All of this said, it is a pretty well written mystery as an isolated story. I would have had absolutely no problem going straight into Alien: Covenant without this book. Now that I have also listened to Alien: Covenant, I just sort of feel like I didn't gain much from reading this one. I feel like I sort of already knew a lot about how it would end, even as a newbie to this franchise.

And that is interesting enough, but seeing as I already knew that the next book was called Alien: Covenant, there was no real conflict here for me. This story is set on Earth, and there is a conspiracy/mystery type of plot where someone is trying to sabotage the Covenant from leaving the planet for its mission. It's a nice introduction to some of the characters that you spend time with in the next story, Alien: Covenant (which I have also listened to prior to writing this review), But this one isn't really what you'd expect in this series. So I figured I'd just pick up this one, which is listed as book 0 here on Audible. I'm fairly new to the Alien franchise, other than having seen and enjoyed a couple of the films. It was definitely a highlight to hear this book as well as read it. Narrator Tom Taylorson, is excellent, with a beautiful, clear voice and is gifted with accents. I read this book using Immersion Reading. Duncan Fields seems to have this ability as well, though the background is not explained fully. He had the ability to see through the Alien warriors eyes. Duncan Fields, the prophet, seems to have an empathetic link to the Alien warriors, similar to Ripley's descendant in Sea of Shadows. This plot point is similar to one in an earlier book, Alien Sea of Shadows. His nightmares have given the Earth Savers fuel for their fire.

The organization that opposes him, the Earth Savers has a 'prophet' who seemingly knows what monsters like in the dark. Weyland -Yutani is not quite the corporate powerhouse in this book, though they are a conglomerate. The intrigue is well written and interesting, though not all questions are answered. There are no monsters in this book, as it is a tale of corporate espionage regarding the mission of the colony ship Covenant. It is unusual that the prequel book, which should've been published first, was actually last. I decided to wait until the prequel Book was published and read it and the film novelization before watching the movie. I didn't have the opportunity to see Alien Covenant in theaters, but have the film on Blu Ray, though I haven't seen it yet. I've been a fan of the Alien films for a long time.

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