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Star Wars Novelizations #7
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The official novelization of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the blockbuster film directed by J. J. Abrams - Includes two tie-in short stories: "The Perfect Weapon" by Delilah S. Dawson and "Bait" by Alan Dean Foster
More than thirty years ago, Star Wars burst onto the big screen and became a cultural phenomenon. Now the next adventures in this blockbuster saga are poised to captivate old and new fans alike--beginning with the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And alongside the cinematic debut comes the thrilling novel adaptation by New York Times bestselling science fiction master Alan Dean Foster.
Set years after Return of the Jedi, this stunning new action-packed adventure rockets us back into the world of Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Luke Skywalker, while introducing a host of exciting new characters. Darth Vader may have been redeemed and the Emperor vanquished, but peace can be fleeting, and evil does not easily relent. Yet the simple belief in good can still empower ordinary individuals to rise and meet the greatest challenges.
So return to that galaxy far, far away, and prepare yourself for what happens when the Force awakens. . . .
Praise for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
"Like all the best novelizations, Alan Dean Foster's adaptation of Star Wars: The Force Awakens enriches the movie experience. The novel goes beyond simply giving us insight into the characters' thoughts, with plenty of additional scenes painting a broader picture of the galaxy."--New York Daily News
"Fast-moving, atmospheric and raises goose-bumps at just the right moments. [Foster] not only evokes entire onscreen worlds . . . he also gives us glimpses of an even more vast, unseen universe."--The Washington Post
"Was my experience of the film enriched by the book? Yes. No question. Is the novelization worth reading? Yes. . . . Foster has written a book that captures the spirit of the film, while presenting additional information that helps answer some of the questions that linger."--Coffee with Kenobi
More than thirty years ago, Star Wars burst onto the big screen and became a cultural phenomenon. Now the next adventures in this blockbuster saga are poised to captivate old and new fans alike--beginning with the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And alongside the cinematic debut comes the thrilling novel adaptation by New York Times bestselling science fiction master Alan Dean Foster.
Set years after Return of the Jedi, this stunning new action-packed adventure rockets us back into the world of Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Luke Skywalker, while introducing a host of exciting new characters. Darth Vader may have been redeemed and the Emperor vanquished, but peace can be fleeting, and evil does not easily relent. Yet the simple belief in good can still empower ordinary individuals to rise and meet the greatest challenges.
So return to that galaxy far, far away, and prepare yourself for what happens when the Force awakens. . . .
Praise for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
"Like all the best novelizations, Alan Dean Foster's adaptation of Star Wars: The Force Awakens enriches the movie experience. The novel goes beyond simply giving us insight into the characters' thoughts, with plenty of additional scenes painting a broader picture of the galaxy."--New York Daily News
"Fast-moving, atmospheric and raises goose-bumps at just the right moments. [Foster] not only evokes entire onscreen worlds . . . he also gives us glimpses of an even more vast, unseen universe."--The Washington Post
"Was my experience of the film enriched by the book? Yes. No question. Is the novelization worth reading? Yes. . . . Foster has written a book that captures the spirit of the film, while presenting additional information that helps answer some of the questions that linger."--Coffee with Kenobi
384 pages, Paperback
First published December 18, 2015
1415 people are currently reading
10172 people want to read
About the author
Alan Dean Foster
482 books1,981 followersBestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,378 reviews
February 15, 2016
I love the new Star Wars movie. I’d even go as far as to say that it is one of my favourite Star Wars films, ever. It just worked so well. The blending of the new with the old worked perfectly; it was emotional, action packed and really quite moving. As far as Star Wars films go, it was excellent. This, on the other hand, was very, very, basic. I enjoyed parts of it, but that was only because I had the excellence of the film in my mind’s eye. This did capture the urgency of the film; it had the same action orientated plot, and the same desperate need to find Luke Skywalker was here. However, it failed to capture the charm of the characters.
Sure, some of the humour is here, but what it really lacked was the presence of greatness:
When this iconic scene happened in the book, it was so very, very, underwhelming. When I saw this on the movie trailer, and again in the cinema, I had goose bumps down my arms. The book just failed to capture the importance of it.
Certainly, the characters sound the same, and they do act the same, but they just don’t feel the same. This entire novel just felt like a regurgitation of the film’s surface level. In the film you can visibly see the emotional conflicts within the characters; it shines through the actor’s performances. For the book to capture this same effect, it needed to make the readers aware of the internal states of the characters. But, it didn’t. It felt like a plot summary or a quick overview that excluded all the parts that make the story what it is.
The result was an emotionless Rey, an idiotic Finn, a pig headed Solo and a Kylo Ren who was massively absent for most of the story. It takes more than a page of narration to capture the importance of him talking to Vader’s helmet! And then there was Rey. She was my favourite thing about the new movie, and this book destroyed her. She is supposed to be haunted by her past; she is supposed to be damaged by her abandonment on Jakku. Instead she comes across as a bland young girl with no personality, very little past and a serious case of hero worship for Solo. That’s it. The author failed miserably to capture any essence of her character; he ignored all the parts that make her who she is. This tarnished her friendship with Finn. It was, again, massively underdeveloped. He just came across as a moron with nothing but stupid one-liners up his sleeve when he is actually caring and thoughtful. This is exactly why Rey, who is supposed to be unloved and lonely, is attracted to him on an emotional level.
