Book Review: The Book of Alien

November 18, 2009 by Parka

It seems like there are two editions for The Book of Alien. The first edition sports a white cover and is published in 1978. The other edition with the black cover is published by Titan Books in 2004.

Mine's the 1978 edition and there's a printing error in this book. A section of pages are printed upside down.

Other than that issue, this is a pretty decent art book for the amazing Alien movie. It contains the concept art for the spaceships, interiors, space suits and comes with a few photos taken during production. There are some really interesting production stories like how they used offal fresh from the slaughterhouse for that iconic scene where — spoiler alert! — the alien burst through the chest. The bulk of this 112-page book are on the pictures.

The contributing artists are Ron Cobb, Chriss Foss and H.R. Giger. Giger designed the alien while the other two focused on the Nostromo spaceship and set designs. Cobb would design rooms and details that were meant to look functional, and in many cases were functional. Actors got to hit real buttons and something would happen. Moebius, on a very brief stint, designed the spacesuits which were used in the movie.

Overall, this is a very interesting book on the making of Alien with production art. It should delight Alien fans.

Visit the link beside to read more reviews on Amazon. If you buy from the link, I get a little commission that helps me get more books for review.

Country-specific Amazon links for Simon & Schuster 1979 white cover edition:
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.fr | Amazon.de

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Comments

I have the 1978 version of

Ken Davidson (not verified)
November 18, 2009,
41 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 928

I have the 1978 version of the book, and I purchased it in 1978! I was a kid, and I saw it in my local newsagent store. It was a strange book to find alongside the newspapers, magazines and comics. I collected together all my pocket money, and 7 days later was thrilled to find the single copy still on the shelf. I think the shop owner was relieved that he managed to sell it!

Keep up the good work on this blog!

How does Amazon know to give

Chris (not verified)
November 18, 2009,
41 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 929

How does Amazon know to give you credit for the sale? I click on link (the one on the left with the picture) and it goes to what looks like a regular item page. And does it matter if its new or used?

@Ken Davidson Thanks! Hard to

Parka
November 18, 2009,
41 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 930

@Ken Davidson
Thanks! Hard to imagine it selling on the newsstand but hey, it's 1978!

@Chris
They base it off the URL link you use to get there. After that, the rest doesn't matter.

Ok, thanks. Bought.

Chris (not verified)
November 19, 2009,
41 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 934

Ok, thanks. Bought.

I've been trying to find some

Dave (not verified)
December 25, 2009,
35 weeks 6 days ago
Comment id: 1152

I've been trying to find some kind of "Art of" or production art book for the first Alien movie for quite awhile now with no luck, I can't tell you how happy I am to have found this review! This whole site is fantastic, but *this* review (and the fact that I can now go buy the book from Amazon!) is just the best thing ever :D

Awesome, thanks!