Entertaining 2nd Entry

Tim Lebbon's 'Rage War' trilogy does an incredible job of dropping readers/listeners into the Alien/Predator universe. There are three major players: Weyland-Yutani Colonial Marines, Yautja Warrior forces, and weaponized Xenomorphs wielded by descendants of a centuries-old human effort to colonize outside of the Human Sphere ("Founders") now known as "The Rage".
In this book, the war really gets going.. while solidifying who the Rage really are, what their goals are, and how they have bred/enslaved thousands of Xenomorph "troops".
Lebbon's Horror writing background shines in this book. His prose/vocabulary and dialogue are imperfect, but the combat is well-scripted, morbidly hopeless/resigned ("We know we're going to die. Let's take some of these bastards with us"), gory, and legitimately chilling. It's a big, dark improvement on Book One.

As to presentation: John Chancer has improved, too. His gravelly/sibilant reading timbre continues, but his voice-acting is better and Audible Studios sound engineers do a nice job mixing the recording (softening Chancer's grating "S"s, for example).

Altogether, 'Alien: Invasion' merits 8.5 stars out of 10. It isn't much of a standalone - another book is necessary for plot resolution - but this audiobook was a fantastic action-filled way to spend a couple of quiet afternoons. More Yautja, please. On to Book Three..

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