I picked this book up the other day, and read it almost in one sitting. Interesting characters, amazing science theory, strange and sometimes convoluted politics...This book was really something. Sciencewise, this book is ultradetailed -- so much so that I could convince myself that I actually had some idea what the author was trying to say. The action scenes were innovative, to say the least -- I've never before read a fighter combat scene quite like that one, and the telepathy models were interesting. This was a really fascinating, fun, and engrossing book, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

With the Xanatos plotline ended in Jedi Apprentice #8, one would think that they would come up with some new plotline, but after reading this book I'm not so sure, and that's not necessarily a good thing. While this book in and of itself was more readable than several of the earlier ones, with the characters better defined than usual and the writing clear, I didn't feel that it really had a point to make.

The new planet and its semi-democratic communist government was pretty interesting, but it doesn't look like we'll get back there, and there were no more main bad guys or villains introduced. It looks as if the Jedi Apprentice series is going to turn into just an episodic series, as opposed to a part of the whole; a saga, which is what Star Wars is.

The characters, as I've stated, were really well done, and Siri was an interesting addition (the cover pic doesn't do her justice). The fight scenes, what few there were, were concise, to the point, and fairly well done, and it goes back a little bit into the nature of the master/padawan bond.

Oh, and there was a ton of neat foreshadowing -- well done Watson. This was a good book by itself, but it didn't really add anything to the series.

To start off, I'll clear up what appears to be confusing some people, and then I'll write the review. This book takes place BEFORE Bischoff's Hunter Planet. It fills in the time when Noguchi was with the Predators, before she rejoined human society. So there.

Now, the review -- This book, frankly, stunk. Picking up right after Aliens: Berserker, a year after AvP: Prey, and two years before AvP: Hunter's Planet, War was just a short, silly, boring waste of time and money.

The characters from Berserker were still the same, still recognizable, but with roughly ninety pages to divide between the three of them, we just didn't get enough of them. Not to mention that through 2/3 of the book they were just sitting in an escape pod...As I've said, the only part of this book, besides the cover, that was any good was the two pages or so of Nirasawa and his revenge programming. Good stuff.

This book has so much potential, and it was just a huge dissapointment to read. I'd recommend staying away from this one.

Its really a great thing when someone can look at the little, everyday mundane issues of life and make something out of them, and that's just what Bryson does in this book. A collection of articles on his reflections about american life after having lived in England for 20 years and then moving back, this is an absolutely hilarious book, an essential read.

This guy is a wonderful complainer, explainer, and retainer of trivial knowledge. Reading this book, you'll not only end up on the floor laughing, you'll also learn something. While a few of the articles feel forced and aren't very funny (new computer/tax form/mysteries of life) overall this is an engrossing, fun funny look at American life, lifestyle, and the inconsistencies therein. From drugs to energy consumption to law to holidays to car trips,fresh air, computers, floss, pencil sharpeners, attics, schooling, post offices, junk food, gardening -- you name it, it's covered and exposed here.

This is definitely a book very worth reading.

This was really a beautiful movie. The locations, costumes, people, settings, visuals -- all just stunning. The acting is good, the story solid, the music is good and fitting. The biggest annoyance is the funky yellow of the subtitles.

This is a movie about power, love, war, regret, betrayal and hate. I'm not quite sure why it's rated R though -- no sex, no language, and while there's a bit of violence, theres very little blood.

This is just a very powerful movie very worth watching -- and the ending is not what you'd expect. Highly recommended.

After Alien3, which was pretty though dissapointing, I though thinking the series couldn't get worse. I was wrong. Sure, in this movie, the acting is better, the special effects are better, and there are plenty of guns and fights and neat action sequences. But the movie also happens to be predictable, and instead of any interesting or constructive dialogue we get conversations about how f---able people are, as well as countless one-liners and wisecracks that aren't really necessary.

Also, compared to Aliens, this aliens are nothing. In the superior second film of the series, the marines would spray an Alien with 15 shots or so, most of which would bounce off, and maybe one would break the things carapace. Then, the marine would be splattered with blood and burn. In this film, 1 bullet fired from underwater is enough to take down an alien, and in a scene where a guy is splattered in the face with acid, it looks incredibly painful, but takes away only a few layers of skin before it stops.

