James Review -- Alien: Invasion

This week I decided to review Alien: Invasion, book two of the Rage War by Tim Lebbon. For the review of the first book, see http://thegamecalledrevolution.blogspot.com/2016/05/book-review-predator-incursion.html.

When the story begins, the Human Sphere has formed an alliance with the Yautja, more commonly known as Predators, who are fleeing an assault by the Rage, ancient human space explorers driven mad by time who have come to believe that they were exiled to deep space--rather than volunteering for their journey-- and who seek revenge against the humans they left behind. But in the depths of space ,the Rage has discovered weapons and technology far beyond that of both the Human Sphere and the Yautja, including the secret to taming the Xenomorph aliens, an ability long sought by the Weyland-Yutani corporation which rules the Human Sphere.

Using the Fiennes ships--ancient human sleeper ships--as transports and Xenomorph breeding grounds, the forces of the Rage sweep through the Gamma Quadrant of human space, overrunning everything in their path despite desperate resistance from the Colonial Marines. Meanwhile, Liliya, a defecting Rage android, and Hashori, a Predator who captured her, flee to the independent mining station Hell, but though they disabled the drophole used to reach the station, they must find a way off it before the Rage forces pursuing Liliya catch up to them, and discover how to use the knowledge Liliya holds against the Rage without allowing Weyland-Yutani to abuse it.

And when the remains of a Colonial Marine strike team seeking to capture one of the Rage’s android generals discovers the Othello, a secret Fiennes ship that plays a key role in the Rage’s master plan, they must ally with a group of anti-Rage rebels in a desperate attempt to stop  the vessel before it can launch a devastating offensive against the core of the Human sphere while the bulk of humanity’s might is focused on the battles taking place in the distant Outer Rim.

I give the book 9 out of 10. While I feel the combat sequences are well handled, and I was pleasantly surpised that there were a few space combat scenes which I didn’t expect from an Alien novel. However, while seeing the story from a variety of viewpoints was interesting, it also led to a few sections that seemed disconnected from the rest of the story and I wish there were more Predator viewpoints in the novel.