Customer Reviews

AVP: Alien vs. Predator: The Movie Novelization

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Having seen the movie first and being dissapointed at the lack of gore due to the producers wanting a PG rating, I was happy to see the author wasn't afraid to graphically describe what was going on. The book is written for people without much knowledge about the whole Predator/Aliens universe except what's in the movies, I think, since it doesn't use any Yautja language terms or discuss their culture much. So if you're deep into the fandom, you might be unsatisfied with this. Otherwise, it's entertaining and contains an alternative spin on the movie, getting deeper into the plot and explaining quite a few things that were unclear. The book does tend to overexplain sometimes, but a good read overall.

Having read the Alien vs Predator comics back when I read comic books, I was thrilled when I saw the trailer for this film at the local multi-plex. Then I saw the book and had to have it because I think the Predator movies are great, and so are the first two Alien flicks. I even thought Alien 3 and Resurrection were okay (Ron Pearlman is in Resurrection!), though they both had dull parts and lacked the horrific and spooky stuff from the first two Alien movies.

Now comes AVP, and if this novelization is any indication, the movie is gonna kick A! The fusion of the two series monsters into a single book/movie is really well done. It's smart and original and yet faithful to elements from both movie series.

There's a Sigourney Weaver/Ripley character, called Lex, who gets sucked into the action against her will, and (expect no spoilers from me) a really clever connection to the first two Alien films that is all the more impressive because the action in AVP is set on Earth in the present, while the previous Alien films all take place in the future in outer space.

There is a sense of wonder in the novel (I haven't seen the movie so can't comment) that is lacking in most of the science fiction I've read lately. AVP gives you a feeling of awe and creepiness at the same time--dark science fiction at its best.

The setting, Antarctica, is also cool (forgive the pun). This book reminded me of The Thing with Kirk Russell because it's frightening and gory and full of action at the same time--and both are set at the South Pole, too.

Some of the most interesting stuff comes in the middle of the action, when Lex speculates on how the Predators evolved. She even has a theory about why Predators have crab-faces that is neat and gross at the same time. This section of the novel takes place in Lex's head, so I don't know if it will be in the movie, but fans of the Alien/Predator series should not miss this speculation because it is original and really believable, too. After you read it, you won't be able to look at the Predators in quite the same way again!

Weirdest of all, you find yourself rooting for either Aliens or Predators (depending on which creature is your favorite) and glad that Lex decides to pick a side, even if its not the side you would have picked. The monster she hooks up with is as real a character as the humans, and you want to see him again just like you want to see Lex--in a sequel maybe?

In a really fascinating prolog we see the Aliens and Predators in action in the past--both in prehistoric times and in the early part of the last century, at a whaling station. The author even compares and contrasts the humans who hunt food, or whales, or who work for a corporate 'predator' with the real Predators from outer space.

Who wins? I'll never tell. But if you read this book and see the movie, I'll bet you'll come away feeling like you are the real winner!

AVP rocks!

First off, this is not really a novelization of the final movie, but of the screenplay. For example, the movie had three hunters, the book has five - The first drafts of the film started out with five hunters. Also, the first chapter is set in 2000 BC and the second in 1904, so the book lays more of a foundation for the plot than the movie. Of course a book can get into details and character's thoughts, so it seems a tad more complex. I really enjoyed it, but thought more could have been done with both the Predators and the Aliens.

I thought that this book was great! (But I'm still confused of why the author added 5 predators instead of sticking with the 3 in the movie.) This book really talks about the characters' feelings, thoughts, emotions, and how they felt towards one another. If you're a fan of Alien/Predator, then you should get this book. (This is just my opinion. You may not like it.)

This book is fine by me...to be honest, I kinda prefer it over the original AVP novel(Not that the original wasn't good, I liked it).
I'll admit, there are some dry parts here and there, but it starts to get juicy once you get into it.
The writer doesn't let up on anything, he even adds a few pages that feature just the aliens in it(which you don't find to much in the first AVP novel). The interactions between the characters is well written as well; and the main heroine, Alexa Woods is pretty cool too.

I finished AVP last night. Not a bad read at all. It pretty much followed the movie dead on. You get more background info then the movie gives you, so it fills in some blanks. I was hoping for the FULL version, ( the movie cut several battle scenes to get the PG-13 rating ) but was alittle disappointed.
Cerasini is a darn good writer. The book was very well written. As a big fan of both species I was expecting a book akin to Stephen and Stephenie ( spelling? ) Perry in there AVP books. Not true. Being use to writers like King, Barker, Tolkien, etc. when I started reading the Perry AVP novels I was thrown off by there writing styles. Not that there bad, just totally different. Cerasini seperates himself from the rest of the AVP, Aliens, and Predator novels. If your a fan you need to read this book.
I gave AVP 4 out of 5 stars for one reason. I entered the book wanting answers for the end of the movie. I wanted to know when/how/where the "Scar" predator got impregnated. The last scene of the movie left you with an alien/predator hybrid chestburster coming out of Scars chest. The book ends the same, but no where in the book do we see him getting a facehuggfer OR showing any signs of impregnation. ALL of the movies have victims of the chestburster giving noticable signs that something was wrong with them. Scar fights through without a cough or the first sign of chest pain. Go figure.

Hope this was helpful, but be your own judge!! Good reading.

RS

"Naked, their pale mottled flesh still gleaming from their immersion in the pool of primordial ooze, five powerful beings swaggered onto the starship's bridge, their eyes shining with innate intelligence...Wordlessly the creatures girded themselves for the coming battle..." This book totally rules. It's fast-moving and suspenseful like an action film, which is what it should be because that's what the Predator and Aliens films were and that's what I expected and wanted when I picked it up.
The book is immensely readable--page-turning and well written in that it paints very vivid pictures for me of all the scenes and characters and battles. A lot of novelizations are pretty stark. They're just dialog and very sparse description because (I guess) they expect you to have seen the film. (And, on the opposite end of that whole novelization approach, one novelization I recently read was way over-written and slow-moving. HELLO? Action movie means fast-paced, page-turning storytelling? DUH. Another I read was really confusing.) I didn't have either problem with this book. Lots of very descriptive scene setting, and extra info (like about Lex's expertise as a mountaineer), and chilling details/descriptions about the Aliens and Predators. Lots of violent clashes and gore (cool).

This is by far the best story for a Predator film and will definately give you the feel of James Camerons Aliens as far as the action goes. The movie will not disapoint.

The Alien vs. Predator book was a satisfying science fiction book on the upcoming movie. It defined the characters of the book, and showed a good amount of action as well of aliens and predators in action.The only thing that I thought the author could have left out of the book was so much story before the explorers even saw the aliens/predators. Though I think this was a good book, if you are a person who loves to read you will probably not like it as much due to reading such great science fiction books like Dune. I, on the other hand, DO NOT read many books. All in all, this was a satisfying book and I would recommend it to other light readers who like science fiction.

The book was diffrent from the movie.Like how when the movie only had three predtors in it and the book had five, or like how they keep switching from when the predators came to earth every 100 years or every 1,000 years. I was disapointed I thought the booke would have more gory sceans in it but when they did they were very discripitive. I thought the book was overall amazing.