It would seem now that the universe he gets to play around in has been properly established, as well as the lack of needing to stick too closely to movie continuity ( Nightmare Asylum ignores Alien 3), Perry has been left with a lot more freedom to craft his own story and focus on his characters. We do get glimpses of the last remnants of the human race struggling to survive back on Earth, but these are shown to us via broadcasts which characters on the space station have picked up brief glimpses of a world lost that help frame the story in context without ever slowing things down.Īuthor Steve Perry's writing has definitely improved this time around. While Earth Hive's pacing felt somewhat jarring as it had to jump between events on Earth and in space, creating an uneven storytelling angle, here the entire story is set very much in the here and now, concentrating solely on Billie and Wilks' story. Improved human villainy is but one way in which Nightmare Asylum improves over its predecessor.

In fact, so persuasive is his rationale, despite the sheer absurdity of his plans, that the reader cannot help but occasionally think, 'this plan just might be crazy enough to work!'.

leading an army of Xenos into glorious battle and conquering humanity's lost homeland) is every bit as demented as the cult leader's, his character is fleshed out so thoroughly that you get a good sense of how a once rational mind could come up with such a scheme. Sure, the cult leader who interpreted the Xenomorph as 'the new Messiah' posed a threat, but the reader never really got a feel as to how he came to this crackpot conclusion. While Earth Hive was a good read in its own right, it did lack a truly memorable human villain. The entire base has been converted into a research facility for the sole purpose of training an army of 'tamed' aliens with a view to retaking the Earth, all at the behest of the stark-raving mad General Spears. After an altercation with a couple of unwanted stowaways (who are about seven feet tall and have acid for blood), our heroes end up on a military base where it quickly comes apparent that the lunatics have well and truly taken over the asylum. Was this a wise move?Īliens: Nightmare Asylum picks up precisely where Earth Hive left off with the planet Earth overrun by the Xenomorph menace and Billie and Wicks making their way to a distant human settlement by means of the ship they 'commandeered' at the end of the last book. While Earth Hive was a follow up to the Aliens film which was meant to bridge the gap between the second and third Alien movies, Nightmare Asylum takes off in its own direction and erases Alien 3 from its continuity. Written by Steve Perry, Nightmare Asylum is the direct sequel to Aliens: Earth Hive and the second part in the first volume of the highly acclaimed Aliens Omnibus which has recently found itself reissued by Titan Books.

Earth Hive by Steve Perry