There is none of this:
There was no touching friendship.
If you look at this book as a separate entity to the film, then it is a complete failure. If you regard it as something that relies heavily on the film to create any semblance of Star Wars feel, then it is a minor success. I’d seriously, and I mean seriously, recommend watching the film before even attempting to read this. If you take this by itself, then you will be subjected to a representation of a story that seriously hinders all dramatic effects. Monumental scenes were described in an incredibly bare authorial voice: they were delivered with the most minor of details. The climax of this book was crammed into two pages. It was one of the most underwhelming fights I’ve ever read. The whole book was only 260 pages, 260 pages! I could go on.
Well, it would be unfair not to mention the limited positive aspects. You may be wondering why I even gave this two stars. Well, two reasons. First one: I love the movie. Irrelevant I know. Second one: the final scene was actually surprisingly good. It was one of the few things the author did well. I felt it; I felt the need and importance of the plea. But, that’s it. And it wasn’t enough. I seriously hope someone else writes the next movie’s novelisation because maybe they will write it properly, and maybe I'll read it.
In the meantime, I can’t wait for the next movie. What an ending.
Sure, some of the humour is here, but what it really lacked was the presence of greatness:
When this iconic scene happened in the book, it was so very, very, underwhelming. When I saw this on the movie trailer, and again in the cinema, I had goose bumps down my arms. The book just failed to capture the importance of it.
Certainly, the characters sound the same, and they do act the same, but they just don’t feel the same. This entire novel just felt like a regurgitation of the film’s surface level. In the film you can visibly see the emotional conflicts within the characters; it shines through the actor’s performances. For the book to capture this same effect, it needed to make the readers aware of the internal states of the characters. But, it didn’t. It felt like a plot summary or a quick overview that excluded all the parts that make the story what it is.
The result was an emotionless Rey, an idiotic Finn, a pig headed Solo and a Kylo Ren who was massively absent for most of the story. It takes more than a page of narration to capture the importance of him talking to Vader’s helmet! And then there was Rey. She was my favourite thing about the new movie, and this book destroyed her. She is supposed to be haunted by her past; she is supposed to be damaged by her abandonment on Jakku. Instead she comes across as a bland young girl with no personality, very little past and a serious case of hero worship for Solo. That’s it. The author failed miserably to capture any essence of her character; he ignored all the parts that make her who she is. This tarnished her friendship with Finn. It was, again, massively underdeveloped. He just came across as a moron with nothing but stupid one-liners up his sleeve when he is actually caring and thoughtful. This is exactly why Rey, who is supposed to be unloved and lonely, is attracted to him on an emotional level.
There is none of this:
There was no touching friendship.
If you look at this book as a separate entity to the film, then it is a complete failure. If you regard it as something that relies heavily on the film to create any semblance of Star Wars feel, then it is a minor success. I’d seriously, and I mean seriously, recommend watching the film before even attempting to read this. If you take this by itself, then you will be subjected to a representation of a story that seriously hinders all dramatic effects. Monumental scenes were described in an incredibly bare authorial voice: they were delivered with the most minor of details. The climax of this book was crammed into two pages. It was one of the most underwhelming fights I’ve ever read. The whole book was only 260 pages, 260 pages! I could go on.
Well, it would be unfair not to mention the limited positive aspects. You may be wondering why I even gave this two stars. Well, two reasons. First one: I love the movie. Irrelevant I know. Second one: the final scene was actually surprisingly good. It was one of the few things the author did well. I felt it; I felt the need and importance of the plea. But, that’s it. And it wasn’t enough. I seriously hope someone else writes the next movie’s novelisation because maybe they will write it properly, and maybe I'll read it.
In the meantime, I can’t wait for the next movie. What an ending.
February 4, 2018
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this”
Yes, the signature and ubiquitous phrase is here as in all of the Star Wars films and novelizations.
And as in all novelizations, the author is able to further expand and explain much of what was going on in the film. And this was a great film, the seventh in the wildly popular Star Wars franchise and this broke all sorts of records and made oodles of credits and made the Kessel run in 12 parsecs. The movie was all that and a $10 bucket of popcorn.
But I got the bad feeling that Mr. Foster mailed some of this in.
Don’t get me wrong. Alan Dean Foster, Dean of the best-selling novelizations, with such titles as Alien, Aliens, and Star Trek under his belt, did his job and it is a pretty good book. We are provided illuminating backstory, internal monologue and he fills in the gaps from the film and maybe even provides some insider scoop foreshadowing for what’s next up.
But, distinguishing itself from the vast majority of film / book comparisons, and demonstrating an exception to the rule – the movie was better.
Yes, the signature and ubiquitous phrase is here as in all of the Star Wars films and novelizations.
And as in all novelizations, the author is able to further expand and explain much of what was going on in the film. And this was a great film, the seventh in the wildly popular Star Wars franchise and this broke all sorts of records and made oodles of credits and made the Kessel run in 12 parsecs. The movie was all that and a $10 bucket of popcorn.
But I got the bad feeling that Mr. Foster mailed some of this in.
