Written by Scott Sigler
Published by Titan Books, London, 2020
ISBN: 9781789094015
Aliens Phalanx is a story with such an interesting premise that is used to explore themes of masculinity. This makes for one of the most unique stories within the Aliens universe.
We begin our story on the planet of Ataegina, that’s completely isolated from the wider interstellar community. This means that despite being set within the 26th century, after Alien Resurrection and even Alien Sea of Sorrows, the people of Ataegina, are reliant on a medieval level of technology and culture. Humanity is split up into ‘Holds’ that act as disguised, underground, fortresses built into old castles and ruins. The surface of Ataegina is the hunting grounds of the demons. These are, of course, Xenomorphs. Because the ever-dangerous aliens have control of the surface the holds are isolated even further. Each hold relies on a combination of light signals observed by a lookout, and teams of ‘runners’ to carry trading supplies back and forth between holds. It’s not uncommon for these runners to be captured or killed by the roaming demons while their traveling between holds. Making running one of the most important, but also dangerous, jobs available. This setting, one of a medieval society struggling to cope with the dangers of the xenomorphs, is an amazing premise! One I’m jealous that I didn’t think of first.
The story sees us following one of these runners. Ahilyah Copper from Lemeth Hold, and her two teammates, Creen, and Brandun. These young characters struggle with finding their place within their society. Lyah is nineteen years old, with both Creen and Brandun, being younger than her at sixteen and fifteen respectively. I did enjoy the themes of the youth growing up to question the laws, rules, and traditions that their elders follow without question. It was also very engaging to see Lyah struggle against the outdated and sexist laws of Lemeth hold. This theme of gender and sexism follows both Creen and Brandun despite both being men themselves. Creen is smart, fiercely so, but in a society that values men for their strength and aggression, he is often the subject of bullying from the other boys and men of lemeth. Brandun, despite only being fifteen, is one of the largest and strongest people within his hold. This gets him a lot of respect and attention from the leaders and warriors, all of whom are of course men. While he certainly enjoys this praise and attention he struggles as violence makes him uncomfortable. This causes an inner conflict for Brandun as those he looks up to only value him for his innate ability for violence.
"Ahilyah bit back instant jealously. Brandun was only fifteen, four years younger than her. He got to train with the warriors - she did not. Because warriors didn't take women"
- Extract from Aliens Phalanx by Scott Sigler.
This is very well written by Sigler as it shows the effects of toxic masculinity on not just women but men too. He does this in a way that doesn’t villainise or demonise men but instead shows how the dangers of unchecked toxic masculinity harms boys, and men as much as it does girls, and women. This book is a fantastic example of why feminism needs the voices of men as much as it needs the voices of women. In an age of ‘Alpha male’ influencers such as Andrew Tate, we need stories like this one to counter them.
My biggest problem with Aliens Phalanx is that despite its amazing premise it fails to add anything new to the series. I’ve been struggling with how to put this feeling into words. I didn’t learn anything new about the wider Aliens lore. This is the flaw of having a world that is so isolated and removed from the wider universe. Nothing will be, or even can be, affected by the world of Ataegina. To give you an example of what I mean let me go through the TitanBooks Alien novels and give an example of what each one adds to the wider lore. ‘Out of the Shadows’ adds to Ellen Ripley’s story as well as setting up ‘Sea of Sorrows’. ‘Sea of Sorrows’ lets us meet the descendants of Ellen and Amanda Ripley as well as establishing that Way-Yu re-establishes itself after megacorperations were outlawed in 2349. ‘River of Pain’ acts as a prequel to Aliens and goes into the history of the Hadley’s Hope colony. ‘The Cold Forge’ expands on the connection between the ‘black goo’ pathogen from Prometheus and the Xenomorph XX121. ‘Prototype’ adds to the personal story of series regular Zula Hendricks. ‘Into Charybdis’ expands on the interstellar governments and the tension between them. ‘Colony War’, ‘Inferno’s Fall’, and ‘Enemy of my Enemy’ all tie into the Frontier War that’s a major historical point in the timeline. Meanwhile, Phalanx doesn’t add anything to this wider universe or narrative. I know this won’t be a major factor for a lot of, if not, most, readers. As a fan of the wider story and universe of Alien this is a priority for me and those like me. For this reason, I wanted to mention it.
Overall, Aliens Phalanx is a great story. It offers a setting and world that’s different to anything that has come before it in this series. For this alone Scott Sigler should be congratulated. It uses this unique premise to tell a story that focuses on the struggles caused by toxic masculinity. My only real flaw with this novel is how it fails to add anything new to the wider Alien series. However, this won’t be an issue for most readers. As such I have to say that Scott Sigler has delivered an amazing, albeit, contained new chapter to the Alien universe. I’ve gone back and forth between giving Phalanx 4 or 5 stars. I’m settling on 4 stars just because this is my review, and I can’t see myself returning to this novel like I can some others. This is purely because of how isolated the story is compared to others
