By Simon Ward

Titan Books, out now

Titan continue their impressive Alien output with an indepth look at Ridley Scott’s latest contribution to the saga…

I think it’s fair to say that Alien: Covenant didn’t live up to everyone’s expectations, but one area that it’s received pretty universal praise was for its look, something that’s front and centre in Simon Ward’s detailed volume. But there’s plenty of insight into both the characters and the storyline – the former drawn from interviews with the cast, that in many cases tells us far more than we find out throughout the whole two hours of the film!

There’s much to savour in this volume, with contributions from many of the key personnel involved, but the design sometimes goes against the good work of the tex.t There’s far too much use of white text on black background in the early sections, alongside photos that are blown up too large, particularly in the early pages, but it’s worth persevering, particularly to get little gems like the proper name of “mother” (the ship’s computer – rendered as Mother in the novelisation but given a proper acronym here).

However once we reach page 84 and the start of the section on the neomorph the book, like the movie itself, becomes more gripping with model shots, concept art and behind the scenes pictures demonstrating how it all came together. Page 138 also provides us with a chance to look carefully at David’s drawings of the creatures.

Verdict: Some fascinating material occasionally lost in an overly dark design. 7/10

Paul Simpson