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Alien: River of Pain  By  cover art

Alien: River of Pain

By: Christopher Golden
Narrated by: Jeff Harding
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Publisher's summary

When Ellen Ripley finally returns to Earth, she learns that the planet LV-426 - now called Acheron - has been colonised. But LV-426 is where Ripley and the crew of the Nostromo found the original Xenomorph - the killing machine known as the Alien.

Protected by the Colonial Marines, the colonists seek to terraform the storm-swept planet. Two such residents are Anne and Russell Jorden, seeking a fortune that eluded them on Earth. On Acheron, Anne gives birth to the colony's first newborn - Rebecca Jordan, also known as Newt.

The wildcatters discover a vast, decaying spaceship. The horseshoe-shaped vessel is of particular interest to Weyland-Yutani and may be the answer to their dreams. But what Anne and Russ find onboard proves to be the stuff not of dreams but of nightmares.

©2014 Christopher Golden (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

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What listeners say about Alien: River of Pain

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed this story in the Alien Universe

I’d love to see this story and Out of The Shadows both get a second story to continue these characters journeys to see how things panned out for each of them.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I Love Aliens!!

Good story and great reading. I enjoy the different voices. It makes the book come alive. I am looking forward to the next book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great story!!

I'm a huge Aliens fan and I love this story.
the characters are great and the narrator did a good job.
I highly recommend this book if you're an aliens fan.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating story telling.

Answers so many questions from Alien to Aliens on LV-426. great ploy and detailed context.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

nice read

nice pick up from alien good character development and deployment sticking well with original movie

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I do wonder

although it is quite a disengaging act, for red blooded Americans, to grasp meaning beyond their own petty existence; I do wonder.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great prequel to aliens

great storyline nice to finally get a really good description of the derelict spacecraft in the events on lv-426

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable, but transitory

This story doesn’t really have a beginning or end of its own, so it can be a bit unsatisfying in some ways. But it was interesting and I enjoyed it nonetheless. Just keep in mind that you’ll probably want the other books as well. Out of the Shadows is well worth it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

LV-426 Before Ripley Arrived

This book is the backstory of what happened on LV-426 before Ripley and the Colonial Marines arrived. The colony has been on Acheron for sometime and we meet the Jordens when Anne gives birth to Newt. There is a small detachment of Marines assigned and the usual friction between colonists, the company scientists and marines. Portions of Aliens involving Ripley are mentioned during the timeline, most notably her rescue and arrival at Gateway station. That triggers a request by company man Carter Burke to have a specific set of coordinates checked out, which awakens the Aliens. Things go downhill from there. The audiobook is narrated by Jeff Harding, who is a somewhat rote narrator, but good with voices.

Please note, the book ending doesn’t match the audio ending.
If this story sounds intriguing to you, I highly recommend that you pick up the audio drama version of this, also called River of Pain and produced by the superb Dirk Maggs. It contains the full story and improves on the book. It’s a full cast production, including music and sound effects. It packs more of a punch than the book does.
I’ve also read Out of the Shadows and Sea of Sorrows as well. I also recommend the audio dramas also produced by Dirk Maggs as they improved on the books and are simply superb, with incredible casts.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

awful narration

I liked the overall story. I cringed at the narration. The female voices was thre worse! The narrator should never try to narrate a female voice. It awful. I didn't care for way he narrated a number of the other characters either. Specifically the ones he was trying to give a country or "hick" accent. Came off as a bit insulting and distracting even to listen to. As if you have to be from the south to fit a space terraformer, like a space farmer... give a break.
Apart from the awful voice and character narration, it took over an hour to get somewhat use to the awful voices, again, the overall story was good.

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