OUT THIS MONTH: THE RETURN OF ALAN DEAN FOSTER's 'ALIEN'

The terror grows, and space gets colder. ALIEN returns.

There aren't many Seventies Classic Trilogy fans who've never read Alan Dean Foster's ghostwritten adaptation of the original STAR WARS. Fondly remembered and soon the gold standard for future novels in the universe of Luke Skywalker, its a terrific adaptation in its own right from a master translator- Alan Dean Foster, providing a unique time capsule even more interesting due to its containing material cut from the film prior to release, whilst also providing intriguing backstory and dialogue, conceived with George Lucas, for our classic heroes and villains. Going from one sci-fi franchise to another with ease, Foster's next work in adapting the 1979 Ridley Scott celluloid nightmare icon that is ALIEN is just as compelling and equally well-regarded, unsettlingly sending us into the heart of the slaughterhouse, making the most of the terrific original script and story by the sadly passed Dan O' Bannon and weaving a genuinely suspenseful and eerie translation that's almost an equal to the film- its seven core characters, possessing varied viewpoints and often fractious relationships, well rendered alongside the page-turning passages linked to the creature and its quick and violent actions towards its human reproductive prey.

If you've never read it before, this first-rate novel, which further includes unused ideas and concepts (the discovery by our heroes of an alien "urn", before the production team's eventual decision to create the now infamous Space Jockey, alongside a different explanation of the distinctive crash-landed 'derelict' craft) and several unique deleted scenes (which, though filmed, had only been partially completed), has now been re-released this 14th April 2014 by the UK's TITAN books as part of the sci-fi/horror franchise's 35th Anniversary, along with upcoming reprints of the two other Foster ALIEN film adaptations (all equally worth a look for their storytelling variety), plus all-new original fiction in and around the phenomenon, linking it all together.

Get the starship Nostromo's memorable descent into terror, here: Alien: The Official Movie Novelization Alien Movie: Amazon.co.uk: Alan Dean Foster: Books