The Alien / **Alien**s literary franchise consists of multiple novels and short stories based on the eponymous film franchise, which began in 1979 with the release of Alien. In the 20th century, all Alien-related novels published were adaptations of pre-existing material. From 1979 up to 1997, Warner Books published novelizations of the first four films in the year of release; 1979, 1986, 1992, and 1997, respectively. The first three novelizations were written by Alan Dean Foster. Throughout the 1990s, Bantam Books published nine novelizations of Alien comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. After going on a hiatus, the franchise returned in book form in 2005. DH Press—Dark Horse Comics' novel publishing imprint—published six original novels from 2005 to 2008. This marked the first time in the franchise where novels were original stories, rather than adaptations. DH Press' series took place after the events of the fourth film; Alien Resurrection (1997), despite the fact that it was based on the second film. Following the release of Aliens: No Exit in 2008, the novel series once more went into hiatus. In 2014, after six years, Titan Books started publication of Alien novels once more, starting with Alien: Out of the Shadows, written by Tim Lebbon. Out of the Shadows was the first in a trilogy of books, and is canon to the events of the film series. In 2016, Alien: Invasion was published, which is the second book in Lebbon's The Rage Wars trilogy; a crossover between the Alien, Predator, and Alien vs. Predator franchises. The following year, Foster would write both a novelization and prequel to Alien: Covenant (2017). The success of the novels led to the publication of further stories, including a novelization of the video game Alien: Isolation (2014).

Film and game novelizations

Dark Horse Comics adaptions

Further novels

Collections