Don’t get me wrong. Alan Dean Foster, Dean of the best-selling novelizations, with such titles as Alien, Aliens, and Star Trek under his belt, did his job and it is a pretty good book. We are provided illuminating backstory, internal monologue and he fills in the gaps from the film and maybe even provides some insider scoop foreshadowing for what’s next up.
But, distinguishing itself from the vast majority of film / book comparisons, and demonstrating an exception to the rule – the movie was better.
June 25, 2018
A new hero(ine) awakens!
Once again, fellow readers in the Force, if you have been reading my reviews about Star Wars film novelizations, you already know that I’ll do several spoilers in this review (which is quite the opposite to my regular kind of review, but with Star Wars movie novelizations is quite hard not to fall into spoilers in the reviews about it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
ENTER: REY
After several years without any new film in the Star Wars episodic saga, AND an unexpected purchase of Disney Company of the entire Lucasfilms corporation…
…finally Star Wars was adding new episodes to the epic sci-fi saga!
And while several old (quite known and popular) heroes were returning: Leia, Han, Chewie, C-3PO and R2-D2, you’ll get a new heroine…
…Rey!!!
A mysterious young scavenger girl, having a rough living in Jakku (a desert world where nobody would want to live there), awakens in the Force, caught between a military conflict of the First Order and the Resistance…
…beautiful, well-meaning, brave, resourceful, warrior, mechanic, starship pilot (piloting nothing else than Millenium Falcon!!!), able to understand astromech parlance and Wookie language, and…
…she is strong in the Force, and getting a lightsaber (and not any lightsaber BUT the one that Luke los ton Cloud City, that it was Anakin’s originally!!!
What else can you ask?
Oh, yes, I love Rey!
ENTER: BB-8
If anybody would tell me that another astromech droid would rise to become even more popular than R2-D2, I would think that they had become crazy…
…but that really happens!
Sweet and funny BB-8 stole the show in Episode VII becoming an instant pop culture icon, recognizable around the world!
ENTER: THE REST
Kylo Ren freezes a frakkin’ laser beam in the air!!! Oooooooooh!!! You may say many things about Kylo Ren but…
…he freezes a frakkin’ laser beam in the air!!!!!! Nuff’ said!
Finn is an interesting character showing that there are people under those stormtrooper helmets.
Captain Phasma is a cool fearsome looking character (with Gwendoline Christie under the armor!!!), sadly the writers weren’t kind with her, allowing her to do something memorable in the story.
Poe Dameron was almost just a brief character, but thankfully, other producers recognizing his potential, suggesting to JJ Abrams to keep him in the story.
General Hux, wimpy field commander-in-chief of the First Order that he’s too young to be believable to be in such position of power.
SO WHAT’S DIFFERENT HERE ANYWAY?
Yes, yes, The Force Awakens is A New Hope retold, but who cares? Sometimes life is a circle and events are destined to be lived again…
So…
Movie versus book, you can find here…
…before of the first movie scene, there is a brief moment with Leia thinking about the events between The Return of the Jedi and this episode…
…Poe Dameron didn’t kill a stormtrooper and Finn’s reluctance to fire against innocent villagers is thought due a weapon malfunction…
…there is a clear explanation that the Resistance isn’t part of the New Republic, but Leia is asking for back-up by them, against the rising of the First Order…
…Poe Dameron has a scene letting know to readers that he indeed survive the TIE fighter’s crash (way before of his re-appearance in the movie leading the Resistance’s X-Wings) and his escape from Jakku…
…Unkar Plutt tried to collect Rey and BB-8’s First Order reward, and he suffered the rage of Chewbacca, falling dead after his arms are ripped out! Oh, yeah!
…the infamous snowspeeder scene that produces several kind of toys but that didn’t appear in the movie…
…Kylo Ren aboards Millenium Falcon (when it’s on Starkiller Base)!!! And he thought about his past and how he became who he is now…
…Rey and Poe meet (not like in movies that they meet in person, for the first time, at the end of Episode VIII).
Once again, fellow readers in the Force, if you have been reading my reviews about Star Wars film novelizations, you already know that I’ll do several spoilers in this review (which is quite the opposite to my regular kind of review, but with Star Wars movie novelizations is quite hard not to fall into spoilers in the reviews about it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
ENTER: REY
After several years without any new film in the Star Wars episodic saga, AND an unexpected purchase of Disney Company of the entire Lucasfilms corporation…
…finally Star Wars was adding new episodes to the epic sci-fi saga!
And while several old (quite known and popular) heroes were returning: Leia, Han, Chewie, C-3PO and R2-D2, you’ll get a new heroine…
…Rey!!!
A mysterious young scavenger girl, having a rough living in Jakku (a desert world where nobody would want to live there), awakens in the Force, caught between a military conflict of the First Order and the Resistance…
…beautiful, well-meaning, brave, resourceful, warrior, mechanic, starship pilot (piloting nothing else than Millenium Falcon!!!), able to understand astromech parlance and Wookie language, and…
…she is strong in the Force, and getting a lightsaber (and not any lightsaber BUT the one that Luke los ton Cloud City, that it was Anakin’s originally!!!
What else can you ask?
Oh, yes, I love Rey!
