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Alien: Covenant - Origins is a 2017 novel written by Alan Dean Foster and published by Titan Books. It is a prequel to the film Alien: Covenant, dealing with a conspiracy to sabotage the USCSS Covenant's colonization mission before it departs Earth.

As well as the standard print edition, the novel was released simultaneously in audiobook format, read by Tom Taylorson and published by Blackstone Audio.

Foster also wrote the novelization of the film.

Publisher's Summary[]

The Covenant mission is the most ambitious endeavor in the history of Weyland-Yutani. A ship bound for Origae-6, carrying two thousand colonists beyond the limits of known space, this is make-or-break investment for the corporation — and for the future of all mankind.

Yet there are those who would die to stop the mission. As the colony ship hovers in Earth orbit, several violent events reveal a deadly conspiracy to sabotage the launch. While Captain Jacob Branson and his wife Daniels complete their preparations, security chief Daniel Lopé recruits the final key member of his team. Together they seek to stop the perpetrators before the ship and its passengers can be destroyed.

An original novel by the acclaimed ALAN DEAN FOSTER, author of the groundbreaking Alien novelization, Origins is the official chronicle of the events that led up to Alien: Covenant. It also reveals the world the colonists left behind.

Development[]

During the build-up to the novel's release, Foster stated that the book would contain "some unique original material... An unusual approach that's never been tried before in a novelization".[1]

Audiobook[]

Simultaneous with the physical release, Blackstone Audio produced an unabridged audiobook of Alien: Covenant - Origins, read by actor Tom Taylorson. The audiobook runs for 8 hours and 31 minutes.

Trivia[]

  • Alien: Covenant - Origins is the fifth novel Alan Dean Foster has written for the Alien franchise, and the first original story — all of his previous efforts had been film novelizations.
  • When first announced, it was erroneously reported that the book would be an "official sequel" to the film.[2] Foster later clarified that it was in fact a prequel, taking place before the movie.
  • Aside from Prophet Duncan Fields' visions, no Xenomorphs (or Neomorphs) appear physically in the book. This makes Origins the first novel in the Alien franchise (aside from the Japanese-only Prometheus novelization) in which the titular creature is absent.
  • Despite there being no explainable external influence behind Duncan's visions, they do allude to the idea that Xenomorphs already existed during the events of Origins. This conflicts with Alien: Covenant, which suggests that David was the creator of the species. However, it does tie in with Foster's novelization of said film, which contradicts the movie and instead implies the creatures were a more ancient creation of the Engineers. This latter scenario has since been reinforced by official sources.
  • It is revealed that the Weyland-Yutani Corporation is the continuation of the Yutani Corporation after Hideo Yutani bought it over after the death of Peter Weyland, only keeping the name "Weyland" for marketing reasons. This contradicts the book Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report, which states that Weyland Corp was the one to take over Yutani. However, as the latter book is an in-universe document produced by Weyland-Yutani itself, it is conceivable this information is inaccurate or false.
  • The kidnappers of Jenny Yutani, led by a Japanese man, all sport ninja gear with modified shinobi weaponry. This may have been a nod to the comic Aliens: Music of the Spears, in which the assassin Ahiro and his band of ninjas go on a similar infiltration mission.
  • The events of Origins are mentioned within Alien: The Roleplaying Game.[3]

Goofs[]

  • Jacob Branson's surname is misspelled as "Brandon" throughout the entirety of the novel.
  • Katherine Daniels is stated to be shorter in height than husband Branson; Daniels' actor, Katherine Waterston, is in fact taller than Branson's actor, James Franco.
  • Sergeant Lopé initially states his given name to be Carl instead of Dan. Further mentions of his first name are given as Dan, however.
  • Throughout the entire narration of the unabridged audiobook, Origae-6 is phonetically mispronounced as "or-ee-ah-jay".
  • The Covenant's security detachment is said to include an unnamed female member during the Terraforming Bay incident; however, this occurs before the recruitment of Sarah Rosenthal, who is clearly the only woman on the team in Alien: Covenant. There is also an extra, similarly nameless male guard who mysteriously goes missing in the interim.

See also[]

References[]


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