Alien: Sea of Sorrows

An Audible Original Drama

By: James A. Moore, Dirk Maggs

Narrated by: John Chancer, Stockard Channing, Walles Hamonde, Laurel Lefkow

Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Set 300 years after the events of Alien: Out of the Shadows and Alien: River of Pain, Alien: Sea of Sorrows deals with the rediscovery of dormant Xenomorphs (Aliens) in the abandoned mines of LV-178, the planetoid from Alien: Out of the Shadows, which has now been terraformed and renamed New Galveston.

The Weyland-Yutani Corporation, reformed after the collapse of the United Systems Military, continue their unceasing efforts to weaponise the creatures, eliciting the help of Alan Decker, who is forced to join a team of mercenaries sent to investigate an ancient excavation lurking deep beneath the planet's toxic desert, dubbed the Sea of Sorrows.

Somewhere in that long-forgotten dig lies the thing the company wants most in the universe - a living Xenomorph. Decker doesn't understand why the company needs him until his genetic heritage comes back to haunt him. Centuries ago one of his ancestors fought the Aliens, launching a bloody vendetta that was never satisfied. That was when the creatures swore revenge on his forbear, 'the Destroyer', Ellen Ripley...and all her descendants.

This terrifying, cinematic multicast dramatisation - directed by the multiaward-winning Dirk Maggs, best known for his adaptations of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere for the BBC - is the sequel to Audible Originals' Alien: Out of the Shadows (nominated for Best Audio Drama at the 2017 Audies) and Alien: River of Pain.

Full cast: Tom Alexander, Mark Arnold, Sagar Arya, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Laurence Bouvard, Philip Bullcock, John Chancer, Stockard Channing, Cedric Cirotteau, Simon Darwen, Andrea Deck, Oris Erhuero, Tony Gardner, Walles Hamonde, Andrew James Spooner, Lorelei King, Tayla Kovacevic Ebong, Laurel Lefkow, Sandra-Mae Luyck, Theo Maggs, Alan Marriott, Gary Martin, Pauline Mclynn, Eric Meyers, Naoko Mori, Sarah Pitard, Kerry Shale, Thomas Stroppell, Emma Swan, Martin T Sherman, Steve Toussaint and Ryan Wichert.

©2018 20th Century Fox (P)2018 Audible, Ltd.

Way to leave me hangin’!

I have been waiting for a few weeks for the release date, purchased it first thing this morning, finished it 😬, and left with a cliffhanger. Gaaah! The storyline wasn’t as strong as the other two, but I’m looking forward to purchasing the next installment. I love these full cast audio productions! Cheers

Great performances but story is weakest of the 3

I've really loved all the Alien audible dramas. Unfortunately, I couldnt really like this one except for the performances. The length is short, the story feels very generic (almost like the author just wanted to turn a generic horror novel into an alien book), and I couldnt really connect with any of the characters. The performances, like the other Alien audible dramas, were top notch but I couldn't help but feel I like the performance far more than the story and narrative. I hope they make more of these but I hope they choose the narrative material with more care for originality

Worst of the 3

The story was weak, far weaker than the other two. Characters were nondescript and for the most part interchangeable. The premise was stupid (a 300 yr ancestral grudge?) and adding a “psychic” to the mix makes even less sense than the 4th Alien movie. Absolutely regret wasting a credit on this. The first book was awesome... 2nd book ok... this one just a horrible waste.

another great performance

another great performance, wish there were more new performances. I am excited to see what's next.

The legacy continues

Another chapter in which Weyland-Yutani is desperately trying to acquire a live specimen of the Xenomorph 121. However, the company’s efforts on this journey bear fruits. They finally get their hands on a Xeno which happens to be a Queen embryo. The loss of life is catastrophic, one may say even borderline evil. Wetland-Yutani sees human life as expandable and only value the acquirement of a live specimen at all costs; the never-ending legacy of Special Order 937 which the Android Ash fought for so long to accomplish at the severe expense of LT. Ripley behest. A must have for any fan of the franchise. Why this book is not a mini movie is beyond me.

Better!

I enjoyed this more than Out of the Shadows and River of Pain although the plot bordered on a level of ridiculous only found in Alien Resurrection. This book takes place centuries after the events of River of Pain, meaning Weyland-Yutani has been around for hundreds of years and apparently the only way they can think of to capture an alien after all this time is to "employ" one of Ripley's relatives who can read the aliens' emotions (do they even have any?). Apparently the aliens also remember Ripley and carry a grudge. Wut.
Even though the story was unbelievable, I appreciated that it attempted to make out its own story instead of just slapping it in between the movies playing out events the audience already knows will happen. Performance was top notch. I'd recommend it over the over two in this series.

Not bad but the rest of the trilogy is better

Good story. Intense climax. Great production. 2 complaints: it's very far removed from the movies and doesn't add much we haven't seen in other entries. River of Pain is the best,

All 3 books are almost same. Why bother?

I dunno why I keep buying books of this series. All 3 books (audible dramatizations) sound exactly same as the other. Just that the books reference events in the earlier book, only to repeat the same event. If you've read one book, you've read all of them.

And the gunfire sound in this series is the worst I've heard ever.

Meh

Stockard Channing is excellent, as is the actor who plays Decker, but the story barely advances the Alien universe and lacks originality. Much of the book is spent listening to forgettable characters die. For a fresher and more interesting take, read Tim Lennon’s Alien vs. Predator trilogy.

