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Alien: Out of the Shadows

By: Tim Lebbon, Dirk Maggs
Narrated by: Rutger Hauer, Corey Johnson, Matthew Lewis, Kathryn Drysdale, Andrea Deck, Mac McDonald
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  • Summary

  • As a child, Chris Hooper dreamed of monsters. But in deep space, he found only darkness and isolation. Then, on planet LV178, he and his fellow miners discovered a storm-scoured, sand-blasted hell - and trimonite, the hardest material known to man.

    When a shuttle crashes into the mining ship Marion, the miners learn that there was more than trimonite deep in the caverns. There was evil, hibernating and waiting for suitable prey. Hoop and his associates uncover a nest of Xenomorphs, and hell takes on a new meaning. Quickly they discover that their only hope lies with the unlikeliest of saviors....

    ....Ellen Ripley, the last human survivor of the salvage ship Nostromo.

    As an Audio Show - free for members - when you add Alien: Out of the Shadows to your library, you'll get all 10 episodes, each with a runtime of about 30 minutes.
    ©2016 Audible, Ltd. (P)2016 20th Century Fox
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Episodes
  • Episode 1

    Episode 1
    Dec 7 2018

    Unconscious, unaware, Ripley is the last human survivor of the Nostromo, her shuttle lost in deep space. Meanwhile, the crew aboard the mining ship Marion, faces a catastrophic collision with one of its own dropships and has to contend with the alien infestation on board.

    Marooned in a decaying orbit above the planetoid LV-178, the crew struggle to tackle the threat at hand, when an unexpected visitor makes her presence known.
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    29 mins
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  • Episode 2

    Episode 2
    Dec 7 2018

    Ripley’s shuttle has docked with the Marion. She arrives traumatised, only to find her rescuers under attack by a familiar foe. To make matters worse, it seems that Ash, an android she’d thought killed aboard the Nostromo, has uploaded his AI routines into her shuttle’s computer.

    Outside, the ship’s orbit is decaying faster than expected. The crew has just days to escape before they burn up in LV-178’s atmosphere.
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    27 mins
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  • Episode 3

    Episode 3
    Dec 7 2018

    Ripley and the crew aboard the Marion are running out of options to escape certain death. Their orbit is decaying rapidly. With only a few days to decide, they settle on a plan. If they can deal with the alien infestation on board the Samson, their remaining undamaged dropship, they may be able to return to LV-178’s mining installation and retrieve the vital fuel they need to escape on Ripley’s shuttle.
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    32 mins
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Editorial review


By Alanna McAuliffe, Audible Editor

ALIEN:OUT OF THE SHADOWS IS A DEEP SPACE SENSORIAL THRILL RIDE

There was a running joke in my household growing up that I was somehow alien. It wasn’t just that I was a quirky child with eyes the size of dinner plates and a mildly conical head, but the fact that I was born precisely as the opening credits of The X-Files blared from the delivery room’s television. It was almost endearing at the time—the extraterrestrials of my youth were cute and cuddly and charming, ranging from Spielberg’s wrinkly, homeward-bound E.T. to the goggle-eyed, triangular faces of the grays plastered on mylar party balloons. But as I grew older, my brother introduced me to an entirely new kind of unearthly life-form when he queued up Ridley Scott’s Alien. Gone were the friendly interstellar critters I’d known—these towering beasties, with their metallic, razor-sharp teeth, eerily coated in frothy saliva, barbed tails, and killer instincts most certainly did not come in peace.

I’d always wondered how I’d fare against such a foe—Would I be headstrong and determined like heroine Ellen Ripley, or would I be doomed from the start like poor Kane? I got my answer when I popped in my earbuds and pressed play on Alien: Out of the Shadows, an audio drama with as much bite as a Xeno’s acidic blood.

When you consider how much suspense, how much horror, is built in 1979’s Alien when the title monster only clocks about four minutes of screen time, it should come as no surprise that the world lends effortlessly to audio. It’s not seeing the stalking Xenomorphs that makes them terrifying—it’s knowing they’re lurking in the shadows, unseen and waiting to strike. Their ominous sounds are vivid—drool spattering down from the rafters above, insectoid skittering through the ship’s air ducts, that unmistakable hiss as a smaller, inner mouth unfurls. And in Out of the Shadows, audio maven Dirk Maggs wields them to a visceral sensorial effect. Paired with a dynamic score and an atmospheric sound design that places listeners firmly in the far reaches of the galaxy, this listen is the very definition of immersive.

