Aliens: Bishop

A Novel

By: T. R. Napper

Narrated by: Alex Boyles, Eunice Wong, Shiromi Arserio, Nancy Wu, Pun Bandhu, Tim Campbell

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

A direct sequel to Aliens and Alien 3—Weyland-Yutani, the Colonial Marines, and Bishop’s creator all pursue the android for the deadly Xenomorph data contained in his brain. Written by T. R. Napper, author of the acclaimed 36 Streets, whose explosive work explores the artificial intelligence and what it is to be human.

Massively damaged in Aliens and Alien 3, the synthetic Bishop asked to be shut down forever. His creator, Michael Bishop, has other plans. He seeks the Xenomorph knowledge stored in the android’s mind and brings Bishop back to life—but for what reason? No longer an employee of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Michael tells his creation that he seeks to advance medical research for the benefit of humanity. Yet where does he get the resources needed to advance his work. With whom do his new allegiances lie?

Bishop is pursued by Colonial Marines Captain Marcel Apone, commander of the Il Conde and younger brother of Master Sergeant Alexander Apone, one of the casualties of the doomed mission to LV-426. Also on his trail are the “Dog Catchers,” commandos employed by Weyland-Yutani.

Who else might benefit from Bishop’s intimate knowledge of the deadliest creatures in the galaxy?

©2023 T. R. Napper (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

Love this follow up!!!

First let me just say- for those that follow all of the aliens books/movies- this story would come right after Aliens 3 when Ripley kills herself on the prison planet. How long after not sure because this story can stand on its own two legs from that moment on. And trust me it can kick tails and take names it’s that much of a bad ass book. I always love listening about the colonial marines going into action. And this being a multi-voice. Oil made that even better. The readers/voices acting is perfect! They deserve so much praise and raises for being so great at their jobs ❤️ completely recommend to all aliens fans out there.

Good, but was expecting a lot more

Was expecting more from it. I get that there is room for another story, I just feel like there was all this build up and then...nothing super exciting happens at the climax of the book.
Probably going to read it now and then listen to it again.
Still a good novel.

Sentient Being…!

Once again we find ourselves in deep space with some known entities which form part of the Aliens universe. Furthermore, we get a glimpse of the politics and machinations of the various powers which find themselves at war with each other; namely the UPP (Union of Progressive People). The 3 World Empire, and lastly the UAM (United Americas). It is within this framework that our current story of the ever identifiable and beloved Bishop Android unfolds. Everyone is looking for him due to the information stored deep within the encrypted section of his main processing unit. He holds the heavily guarded secrets of the Company aka “Weyland-Yutani.” Secrets which unfold and bring into daylight the true biological essence of the Xenomorph XX-121 which was first encountered on LV-426 or better known as Acheron. We also get introduced to a new group of Colonial Marines and with this comes an entire slew of different personalities and idiosyncrasies of the new squad. Their Commanding Officer is the brother of SFC Aponte who was the NCOIC (Noncommissioned Officer in Charge) of the second squad of Marines to set foot on Hadley’s Hope. I felt the book was a little short and there was more room to not only develop the story but also character development. One thing is for sure, there is no mistaken the machination of the Xeno’s once they are introduced within the story.

If the listener enjoyed the book. It didn’t show

I’m a big fan of aliens, the whole alien franchise in general, and i really liked the new expansion this book offered, with references to the new lore and current setting in the universe with the UPP and Combine being present. The WY commandos got some mention to in what to me was a cool introductory battle in Zero Gravity!!


However, it’s almost to an ridiculous amount of time that the writer uses the sentence:
(or slight variations of it) “if XX was afraid of having a gun in the face, it didn’t show”

I believe this type of sentences gets used around at least 10 times, without counting, and despite all the positives I had with this book and story, this honestly pulled me out of the immersion as it almost became a mantra for each character and sub story.

Worth the credit if you’re an aliens fan and want some more Bishop knife tricks!

another great alien novel for the collection

I've listened to all the alien audio books that has been made. this is another awesome addition to that collection. I love how they brought Bishop back and pray they make many more novels with him in it. well done.

Solid and consistent!

highly engaging, with meaningful confections to the source material. I'm breathlessly awaiting the followup.

meh start amazing mid to ending

the beginning had me rolling my eyes a few times but the ending was way worth it

Exciting

I’m a big fan of the Alien series. This was a very well written and performed book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Maybe the best of these books

This novel isn’t a world builder, the way many of these Alien books are. But it’s definitely got the action expected of the Marine Corps series. It’s exciting to watch the interplay between various characters, many women, of the Marines along with members of the Chinese space force “alliance.”

Various members of the military forces are highlighted and come across as nicely fleshed out, especially when one considers the limitations of the plot parameters explained of these book. The relationships grow and change over time and after different events they share.

I really enjoyed meeting Bishop’s creator and the idea of one mind shared between two androids - although the portrayal seems a little simplified if compared to what I would expect of such a complicated idea. But the scenes with Orthos and Bishop show the way Michael Bushop’s madness progressed over the years between his creation of Bishop and Orrhos. I was further disappointed by the narration in the scenes containing Orthos and Bishop. Their voices were too similar. I would have preferred to seen a reflection of Bishop’s sensitivity and the humanity he’d developed. I loved, absolutely, LOVED the line, “You could say please.”

The epilogue leaves us with a nice potential segue into a sequel. I hope there will be one, although I don’t know when this was written or if a sequel is already available.

I’m definitely going to search for more novels written by this author!

Interesting Character Development for Bishop

An entertaining listen for fans of Bishop and the characters spawn from the aliens film entry. That film has certainly opened so many new possibilities to further mine with the elements of humanity, AI, futuristic military and the further agendas of weyland yutani and its pursuits of the xenomorph. Would love to see them continue the stories of these characters in later installments.