Yautja Encyclopedia: Novels

Predator Novels

• Concrete Jungle (by Nathan Archer, Bantam, 1995, ISBN 0-553-56557-5):
  New York City's Detective Schaefer, the brother of Arnold Schwarzenegger's character 'Dutch' from the first Predator film, has seen it all, from domestic murders to drug-gang executions. But Schaefer's never seen the Big Apple awash in so much blood as tonight, with flayed bodies hung like meat being cured for mealtime. When Schaefer has a close encounter with one of the murderers, he realizes he's run into something much bigger than the police suspect. Can even the toughest cop stand up to the ultimate hunter?

  Cold War (by Nathan Archer, Bantam, Reprinted edition March 1997, ISBN 0-553-57493-0):

  Something has fallen from the sky over the Siberian wilderness and soon decapitated human bodies are littering the surrounding area. The Russian authorities are baffled, but deep within the Pentagon, someone knows that the Predators are back. Detective Schaefer is called upon to aid the US military in capturing the technology. Unfortunately, the Russian forces have their eyes on the craft as well.

  Big Game (by Sandy Schofield, Bantam, 1999, ISBN 0-553-57733-6):

  The Slayer and the Slain. A modern Navajo warrior follows the trail of his people's most savage legend come to life. Deep in the rugged New Mexico desert, a strange aircraft has landed. In response, the commander of a nearby army base sends out search patrols. What he doesn't know is that an alien Predator has arrived, hunting for human prey. But Corporal Enoch Nakai, a Navajo soldier, sees the creature in action - his buddy slaughtered in a blinding flash - before narrowly escaping with his life.

  For Nakai, it is a Navajo legend come back to life: the return of the Horned Monster, who was destroyed by the hero Nayenezgani, the mythical Monster Slayer. Shunned by his comrades, Nakai knows there is only one hope. He must rediscover his Navajo roots by following in the Monster Slayer's footsteps. Using the wisdom of his ancestors, Nakai will confront the Predator in a final battle worthy of legend. But this time, will the hero emerge the victor?

  Forever Midnight (by John Shirley, DH Press, May 2006, ISBN 1-59582-034-5):

  The year is 2117, A.D. Humanity has seized the stars, using reverse-engineered alien technology to explore the far reaches of space. For a hundred years the Predators, sadistic extraterrestrial hunters, have been a dim memory. For a hundred years, we've been safe. That ends now. Cast in daylight for years at a time, the almost eternally lit jungle planet known as Midnight is the home to more than a thousand colonists, explorers building a haven on a new world. But the settlers aren't alone. The Predators have been on this planet all along. When the ravenous creatures attack an arriving spacecraft and capture the settlers as both slaves and prey for their hunt, terraforming the planet takes a back seat to a new fight for survival.

  Parts of the story are told from the viewpoint of the Predators which brought a number of challenges. In particular the author John Shirley had to expand the Predator language. This novel also sparked a lot of controversy among fans of the Yautja, since John Shirley ignored that section of the franchise. Only the Aliens Vs Predator novels use the term Yautja, as they have always taken place in space, whereas this is the first Predator novel to not take place on Earth.

  Perfect for the worldwide Predator audience, which has made the films top box office earners since 1987 and the books bestsellers in bookstores since 1992.

  Predator (by Paul Monette, Jove Books, 1987, ISBN 0-515-09002-6)

  This is the novelization of the movie. Seemingly based on the original script and not the finished film, it goes into deeper detail of the Predator itself and gives more of an insight into the alien as a being.

  Predator 2 (by Simon Hawke, Jove Books, 1990, ISBN 0-515-10578-3)

  As with the first movie's novelization, this novel also reveals some deeper information about the Predators. Certain events are portrayed from the Predator's perspective, and references are also made to the Predators coming to Earth since the dawn of time to conduct the hunt.

  Flesh And Blood (by Michael Jan Friedman and Robert Greenberger, DH Press, March 2007, ISBN 1-59582-047-7)

  Humans have all but destroyed the Earth, creating an opportunity for unscrupulous moneymakers to take advantage of the destruction. One family, the Ciejek clan, have made their fortune exploiting Earth's misfortunes. But with power comes corruption. The members of the Ciejek clan are at each other's throats, enlisting the help of the fearsome Predators to settle the score . . . When the Predators arrive, however, the brutality the warriors unleash is far beyond what the Ciejek family could have imagined.

  Friedman and Greenberger have built a fan following from their numerous New York Times bestsellers.

