Alien Nation (book)
Encyclopedia
Alien Nation was a science fiction
novel series, based on the movie
and television series
of the same name. It began in March 1993 with Pocket Books
publishing the series. Various books of the series were written by L. A. Graf, Peter David
, K. W. Jeter
, Barry B. Longyear
, David Spencer, Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Judith Reeves-Stevens. All of the books follow the adventures of the Human
Detective Matthew Sikes, and his Tenctonese
partner George Francisco. Like the TV series, most of the books have two parallel storylines that converge at the end, and most of the novels take modern day issues and put a slightly alien twist on them.
The Adaptation of the movie.
----
Alien Nation #1: Day of Descent by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, 1993
This book is a prequel to both the movie and television series, in the months leading up to the arrival of the Tenctonese on Earth. Matthew Sikes, a rookie detective, is on his first murder investigation when he stumbles onto a deadly conspiracy that threatens his whole world. Light-years away, a Tenctonese slave named Stangya Soren'tzahh (later to be known as George Francisco) is swept up into his peoples' fight for freedom against their ruthless masters, the Overseers. The slave ship crash lands on Earth, where Matt and George unknowingly work together to prevent a disaster that could destroy both their species.
----
Alien Nation #2: Dark Horizon by K. W. Jeter
, 1993
This book was released prior to the production of the television movie of the same name
. It was written to tie up some of the loose ends of the Alien Nation series
at a time when it looked like it was never going to return to television. It recaps the events of "Green Eyes", the last episode of the series, and used the un-produced script from "Dark Horizon", the first episode of what would have been the second season.
The Tenctonese are faced with a deadly new bacteria created by a Purist group determined to rid the Earth of all Newcomers. George Francisco's wife & eldest daughter are infected with the bacteria, and as they lay close to death, a threat to the whole world appears. Someone has come from space to force the Tenctonese back into slavery, and they plan on taking all of humanity too.
----
Alien Nation #3: Body and Soul by Peter David
, 1993
This book was a novelization of the then-unproduced script for what would become the second two-hour television movie of the same name
. As with Dark Horizon, the later film was somewhat different from the novel. Matt Sikes and George Francisco investigate the rumor of the birth of a half-human, half-Tenctonese child. Meanwhile, Sikes' relationship with Tenctonese woman Cathy Frankel starts to get serious.
----
Alien Nation #4: The Change by Barry B. Longyear
, 1994
This novel was based on an unproduced script for what would have been the second television season. George Francisco undergoes a metamorphosis that could mean the beginning of a new life - or his death. George must also face a vicious killer who has sworn revenge on him and his loved ones.
----
Alien Nation #5: Slag Like Me by Barry B. Longyear
, 1994
Journalist named Micky Cass went undercover as a Newcomer to expose the racism and discrimination suffered by the Tenctonese. Now Cass is missing, and Sikes must also disguise himself as a Newcomer to find him. This places Sikes in the path of the worst violence the city has ever seen - and forces him to confront a hidden truth inside himself.
Alien Nation: Slag Like Me is an allusion to the book Black Like Me
, a 1961 non-fiction book by Caucasian journalist John Howard Griffin, who travelled throughout the racially segregated states of the American South passing as a black man.
----
Alien Nation #6: Passing Fancy by David Spencer, 1994
Matthew Sikes meets a mysterious woman from his past and is thrown into an investigation of a lethal Newcomer drug. He must then ask the woman he loves to risk her life for someone she's never even met. The case causes tension to mount between Sikes and Francisco as they discover that some Newcomers will do anything to assimilate into human society - even if it means their destruction.
The book Black Like Me
is again mentioned here and is read by Sikes in order to understand.
----
Alien Nation #7: Extreme Prejudice by L.A. Graf, 1995
This novel sees Matt, the Franciscos' and Cathy attending a conference in Pittsburgh when a series of murders has them suspecting a Tenctonese creature is on the loose.
In a tongue-in-cheek joke by the author, a Tenctonese husband-and-wife writing team use the pen name "L.A. Graf" for the author of a series of science fiction novels.
----
Alien Nation #8: Cross of Blood by K.W. Jeter, 1995
The most radical of all of the books, "Cross of Blood" explores the possibility of Tenctonese female Cathy Frankel getting pregnant with human Matt Sikes' child. The resulting political tension and racial riots threaten to tear Los Angeles apart.
This book recalls characters and events from Dark Horizon.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel series, based on the movie
Alien Nation (film)
Alien Nation is a 1988 American science fiction film directed by Graham Baker and produced by Gale Anne Hurd, Richard Kobritz and Bill Borden. The storyline was based on a screenplay written by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It stars James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terence Stamp, and Kevyn Major Howard...
and television series
Alien Nation (TV series)
Alien Nation is a science fiction television series, loosely based on the movie of the same name. Gary Graham starred as Detective Matthew Sikes, a Los Angeles police officer reluctantly working with "Newcomer" alien George Francisco , played by Eric Pierpoint...
of the same name. It began in March 1993 with Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
publishing the series. Various books of the series were written by L. A. Graf, Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
, K. W. Jeter
K. W. Jeter
Kevin Wayne Jeter is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters...