Probably my favorite of the three

After listening to all three of the books in this series, this is probably my favorite. The story is a slight stretch compared to the other stories but I loved how it played out. Still going to listen to them a few more times to see if I catch any little details I may have missed the first time.

Drowning in Aliens!

Yes Audible have done it again. Another great Alien production with a top notch cast playing everything from tough grunts to scheming corporate execs. There's very little new here as once again a group of humans rapidly lose their wits when facing the Alien peril. Once again they discover gradually what the aliens are and how they work and suffer for being slow on the uptake.

However, this is definitely another one for the darkened room and headphones approach. There's great sound, lots of action and some delicious alien creepiness. I've said the story doesn't have much new to say though there is some additional insight into the alien minds and some of the supporting characters are somewhat stereotyped. So I wouldn't say it's perfect but the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts!

It's fast, exciting and perfect for people who just want more of that super-charged alien creepiness!

13-year-old's idea of Alien.

Picked this up as my first book on Audible with my free credit. It was most likely a mistake, and I ought to have researched it beforehand.

This is a child's idea for an Alien book, turned into some poor action-drama. I do not wish to spoil it for anyone who is willing to throw some of their money away to keep their minds off of things for 5 hours, so I will keep it vague. Right from the start you will receive your generic author's "generic type 258 villain", his "generic type 196" right hand man, along with "generic type 392" protagonist, whom the bad guys are forcing into performing a task by holding leverage over him via his family.

On top of the cheap premise, the writing itself is off. It would seem that the author either lost the plot, or it was done by multiple people because the original author just couldn't be bothered. During multiple instances throughout the story the author contradicts himself. As an example: the protagonist has a special ability, which he stated he cannot use willingly, it just... happens, and he has no control over it. Then later on throughout the story his accompanying bunch of misfits ask him if he could use it, and he just does it by request. I don't suppose proof-reading is a thing anymore. Or quality control.

Overall, this feels like it has been created out of necessity, by request, rather than out of creativity or idea, to cash-in on the franchise's success and reputation, just like EA and Ubisoft does with video-games, or television networks with poorly written series.

I wish I could reclaim that original credit granted to me by Audible for signing up. I am definitely researching on what I am buying in the future.

A Welcome Return...

Overall I found this to be a welcome return of one of my favourite audio book series. As always the series maintains a high level of audio production and this one I would say is amongst the best.

The book felt well paced and was really more of the same type of glorious Aliens story that fans will revel in.

My only issue was that the story didn't feel completely finished, while well paced I would have enjoyed a longer book to tie the ending up a little better. With that said however I honestly can't wait for the next book in this series.

ok

not as good as the last two, a little disappointed to be honest as the first two were extremely good.

Amazing a must for any alien fan happy aliens day

fantastic follow-on from book one also leave the door open for another one super stuff can't wait

Same old...

Same old inept colonial marines/mercenaries ill-equipped and ill-informed about the xenomorph threat while Wayland-Yutani attempts at all costs to capture a live specimen.

Love it

Love it. Been a fan of the series since the first one that came out.

Dissapointing

Such a let down after the other 2 originals in the series, hope the next one is better

Great Performances - Basic Plot

really great performances but the plot, and to an extent the script, leaves a little wanting. I like how the story steers away from using Ellen Ripley again and feel Decker is a good protagonist (although I'd love to see more Amanda one day!). The story stumbles with it's plot a little though - it's rather predictable and can get confusing to follow at times - especially since the story opts to follow a good few groups of characters, not all of whom are expertly developed. The script, for the most part, is pretty solid but can feel a little cheesy or stale at times. Overall a piece I really enjoyed but felt missed the mark here and there.

Incoherent nonsense

If you have any respect for the Alien franchise, it's universe, it's lore and the expertly crafted story of the first two films, you'll get nothing but rage from this book.
Having no appreciation for what made Giger's xenomorphs effectively scary and interesting, Moore and Maggs did what every hack does when given creative control over a piece of official Alien fiction: They tried to humanise the xenomorphs. This is done through the introduction of a descendant of Ripley, named Decker who is an "empath" capable of detecting emotions (Don't know if it's ever explained how he became an empath, I became too frustrated to keep listening about half way through.) Through Decker, we hear some of the xenomorph's internal monologue. If that sounds like a horrible idea to you then, congratulations; You have a better understanding of the Alien universe than the writers of this official work of Alien fiction do.
A huge part of what made Giger's xenomorphs scary was how completely, unmitigatedly ALIEN they are. Giving them dialogue we can understand could only possibly detract from that, even if it wasn't the most generic, hackneyed villain monologue you could imagine (Which, incidentally, it is.)
[SPOILER AHEAD FOR THIS BOOK AND ALIEN: OUT OF THE SHADOWS]
The cherry on top of this five-flavor sunday of incompetence is that, in gallant defiance of common sense, the writers are still labouring under the delusion that anyone liked Out of the Shadows, and consequently, are STILL trying to reconcile the cringe-inducing retcon that OotS is built on with the rest of the Alien universe. The exact moment I stopped listening and deleted this book was when it was revealed that a medical pod some of the characters were examining had been used to treat Ripley between the first and second movies.
Now, if you're thinking to yourself "But that doesn't make any sense, she was in cryo-sleep between movies", then congratulations once again: You have more respect for the masterpieces of Ridley Scott and James Cameron than the hacks who wrote this and Out of the Shadows