ENTER: BB-8
If anybody would tell me that another astromech droid would rise to become even more popular than R2-D2, I would think that they had become crazy…
…but that really happens!
Sweet and funny BB-8 stole the show in Episode VII becoming an instant pop culture icon, recognizable around the world!
ENTER: THE REST
Kylo Ren freezes a frakkin’ laser beam in the air!!! Oooooooooh!!! You may say many things about Kylo Ren but…
…he freezes a frakkin’ laser beam in the air!!!!!! Nuff’ said!
Finn is an interesting character showing that there are people under those stormtrooper helmets.
Captain Phasma is a cool fearsome looking character (with Gwendoline Christie under the armor!!!), sadly the writers weren’t kind with her, allowing her to do something memorable in the story.
Poe Dameron was almost just a brief character, but thankfully, other producers recognizing his potential, suggesting to JJ Abrams to keep him in the story.
General Hux, wimpy field commander-in-chief of the First Order that he’s too young to be believable to be in such position of power.
SO WHAT’S DIFFERENT HERE ANYWAY?
Yes, yes, The Force Awakens is A New Hope retold, but who cares? Sometimes life is a circle and events are destined to be lived again…
So…
Movie versus book, you can find here…
…before of the first movie scene, there is a brief moment with Leia thinking about the events between The Return of the Jedi and this episode…
…Poe Dameron didn’t kill a stormtrooper and Finn’s reluctance to fire against innocent villagers is thought due a weapon malfunction…
…there is a clear explanation that the Resistance isn’t part of the New Republic, but Leia is asking for back-up by them, against the rising of the First Order…
…Poe Dameron has a scene letting know to readers that he indeed survive the TIE fighter’s crash (way before of his re-appearance in the movie leading the Resistance’s X-Wings) and his escape from Jakku…
…Unkar Plutt tried to collect Rey and BB-8’s First Order reward, and he suffered the rage of Chewbacca, falling dead after his arms are ripped out! Oh, yeah!
…the infamous snowspeeder scene that produces several kind of toys but that didn’t appear in the movie…
…Kylo Ren aboards Millenium Falcon (when it’s on Starkiller Base)!!! And he thought about his past and how he became who he is now…
…Rey and Poe meet (not like in movies that they meet in person, for the first time, at the end of Episode VIII).
January 12, 2016
Do not spend money on this book. As my old buddy Luke Skywalker says, “What a piece of junk!”
Others have pointed this out, but I must reiterate that this book is just the movie in novel form and nothing more. You might be tempted to think that this could be a good novel - after all, Matthew Woodring Stover did a fantastic job with the novelization of Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. His novel explored characters’ motivations, and inner struggles. He gave the characters time to reflect and grow naturally beyond the limits of a movie. He explored themes and used motifs. He gave the novel meat. (And at the same time showed how the movie could have been/should have been a better movie.) But whether by his own choice or the dictates of Disney, Alan Dean Foster does none of this. This novelization is as shallow an experience as one can get from reading a book.
Now to address the writing itself: like everything else I’ve already discussed, it is atrocious. If I was feeling magnanimous, I might be tempted to describe the writing as a “throwback to the pulpy style of the 50’s” where participle phrases start nearly every sentence, and cliches run amok. But I’m really pissed off that I paid a lot of money for this book, and so instead I’ll describe the writing as archaic, campy, and just plain sh*t. None of the humor from the movie translates into the book. None of the action scenes are gripping. I was never on the edge of my seat. And I didn't care anything for the characters. This novel takes an excellent, exciting, emotional movie and drains all the fun out it. Remember that intense scene where Kylo Ren tortures Poe? No tension in the book at all - zero, zip, nadda. Remember that awesome scene where Han and Chewie run into the Millennium Falcon for the first time? Clunk, dud, turd. And the awesome lightsaber duels at the end between Ren, Finn, and Rey? Each is only two paragraphs. TWO PARAGRAPHS!!! What a waste.
Finally, two more nails in the coffin:
1. The book’s cover is crap. It’s just the movie poster. It looks great as a poster - it looks horrible as a book cover. Apparently Del Rey didn’t want to pay someone to make a new cover.
2. I bought the Barnes and Noble “special” edition. Hey, Barnes and Noble: just putting in a handful of glossy pictures, all of which can be found quickly and easily on the internet, doesn’t make it “special”.
The only reasons a Star Wars fan should even be curious about this book are for the few details and scenes that were cut from the movie. And while the few (very few) details are mildly interesting, what is more interesting is that someone in the editing room at Lucasfilm had the good sense to remove them from the movie. The deleted scenes are terrible, out of character, and break the flow of the movie/book. The scene where Chewie rips some dude’s arm off? Implausible (given the book's explanation for the incident) and ill-placed. Background scenes with Leia and her staff? Break the flow of the rest of the narrative. Poe escaping from the desert in Jakku? Just plain stupid. All of the deleted scenes are the type of scenes that Lucas would have kept - thank goodness someone with better judgment was at the helm.
This is a badly written movie-to-page novelization with none of the heart, humor or enjoyment of Star Wars. As my new buddy Rey says, “It’s garbage!” Don’t waste your $28. Go take your wife to see the movie again instead.
