Alien: Prototype Novel Review

Titan Books has published a paperback book titled Alien: Prototype available from numerous online retailers and high street book stores. Alien: Prototype is the seventh original novel set within the Alien franchise released by Titan Books. Does the Alien: Prototype novel produce an imaginative continuation to the original Alien novels?

Alien: Prototype is an original novel set within the Alien universe written by seasoned author Tim Waggoner who has previously written tie-in novels in the Kingsman, Resident Evil and Supernatural franchises, alongside original dark fantasy and horror. In 2017, Tim Waggoner received the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction, while being a finalist for the Shirley Jackson and Scribe awards in addition to numerous honourable mentions in a multitude of Best Horror of the Year volumes. Meanwhile, Tim Waggoner also finds time to teach creative writing and composition at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.

The story revolves around a Xenomorph egg being stolen from Weyland-Yutani that is taken to a rival laboratory owned by Venture at a period of time that is situated between the Alien: Isolation novel and the Aliens: Resistance comic book series. Alien: Prototype ties into the Dark Horse storyline as former Colonial Marine Zula Hendricks from the Aliens: Defiance comic book series is tasked with infiltrating Venture’s team. Zula Hendricks must prevent a potential catastrophe of huge proportions when a human is impregnated from the Xenomorph egg.

The quality of writing is incredible as the pacing is efficient in a descriptive manner that is somehow yet straight to the point of a character’s motivations and the consequences to their actions and reactions. Alien: Prototype kicks into the classic horror tone of Alien when it needs to as the novel cleverly mixes atmospheric action and horror in separate bursts of energy throughout the story that helps to set it apart in its own sense of style.

Alien: Prototype is brilliantly presented with trademark horror inducing artwork featuring a front cover focused on a gigantic Xenomorph, while the back cover provides an interesting synopsis of the story. A nice gesture situated prior to the start of the novel is a special dedication to Lance Henriksen; one of the legends of the Alien franchise having starred in Aliens, the Director’s Cut of Alien 3 and Alien vs. Predator.

Alien: Prototype’s value is the original novel featuring Zula Hendricks; continuing her adventures from the Aliens: Defiance comic book series with a consistently engaging story over the course of 384 pages including 28 chapters, alongside the author’s acknowledgements and his history as a writer.

Alien fans should also look at other Alien books from Titan Books including The Making of Alien that released on July 23rd 2019 and various other Alien novels in volumes containing multiple novels per volume of The Complete Aliens Omnibus:
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6
Volume 7

Analysis
• Title: Alien: Prototype
• Writer: Tim Waggoner
• Publisher: Titan Books
• Length: 384 pages
• Cover: Paperback

Alien: Prototype can be purchased in the UK from Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alien-Prototype-Tim-Waggoner/dp/1789090911/ and Forbidden Planet at https://forbiddenplanet.com/278724-alien-prototype/

Alien: Prototype can be purchased in America and Canada from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Prototype-Tim-Waggoner/dp/1789090911/

You can also find Titan Books’ official website including a back catalogue of captivating books at https://www.titanbooks.com/ and product details regarding Alien: Prototype at https://titanbooks.com/70015-alien-prototype/