Aliens

Let's start with the good. Overall, I found "Aliens: Vasquez" to be a fairly entertaining and interesting read. As a big, long-term fan of the source material, particularly the first three "Alien" films, I absolutely enjoyed the references to that legacy and the way this book successfully built on that universe in a mostly-convincing and plausible manner. I also appreciated the author's "own voices" representations of various aspects of Latin culture, and the struggles often associated with it, which made for some of the most compelling moments in the book.

Unfortunately, I also ended up coming away from this read a bit unsatisfied by the experience, feeling that several elements of it ultimately came up far short of their full potential. Specifically, I was sorely disappointed by much of the dialogue, which often felt stiff, contrived, and forced to the point of distraction. There were so many instances where characters made statements that just didn't feel like things actual people would say in the circumstances presented, or that came across as incongruous or nonsensical given their established personalities and tendencies. Moreover, there were more issues than I ended up caring to count of poor pacing, underdeveloped characters, or vague and sketchy plot threads throughout the text that ultimately just left me wanting. It's really hard to talk about those things in detail without venturing into spoiler territory but I think it suffices to say that it would be a good idea to go into this read not expecting anything too deep, fully-realized, or sophisticated. That said, there are parts of "Aliens: Vasquez" that I did find genuinely intriguing and thought-provoking but for me, they almost always failed to pay off in the manner I'd hoped they might, providing just enough to wet my appetite and keep me reading without fully delivering the goods.

I realize I'm probably being a bit harsh with my criticisms but I do believe it's important for the purposes of a proper review to not get caught up in nostalgia and assess a work like this based on its own merits and flaws, regardless of the rich and storied context in which it exists. At the end of the day, I did enjoy "Aliens: Vasquez" and would generally recommend it to fans of the franchise, or anyone seeking a competent, military sci-fi reading experience. Sadly, I just didn't enjoy it as much as I would have preferred.

I should probably also mention that I read this as an audiobook via Audible and would say the narration was... okay. Not bad but also not amazing or noteworthy beyond a few, minor highlights.