This one did not take long to finish once I found the time. If you have seen the films, odds are good you may like books in this series. For me, the book was interesting because it gave more insight into the culture of the predators. The action is pretty good, and the ending pretty much goes along with Noguchi's character. A light entertaining read. ( )

Excellent depiction of predators and humans and their interactions and presents some insights into the Predator culture. I was expecting a variation on Aliens given the creatures they incubate in, but the "xenomorphs" here are mainly background. Some of the interaction between the human and Predator leads was borrowed for the "Aliens vs. Predator" film. I would still love to see this made into a film. I enjoyed this enough to reread it after several years and enjoyed the second reading as much as the first. I know I read the sequel but I remember very little of it.

Gaming the book:
There was an Aliens vs. Predator miniature board game a few years ago that should still be available if you search around. The base game and expansions support anything seen in the Alien, Predator, AvP, and Predators movies, as well as items from the books (including the bad ass colonist from this one). Play is fast and not too complicated. ( )

This reaches into the depths of fandom - the novelization of a comics mini-series based on a movie. And yet...

Our hero is Machiko Noguchi, a woman from Kyoto, Japan in the far future. She has been promoted to oversee a ranching colony on Ryushi, a frontier planet, as part of paying her dues to the corporate structure and proving that she's worth promoting to other, more prestigious postings.

Things go horribly wrong when Predators come to use the world in an initiation Hunt - whose designated prey is Alien - and the human colony gets in the way.

Nogushi's story is by far the most interesting of the book. She's a new commander, brought into an established situation, and having to cement her own authority in a place that liked its old commander just-fine-thank-you. She's isolated by both her circumstances and her personality - she's very driven, very ambitious, and notes that she didn't have many friends back home, where the fact could be hidden by sheer population numbers. As the books goes, so does she, growing into herself as a commanding presence, the responsible party, through sheer need. She is the captain who would go down with her ship - but not without being in the bowels welding plate to the hull if that's what it took. But she struggles with that - she carries the weight, but not effortlessly.

And then, of course, there is the boom, and myriad ass-kickings. ( )

260/260 Read for SSR and the rest of my other pages needed to read was from Star Wars Darth Bane Path of Destruction.

This book is about this battalion of military troops who are assigned to go to a ranching colony on the Planet of Ryushi. The main character is Machiko Noguchi. She was newly assigned with the battalion and this would be her first assignment. On the planet however, she finds these to alien species who are at war with each other. On side is the Predators whos mission is like an initiation into manhood. They have to find and hunt these creatures called aliens and when they kill a queen they are considered men and can now join the clan.

On this assignment she has many hardships to endure. The other troops harass her because she is the new recruit and because shes a female they think they can do what ever they want with her. She is tough so she deals with them easily. The troops begin to find weird things happening like squads being murdered and a family of farmers being massacred. They also find alien bodies left after brutal fights with troops and some randomly. Then the aliens start to rise up and take over the base. The predator clan that arrived had been hunting them in secret but now rose up too to make sure that they dont spread and the alien hive doesnt grow. The chief Predator named Dachande was the only surviver after the day was over and him and Noguchi team up to defeat the Aliens.
I can relate to Dachande because hes a strong leader and knows how to protect. Like what i do out on the football field i do my job and protect the quaterback and lead my team to victory by doing my job. Thats what Dachande did he did his job and worked to protect his clan the best he could and protect Noguchi. I reccomend this book to AVP lovers and people who are looking for an intense and suspenseful book.