Every so often I’d look across the living room and say to myself, “I really should start those”. Twenty years have passed since I last read a Predator book (Concrete Jungle), so I was keen to get into another. But then life or video games or films got in the way. That’s why the Rage War trilogy has been sitting on my book shelf for over a year now.
No more! I have cast aside these things to give myself time to sit down and read a good book. Does Predator – Incursion: The Rage War 1 fulfil the ‘good’ aspect of how I’m currently spending my evenings once the little one is asleep?
Incursion zips along at a good pace, with each chapter’s focus on a character allowing me to get my bearings as the story progressed across vast distances. It’s been hundreds of years since the original films (one of which even gets a nice little mention), and faster than light travel is now commonplace as Humans expand their sphere of influence. A lot has changed, but there are still Colonial Marines, and there is still Weyland-Yutani. ‘The Company’ still have their fingers in lots of pies, but for once they aren’t the ultimate shady evil. No, there’s something much worse coming.
The story kept pulling me back in; so much so that I’ve had too many late nights over the week it’s taken me to finish it. I found myself waiting for quiet time so I could dive back, and it never seemed to drag. Sure, things need putting in place, but by the second half of the book various protagonists are set on their paths and everything ramps up.
A small thing, but the women are written well, in that they aren’t written any differently to the men. They’re just as brave, fierce, uncertain, frail, and scared as anyone else in the book. Perhaps that shouldn’t need mentioning, but it jumped out to me.
Looking ahead I can see that the other books in the trilogy (I was bought all three together), follow a nice – if perhaps limiting – title pattern of Predator, Alien, Alien vs Predator. That I’ve already started Alien – Invasion might give you an idea on my thoughts of the first book.
Two gripes come to mind, neither of which are really deal breakers if I’m honest with you. Different sized books!! I hate it when a set doesn’t match. In this case Book 1 is stumpier than the other two. Ugh. Secondly, whilst I appreciate the way the titles work I wonder if it boxes each book into a corner. If you wanted wall to wall Predator action you might be disappointed. Perhaps once I look back on the trilogy (yes I’ll be reading and reviewing all three), I’ll be able to look back and form a definitive opinion on the titles.
Predator – Incursion: The Rage War 1 starts a bit slowly but soon evolves into an exciting yarn. More please.