COWBOYS & ALIENS

TOR

Novelization by Joan D. Vinge

Based on the Screenplay by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman & Damon Lindelof and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby

Screen Story by Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Steve Oedekerk

Based on Platinum Studios' Cowboys & Aliens by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg

Copyright © 2011 Universal and Dreamworks II Dist. Cowboys & Aliens TM & © Universal Studios and Dreamworks II Dist. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLC.



In Cowboys & Aliens, novelization by Joan D. Vinge, is a novelization of the movie Cowboys & Aliens. A stranger wakes up alone in the middle of a desert in the Old West with no memory of who he is. This lone cowboy also has an alien device strapped to his wrist.

Based on the graphic novel created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, the stranger is a cowboy who is a wanted man. After getting involved in the small town of Absolution, New Mexico's politics between the sheriff and the son of the local rich cattle rancher - the town gets invaded by alien ships. After the invasion, the stranger, sheriff, the rancher and a small posse goes after the aliens who kidnapped the townspeople - including the rancher's son.

I liked the fact that all the characters eventually had to work together to battle the aliens in order to bring their people home. The mystery of why the stranger has the alien device is still a little confusing to me, even after reading the book and watching the movie. Although I did like the fact that the stranger wound up with the device, I was hoping it would be for a different reason. This is a wonderful blend of the Old West and aliens from outer space which does not skimp on either genre.

Click here to read the movie review of Cowboys & Aliens.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

A World of Difference

Del Rey Mass Market Edition

Written by Harry Turtledove

Copyright 1990 by Harry Turtledove

In A World of Difference, a Viking lander is destroyed on the planet Minerva just as it sends pictures of it's destroyer - an alien life form. The United States and the Soviet Union then launch a manned space mission to Minerva.

This novel takes place in an alternate universe where a life-bearing planet, Minerva, takes the place of the red planet Mars in our universe. Despite Minerva being a near neighbor of Earth, the aliens and humans have never met before. The aliens have two domains that are at war with each other but they are separated by a vast chasm. With the human's technology, one domain is able to cross the chasm and the deadly ice floes to invade the other domain - and the Americans and Soviets wind up on opposite sides of an alien war.

One of the major differences with the aliens, aside from the extra arms, are the fact that the females bleed to death when giving birth so the females are very child-like because they do not live long enough to mature.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

INTO THE LOOKING GLASS

A Baen Book

Written by John Ringo

Copyright 2005 by John Ringo

Cover Art by Kurt Miller

In Into the Looking Glass, when a University experiment blows up with the size of a nuclear explosion - it opens up gateways to other planets. Dr. William Weaver, a doctor in nuclear physics, and Navy SEAL team Command Master Chief Miller must do what they can in their armored mecha suits to stop hostile aliens from invading Earth. Somehow, this was not in their original occupational job descriptions.

The first of the Looking Glass series, this is a fun book with a down to earth physicist just trying to deal with a sudden wacky problem. Instead of travelling through space, aliens are arriving through interstellar gateways. With the gateways popping up all over the planet, it is hard for the general populace to deal with the strange aliens appearing at home in their living rooms. It is nice to see the National Guard having a major role in defense of our country for once and that aliens are not classified by the government as a secret.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STARGATE SG-1 - ROSWELL

Fandemonium Books

Written by Sonny Whitelaw & Jennifer Fallon

Copyright 2007 Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer. All Rights Reserved.

Stargate SG-1's, Roswell has the Stargate team on a mission gone wrong and a future General Sam Carter sends the rest of SG-1 after them. After various incidents, they wind up back in the past in Roswell, New Mexico 1947 - where the original UFO and aliens crash-landed - as they search for a lost Asgard.

I happen to like time travel stories and considering that the Asgard look like the grey aliens from the Roswell incident, it was only a matter of time that a story would revolve around the Asgard and Roswell. With the ship SG-1 uses considered as a UFO, it was funny how the alien Teal'c is the expert on Roswell trivia as the United States military at the Roswell Army Air Field tries to deal with the Asgard and their technology and not a weather balloon. The book even deals with the alien autopsies. Since dealing with the Stargate, they deal with quantum theory. The book explores the consequences of have the timeline being changed by SG-1's actions as well as exploring predestination events like the Tunguska explosion with the engine of a Goa'uld ship exploding. Having SG-1 meet some famous figures like H.P. Lovecraft is rather fun as well. It is sad that changing the timeline causes Colonel Cameron Mitchell to become a Jaffa First Prime in order for him to survive. This puts the pressure on SG-1 to correct the timeline and go home as the Goa'uld invade New York City from space.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND - Demolition Winter

HarperPaperbacks

A novel by Peter Telep
based on the series created by
Glen Morgan & James Wong

Copyright 1997 by Twentieth Century Fox Corporation

In Demolition Winter, Space Marines of the 58th squadron "Wild Cards" are to be trained and inserted onto an alien Chig planet, far from Earth, using enemy Chig bombers to blow up a Chig supply line - but there is more to the mission than what they were told.

