By Tim Waggoner

Titan Books, out now

Zula Hendricks is very aware of the Xenomorphs – but not that they’re quite so close at hand…

The latest in Titan’s continuation of the Alien saga picks up on elements of their previous book, Keith R.A. DeCandido’s adaptation of Alien: Isolation, as well as from the comics series Alien: Defiance (which explains why Hendricks’ AI Davis is in the condition we encounter it originally. A human colony comes under attack from a genetically modified Xenomorph – you might wonder why these people never learn but if they did, we wouldn’t have these stories!

There are some clever ideas in here – the Xenomorph on the cover deliberately looks rather different from the ones we normally see, and it’s got the ability to pass on certain defects to its prey. This adds an intriguing level to the normal human vs Xenomorph meeting – and not in the humans’ favour.

Hendricks is there training new troops and inevitably it’s these unblooded youngsters who have to take up the fight. Waggoner switches things up a bit with some of his point of view scenes and there are a couple of deaths that are quite affecting – even if in one case, you are almost wanting to scream at the character not to be so daft!

Waggoner is a veteran at tie-ins, and this is well put together tale that occasionally feels a little by the numbers – but then does something that surprises, even after 40 years of reading about the Xenomorphs’ activities.

Verdict: Another solid addition to the Titan Alien line. 7/10

Paul Simpson

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