Becoming Alien, Second Edition
The Beginning and End of Evil in Science Fiction’s Most Idiosyncratic Film Franchise
- Arts & Literature
- Publisher: Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2026
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Publisher's Description
The Alien films are perceived to be a fractured franchise, each one loosely related to the others by the titular monster. They are nonlinear, complicated, convoluted: a collection of genre movies ranging from horror to war to farce. But on closer examination, the threads that bind these films together are undeniable. The series is a model of the cosmology described in Catherine Keller’s book Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming, which presents the universe as a cycle of chaos and relationship. In this second edition of Becoming Alien, Sarah Welch-Larson explores the Alien series through Keller’s lens. Her exploration unifies the Alien series into seven views of evil, its origins, and its consequences. Each film expands on the concept of evil set forth by its predecessors, complicating that conception, and retroactively enriching readings of the films that came before.
Endorsements (4)
“Sarah Welch-Larson is an exhilarating writer—thoughtful, playful, pointed, informed—and these sharp close-reads of the Alien films accomplish the impossible: they unify a seemingly tonally and thematically disparate group of movies, and have something new and vital to say about one of the most discussed franchises in modern cinema.”
“With Becoming Alien, Sarah Welch-Larson has crafted a compelling and enlightening study of the Alien franchise, rich with detail and acuity. Welch-Larson’s skillful prose weaves together criticism with a deeply human and personal perspective, and in doing so weaves together the fractured films themselves. You’ll want to savor every page of Becoming Alien’s profound insights as it encourages and challenges you to think more deeply yourself.”
“As they’ve evolved, the Alien films have helped us think about the human desire for progress and profit at the expense of others in ways that reflect our reality. In her second edition of Becoming Alien, Sarah Welch-Larson continues her exploration of these themes in ways that movie fans, theology enthusiasts, and anyone who appreciates smart culture writing will find enlightening—and maybe even a little frightening.”
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