Alien Books in Order: Every Novel by In-Universe Year

August 2012 / In-Universe year : 2093

In Eizo Suzuki's Japanese novelization of Prometheus, the crew of the Prometheus follows ancient star maps to a distant moon in 2093. A new prologue shows Meredith Vickers testing the android David.

September 2017 / In-Universe year : 2103

The Covenant mission is the most ambitious endeavor in the history of Weyland-Yutani. A ship bound for Origae-6, carrying 2,000 colonists beyond the limits of known space, this is a make-or-break investment for the corporation - and for the future of all mankind.

September 2018 / In-Universe year : 2103 (approx)

Before Alien: Covenant, David was stranded alone on the Engineers' planet and, left to his own dark devices, he began to push the boundaries of creation. This collection of two books follows the android's descent into madness.

May 2017 / In-Universe year : 2104

Alan Dean Foster's novelization of the 2017 film. After a disaster kills their captain, the crew of the colony ship Covenant follows a signal to an uncharted planet. The book restores scenes that were cut from the movie.

March 1979 / In-Universe year : 2122

Alan Dean Foster's novelization of Ridley Scott's film follows the seven crew members of the Nostromo after they answer a signal from an unknown planetoid. It includes scenes missing from the theatrical cut, such as Ripley finding Dallas and Brett cocooned.

July 2019 / In-Universe year : 2137

Fifteen years after the Nostromo vanished, Amanda Ripley travels to the remote Sevastopol station, where the ship's flight recorder is being held, to learn what happened to her mother. The official novelization of the 2014 video game.

October 2019 / In-Universe year : 2139 (approx)

When an industrial spy steals a Xenomorph egg, former Colonial Marine Zula Hendricks must prevent an alien from killing everyone on an isolated colony planet.

January 2014 / In-Universe year : 2159

As a child, Chris Hooper dreamed of monsters. But in deep space, he found only darkness and isolation. Then, on planet LV178, he and his fellow miners discovered a storm-scoured, sand-blasted hell - and trimonite, the hardest material known to man.

April 2019 / In-Universe year : 2172

Olivia and her twin sister Viola have been dragged around the universe for as long as they can remember. Their parents, both xenobiologists, are always in high demand for their research into obscure alien biology.

November 2014 / In-Universe year : 2179

When Ellen Ripley finally returns to Earth, she learns that the planet LV-426 - now called Acheron - has been colonised. But LV-426 is where Ripley and the crew of the Nostromo found the original Xenomorph - the killing machine known as the Alien.

June 1986 / In-Universe year : 2179

Alan Dean Foster's novelization of James Cameron's Aliens. Ripley goes back to LV-426 with a unit of Colonial Marines after contact with the colony is lost. The book contains the scenes later restored in the film's Special Edition.

April 2018 / In-Universe year : 2179

Weyland-Yutani seeks to recover from the failure of Hadley's Hope and successfully weaponize the Xenomorphs.

June 1992 / In-Universe year : 2179

Alan Dean Foster's novelization of Alien 3. Ripley's escape pod crashes on a remote prison planet, and an alien has come with her. The book includes scenes later restored in the Special Edition, such as the ox that becomes the creature's host.

December 2023 / In-Universe year : 2179

Massively damaged in Aliens and Alien 3, the synthetic Bishop asked to be shut down forever. His creator, Michael Bishop, has other plans.

March 1995 / In-Universe year : 2179 (approx)

The United States Colonial Marines. Ultimate troubleshooters equipped with state-of-the-art firepower, capable of power projection across the vast expanse of deep space. They can sharpshoot a man at a thousand meters or obliterate an entire world from the safety of orbit. They reckon they are unbeatable.

February 2021 / In-Universe year : 2184

"Shy" Hunt and the tech team from McAllen Integrations thought they’d have an easy job: set up environmental systems for the brand new Hasanova Data Solutions colony, built on the abandoned ruins of a complex known as "Charybdis".

November 2025 / In-Universe year : 2185 (approx)

In Hume City, on the affluent Alexandria Colony, people are disappearing and witnesses die in grisly ways. FBI agent Tyler Matterton and his synthetic partner Serena track the killer to a cult that serves its Goddess.

April 2022 - April 2022 / In-Universe year : 2186

Political conflicts on Earth erupt into open hostilities between their colonies in space, with Xenomorphs as the ultimate weapon.

July 2022 / In-Universe year : 2186

A gargantuan, horseshoe-shaped ship appears over the mining planet Shānmén, unleashing a black rain of death that creates Xenomorph-like monsters worse than the darkest of nightmares.

February 2023 / In-Universe year : 2187

While a moon hurtles toward certain destruction, taking with it a Weyland-Yutani bioweapons lab, talks on a nearby colony could lead to all-out war among the colonies.

January 2025 / In-Universe year : 2187 (approx)

As human colonies are obliterated by the dark pathogen and hideous monstrosities proliferate, a family of scavengers find an amnesiac who may hold the secrets to the forces tearing apart the galaxy.

October 2025 / In-Universe year : 2199 (approx)

Nearly destitute, Cynthia Goodwin, owner of the aging ship Chariot, takes a job from billionaire Roman Fade: fly to the quarantined colony of New Providence and bring back his former lover, the artist Corinth Bloch.

October 2022 - November 2022 / In-Universe year : 2201

A groundbreaking Latinx Aliens novel by a rising star Latina author, featuring the fan-favorite character PFC Jenette Vasquez from the hit movie Aliens and the family she is forced to leave behind.

April 2021 / In-Universe year : 2202

The official prequel to Aliens: Fireteam Elite, the cooperative third-person survival shooter from Cold Iron Studios. On Pala Station, a Weyland-Yutani research facility, experiments with Xenomorph bio-materials spin out of control.

November 1997 / In-Universe year : 2381

A. C. Crispin and Kathleen O'Malley's novelization of the fourth film. Two centuries after her death, a cloned Ripley wakes aboard the Auriga, where scientists breed Aliens. Parts of the book are told from the point of view of the clone and of the Aliens.

September 2019 / In-Universe year : 2381 (approx)

Technical drawings of all the major ships and vehicles from the Alien movies, presented in detail. Includes spacecraft like the Nostromo, the Sulaco and the Covenant.

July 2024 / In-Universe year : 2381

After narrowly escaping a Xenomorph attack and crash landing on the wrong planet, former military man Chris Temple just wants a peaceful life with his daughters. He just needs to deal with the brewing civil war and a Xenomorph on the loose.

October 2014 - April 2016 / In-Universe year : 2381 (approx)

For hundreds of years now, scientists at the Weyland-Yutani Corporation have been monitoring the behavior of an alien life-form so powerful that its potential for military application appears limitless.

July 2014 / In-Universe year : 2497

As a deputy commissioner for the ICC, Alan Decker’s job is to make sure the settlements on LV-178 follow all the rules, keeping the colonists safe.

February 2020 / In-Universe year : 2514 (approx)

Ataegina was an isolated world of medieval castles and rich cultures, vibrant until the demons rose and slaughtered ninety percent of the planet's population.