The "Newborn" at the end is incredibly dumb -- it looked ling a fleshy kangaroo alien, and it served no real purpose.

There's all kinds of impossible bullet physics used, as well as contradictions to the earlier films -- the Weyland-Yutani company from 1-3, is now the Weyland-Utanic company, now defunct, for example.

Weaver's acting is appropriately chilling and well done, but Ryder is very underused, and Christie's demise is completely unnecessary -- plus, why would it necessarily kill him to fall 30 feet into the water? I do like the director's style, also evident in his other movie, City of the Lost Children, but this film just had too much going against it to merit a higher rating.

I am not really a Batman fan; nor, for that matter, am I a comics fan. I am, however, a genre fan, and I love the whole Predator mythos. This comic book has wonderful, dark artwork, really keeping the mood going, and the predator "cloaking" effect looks pretty cool here. The scripting is pretty good for the most part, and while the plot isn't great, it doesn't have to be -- Batman and the Predator duke it out! The action is a little confusing at times, but mostly it works well.

The thing that bugged me most is that the predator played back recorded speech far too often, and in far too apropriate places. But his code of honor is there, his weapons are there...

My only real complaint about this graphic novel is that the pages are normal comic paper instead of the glossier "collected edition" paper to which I've become accustomed.

I recommended this book to fans of either of the title characters -- one of the better comics I've read in a while.

Aliens vs. Predator: Prey was a really unexpectedly good novel. Unfortunately, Hunter's Planet doesn't uphold those standards. The writing's not bad, nor is the plot especially horrible; the problem, as in Bischoff's other Aliens novel, is in the pacing and structure of the book.

The book starts off fairly enough, with some cool Predator action, and then Machiko's flashbacks on her years with the predators. (The flashback is the only part of the book based on a comic, where as all the other books in this line are basically just adaptations of comics.) Then, before we get any more interesting action, we get over a hundred pages of Machiko and Til sleuthing around trying to figure out what's going on, with every once in a while a scene from a Predator's point of view.

Then, at the big battle scene in the end, it was basically summed up as follows:

The predators and the aliens slugged it out. Machiko stayed behind and marveled at how deadly they all were. It looked like the aliens were winning, but then the predators started winning.

The battle was from an outside perspective and therefore was pretty boring. The characters didn't really have anything going for them, and there were too many questions left unanswered -- who was that company Til was talking about that sent him, stuff like that.

Overall, this is a fairly uninteresting and boring novel that, while being part of the series, doesn't really have any impact on anything. While it is worth reading if you have the time and money, if you don't you're not really missing any good action, inventive characters, or innovative situations. A mediocre bit of sci-fi.

After the interesting but poorly executed Alien trilogy by the Perrys, and a well executed but uninteresting Alien novel from Bischoff, I was fairly skeptical when I came to this one, but it was worth it.

This was easily the best book so far in this Aliens/Predator series. The aliens are an unknown threat who are to be "contained until the Marines arrive." The colonists are just normal people, not Marines or, in fact, essentially armed at all except for a few personal sidearms.

But where this book is really interesting is in the exploration of the Predator, or "Yautja," culture. While occasionally their thought processes are a little too human, that's okay, because they are biologically similar.

The action is fun and fast, the characters interesting, and, if not perfectly believable, they aren't bad either. The confrontation with the Queen was a little anticlimactic, but other than that this was a really good book.

Definitely recommended.

While Genocide's writing is technically better than that of the initial trilogy by Perry (better grammar and structure, et al.), it's no where near as adventurous or fun. The book opens with an action sequence that would have looked good on the big screen, but it was described in a kind of flat, unexciting way. Then, for the next 165 pages...NO ALIENS! This is an aliens novel, right? The characters are better developed than those in the trilogy, but they aren't as interesting, either. A bitter Corporal whose family have been killed by aliens. An optimistic businessman whose signed on just to escape from a loanshark.

And the plot -- In the aftermath of the Earth-Alien War, a pharmacuetical company has started releasing an addictive drug known as fire, a drug that's addictive and enhances human senses, but they're running out of alien jelly, so they send people to the Alien Hiveworld to get some more. The comic was cool looking, and didn't need an excuse to be kind of dumb. This book was overlong, with adequate fight sequences and some interesting "future history" moments.

If you like the series, try this one, if not, stay away.