Others have pointed this out, but I must reiterate that this book is just the movie in novel form and nothing more. You might be tempted to think that this could be a good novel - after all, Matthew Woodring Stover did a fantastic job with the novelization of Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. His novel explored characters’ motivations, and inner struggles. He gave the characters time to reflect and grow naturally beyond the limits of a movie. He explored themes and used motifs. He gave the novel meat. (And at the same time showed how the movie could have been/should have been a better movie.) But whether by his own choice or the dictates of Disney, Alan Dean Foster does none of this. This novelization is as shallow an experience as one can get from reading a book.
Now to address the writing itself: like everything else I’ve already discussed, it is atrocious. If I was feeling magnanimous, I might be tempted to describe the writing as a “throwback to the pulpy style of the 50’s” where participle phrases start nearly every sentence, and cliches run amok. But I’m really pissed off that I paid a lot of money for this book, and so instead I’ll describe the writing as archaic, campy, and just plain sh*t. None of the humor from the movie translates into the book. None of the action scenes are gripping. I was never on the edge of my seat. And I didn't care anything for the characters. This novel takes an excellent, exciting, emotional movie and drains all the fun out it. Remember that intense scene where Kylo Ren tortures Poe? No tension in the book at all - zero, zip, nadda. Remember that awesome scene where Han and Chewie run into the Millennium Falcon for the first time? Clunk, dud, turd. And the awesome lightsaber duels at the end between Ren, Finn, and Rey? Each is only two paragraphs. TWO PARAGRAPHS!!! What a waste.
Finally, two more nails in the coffin:
1. The book’s cover is crap. It’s just the movie poster. It looks great as a poster - it looks horrible as a book cover. Apparently Del Rey didn’t want to pay someone to make a new cover.
2. I bought the Barnes and Noble “special” edition. Hey, Barnes and Noble: just putting in a handful of glossy pictures, all of which can be found quickly and easily on the internet, doesn’t make it “special”.
The only reasons a Star Wars fan should even be curious about this book are for the few details and scenes that were cut from the movie. And while the few (very few) details are mildly interesting, what is more interesting is that someone in the editing room at Lucasfilm had the good sense to remove them from the movie. The deleted scenes are terrible, out of character, and break the flow of the movie/book. The scene where Chewie rips some dude’s arm off? Implausible (given the book's explanation for the incident) and ill-placed. Background scenes with Leia and her staff? Break the flow of the rest of the narrative. Poe escaping from the desert in Jakku? Just plain stupid. All of the deleted scenes are the type of scenes that Lucas would have kept - thank goodness someone with better judgment was at the helm.
This is a badly written movie-to-page novelization with none of the heart, humor or enjoyment of Star Wars. As my new buddy Rey says, “It’s garbage!” Don’t waste your $28. Go take your wife to see the movie again instead.
December 9, 2017
The remnants of the Empire have reforged as the First Order, led by a mysterious power known as Snoke. The Rebels, now branded the Resistance, attempt to protect the nascent New Republic. They are led by Leia Organa Solo, who's searching for her brother, Luke Skywalker, last of the Jedi, who vanished years ago. He left a map behind—most of it has been archived in the Empire’s library, but the last part is within a Resistance droid. This droid—a brave little snowman-shaped specimen named BB-8—is hunted by the First Order. Protecting him, the Resistance pilot Poe Demaron is captured by Kylo Ren, a First Order commander who hides himself under a silver-striped helmet and a black cloak.
BB-8 escapes into the sandy wastes of Jakku, a giant junkyard with a mysterious ability to suppress the Force. Eventually he runs into Rey, an orphan girl who ekes out a meager living by salvaging working parts from wrecked spacecraft. Rey acts tough, but has a gentle heart, and takes the droid in.
Meanwhile, a young Stormtrooper is traumatized by his first battle and shakes off his conditioning. He frees Poe and they escape, after antagonizing their enemy like the crazy boys they are. Poe gives his new chum, coded FN-2187, the name Finn. But they were piloting separate crafts, and when they crash far apart on Jakku each young man assumes his new friend dead.
Finn stumbles around the desert until he reaches the outpost where Rey lives, and she begrudgingly accepts him as an ally—and after a few scrapes, a friend. They flee Jakku when the First Order bombs the outpost, in a lemon lying around the junkyard that turns out to be the Millennium Falcon. It should surprise no one that, having had his ship stolen from him, Han Solo has been tracking it down for some time, and Chewbacca is there with him. They quickly learn that Finn, Rey, and BB-8 are on their side.
They land on the sylvan planet Takodana so Han can consult the old pirate Maz Kanata, who serves all manner of rogues in the dining hall of her lakeside castle. Han and Finn are both scheming how to weasel out of joining the Resistance—Han and Leia are still technically married but haven’t spoken in years—and while Maz chides the men for their cowardice, Rey (accompanied by her loyal little droid) follows a mysterious noise into the castle’s basement.
Here she discovers a relic—a lightsaber—and has a terrifying vision. Some of these scenes already happened; others are “the shadows of things that will be or might be” (hat tip to A Christmas Carol ). In many she’s being stalked by an aggressive being in a black cloak and mask, wielding a giant red lightsaber. Maz finds her crying and tries to explain, but Rey flees rashly into the forest, BB-8 at her heels.