This novel of the TV series Space: Above and Beyond, has the 58th on an operation with a silicate, a not human, reprogrammed android, demolitions expert assigned to their squad. With Vanson's unfortunate history with silicates from home, she naturally does not trust the silicate, and his circuits and programming, as she leads the mission to search for the supply lines. They also encounter survivors of another squad who failed to accomplish the mission the 58th are now assigned to, and the reason the survivors failed the mission is shocking. It makes you wonder if you would continue the mission under similar conditions, just as members of the 58th ask the same questions when they find out the news of the mission as they extract the survivors of the mission for court-martial.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

AREA 51 - THE TRUTH

Dell Publishing

Written by Robert Doherty

Copyright 2003 by Robert Doherty

Through the Area 51 series, witten by Robert Doherty, it has been discovered that all of the world's secret unexplained mysteries - were as a result of alien interference, similar to the TV series Dark Skies. Now everything comes to a head as the aliens get control of a space satellite system which is linked into all the nuclear missile codes - and the aliens are about to blow up the Earth.

In the process, Area 51 commander Mike Turcotte must search for his abducted former lady love - Lisa Duncan, who is not quite human and more mature than she appears to be, to help him stop the aliens that have been controlling Earth's population for several millennium. Ever since Lisa was brought back to life, and discovered to be not totally human in a previous novel - all of Lisa's characterization has been removed from this book and I, as the reader, had lost all empathy for her. This was sad for me as Lisa has become just a body in the book and not a person. Even when they do give Lisa back her charactization, I did not have quite the same empathy for her. The final face-to-face showdown with the enemy alien leader is not as satisfying as I would have liked to have seen. The showdown is almost anti-climatic as it was not much of a showdown. It was also a little disconcerting to me to find out "the truth" about the human race, but "the truth" did makes sense in the context of the series.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

The Undead Kama Sutra

Eos is a federally registered trademark of HarperColins Publishers

Written by Mario Acevedo

Copyright 2008 by Mario Acevedo



Military veteran and vampire, now turned private detective, Felix Gomez searches for aliens who want to kidnap Earth women.

In The Undead Kama Sutra, the third of the Felix Gomez series, the aliens from The Nymphos of Rocky Flats are back with a much more sinister scheme and are in collaboration with the U.S. government and the cosmetics industry. Like the Harry Potter series, the Felix Gomez series starts out fun - but with this book the series starts to get darker. Sad for me to say that the fun idea of an Undead Kama Sutra soon turns dark after what happens to the hot lady vampire researching the Undead Kama Sutra. This darkness will obviously continue into the rest of the series.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Star Marines

EOS An Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers

Written by William H. Keith, Jr.

Copyright 2007

Star Marines, Book Three of The Legacy Trilogy is set at a time where Earth's leaders get ready to abandon the planet Earth - after Earth has been bombarded by asteroids from their ancient enemy alien race Xul. The Star Marines are sent across the galaxy to attack a Xul planet to prevent further attacks on their home.

In the second trilogy about the Space Marines, the stakes have grown in the Marines' battles. With the survival of Earth itself at stake - and various government leaders wanting to eliminate the military altogether to prevent the Xul from further destroying the planet - the Marines launch a desperate strike against a Xul controlled stargate to prevent the Xul from locating Earth again. The Expedition seems quite desperate as you realize how little resources the Earth can afford to send on this mission, but it is the dedication of the Marines that make you want to pull for the Marines. It is interesting to see how Marines from other worlds are being integrated into the Earth Marine traditions. I wanted to see more of that integration of Marines from other worlds, rather than the continuing adventures of the Garroway family. While the Garroway family had an important role in the first trilogy, and as much as I like the Garroways, there are other people in the Marines that could take on a leadership role in stories and I wanted to get more involved with the other Marines.

Pancho

All people smile in the same language.

Pyramid Power

Baen Publishing Enterprises

Written by Eric Flint & Dave Freer

Copyright 2007

Pyramid Power, the sequel to Pyramid Scheme, has the survivors of the pyramidal device, sent by aliens to take over the Earth, being forced by a Washington bureaucrat to reenter the pyramid's event horizon to search for another bureaucrat that was kidnapped by the pyramid. But instead of landing in the world of Greek Gods as they were previously in - the flexible crew of survivors now land in the world of Norse Gods, and must once again try to find their way back home.

This book is harder to read than the first book, as outside of the gods Odin, Thor, and Loki, there is very little about the rigorous Norse legends that I am familiar with - although the main characters of the book I have now become more familiar with than in the previous book. The political infighting is more interesting this time around as the various Washington groups aggressively fight each other for control of handling the alien pyramid.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Boundary

A Baen Book/Baen Publishing Enterprises

Written by Eric Flint & Ryk E. Spoor
Copyright 2006

Boundary is a fun punny book where paleontologists unearth an alien on the boundary of the time of the disappearance of the dinosaurs. After a probe discovers a base and the remains of another alien on a Martian moon - an international team of scientists is assembled and a manned expedition is sent to Mars to search for more alien remains. Were the aliens responsible for killing the dinosaurs?

The book has strong women characters, so much so that they are mostly the most interesting characters in the book, even more interesting than the enthusiastic geek A.J. It is interesting to note the academic jealousies of paleontology as well as the political issues concerning the discovery of aliens.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.