Aliens: Cauldron (Aliens (Dark Horse)) [Paperback]

Diane Carey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 26, 2007 | Series: Aliens (Dark Horse)

On the spaceship Umiak, an elite troupe of cadets is forced into servitude by an unscrupulous captain taking the ship to a smuggler's rendezvous. During the transaction aboard the eerily silent Virginia, the cadets unwittingly transport an unexpected cargo: a hive of hibernating aliens. As the aliens begin to awake, a terrifying battle erupts between the cadets, the smugglers, the captain, and the emergent monsters. The cadets soon realize that in space, no one can hear them scream.

Product Details

• Paperback: 275 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (June 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595821139
• ISBN-13: 978-1595821133
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #359,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Aliens VS The Goonies VS The creatures from Night at the Museum!, August 11, 2007

By 

PermaFrost "PermaFrost" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aliens: Cauldron (Aliens (Dark Horse)) (Paperback)

I wanted to rate this book a 1 and a half actually for putting me to sleep every 2 pages during the first 200 pages. I dont mind boring books, but this one went nowhere when the author decided to use 14-17 year olds as the main characters, especially nerdy obnoxious ones, one of them actually makes the entire adult crew fall asleep with his own recipe and ties up the captain of an enormous ship just so he can be in control, and what's funny is that he manages to convince all his little gang which hate him! to quote Hudson in Aliens: Whoopee fkin do!

What I found disappointing was that the author really knew how to thrill you when the writing included Aliens, but unfortunately there was about 10-15 pages on them during the first 200 pages. She over specifies and wastes as much as 2 pages on such useless info on these teenage brats such as the color of one's shirt, and goes on and on and on about stupidities. The parts on the other ship, I found AMAZING, and would have rated the book 5 stars if the story was on that, unfortunately this part lasts only about 15-20 pages...

This book had the PERFECT Alien settings yet it went to waste :( Heck there's even mammoths running around in it!, okkkkkkay?!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better Than Expected, June 5, 2008

By 

ONENEO (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Aliens: Cauldron (Aliens (Dark Horse)) (Paperback)

This represents my second foray into the weird and wonderful mind of Diane Carey (the first being DNA War of this same franchise). Surprisingly and despite a plethora of negative reviews to browse, I found Cauldron to be a step in the right direction.

The story simultaneously follows two spacecraft (and their respective crews): The Virginia and the Umiak. The former comes off as the traditional "space trucker" ideology seen time and time again throughout the films. The latter presents the very cool concept of young cadets having an opportunity to participate hands on in a military-style voyage. It is here that Carey introduces us to one of her wildest creations, Pearl Floy; a mutant freak show of a human being and outcast to her peers. The mere concept of such a character manages to capture the dark grittiness of the universe painted by the films themselves.

About my biggest complaint to this novel (and most of the franchise as a whole) is the reliance upon earth. Historical references, character backgrounds, clichés, and even animal species all spiral back to earth. Sure it makes for relate-ability but if you think back to the films, earth is a very small part to the greater whole. We don't even get a glimpse of the planet until the very end of Resurrection and through some earlier witty dialog; we discover that many of the crew have never even been there (and don't think very highly of the place at that).

Space is a very big place and it would be great if authors of the ALIENS franchise remembered that in the future, the role of earth is quite miniscule. That said I have to give Carey credit on crafting some interesting characters and dropping them into some pretty nasty situations. Also noteworthy is the fact that she created an interesting variant of the Xenomorph species in a couple of sections. So often these books paint the animals as merely giant ants but there isn't much terror in that. The movies got around this by continually introducing the viewer to new aliens (the queen, the dog/hybrid, the baby/hybrid, the predator/hybrid and so on).

Some may argue that the ending is a bit happy-go-lucky and others may find the antics of Thomas Pangborn to be a bit over the top, but I would counter that this is a pretty worthy entry into a rich universe. Considering the difficulty of attempting to bring something fresh to the table after six films and dozens of books, Carey manages to assemble some unique situations and a pretty memorable cast. This is a 3.5 star product but since Amazon won't allow for half-star ratings, I'll round it up to four on account of the fact that ALIENS books that aren't totally butchered are few and far between.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Needed more alien action, September 2, 2007

By 

Brack Wagers "deathrune_fire11" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aliens: Cauldron (Aliens (Dark Horse)) (Paperback)

Focused way too much on the crews of the two ships and not enough on the aliens. The part with the baby was ridiculous. The characters had the fortunate experience of having limited contact with the aliens. Baking soda neutralizing alien acid? I don't think so.