Ataegina was an isolated world of medieval castles, varied cultures, and conquests, vibrant until the demons rose and spread relentless destruction. Swarms of lethal creatures with black husks, murderous claws, barbed tails and dreaded “tooth-tongues” raged through the lowlands, killing ninety percent of the planet’s population. Terrified survivors fled to hidden mountain keeps where they eke out a meager existence. When a trio of young warriors discovers a new weapon, they see a chance to end this curse. To save humanity, the trio must fight their way to the tunnels of Black Smoke Mountain—the lair of the mythical Demon Mother.

The Alien franchise is one that’s always kind of blurred the lines between sci-fi & horror, to great & squishy effect. Scott Sigler’s new tie-in novel, Aliens: Phalanx goes a step further, blending in some elements that will feel more familiar to fantasy readers.

Sigler thanks Myke Cole on the book’s dedication page, citing Cole’s history book Legion Versus Phalanx as an inspiration & Cole himself as a great source of information.

Aliens: Phalanx is set on the world of Ataegina, a somewhat primitive environment. The people of Lemeth Hold survive by making “runs” to other communities, to trade for things like food & medicine. The runners are typically the younger members the community, people in their teens and twenties.

Everyone in Lemeth Hold contributes in one way or another. Some are warriors, some are leaders, and some women choose to keep birthing children as a way of avoiding being a runner. The runners have the most dangerous job, because the surface of their world is haunted by demons.

Which you or I might more commonly call Xenomorphs.

Yeah, this world is hostile af, and the runners have the difficult task of making it from one settlement to the next, all while trying to avoid being detected by the hordes of shiny, slimy, stabby demons.

Enter Ahiliyah Cooper. Ahiliyah is the leader of a crew of runners. It’s her, Brandun, and Creen. And Ahiliyah is widely considered one of the best runners in Lemeth Hold, having survived through multiple Xenomorph encounters. Let’s just say the average life expectancy of a runner is…not great.

But Ahiliyah is a fighter, and wants to take the fight to the demons, as opposed to just merely surviving.

And this is an Aliens novel, so shit gets gnarly. Like…real gnarly. One of the things this book gets so right is just plunking the reader into a hellscape environment, and making you feel like you’re being hunted by something with very long, very sharp teeth.

There’s something that’s deeply comforting & escapist to me about reading tie-in fiction. Obviously, Star Wars represents the largest amount of tie-in books in my collection, and in terms of what I’ve read. But yeah, there’s just something really amazing to me about opening that front cover, and diving into a world that’s quite familiar, but getting some new & original stories.

Aliens: Phalanx brings a wholly different vibe to an already incredible franchise. I think anyone who loves the movies will enjoy the hell out of this one, and it would be a great choice for someone’s first foray into the Alien novels! Aliens: Phalanx was a fucking blast…an intense, gory, and super addictive read!

Big thanks to Titan Books for sending a copy of Aliens: Phalanx my way!