BOOK REVIEW: PREDATOR: IF IT BLEEDS EDITED BY BRYAN THOMAS SCHMIDT

Predator: If It Bleeds
Editor: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Publisher: Titan Books
ISBN: 9781785655401
Pages: 456
Reviewed by: Sandra Scholes

We had the Aliens omnibus series of books now it looks like fans of the Predator movies will have their own omnibus to enjoy.

If you remember what Major Dutch said in the 1987 Predator movie:
"If it bleeds, we can kill it." Predator has been the inspiration for graphic novels and novels being the Yauta race and over the centuries they have been the prey of other aliens even though the Predators have hunted humans while on Earth.

Predator: If It Bleeds is edited by the more than able Brian Thomas Schmidt with sixteen new stories from the very best of Titan Books authors. Ones I have read of: Steve Perry, Jonathan Maberry, SD Perry, Steve Perry, Tim Lebbon and Kevin J Anderson use the inspiration they got from the movies to create their own personal stories based in the Predator universe.

What I liked about these stories are the settings in historical periods. From the American Civil War to the Vikings, each writer makes is believe the Predator aliens have been with us for a longer time than we realized. May Blood Pave My Way Home by Weaton Ochse is set in Central Mexico of 1916, Storm Blood by Peter J Wacks and David Boop is set in New Orleans of 2009, Blood and Sand by Mira Grant is set in the Last Bridge Township, Montana of 1933, With my fondness for all things Japanese I liked Three Sparks by Larry Correia has samurai fighting during the battle of Dan no ura.  

 Stonewall's Last Stand by Jeremy Robinson is set in Chancellorsville, Virginia in 1863 where General Stonewall Jackson of the Confederate States is busy leading his men to fight the Yankees only to find there is something deadly lurking in the forest.

Robinson's story takes us right back to the creepy feelings you got from watching the first Predator movie, the fear and anticipation of being caught off guard by a Predator. Skeld's Keep by SD Perry is set in 820 AD where Viking men travel and pillage new lands for wealth but behind the scenes a spacecraft full of Predators observes these primitive humans , deciding they might be good if easy sport. The Vikings already believe in Draugr or undead former men coming back to life in order to kill fellow men when the real thing is ready to hunt them. Skeld's Keep is a creepy crossover story of early humans and aliens with an ending that is unexpected.

For fans, this could very well be the ultimate omnibus of Predator stories, but I am sure that Titan will come up with more to satisfy the yearning for Predator enthusiasts.