On a cold and sterile planet called Starkiller Base, the First Order nukes an entire solar system to send the Resistance a message. Kylo Ren does not participate, and it’s implied he’s disgusted by this genocide.
Having traced the droid to Takodana, the First Order start bombing the castle. Kylo enters the woods, ostensibly looking for BB-8 but really pursuing Rey. He calls off the search for the droid and carries the girl away in his arms instead. The Resistance show up; Han and Leia struggle to face each other. We learn that what drove them apart was the loss of their son to the Dark Side…and that son, Ben, goes by Kylo Ren now.
While the Resistance debates how to take out Starkiller Base before its weapon of mass destruction can be aimed at them, Rey wakes up on the former planet, with her abductor watching her. He removes his helmet for her, revealing himself to be a human (and striking) youth. He uses his telepathy, ostensibly to scry the map, but gets sidetracked by her unhappy memories and she is able to reverse the probe and break into his head. He blurts out her most painful secret and she responds in kind. He is summoned by Snoke and takes his leave. They are thoroughly confused by each other.
Finn convinces the Resistance that he can disable the shields around Starkiller, and Han and Chewy go with him. A battle ensues in space and on the snowy planet, and all might have ended well—but Leia charged Han with bringing Ben home. Father and son meet on a bridge within the First Order fortress. Han tells the young man to drop his Dark Side pretensions and return. Kylo is unhinged, begging for help—and then skewers his father with the red saber, slaughter of one’s parents being a requirement for First Order officials. Chewy shoots him. Rey and Finn witness the monstrous crime, and Ren pursues them into the snowy forest outside.
He fights Finn and leaves him for dead, but his demeanor changes markedly when up against Rey. He is so unguarded with her that she’s able to defeat him, untrained though she is. Snoke breaks into her head and tells her to kill Kylo, but she restrains herself. Chewy takes her and Finn aboard the Falcon; Stormtroopers rescue Kylo; the planet collapses.
Finn is comatose and hospitalized. The Resistance now has the whole map to Luke, and Leia sends Rey and Chewy to find her brother. The film and the novel end with the girl offering the grizzled hermit-hero his old weapon.
This novelization reminds me of A.C.H. Smith’s one of Labyrinth, which is interesting given some thematic similarities between the films themselves (both Lucasfilm productions). Both spend way too much time on the silliest parts of their respective movies (exploding spaceships, self-dismembering firebirds) and leaving the most interesting parts (the Hades and Persephone plots and fraught family relationships in both) undercooked.
These authors barely describe their dramatis personae when they have actual actors with faces to study. Foster isn’t even necessarily accurate (at one point he mentions Rey’s “dark brown eyes” which Daisy Ridley does not have). He's sure to tell us that Poe is handsome—pointing out that Oscar Isaac is handsome is like pointing out that water is wet—but leaves Kylo almost blank. The Victorian writers would have fought each other for the chance to describe Adam Driver. Look at what I was able to scribble out:
If my scribbles sound like they’re foreshadowing a romance between Kylo/Ben and Rey, that’s because they are, because that’s what the movie did. Unfortunately, the novelization is muddled about which young man our heroine will wind up with and tries to lamely set up for all three possibilities. Her feelings for Finn are clearly sisterly in the movie, but here she seems to have a bit of a crush on him. In the book, she shares an awkward celebratory hug with Poe; in the film, they never even interact. But the impression I got from the film was that Finn has a puppy crush on Rey, Poe might be vaguely aware of her existence, and Kylo is hopelessly infatuated with her. Foster tries to downplay that last connection, dismissing Kylo as “ordinary-looking” and making him sound much snootier than he comes across in the film.
My other major complaint is the minimization of the two duels on Starkiller Base. The Kylo vs. Finn fight takes about five sentences, and the climactic chase/fight between Kylo and Rey is tucked away in two lousy paragraphs. That second scene is nothing like the average bad guy vs. good guy fight, and very much like every deadly/amorous sylvan chase in Metamorphoses, and if I were Foster I would've made it the biggest moment in the book. You know, like it is in the actual movie.
I was also baffled by the indifferent reaction Rey had to hearing a foreign, sinister voice in her head. She never thought about it after it happened, when such a troubling incident should definitely weigh upon her mind.
There’s interesting details in here, and it definitely helped me with the Kylo Ren vs. Edmund Pevensie meta I’m currently writing, but unless you too are writing a Star Wars meta—or just a mega fan of the franchise—there’s probably not much here to hold your interest. I was confused by Foster’s fascination with the shallow parts of the movie—the parts that don’t translate well in book form—and indifference to the pathos, and the most significant relationship in the story.
Supposedly the junior novelization is better. It’s also half the length, which in cases like this is often a good thing.
BB-8 escapes into the sandy wastes of Jakku, a giant junkyard with a mysterious ability to suppress the Force. Eventually he runs into Rey, an orphan girl who ekes out a meager living by salvaging working parts from wrecked spacecraft. Rey acts tough, but has a gentle heart, and takes the droid in.
