Hi guys!
I'm James A Moore (You can call me Jim) and I just ran across this post and thought I should respond in brief.
First, there are five or so chapters of the book up online. The links are right here:
http://genrefied.blogspot.com/2014/07/h ... style.htmlSecond, No, the aliens did not "Swear revenge." Either the editor put that in or I was running on fumes. They marked Ripley's genetic scent, effectively, to let them know that a serious threat was nearby.
Third, the novel is set a long while after Alien: Resurrection. The entire premise of this novel is to offer a sort of "reboot" to the series, that honors all of the things that have gone before and establishes a continuity that keeps all of the previous situations intact, including the dissolution of Weyland-Yutany, the devastation of Europe at the end of A:R, ALL of the movies and events as well as several video games. After the first draft of the novel was written Fox went over it with a fine-toothed comb and several changes were made.
The return of Weyland-Yutani is explained. The reasons that Decker is chosen are explained. and because one review commented on this: no, i did not make major changes to the Xenomorphs. That might be something that happens later on, but for now there are extremely strict rules because Fox wants to UN-muddy the waters that have been muddied again and again by comics, other books, etc. Ultimately nothing that happens in the book would have happened without either a) the express permission of Fox or b) the express DESIRE of Fox. in point of fact, the initial concept behind the novel came from the powers that be at Fox. That doesn't mean I didn't plot the beast out, but the concept of a descendant of Ripley was theirs, as was the empathic link.
I hope that clarifies a few things and if you take the risk, I hope you enjoy the novel.
Keep smiling
Jim