The "Alien" franchise has been incredibly successful over the past few decades. The movies alone have been tremendous hits. The series of books based on the movies and their characters have been very popular as well. With the new movie, "Alien: Covenant" in theaters, there has been a renewed interest in the "Alien" series.
Jonathan Maberry, a fantastic science fiction writer, has compiled a book of short stories written by the likes of Heather Graham, Rachael Caine, Larry Correia and others. This book is titled "Aliens: Bug Hunt."
When the grandkids go out on a bug hunt, they look for worms, spiders and other creatures they consider bugs. When I hear bug hunt, I immediately think of a Xenomorph from the "Alien" movies. "Aliens: Bug Hunt" stories have brought back so many memories for me - I feel younger again. Many of these stories follow the Colonial Marines from the second movie, "Aliens," before they were a unit. The reader sees how their lives were before their fight. Characters like Hicks had a completely different life before he met Ripley. Even the Synthetics (androids), like Bishop, had different roles before we meet them in the movies.
The book doesn't just focus on familiar characters; it brings to life new ideas the reader has never read or seen in a movie. There are stories about the different type of xenomorphs out in the universe and how they fit into the alien universe. The real enemy isn't the "bug" but corporate greed, and you see this throughout the book. Even the military, to some degree, is owned by corporations.
This book was written by great science fiction writers, but it does have its flaws. Most of the stories are entertaining, but there are a few that could put you to sleep. The editing is suspect at times; I was surprised by how horrible the editing was with this many good writers. Overall, I loved the book and would read it again. Even readers who do not like science fiction or the "Alien" franchise would find this book a good read.
Brian Bray is an IT specialist at Missouri River Regional Library.