Meanwhile, a young Stormtrooper is traumatized by his first battle and shakes off his conditioning. He frees Poe and they escape, after antagonizing their enemy like the crazy boys they are. Poe gives his new chum, coded FN-2187, the name Finn. But they were piloting separate crafts, and when they crash far apart on Jakku each young man assumes his new friend dead.
Finn stumbles around the desert until he reaches the outpost where Rey lives, and she begrudgingly accepts him as an ally—and after a few scrapes, a friend. They flee Jakku when the First Order bombs the outpost, in a lemon lying around the junkyard that turns out to be the Millennium Falcon. It should surprise no one that, having had his ship stolen from him, Han Solo has been tracking it down for some time, and Chewbacca is there with him. They quickly learn that Finn, Rey, and BB-8 are on their side.
They land on the sylvan planet Takodana so Han can consult the old pirate Maz Kanata, who serves all manner of rogues in the dining hall of her lakeside castle. Han and Finn are both scheming how to weasel out of joining the Resistance—Han and Leia are still technically married but haven’t spoken in years—and while Maz chides the men for their cowardice, Rey (accompanied by her loyal little droid) follows a mysterious noise into the castle’s basement.
Here she discovers a relic—a lightsaber—and has a terrifying vision. Some of these scenes already happened; others are “the shadows of things that will be or might be” (hat tip to A Christmas Carol ). In many she’s being stalked by an aggressive being in a black cloak and mask, wielding a giant red lightsaber. Maz finds her crying and tries to explain, but Rey flees rashly into the forest, BB-8 at her heels.
On a cold and sterile planet called Starkiller Base, the First Order nukes an entire solar system to send the Resistance a message. Kylo Ren does not participate, and it’s implied he’s disgusted by this genocide.
Having traced the droid to Takodana, the First Order start bombing the castle. Kylo enters the woods, ostensibly looking for BB-8 but really pursuing Rey. He calls off the search for the droid and carries the girl away in his arms instead. The Resistance show up; Han and Leia struggle to face each other. We learn that what drove them apart was the loss of their son to the Dark Side…and that son, Ben, goes by Kylo Ren now.
While the Resistance debates how to take out Starkiller Base before its weapon of mass destruction can be aimed at them, Rey wakes up on the former planet, with her abductor watching her. He removes his helmet for her, revealing himself to be a human (and striking) youth. He uses his telepathy, ostensibly to scry the map, but gets sidetracked by her unhappy memories and she is able to reverse the probe and break into his head. He blurts out her most painful secret and she responds in kind. He is summoned by Snoke and takes his leave. They are thoroughly confused by each other.
Finn convinces the Resistance that he can disable the shields around Starkiller, and Han and Chewy go with him. A battle ensues in space and on the snowy planet, and all might have ended well—but Leia charged Han with bringing Ben home. Father and son meet on a bridge within the First Order fortress. Han tells the young man to drop his Dark Side pretensions and return. Kylo is unhinged, begging for help—and then skewers his father with the red saber, slaughter of one’s parents being a requirement for First Order officials. Chewy shoots him. Rey and Finn witness the monstrous crime, and Ren pursues them into the snowy forest outside.
He fights Finn and leaves him for dead, but his demeanor changes markedly when up against Rey. He is so unguarded with her that she’s able to defeat him, untrained though she is. Snoke breaks into her head and tells her to kill Kylo, but she restrains herself. Chewy takes her and Finn aboard the Falcon; Stormtroopers rescue Kylo; the planet collapses.
Finn is comatose and hospitalized. The Resistance now has the whole map to Luke, and Leia sends Rey and Chewy to find her brother. The film and the novel end with the girl offering the grizzled hermit-hero his old weapon.
This novelization reminds me of A.C.H. Smith’s one of Labyrinth, which is interesting given some thematic similarities between the films themselves (both Lucasfilm productions). Both spend way too much time on the silliest parts of their respective movies (exploding spaceships, self-dismembering firebirds) and leaving the most interesting parts (the Hades and Persephone plots and fraught family relationships in both) undercooked.
These authors barely describe their dramatis personae when they have actual actors with faces to study. Foster isn’t even necessarily accurate (at one point he mentions Rey’s “dark brown eyes” which Daisy Ridley does not have). He's sure to tell us that Poe is handsome—pointing out that Oscar Isaac is handsome is like pointing out that water is wet—but leaves Kylo almost blank. The Victorian writers would have fought each other for the chance to describe Adam Driver. Look at what I was able to scribble out:
Poe: Lor San Tekka gave Poe a fatherly smile; the young pilot’s wit and confidence reminded the elder of his long-ago friend, Han Solo. Dameron was petite but well-built. His handsome face with its chiseled, black-stubbled jaw was framed in dark waves of hair; his eyes under their thick black brows were also dark, and fiery. One knew after meeting that gaze that the young man’s snark and bravado was a façade for his single-minded devotion to his cause.
Finn (John Boyega): Poe was surprised when his rescuer removed his helmet. He had never really given any thought to what the enemy might look like under their armor, and was taken a bit aback by the kindness and sincerity of the very human face that appeared. The man was about ten years younger than himself, with deep brown skin and black hair cropped right next to his scalp. He had dark brown eyes, at the moment wide with adrenaline and absolute terror. Below those emotions Poe sensed the same fire for justice that helped him wake up every morning. This young man, braving the wrath of the whole First Order, was a kindred spirit.
