Hi! I just finished The Cold Forge and had to get some thoughts out there. I thought it was a really solid Alien book for the most part. Every moment with the actual Xenos was incredible. The author REALLY nailed it. That being said, I didn't like it as much as Phalanx, which surprised me.

My issue is with some of the characters, like many others here have said. But it's not actually the crew that annoys me. I even liked crazy final girl Lucy. Everyone felt pretty real for the most part, even at their most incompetent it made sense. But nah, I really didn't like Blue. Every chapter that starred her I was like "And this is the person I'm supposed to be rooting for?" Blue is arrogant, whiny, and lacks that underdog quality I've grown to love with Alien heroines. I know she's facing imminent death and all but man, she really damaged a lot of moments for me. Maybe it's because I started with Ahiliyah from Phalanx.

Now for the highlight of the book for me. Dorian Sudler. I LOVED Dorian. He's a total mustache twiddling villain, I get that. But in a landscape where nearly every villain these days has a crybaby backstory and gets a redemption arc, having a guy who's just irredeemably evil is a nice change of pace. His dumbass actions in the final act aside, I thought he was a really fun cunning psychopath. His scene with Anne where he attacks her is fantastic. I was almost rooting for him to make it! (He's still an absolute monster and a terrible person but I'm a sucker for villains). But when I reread his battle with Blue, I get a bit sad. The reason being that I'm imagining how much better their conflicts and confrontations would've been if Blue was a more likeable character. Like imagine Dorian Sudler going against a character with Ahiliyah from Phalanx's personality. Or Ripley's. Or hell any scrappy underdog. That would've been INCREDIBLE.

As for the plot, acts 1 and 2 are great. Loved them. It falls apart a bit at act 3, not unlike Phalanx. That being said, I think I found Phalanx more enjoyable, most likely due to the worldbuilding and runner scenes. On the other hand, Cold Forge doesn't fodderize the Xenos nearly to the extent that Phalanx does.

So yeah just wanted to put my thoughts out there into the void. I still loved it, and I'm always looking for more Alien media. So any recs would be appreciated!