6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
for this book "0" stars should be an option, July 22, 2002
This review is from: ALIENS: Alien Harvest (Mass Market Paperback)
god awful sums it up as quickly as possible. There is little continuity in the story line, leaving me to believe if mr Sheckley ever bothered to read his finished product. This book pasy absolutely no attention to things discovered about the aliens earlier in the series. What was impossible in all 4 of the previous books, i.e. storming into the alien "superhive", was done with relative ease by three amature's when it killed nearly an entire elite team of colonial marines in "genocide". When i read this book i wanted to tear it apart it was so frustrating, after seeing that this book was published by bantam, i am now seriously considering glueing some pieces or trash together, slapping some postage on it, and adding my name to the list of ALIENS series authors. I only hope the rest aren't this awful, but after reading the first 4 and this being the 5th, i am going to take a break from the series, due to the absolute horridity of this book. DISGUSTING DISPLAY.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Bad Idea... Bad Book, August 6, 2006
This review is from: ALIENS: Alien Harvest (Mass Market Paperback)
This is my first time writing a negative review. The book itself seems a slap in the face for all fans of the Alien series.
I consider myself an avid Alien fan that has read the far superior Steve Perry books. This book has too many problem to list them all, but here are some of the sticking points for me.
1) The whole plot of the book is to steal royal jelly. I'll swallow the fact that it could be a drug and used by medical science. The problem is that royal jelly is produced to genetically change their offspring to future queens. Now I understand that this is a fiction novel, but even if it was you shouldn't collect the jelly from drone exoskeletons and they don't keep vats of it sitting out in the hive. Try to at least do some research, and have a logical thought behind your decisions for your story.
2) There are so many situations in the book that makes little or no sense, especially towards the end of the book. The extra team that is attacked by the bird creatures are then suddenly attacked by aliens? There is no description of the transition, it just happens. The ending of the book, where two people are in the exact same location and they both pass out. One person is taken to the hive, but the other isn't and wakes up? Pushing the realm of logic and reason is only okay if you explain it.
3) Too many modern references. This book is supposed to be in the future, don't insult my intelligence by referencing the Jolly Green Giant. Try and at least come up with an original thought/idea about what life is like in the future.
4) Blatant misadvertising on the front of the book. I originally bought it because I wanted to see what the author thought the Alien's home planet would be like. However, the book states almost as soon as they land on the planet that it is not the home planet of the Aliens.
5) Robot Aliens love dogs. I think this author was so distracted by the idea of robots caring and thinking that this book shouldn't have had Aliens at all. Android feelings were done in the Perry books, to a much better understanding and extent. This feels like a pale clone in comparison.
6) The first half the book was more interesting when the author wasn't trying to shove something down our throats that he had no interest in or willingness to understand. I found that the characters to be more interesting when they were stealing art and having heists. The author seems to have had no desire to write this book in the Alien universe for no other reason than to collect a paycheck and it shows.
I could go on and on, but save yourself the trouble just don't read this book.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
This book is not by the author you probably think it is., December 17, 1997
This review is from: ALIENS: Alien Harvest (Mass Market Paperback)
I bought this book expecting it to be another fine and funny SF satire by Robert Sheckley. Turns out it was a second rate hack by Robert Scheckley. Needless to say I was disappointed by the flimsy characters, weaker plot, frequent lack of consistancy, and complete lack of humour. If you are a Robert Sheckley fan DO NOT buy this book, if however you are an Aliens fan, you might enjoy the book. It does at least flesh out the Aliens genre a bit, and the cyberalien is sorta cool...
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