Celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, Ridley ScottsAlienremains a timeless exercise in atmosphere and suspense.
In terms of structure, FostersAlienhews closely to Ridley Scotts movie.
What Kane ultimately finds, of course, is quite the opposite of a crate of diamonds.
What happens next is the stuff of movie legend, and Foster synthesises it well in prose form.
The alien, as Foster rightly puts it, leaves an unclean wake.
In it, Ash makes erase the full duplicity of the crews employers.
Hopefully mankind will meet them again, under more pleasant circumstances.
Maybe you should take a stab at communicate with it.
like let my grave hold some secrets, Ash replies, as his lifeline is cut off.
Its intriguing to think that some unknowable intelligence might be lurking behind the aliens eyeless face.
But then again, its possible that Ash is simply playing one last sick prank on his luckless crewmates.
These are all details worth picking over.
But whats most notable about FostersAlienis how perfectly it fits the form of a novel.
Its these qualities that makeAlien:the novelisation almost as timeless as the movie that spawned it.
The reissuedAlien: The Official Novelisationis available now from Titan Books.
See Also:In praise of movie novelisations