, Barry B. Longyear
Barry B. Longyear
Barry B. Longyear born 1942 is a US writer and novelist who resides in Maine.-Career:He is best known for the Hugo and Nebula Award winning novella Enemy Mine, which was subsequently made into an identically titled movie and a novelization in collaboration with David Gerrold. The story tells of an...
, David Spencer, Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Judith Reeves-Stevens. All of the books follow the adventures of the Human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
Detective Matthew Sikes, and his Tenctonese
Tenctonese
The Tenctonese, also known as Newcomers, are a humanoid species in the Alien Nation, television series and earlier film, as well as the later Alien Nation telefilm series. They are from the planet Tencton, though references to numerous slave colonies throughout the series and telemovies indicate...
partner George Francisco. Like the TV series, most of the books have two parallel storylines that converge at the end, and most of the novels take modern day issues and put a slightly alien twist on them.
Novels
Alien Nation by Alan Dean FosterAlan Dean Foster
Alan Dean Foster is an American author of fantasy and science fiction. He currently resides in Prescott, Arizona, with his wife, and is also known for his novelizations of film scripts...
The Adaptation of the movie.
----
Alien Nation #1: Day of Descent by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, 1993
This book is a prequel to both the movie and television series, in the months leading up to the arrival of the Tenctonese on Earth. Matthew Sikes, a rookie detective, is on his first murder investigation when he stumbles onto a deadly conspiracy that threatens his whole world. Light-years away, a Tenctonese slave named Stangya Soren'tzahh (later to be known as George Francisco) is swept up into his peoples' fight for freedom against their ruthless masters, the Overseers. The slave ship crash lands on Earth, where Matt and George unknowingly work together to prevent a disaster that could destroy both their species.
----
Alien Nation #2: Dark Horizon by K. W. Jeter
K. W. Jeter
Kevin Wayne Jeter is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters...
, 1993
This book was released prior to the production of the television movie of the same name
Alien Nation: Dark Horizon
Alien Nation was a television show from the Fox Network which lasted a single season, ending in 1990 with a cliffhanger series finale. Dark Horizon was written to be the season opener for the second season, but when the series was unexpectedly canceled and looked like it might never return to...
. It was written to tie up some of the loose ends of the Alien Nation series
Alien Nation (TV series)
Alien Nation is a science fiction television series, loosely based on the movie of the same name. Gary Graham starred as Detective Matthew Sikes, a Los Angeles police officer reluctantly working with "Newcomer" alien George Francisco , played by Eric Pierpoint...
at a time when it looked like it was never going to return to television. It recaps the events of "Green Eyes", the last episode of the series, and used the un-produced script from "Dark Horizon", the first episode of what would have been the second season.
The Tenctonese are faced with a deadly new bacteria created by a Purist group determined to rid the Earth of all Newcomers. George Francisco's wife & eldest daughter are infected with the bacteria, and as they lay close to death, a threat to the whole world appears. Someone has come from space to force the Tenctonese back into slavery, and they plan on taking all of humanity too.
----
Alien Nation #3: Body and Soul by Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
, 1993
This book was a novelization of the then-unproduced script for what would become the second two-hour television movie of the same name
Alien Nation: Body and Soul
Alien Nation was a television show from the Fox Network which lasted a single season. Alien Nation: Body and Soul was the second television movie produced to continue the story after the premature cancellation of the popular series. It follows the television series format of two parallel...
. As with Dark Horizon, the later film was somewhat different from the novel. Matt Sikes and George Francisco investigate the rumor of the birth of a half-human, half-Tenctonese child. Meanwhile, Sikes' relationship with Tenctonese woman Cathy Frankel starts to get serious.
----
Alien Nation #4: The Change by Barry B. Longyear
Barry B. Longyear
Barry B. Longyear born 1942 is a US writer and novelist who resides in Maine.-Career:He is best known for the Hugo and Nebula Award winning novella Enemy Mine, which was subsequently made into an identically titled movie and a novelization in collaboration with David Gerrold. The story tells of an...
, 1994
This novel was based on an unproduced script for what would have been the second television season. George Francisco undergoes a metamorphosis that could mean the beginning of a new life - or his death. George must also face a vicious killer who has sworn revenge on him and his loved ones.
