Alien: Covenant Origins

The Official Prequel to the Blockbuster Film

By: Alan Dean Foster

Narrated by: Tom Taylorson

Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

The Covenant mission is the most ambitious endeavor in the history of Weyland-Yutani. A ship bound for Origae-6, carrying 2,000 colonists beyond the limits of known space, this is a make-or-break investment for the corporation - and for the future of all mankind.

Yet there are those who would die to stop the mission. As the colony ship hovers in Earth orbit, several violent events reveal a deadly conspiracy to sabotage the launch. While Captain Jacob Branson and his wife, Daniels, complete their preparations, security chief Daniel Lope recruits the final key member of his team. Together they seek to stop the perpetrators before the ship and its passengers can be destroyed.

An original novel by the acclaimed Alan Dean Foster, author of the groundbreaking Alien novelization, Alien: Covenant Origins is the official chronicle of the events that led up to Alien: Covenant. It also reveals the world the colonists left behind.

©2017 Alan Dean Foster (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Corporate Espionage, No Monsters

I've been a fan of the Alien films for a long time. I didn't have the opportunity to see Alien Covenant in theaters, but have the film on Blu Ray, though I haven't seen it yet. I decided to wait until the prequel Book was published and read it and the film novelization before watching the movie. It is unusual that the prequel book, which should've been published first, was actually last.
There are no monsters in this book, as it is a tale of corporate espionage regarding the mission of the colony ship Covenant. The intrigue is well written and interesting, though not all questions are answered. Weyland -Yutani is not quite the corporate powerhouse in this book, though they are a conglomerate. The head Hideo Yutani is interesting. The organization that opposes him, the Earth Savers has a "prophet" who seemingly knows what monsters like in the dark. His nightmares have given the Earth Savers fuel for their fire. This plot point is similar to one in an earlier book, Alien Sea of Shadows. Please note: Spoilers.
Duncan Fields, the prophet, seems to have an empathetic link to the Alien warriors, similar to Ripley's descendant in Sea of Shadows. He had the ability to see through the Alien warriors eyes. Duncan Fields seems to have this ability as well, though the background is not explained fully. Still a great read. I read this book using Immersion Reading. Narrator Tom Taylorson, is excellent, with a beautiful, clear voice and is gifted with accents. It was definitely a highlight to hear this book as well as read it. Worth your time.

good

nice edition to the timeline. no aliens are involved but i expected as much. still great though.

Alien: The mystery of the bumbling cultists.

Repetitive series of antagonist, who is mostly impotent, failing. The protagonists get fleshed out and are exactly who you think they are.

the narrator was very good.

A really slow prequel.

A slow prequel for how long it was. I would not recommend this book unless your love back storied.

Just How Badly Did Humans Screw up Earth? Blindly Colonize Unknown Planet Bad

This books introduces the coming together of the crew of the colonizing vessel Covenent. Most significant about this prequel to the movie, Alien Covenant, is that we get to imagine the state of a dying, largely unlivable planet Earth. The corporation that bought out Weyland Corporation has somehow convinced themselves it's a good idea to send a colonizing mission fully aware of the unknown fate of the Prometheus (see also movie Alien Prometheus). What also intrigued me about this story is the unexpected conflict where a cult-like group of people believe the Covenant's voyage results in the doom human existence. Guided by the premonitions of a man who’s visions paint a dark future, these Earthsavers, as they’re called, resort to any means available to prevent the Covenant from leaving. I enjoyed the purposeful character development of the Covenant crew. Also, I appreciated certain questions I had being answered like what a potential future Earth could be and why the droid predecessor of the David model, Walter, might have doted on Daniels so much following the Covenant’s launch. This Alien audiobook does not come with the sound effects and full cast as some of books in series does. It wasn’t a deal-breaker for me; the narrator, Tom Taylorson, was awesome.

really enjoyable book and performance

Not as much action as I expected, more espionage. I'm surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did. Very well written and the performance was fantastic.

A good story peppered with woke garbage

I very much enjoyed the corporate espionage and the concept of a prophet warning against space travel, but the constant pandering to post 2016 wokeness is blatant and not well crafted. I'm starting to wonder if the author knows he has to hit certain beats to appease the people who don't even like science fiction, much like the pulp writers of old having to write around the puritanical standards of the day.

Excellent book, but no aliens :)

Excellent story and performance, but if I had to hand this book to someone and not tell them it was part of the aliens series, they would have no idea that it was.

OTDB

Out There Be Demons

this is a perfect introduction to the understanding on why Wayne corporations was exploring the dark places of space.

I want more

I was so anxious for more insight into the world of the engineers that didn’t read the synopsis. There were no xenomorphs nor engineers. This story left me wanting more!