Quote Originally Posted by krakenslayer View Post
Yeah, the book was originally written before Alien 3 and was intended as a sequel to Aliens and was originally printed with Hicks and Newt reprising their roles. After Alien 3 came out, when the book was being reprinted, 20th Century Fox for some reason made them change the characters, I can't remember why exactly, so Billie and Wilks were born. I believe you can still find early editions, in libraries and online, with Hicks and Newt in their rightful place.
Although it's still kind obvious when reading it, even with the names changed, who they're supposed to be - I came to the same conclusion myself when reading some of those books back when I was in my early teens.