----
Alien Nation #5: Slag Like Me by Barry B. Longyear
Barry B. Longyear
Barry B. Longyear born 1942 is a US writer and novelist who resides in Maine.-Career:He is best known for the Hugo and Nebula Award winning novella Enemy Mine, which was subsequently made into an identically titled movie and a novelization in collaboration with David Gerrold. The story tells of an...
, 1994
Journalist named Micky Cass went undercover as a Newcomer to expose the racism and discrimination suffered by the Tenctonese. Now Cass is missing, and Sikes must also disguise himself as a Newcomer to find him. This places Sikes in the path of the worst violence the city has ever seen - and forces him to confront a hidden truth inside himself.
Alien Nation: Slag Like Me is an allusion to the book Black Like Me
Black Like Me
Black Like Me is a non-fiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin first published in 1961. Griffin was a white native of Mansfield, Texas and the book describes his six-week experience travelling on Greyhound buses throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama...
, a 1961 non-fiction book by Caucasian journalist John Howard Griffin, who travelled throughout the racially segregated states of the American South passing as a black man.
----
Alien Nation #6: Passing Fancy by David Spencer, 1994
Matthew Sikes meets a mysterious woman from his past and is thrown into an investigation of a lethal Newcomer drug. He must then ask the woman he loves to risk her life for someone she's never even met. The case causes tension to mount between Sikes and Francisco as they discover that some Newcomers will do anything to assimilate into human society - even if it means their destruction.
The book Black Like Me
Black Like Me
Black Like Me is a non-fiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin first published in 1961. Griffin was a white native of Mansfield, Texas and the book describes his six-week experience travelling on Greyhound buses throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama...
is again mentioned here and is read by Sikes in order to understand.
----
Alien Nation #7: Extreme Prejudice by L.A. Graf, 1995
This novel sees Matt, the Franciscos' and Cathy attending a conference in Pittsburgh when a series of murders has them suspecting a Tenctonese creature is on the loose.
In a tongue-in-cheek joke by the author, a Tenctonese husband-and-wife writing team use the pen name "L.A. Graf" for the author of a series of science fiction novels.
----
Alien Nation #8: Cross of Blood by K.W. Jeter, 1995
The most radical of all of the books, "Cross of Blood" explores the possibility of Tenctonese female Cathy Frankel getting pregnant with human Matt Sikes' child. The resulting political tension and racial riots threaten to tear Los Angeles apart.
This book recalls characters and events from Dark Horizon.
See also
- TenctoneseTenctoneseThe Tenctonese, also known as Newcomers, are a humanoid species in the Alien Nation, television series and earlier film, as well as the later Alien Nation telefilm series. They are from the planet Tencton, though references to numerous slave colonies throughout the series and telemovies indicate...
- Alien Nation (film)Alien Nation (film)Alien Nation is a 1988 American science fiction film directed by Graham Baker and produced by Gale Anne Hurd, Richard Kobritz and Bill Borden. The storyline was based on a screenplay written by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It stars James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terence Stamp, and Kevyn Major Howard...
, 1988 - Alien Nation (TV series)Alien Nation (TV series)Alien Nation is a science fiction television series, loosely based on the movie of the same name. Gary Graham starred as Detective Matthew Sikes, a Los Angeles police officer reluctantly working with "Newcomer" alien George Francisco , played by Eric Pierpoint...
, 1989–1990 - Alien Nation: Dark HorizonAlien Nation: Dark HorizonAlien Nation was a television show from the Fox Network which lasted a single season, ending in 1990 with a cliffhanger series finale. Dark Horizon was written to be the season opener for the second season, but when the series was unexpectedly canceled and looked like it might never return to...
, 1994 - Alien Nation: Body and SoulAlien Nation: Body and SoulAlien Nation was a television show from the Fox Network which lasted a single season. Alien Nation: Body and Soul was the second television movie produced to continue the story after the premature cancellation of the popular series. It follows the television series format of two parallel...
, 1995 - Alien Nation: MillenniumAlien Nation: MillenniumAlien Nation was a television show from the Fox Network which lasted a single season. Alien Nation: Millennium was the third television movie produced to continue the story after the premature cancellation of the popular series...
, 1996 - Alien Nation: The Enemy WithinAlien Nation: The Enemy WithinAlien Nation was a television show from the Fox Network which lasted a single season. Alien Nation: The Enemy Within is the fourth television movie produced to continue the story after the premature cancellation of the popular series...
, 1996 - Alien Nation: The Udara LegacyAlien Nation: The Udara LegacyAlien Nation: The Udara Legacy was the fifth and final television movie produced to continue the story of the prematurely canceled television series Alien Nation. The plot introduces the idea that among the Tenctonese slaves, there was a resistance movement called the Udara who were implanted...
, 1997 - Alien Nation (comics)Alien Nation (comics)Alien Nation comic books were a number of comic books based on the Alien Nation franchise.DC produced a comic book adaptation of the 1988 film....