In preparation for a day trip
to Kansas City, Missouri, to attend Planet Comicon, I downloaded Alien:
Isolation to accompany me on the drive. I found this a great choice for an
audiobook for both content and narration. Keith is one of my favorite authors,
mostly for his work in the Star Trek sandbox, and particularly for his
portrayal of Klingons in his work. Knowing the quality of his work in the Trek
universe, I was not surprised to find the same level of quality in this story
from the Alien franchise. Overall, I found Alien: Isolation a
refreshing diversion from the monotony of cross-country driving.
This story is based on the
video game of the same title as the book. (I've never played the video game,
nor did I know anything about it before I looked it up.) This is the tale of
Amanda Ripley, daughter of Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley of the ill-fated cargo
ship, Nostromo. Apparently, Ripley revealed she had a daughter back on
Earth during the Aliens film in a scene that was cut from the original
movie. This story fleshes out Amanda's plight using flashback scenes to give us
some insight into the principal character, and the main story of Amanda's
struggle to learn Ellen's fate and her struggle to survive encounters with the xenomorphs.
Keith's story is fast-paced and
was well balanced between the flashbacks and the principal story. The
descriptions of the settings were easy to visualize, and the characters were
excellently developed and read as believable living people. The narration by
Sarah Mollo-Christensen was also outstanding and further brought the action and
characters to life.
Ellen Ripley departed on the Nostromo
after promising her young daughter, Amanda, she would return in time for her
eleventh birthday. As Amanda awaited her mother's return, she only finds deep
disappointment when she is informed Ellen will not return because the Nostromo
was mysteriously destroyed en route returning to Earth, and that her
mother's fate is not known.
Amanda, who is being raised by
her alcoholic stepfather, has a rough life. Her ambition is to attend school,
learn all she can, and learn of her mother's fate. After following several
false leads, she finally receives word that the Nostromo's flight
recorder has been recovered and is on a deep-space station.
When arriving at the station,
her ship and crew find themselves in a desperate fight for survival against the
very creatures that ravaged the Nostromo's crew. Amanda must use all her
knowledge and wits to escape death and find out if she will ever see her mother
again.
Amanda Ripley is not Ellen
Ripley, at least not right away. She is smart and learns fast. Her intention
was to become a certified engineer. While she did become an engineer of sorts,
the certification eluded her for many reasons. Chief among those was her stepfather
who, while capable, had a lot of problems with alcohol, and by extension,
holding a job. So instead of being able to pursue her ambition, she had to work
to support herself and her often unemployed stepdad to survive and avoid being
taken into the system.
Those of us who have followed
Ellen's exploits through the Alien franchise admire her as a tough, yet
compassionate, and heroic character. Amanda has these same traits as she goes
about the business of seeking hope her mother somehow survived the Nostromo
disaster. Aboard the space station, there are dangers everywhere. Yes, there is
the monster, but at the same time there are numerous system failures she must
keep repairing, and, she has to deal with the personnel issues as the crew also
breaks down and enters an ‘everyone-for-themselves’ survival mode. In the end,
Amanda is every bit the hero as her mother.
As always, there seems to be
another enemy to fight who never shows its face. Readers/listeners probably
will not be surprised at the reveal who the hidden enemy is.
My favorite point of plot for Isolation
is how well Amanda's character is fleshed out to become someone a reader can
care about. Without this aspect in the story, this tale wouldn't have been
extraordinary. I felt so bad for this brilliant little girl and absolutely
wanted her to be successful in achieving her goals. It was sad that at every
turn; she was thwarted and forced to serve in a menial role so far below her
intellect. It is my hope that Keith may tell more of this tale outside of the
novelization of the video game. He just knows how to spin a great yarn, and I
know his treatment would be a satisfying story.
The obvious main theme of Isolation
is a look at someone who survives against insurmountable odds. But my takeaway
from this story goes a little deeper than Amanda versus the monster. It is more
how Keith endows her with a strength of character that allows her to survive.
There is no quit in Amanda. She
is going to persevere no matter what she is told or what obstacles are put in
her way. It would have been so easy for her to just accept being told Ellen was
dead and move on from there. She might have, but it was that tiny seed of doubt
that drove her on to do whatever she had to do to uncover the truth. I admire her
for this, and it is what kept me listening as I made my way home from Kansas
City.
Alien: Isolation is a great audiobook and I highly
recommend it to those who are fans of the franchise and are looking for more
story. It moves at a great pace. There just isn't a dull moment or what one
might think of as fluff. Everything is relevant to the story. The characters,
along with Amanda, are great and help the listener/reader understand the
principal character better. Even though the story is complete in itself, it
still left me wanting more and it is my hope there will be more in the near
future, especially if Keith DeCandido is tapped to be the author.
Novel Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Narration Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After a few years working in
other industries, such as documentary production, book publishing, and law, she
threw caution and financial responsibility to the winds, and decided to
apprentice herself to a dog trainer and attend the Atlantic Acting School's two-year
Conservatory.
In the years since, Sarah has
acted in New York and at wonderful regional theaters, including The Shakespeare
Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., where she spent a year in residence as an
acting fellow.
When she's not in a theater or
an audio booth, Sarah can be found resolving the behavior issues of New York
City's dogs (and their owners).
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