weyland-Yutani mega-corporation, and a team of marines, led by their new commander Damien Brackett. Interspersed between the story of Acheron’s development are snippets of Ellen Ripley’s recovery, much of which is lifted straight out of Aliens and provides a timeline of continuity between the two stories. Fans of Laurel Lefkow will be pleased to know the actress returns from Out of the Shadows to once again voice Ripley, delivering a pitch-perfect performance that eerily and uncannily resembles Sigourney Weaver’s original performance.

It’s not until the mid-way point of the production that things kick into high gear after the Jorden’s receive orders from Weyland-Yutani to survey a set of very specific coordinates, which lead them to a very familiar derelict ship, and a very familiar discovery. From that point on, the production gets it Alien freakshow going good.

While River of Pain is an entertaining listen, due largely to Dirk Maggs’ intense production values and fully immersive soundscape, and solid performances across the board from the drama’s large cast, this does come with a caveat. This is an enjoyable listen, but nothing about the story is particularly surprising. Anybody who has seen Aliens knows exactly what this story is about and how it will unravel right from the very start (although the very last moments do provide an interesting twist and potential for future exploration). The cast and crew are certainly game for it all, though, and I’m certainly happy to listen to an Audible Original, particularly when it involves one of my favorite sci-fi horror franchises. From a production standpoint, this book is certainly a success and is chock-full of atmosphere, gunfire, screams, and alien threats lurking right behind you.

With this latest release, Audible has now produced two dramas based on novels originally published as part of Titan Books’ 2014 trilogy. Alien: Sea of Sorrows, written by James A. Moore, has yet to be adapted, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an Alien Day 2018 release.
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