  Turnabout (by Steve Perry, DH Press, Feb 2008, ISBN 1-59582-054-X)

  Deep in the Alaskan forest, ranger Sloan comes across the torn and bloody carcasses of Grizzly bears. Searching a human cause for the massacres, he discovers a team of poachers hunkered within the Alaska wilderness, waiting for the chance to score a big kill. He also finds evidence of the most fearsome killers in the universe: the Predators.

  The release of Turnabout is scheduled to take advantage of the excitement surrounding the second AvP movie.

  Fans of military science fiction novels such as David Drake's Grimmer than Hell and Hammer's Slammers series will enjoy these stories.

  South China Seas (by Jeff VanderMeer, DH Press, forthcoming)

  On a remote South China Sea island, a deadly hunt is underway . . . but not the kind of expedition the participants expected. In this remote jungle-covered island somewhere between Thailand and Indonesia some of the most exotic animals in the world have been gathered as the prizes in a challenge of human against nature. The hunters come from all walks of life: a South African arms dealer, a Romanian ex-wrestler, two former KGB agents, a wildlife TV host, a Thai pirate, and John Gustat, a billionaire with a mysterious past. Each has come to the island for personal reasons, some secret, some deadly. But when the encampment's owner, ex-Khmer Rouge Colonel Rath Preap, finds the fences cut and his security men missing, it's clear that the game has turned. And as the hunters battle for survival, they discover there is another creature out for blood--a Predator with an unstoppable lust for conquest.

AVP Novels

• AvP: The Movie Novelization: by Marc Cerasini
  Two of 20th Century Fox’s biggest franchises ever – Alien and Predator –come together in one movie! A team of drillers, scientists and archaeologists led by a billionaire industrialist travel to Antarctica to investigate ancient pyramid ruins where they not only discover terrorized human skeletons among the fossilized remains of these alien creatures, but they also find further evidence that these aliens are still alive! As if that’s not frightening enough, vicious Predators lie in wait above for the release of these aliens from the centuries-old ice in which they’ve been preserved. Thus begins the showdown between two of the greatest film horrors of all time.

  AVP Prey: by Steve Perry and Stephani Perry, Spectra Books, 272 pages, 1994, ISBN 0-553-56555-9)

  Machiko Noguchi accepted the assignment of supervising the ranching colony on Ryushi as a challenge. Little did she know that not only would she have run the colony, she'd have to defend it with her life! First the carcass of a spiderlike alien is discovered. Then a rancher's family is massacred. Finally a creature unlike any ever seen before is brought to the colony medical center, near death. It soon becomes clear that not one but two strains of alien life have landed near the settlement of Prosperity Wells. One kind -- beetle black with shells hard as steel -- have been spawned as the prey in a deadly hunt. The other kind -- upright like humans but infinitely stronger and just as smart -- are the Predators. Between them are the human colonists, unarmed and vulnerable. With the entire colony at risk, Machiko Noguchi must choose between death and survival -- and may find her greatest ally in a Predator ready to kill her...

  AVP Hunter's Planet: (by David Bischoff, 272 pages, 1994, Spectra Books, ISBN 0-553-56556-7, Gollancz, ISBN 1-85798-228-2)

  The best time of Machiko Naguchi's life came in the wake of the Ryushi colony massacre. It was then that she abandoned her human heritage and ran with the Predators as a dedicated Hunter. But it was only two years before she returned to live with humanity and work for the Chigusa Corporation. Livermore Evanston is an ambitious developer who has built the ultimate hunter's paradise: a world just beyond the reach of human regulations, populated by ferocious, genetically engineered animals. But Evanston didn't plan on being patronized by the galaxy's most ruthless Predators - or the Aliens they brought along as prey. As his human customers fall victim to the unscheduled hunt, Evanston realizes that the Predators must be curbed, and there's only one woman for the job. But there's even more to this world than meets the eye, and Machiko Naguchi may only have one way out: to take complete control of the deadliest planet in known space!

  AVP War (by Stephani Perry, Bantam, 208 pages, 2000, ISBN 0-553-57732-8)

  First blood or last breath - those are the only choices in Aliens vs. Predator: War! The Predators converge on the seed planet Bunda for the biggest bug hunt yet, each taking position to draw first blood. Machiko, a human who has been inducted into the Predator clan, is forced into a duel in order to claim her rightful place in the upcoming hunt. But when a new group of humans shows up, what began as sport becomes serious business.