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Alien: River of Pain

An Audible Original Drama

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About this listen

Ellen Ripley finally returns to Earth, only to discover that LV-426 — where the crew of the Nostromo first came into contact with the deadly xenomorphs — has been renamed Acheron.

Protected by Colonial Marines, the colonists seek to terraform the storm-swept planet against all the odds. But in the face of brutal living conditions and the daily struggles of a new world, there is humanity and hope. Anne and Russell Jorden — two colonists who are seeking a fortune that eluded them on Earth — are expecting their firstborn child.

The birth of Rebecca Jorden, known to her family as Newt, is a cause for celebration. But as the colony grows and expands, so, too, do the political struggles between a small detachment of Colonial Marines and the Weyland-Yutani scientists posted on Acheron. Willing to overlook their orders in order to serve the Company's interests, these scientists have another far more sinister agenda — to covertly capture a living Alien.

The wildcatters discover a vast, decaying spaceship. The horseshoe-shaped vessel is of particular interest to Weyland-Yutani and may be the answer to their dreams. But what Anne and Russell find onboard proves to be the stuff not of dreams but of nightmares.

This terrifying, cinematic, multicast dramatization — directed by the multiaward-winning Dirk Maggs, best known for his adaptations of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere for the BBC — is the sequel to Audible Original's Alien: Out of the Shadows (nominated for Best Audio Drama at the 2017 Audies).

Starring Golden Globe-nominated Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies, Limitless), Alexander Siddig (Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Game of Thrones), Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman, Doctor Who), Colin Salmon (Alien vs Predator, Arrow, James Bond), Marc Warren (Mad Dogs, Saving Private Ryan, Hustle) and Philip Glenister (Outcast, Life on Mars), with special guest star William Hope returning as Lt. Gorman from James Cameron's Aliens.

©2017 20th Century Fox (P)2017 Audible, Ltd.
Fantasy First Contact Science Fiction Funny Scary

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Alien: Out of the Shadows cover art

Critic reviews

"Filled with tension and stellar voice performances, River Of Pain is edge of your seat good." ( Buzzfeed)
"Frightening." ( Yahoo Movies)
"Dirk Maggs continues to create masterful audio drama that only gets better.... Maggs coaxes fantastic performances from his cast to convey the characters' dread while also creating a good balance of sound effects. Listeners will remain on high alert about what may be around the next corner." ( AudioFile)
"Superbly detailed sound-design and remarkable sonic effects... a truly unique listening experience." ( HeyUGuys)
"Terrifying." ( NME)
"The cast is an outstanding smorgasbord of familiar genre talent." ( Starburst)
"No expense has been spared on this blockbuster Aliens sequel." ( Loaded)
Most relevant
Such an intense and powerful story, leads up to the first Alien film, definitely draws you in and you feel for the characters. If this is ever made in to a film I will be the first in the queue.

Fantastic

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just wow, as a big aliens fan, I loved every minute of this from narration/sound effects to filling in some blanks/questions. truly awesome!

wow

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It is good just like film.Story is between Alien and Aliens now I know what exactly happened to colonists on LV426

Very good book and good story.

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As a huge fan of Aliens, this was excellent. Find out exactly what happens to the colony of LV-426

Brilliant

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I found this story very gripping and answered a lot of questions not answered by the films.

Excellent Story

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What happened at Hadley's hope between Alien and Aliens. You know the set already and some of the characters so this works really well and is produced as what amounts to a film soundtrack.

This should have been the 2nd Alien film

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You only have to Google LV-426 and lots of info relating to the moon comes up. Those who are fans of the Alien franchise will know that LV-426 is where the crew of the Nostromo visited in Ridley Scott's 1979 masterpiece. Cue that famous John Hurt scene and the Alien was born.

James Cameron revisited LV-426 in 1986, giving us a colony already overrun by Xenomorphs. One of my favourite characters in that movie is sole colony survivor Rebecca Jorden, also called Newt (played by Carrie Henn). Through the eyes of Ellen Ripley and her companions, a group of colonial marines, we see the devastation. Thanks to a Directors Cut, fans explored a small portion of Hadley's Hope prior to the Alien attack. What we never got to witness was the true horror of the event.

Thanks to Alien: River of Pain, the story of Hadley's Hope is finally revealed, featuring a great cast and atmospheric sound design. Adapted from the novel of the same name by author Christopher Golden, we get to accompany Newt and her family as they try to survive against the invading Xenomorphs. Its an intense but thoroughly enjoyable experience. I'm a huge fan so really appreciated the nods to Aliens and Alien. Anna Friel, Marc Warren, Matt Keith Rauch and Marie Doherty shine as Anne Jorden, husband Russ, son Tim, and daughter Newt.

The icing on the cake? Laurel Lefkow's performance as Ellen Ripley.

"My mommy always said there were no monsters - no real ones - but there are."

The horror at Acheron

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great acting great story. very entertaining. this series of alien audable dramas are fast becoming my favorites to listen to.

excellent

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Really enjoyed this prequel to Aliens. Hearing the story made me sad for Newt and the colonists as you know what's going to happen. I will be looking for more Alien Universe books to listen to.

Enjoyed this prequel to Aliens

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This audiobook is good, no where near as good as ‘out of the shadows’ the first instalment in this series. The is more of just a general back story for the build up to aliens the film & the first is a brilliant stand alone horror/thriller, which kind of fits in between alien the movie & aliens as well but doesn’t have to have to lead up to anything. This was still worth getting but I will listen to ‘out of the shadows’ several times over & love it every time, I’ll probably only listen to this one more time.

Not to bad.

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