Equally impressive throughout this listening experience are the human performances. The full cast—which includes the late acting legend Rutger Hauer, Harry Potter’s Matthew Lewis, and Alien: Isolation’s Andrea Deck—is tremendous. While the performers originating new characters are markedly skilled in their ability to get you invested in their fate nearly immediately, it’s the pair of actors voicing those more familiar that create a deep sense of cohesion in the larger Alienverse. Hauer portrays Ash, the double-crossing synth responsible for the mayhem that erupted aboard the Nostromo, with the same staccato disconnect that Ian Holm initially brought to the character. Like Holm, he conveys a deep understanding of Ash’s motivations and relentless commitment to his directive. Laurel Lefkow, who voices Ellen Ripley, delivers an absolute knockout performance. Taking on a role famously originated by Sigourney Weaver, Lefkow offers a nearly indistinguishable performance, her low tone, dry delivery, and moments of bright brashness mirroring her on-screen counterpart.

Over the years, I’ve come to understand that, despite any resemblance in behavior or physicality, I am in fact just your everyday, run-of-the-mill human being. But the more I think on it after revisiting Out of the Shadows, the more I feel my lack of interstellar ties is something I should be grateful for. After all, I’ve heard what’s out there—and it’s better off left alone.

Continue reading Alanna's review >

Featured Article: The Audible Essentials Top 100


The spirited (but friendly) debate over these titles could have gone on indefinitely. With years of listening, countless customer reviews, and a catalog of seemingly infinite great listens, 100 suddenly felt like a very small number. What we know for sure—each title that made it to this collection is elevated and made special in some way by audio, whether by a layered performance from a single narrator, a brilliantly cohesive full cast, original music, or immersive sound effects. Discover an audio experience for the ages.

Featured Article The Audible Essentials Top 100

What listeners say about Alien: Out of the Shadows

Average customer ratings
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Profile Image for Bonmot

Blown away! Just as good as first 2 "Alien" movies

This was just as great as the first 2 "Alien" films and kept me riveted through all 10 episodes! Be sure to hear all 3 Alien audio dramas: 1. Out of the Shadows, 2. River of Pain, 3. Sea of Sorrows.

Bravo to Tim Lebbon, Dirk Maggs, and all the phenomenal actors and sound effects/music people! I was fully emotionally invested in the fate of Ripley and the rest of the crew! Ash made a fantastic, clever villain. I could imagine a movie beautifully in my head as I listened.

One of the best, most cinematic audio dramas I've ever heard, period! All Alien and sci-fi/horror fans will absolutely love this!

It's based on Tim Lebbon's novel of the same name. "The novel is the first in a new trilogy that ties into the events of the Alien films. According to Lebbon, 'the three novels are very much stand-alone, but they do together form a fascinating, wide-ranging look at the Alien universe, and Weyland-Yutani's scheming place in it.' The novels were written under the supervision of 20th Century Fox, and have been confirmed as part of the film series' canon."

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Profile Image for Kindle Reader

I understand why

I understand WHY the book ended the way it did, but I couldn't help but have a brief hope that it might have taken a strong AU approach with it. Ah well, still a great story and worth the ride :)

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Profile Image for Nicolás

5 stars all the way!!!

Increíble, realmente espectacular, deberían hacer más auidolibros de alien en este formato, te atrapan de principio a fin y solo queres escuchar más. Totally recommended.

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Profile Image for G. Swanson

Take a few movies, mash them up, make a buck

seriously it just grabbed themes and ideas from multiple movies, smashed them together, and added a C3PO memory wipe to allow it to make sense in the series. And the narration sounded fantastic, but for a single narrator Audio book lover it was over produced with vocal effects on the cast and ambient and action sound effects.

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Profile Image for Billy SR01

Great I guess

Alien trilogy fan here, this story is between Alien and Aliens, I like the performance all sounds like it should have been a movie instead of just an audio. Story was interesting but really didn't like how it ended, felt like the ending was put on in a way I didn't like to lead it towards Aliens. over all I enjoyed it, wish we get more movies tho.

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Profile Image for NaeNae

I love Alien

I really love how they were able to have Ripley in this and still keep the continuity of the films intact. I love Rutger Hauer as Ash and the voice of Ripley was dead on sounding like Sigourney Weaver.

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Profile Image for JLJ

Great story for the Alien Franchise

I haven't been one for reading or listening to audio books until recently. I'm listening to another book series but I am in between books and waiting on a friend to finish the book. ANYWAYS, this audio show dramatization is wonderful and the story is very good. I feel like I'm watching an Alien TV show spinoff or what have you, very good sound affects and voice acting! I would've given 4 stars for story due to personal interests but since the story is SO good, it's a 5!

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Profile Image for Joe mazza

great listen

very well written, great story line and cast of characters. looking forward to a follow up??????

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Profile Image for Mr. Brown

Great listen

This is an n awesome bit of storytelling. The time is well spent. Would recommend

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Profile Image for Alicia M

Like a Movie in your mind!

Outstanding sound design and voice acting, found myself sitting parked outside my home wanting to finish an episode before going inside

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