Alien: Enemy of My Enemy
416 pages, Paperback
Published March, 2023 by Titan Books
A young or new musician composing a song requires the musician to create something out of nothing. It is different when Tony Iommi plugs in his guitar and goes to write a Black Sabbath song he has certain expectations. He has chords, a guitar sound, and he has Ozzy or Dio’s voice in his head, I know Geezer wrote most of the lyrics but you get the idea.
Writing a tie-in novel is a tricky thing. Fans of the franchise, are like fans of a band. You have to hit the recognizable notes like a power cord. This novel has to feel like it is in the Alien universe, some readers will complain if something is too different, it has to simply feel like something they have seen before. At the same time, other readers will complain if they don't get something new. I enjoyed it when Brian Evenson (written as B.K. Evenson) did something wild and out there with his Alien: No Exit. That novel was a like Noir with a detective who sleeps in hypersleep until Xenomorph events happen. Some readers complained it wasn’t Alien enough. Threading that needle in this novel is a great writer.
Mary Sangiovanni is a knowledgeable writer who has been on my podcast a few times to bring her expertise on all things cosmic horror. I was excited to see Mary write a science fiction novel, I was personally less interested in Xenomorph of the whole thing as I was at seeing what Mary did with Sci-fi. This is the third in a self contained trilogy, but I didn't read the other books and I think I was fine.
Mary stuck close to the formula, which is fine because there are many times she gave it her special touch – namely reminding the reader that these monsters are a creation of the darkest corners of the cosmos. Space is always trying to kill us. Consider this moment on page 78…
“Another pass of light showed even larger holes in the floor and more yellow acid that had eaten through the floor around the medical pods.
“Blood can’t do that,” Siobhan said, shaking her head. I don’t care what kind of experiments they’re doing here. How could any living thing have blood like that?”
A moment of suspense for sure, that will remind us that feeling we got watching the movies. The question at the end of this quote speaks to cosmic horror at the heart of these killing machines. It is the reason that the corporation in this franchise want to make the Xenomorph into a weapon. Some writers doing Alien novels just set up the action scenes. No moment of cosmic dread is left behind in moments like this. Many of the best moments of this novel are in the execution.
The set-up is an interesting one. I don't know how much comes from the first two books in the trilogy. A Weyland-Yutani bioweapons lab is under the gun to provide results as the Moon they are stationed on is in sudden danger as the orbit is collapsing into the planet Hepaestus. Again, the cosmos itself working to kill the characters and creating an added ticking clock besides the Xenomorphs running around. There is another research labs near and they are a different corporation making drugs. They are all waiting to be evacuated just as a major peace conference is set begin on the nearby conference.
Quickly, maybe too quickly the Xenomorphs escape the lab, and in the prologue start the killing. This maybe a function of being a third book, and I get why you do that as a writer to open with action and give yourself some room for a little more build-up later. Sangiovanni certainly uses build up and tension through the rest of the book so this is minor complaint and I absolutely understand why you would start this way.
There are a couple of elements that give the framing story something original to the alien franchise. The concerns of the two corporations, the ticking clock of the dying moon, the peace conference. These are balanced with moments that feel very familiar, dynamics between the colonial Marines, the lead character, but those are features not bugs.
If you want to go in cold that stop here, buy and read the book and meet me back here. I really enjoy when writers like Tim Lebbon or Mary Sangiovanni play with the tropes and make solid as a rock Alien novels. I think I personally enjoy the weird B.K. Evenson No Exit style but we are not here to talk any other Alien books and this one is super fun.
For those of you who complain there is nothing new here, let me stop you and present a scene for further evidence. In the first one hundred pages the local wildlife who are like massive elk on the dying moon are seeded into the background. This pays off on page 120.
“The Xenomorph clinging to the outer wall was enormous, two or three times the size they’d seen so far. Tufts of fur grew between the jutting blades of its shoulders and black spines, and it’s chest was much broader. Most notable, though- most terrifying – was the set of gigantic bony antlers protruding from the curved, eyeless heads.”
I kinda always understood that the Xenomorphs we’ve seen face hug a human and then they are a human like version. This scene really got me. Cool stuff.
I admit I don’t know the Alien universe, but when the novel get into world-building and background of the conference is when we get details of the wider universe which in the main franchise is mostly expressed in corporate greed. We knew they wanted bioweapons so in this we get some information about the seeds of the conflict, it is light seasoning, a pinch of salt but it did tons for this reader. I am assuming there is more details in the first two books. I suppose I will have to go back and check them out at some point.
The most interesting character was Weyland-Yutani researcher Dr. McCormick, who created meds he thought could slow down the process of Xenomorph gestation up to three weeks. Running out of time this crazy fucker allows himself to become a host, figuring he can prove his science, and in a sense make himself valuable to be saved after he realizes the whole mission will be written off.
This character might be the most interesting thing in the novel, and I was impressed by this whole storyline. It is a interesting wrinkle that comes logically out of the world building we've seen. I also liked that the novel touched on the Prometheus/Covenant events as I am one of the rare fans of Prometheus and the bold swing it took mythology-wise.
Alien: Enemy of My Enemy is a strong powerful power cord that is played with great skill. A fun read for fans of the franchise who want to familiar story with elements of cosmic horror and minutes of elevation. As a writer I was playfully jealous that Mary got to play in this sandbox and was constantly thinking about more Alien novels that could be. That shows that this novel was stimulating my imgination, telling a fun story and entertaining. Mission accomplished.
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