Alien

The Official Movie Novelization

By: Alan Dean Foster

Narrated by: Peter Guinness

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Alan Dean Foster is the acclaimed author of movie tie-ins for Star Wars, Alien and Transformers. He was awarded the IAMTW Grand Master Scribe Award in 2008. He is also a best-selling science fiction and fantasy author in his own right, including the popular Pip & Flinx novels and the Founding of the Commonwealth series.

©2014 Alan Dean Foster (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Monotone Reader

I did enjoy the story, hell it's based on one of my all time favorite movies and they mostly kept to the story, but the orator left something to be desired since I couldn't always tell who he was trying to portray.

Flattened by the performance

Surely everyone has seen the film? So you know the characters. Well, they don't make it through this reading. The delivery is robbed of emotion and suspense. It's kind of like listening to the narration on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, not as much emotion as the book. It's hard to believe someone could have seen the film and then deliver such a downbeat and homogeneous reading. The characters were sort of recognizable.

Little has changed from the movie, but some things have. But just small things. If you demanded an example, avoiding spoilers... well a scene in the mess that was opto-hydraulic in the film is all printed circuit boards and wires in the book. Which is like going back to the steam age. It doesn't detract from the story.

It is interesting to have the internal dialogue from the characters. It adds to the story and makes up for some of what the delivery removed. With a different narrator this would be a five star experience, like the movie.

Ripley kicks alien butt!

I love the movie and I love the audible book, which is the official movie novelization, so there are no surprises here if you are a fan of the movie. The audible book is just good solid writing and storytelling, which I found highly entertaining.

love it

just an iconic part of science fiction. classic and of course the movie was classic.

Better than the movie, and the movie came first!

I had high hopes for this novelization when I selected it. I was not disappointed. Typically, when I read a book and then watch the movie, I am disappointed in the movie. In this case, having seen the movie first, I worried of a similar result. Especially given how much I love the movie! Not the case! The book was so good that when I watched the movie again, I was a little disappointed in some of the lost details that Mr Foster augmented the screenplay with in his writing. This audiobook is simply amazing! Narration is also terrific. All around great experience!!

Loved it!

I have been a huge fan of Alien since I was a child. I truly enjoyed this book through and through, a little slow in the beginning but was to be expected since the movie was as well.

A great adaptation…

This is a perfectly serviceable adaptation. It’s not better or worse than watching the movie but thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Old memories

I remember seeing this in the theater with my family. My brother talking my mother into allowing me a 6 year old to participate. He said it was “a space movie like StarWars.” Oh yeah, it was a space movie but nothing like StarWars. I didn’t become a fan of Alien until I was 8. By then I had realized there are monsters in the dark but they are not from space. I am such a fan, I have every single type of copies of VHS, DVD, and BlueRay. I even have an old beat up LP as well as an old beat up sleeve from an “LaserDisc!” I also have all the art books even the horrific dreams pertaining to Geigers art. Lego? Got it! 1/12 model? Got that too. Trust me, I love this franchise. Even the crappiness of the recents to III and IV. But the book saved the day for #3. Why am I blabbing like this about a book and linking in all my fandom? One reason, I honestly can’t stand the books of recent. The ones that claim to stay on canon. The ones that claim to care about the franchise. No, they don’t. I have listened to every single extensions the Alien franchise on Audible and I can tell you 90% are not for the fandom, and they are not for people that just want a scary story pertaining to the scariest franchise in history. That’s not just my opinion, FACT CHECKED. Well, there is that whole Jaws thing, but maybe the first. I can tell you as well, the new pile of “$4!7” that’s for sale or free, depending on your account preferences, is political woke garbage that’s about as scary as Chucky stalking Barbie at The Magic Kingdom. On a Wednesday nite. In the summer. And yes, I have listened to every one of them from beginning to end just so I hear every bit of garbage that others commented on. And honestly, I guarantee, these crap stories that get four or five stars across the board and only have a sentence or two that’s about as vague and boring as the expositions that makes up 75% of these horrifically written paperweights. So do yourself a favor and get Alien! Next Alien 3 is not bad. But, you can tell voiceovers by some of the original cast is a little hard to listen due to whom ever recorded that one didn’t have a de-esser. Yes it hurts sometimes but the story isn’t as bad as the rest.
Stepping off my soap box, now the reason to listen to this. It’s worth it. Tails the original and voiceover is good. This one follows the directors cut, somewhat, but still amazing. While your at it, follow it up with Aliens. Not tea bag! Naughty bag at all. Another actor from the main franchise lending his chops and yes he is a professional voiceover actor.
So there you go. The reasons to and to not listen to these books. I’m not even going to get into the most recent abomination that’s supposed to follow up to the new “ALIEN FireTeam!” Ugh! Just miss it. Fireteam not too bad…thus far! Did I mention I have all the original games from the franchise as well? Well, I don’t. I skipped a couple of recents just because they too were peppered with the same woke political crap that’s plagued everything. EVERYTHING!

just a great listen

the film and this recording were just about one and the same. loved the unnatural music set in at perfect timing for spine tingling effect.

Joe

Very will written and narrated. Looking forward to reading the next series of books.