Aliens Bishop Review

Written by T.R. Napper
Published by TitanBooks, London
ISBN: 9781803366555

Aliens Bishop is a sequel to Alien³ and follows the journey of the artificial person, Bishop. This novel is a wonderful sequel to the classic trilogy of films and a fitting continuation of Bishop’s story. Let’s take a much more in depth look at this amazing novel!

To discuss the story of Aliens Bishop we first need to refresh ourselves of the story from Aliens and Alien³. The colonial marines are sent out on a rescue mission to LV-426, better known as Acheron. When they arrive on the planet, they set down within the Hadley’s Hope colony only to find it destroyed. Before long they discover that the colony has been overrun by an alien known as the XX121 Xenomorph. All the Marines besides Corporal Hicks and the Artificial Person Bishop are killed. Two civilians survive besides them. Ellen Ripley and a young girl known as Newt. The four of them settle down into cryosleep. Through events we see during the Aliens Colonial Marines video game Ripley is infected with a queen Xenomorph embryo. During this game we learn that Corporal Hicks is captured by the Wayland-Yutani corporation and his body replaced in the Cryopod. Their cryopods are ejected from the ship and crash land on the planet Fiorina 161. Newt is killed on impact and Bishop’s body is almost destroyed. The only survivor is Ellen Ripley, now carrying a Xenomorph embryo. Bishop’s creator, Michael Bishop, turns up to try and extract the embryo from Ripley but she kills herself and the embryo to keep it from the corporation.

Michael Bishop from the 1992 film, Alien³

This is where the story of the novel begins. Michael Bishop has recovered Bishop’s body from Fury 161. Michael transfers Bishop’s consciousness over to a new body and brings him back online. What he wants is information on the Xenomorph. Michael believes that with the data Bishop has locked away inside his mind, he will be able to tame and control the Xenomorph. Fans of this series will know that this is something that many others both before and after Michael have attempted. None have been successful. Meanwhile the Colonial Marines are searching for Bishop to save him. We follow Private Karri Lee and Captain Marcel Apone as they track down both Michael and Bishop. The last part of this story follows the Vietnamese smuggler, Xuan Nguyen. Her ship and its crew are captured by the Chinese ship, the Xinjiang, and then forcibly impregnated with the Xenomorphs. She’s the only survivor left and must try and escape the ship without being discovered by either the Chinese soldiers or the rogue Xenomorph onboard. These three plots all converge towards the halfway point of the novel.

Without a doubt one of my favourite parts of the story, as a lover of lore and fictional worldbuilding, was just how much of the universe we get to see here. We get to see more of the United America’s (UA) through Bishop, Michael, and the marines. We get to see the Union of Progressive Peoples (UPP) through Xuan and the crew of the Xinjiang. Lastly, we get to see part of the Three World Empire (3WE) through Lee who moved from Australia to the United States. Because all these stories interact, we also get to see how they deal with each other. This allows us to understand more of both the inter-faction relationships as well as the relationships between the factions. I love when we get to see stories set outside of the UA such as ‘Inferno’s Fall’ or ‘Colony War’. This story lets us see all three at once making it a highlight.

"Michael wasn't listening.
"If I am to be immortal, I will need an army."
Bishop felt pity for him then, and shame for himself."

Extract from Aliens Bishop by T.R. Napper.

Michael’s goal of taming the Xenomorphs is a well-trodden path within the series, but his other goal of immortality help it stand out from the many other novels, games, comics, and films within this franchise. Michael believes that his work with creating synthetics and quantum computing is the key to immortality. This plot reminded me a lot of Peter Wayland’s ambitions within the film Prometheus. Both these characters were faced with their mortality, and both believed themselves worthy and capable of achieving it. As someone with an irrationally large fear of death this is a plot point that resonates with me. Death is the one thing all of us share. We all know someone who has died, and that loss has hurt us in a way that nothing else can. We also all know that we will die ourselves one day. What matters then, is what we do with the time we have. What is our purpose in this life?

Michael isn’t the only one forced to deal with mortality as it’s a central theme within this story. Bishop questions his place in the universe after the loss of his friends on LV-426. Colonel Marine Private Karri Lee is questioning her place after she lost her father at the start of the Australia Wars. Meanwhile Captain Marcel Apone is questioning his place after the death of his brother on the LV-426 mission. This is a very personal search that almost all of us will have to go through at some point during our lives. The search for purpose. While all these characters had a satisfying journey trying to discover their own purpose, Bishop’s was the most rewarding to read. This makes sense as he is the titular character here.

"Was he less of individual because he was so easily copied? This could never happen to a human. They had but one life. Perhaps that is why it burned with such intensity, why every human he had known had this light shining inside them."

Extract from Aliens Bishop by T.R. Napper.

What I enjoyed just as much as this plot was Bishop questioning his humanity. While he’s been repaired by Michael the colonial marines have been searching for him. This is partly because of the data Bishop has on the Xenomorphs and partly because the marines leave no man behind. A lot of the marines sent to save Bishop are unsure if the risk to their, human, lives are worth the life of a synthetic. This is a secondary theme to Bishop’s story and the marines sent after him, humanity. Is Bishop lesser than a human because he’s an android? We get to see him wrestle with this question throughout the story. Again, this is a theme we’ve seen tackled before in this series from the perspective of the android David in the films Prometheus and Alien Covenant. 

The most interesting thing I couldn’t help but compare this story to was that of the Aliens Colonial Marines video game. Both are set at roughly the same time and both act as sequels to Aliens and Alien³. They even both include the return of a character we previously thought was dead. With Colonial Marines this is Corporal Hicks while here it’s Bishop. The biggest difference between these two stories is quality. This is one of the best, most thought-provoking novels I’ve read in this series. It’s a story that has a lot to say on some very intelligent themes and questions that are central to the series as a whole. Meanwhile Colonial Marines is one of the worst games I’ve ever played, and the terrible story is a large part of why. It has forgettable characters and lacks absolutely any themes beyond the very basic, Weyland-Yutani are evil and the Xenomorphs are dangerous. If you’re one of the many people that was disappointed by Colonial Marines back in 2013 then I’d highly recommend reading this. It gets right, everything Colonial Marines got wrong.

A Michael Bishop Synthetic from the 2013 video game; Aliens Colonial Marines

Overall, this is a fantastic novel that explores some fascinating themes very well while also expanding on the lore and world building of the Alien universe. It does all this while still offering wonderful, well written, characters. If you’re a fan of this series, then this is a must read!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