Rey: Finn hadn’t exactly met a lot of girls, and he was immediately drawn to this one despite her quick-moving staff. She was only a little smaller than him, wearing the grey drab clothes of the desert folk. Her brown hair was bound and her hazel eyes bored into him with suspicion, but no malice. He felt rather pathetic splayed on the sandy ground looking up at her.
Kylo was almost certain that this was the girl he had seen in his visions. She was tiny, with a pleasant figure draped in the pleated, trailing off-white clothes of a desert-planet dweller. He paced around her, studying the clean lines of her pretty face; the large, long-lashed hazel eyes staring at him with fear and loathing; the full lips hanging open as she gasped for breath; the constellations of freckles across her nose and flushed cheeks. Her brown hair was bound tightly behind her head in three buns stacked atop each other. It was a childish style: he had the sudden urge to gently Force-pluck her hairbands and let her mane fall across her shoulders.
Kylo/Ben: Her captor removed its helmet, almost as if it had been hoping she would mention it, and rose to its—his—full, imposing height. She had been expecting some sort of monster, and was shocked to see a man between twenty-five and thirty years old staring back at her. His face was long, with full lips for a male and a nose too large for conventional beauty, pale, framed in shoulder-length waves of glossy jet-black hair like a starless night sky. He had large brown eyes, which glittered at her with unnerving intensity. No one had ever gazed at her like that, and she wriggled, nervous. He was either the ugliest or the handsomest man she had ever seen, and she felt stupid for noticing or caring…
“Don’t you know I can take whatever I want?” he asked in that low, deceptively kind voice, and he came so close that she could smell peppermint leaves on his breath. At this range she could see that his eyes were actually hazel like hers, but his erred more to brown while hers erred more to green, and his lashes were long and thick and dark like a girl’s. His pale face was spotted with sporadic moles, and the sculpted mouth hung open slightly as if he were thirsty. He leaned his head close to hers—she felt a minor headache that she supposed was him entering her mind, and at the same time she felt him breathing on her ear. If the planet below broke open and swallowed her, she would not complain.
Finn had never seen Ren unmasked, and under different circumstances he might have chuckled. The horse-like features, almost demonically twisted in rage, did not mesh with the terrifying persona.
If my scribbles sound like they’re foreshadowing a romance between Kylo/Ben and Rey, that’s because they are, because that’s what the movie did. Unfortunately, the novelization is muddled about which young man our heroine will wind up with and tries to lamely set up for all three possibilities. Her feelings for Finn are clearly sisterly in the movie, but here she seems to have a bit of a crush on him. In the book, she shares an awkward celebratory hug with Poe; in the film, they never even interact. But the impression I got from the film was that Finn has a puppy crush on Rey, Poe might be vaguely aware of her existence, and Kylo is hopelessly infatuated with her. Foster tries to downplay that last connection, dismissing Kylo as “ordinary-looking” and making him sound much snootier than he comes across in the film.
My other major complaint is the minimization of the two duels on Starkiller Base. The Kylo vs. Finn fight takes about five sentences, and the climactic chase/fight between Kylo and Rey is tucked away in two lousy paragraphs. That second scene is nothing like the average bad guy vs. good guy fight, and very much like every deadly/amorous sylvan chase in Metamorphoses, and if I were Foster I would've made it the biggest moment in the book. You know, like it is in the actual movie.
I was also baffled by the indifferent reaction Rey had to hearing a foreign, sinister voice in her head. She never thought about it after it happened, when such a troubling incident should definitely weigh upon her mind.
There’s interesting details in here, and it definitely helped me with the Kylo Ren vs. Edmund Pevensie meta I’m currently writing, but unless you too are writing a Star Wars meta—or just a mega fan of the franchise—there’s probably not much here to hold your interest. I was confused by Foster’s fascination with the shallow parts of the movie—the parts that don’t translate well in book form—and indifference to the pathos, and the most significant relationship in the story.
Supposedly the junior novelization is better. It’s also half the length, which in cases like this is often a good thing.
January 17, 2016
Followed the movie pretty closely. There were a few extra parts and a few parts left out , but generally pretty true to the film.
It was a bit more cheesy than the movie. Also, the first 3/4 of the book seemed to cover the first hour or so of the movie. Because of this, it felt like there was a lot shoved in at the end.
It was fun to go through the story again and I enjoyed it.
It was a bit more cheesy than the movie. Also, the first 3/4 of the book seemed to cover the first hour or so of the movie. Because of this, it felt like there was a lot shoved in at the end.
It was fun to go through the story again and I enjoyed it.
January 22, 2016
NO SPOILERS HERE!
I won't pretend this is an objective review, but as a first-generation and long-term but not uncritical Star Wars fan, I found the story both enjoyable and, more to the point, satisfying. I really appreciate the contrast between the surface humor and underlying pathos. The new characters for the most part are true winners. The writing here is workmanlike and unspectacular, but I love the full-circle nature of bringing back Alan Dean Foster, who wrote the original novelization of the first Star Wars, back for this adaptation.
While the novel does fill in some plot-related details from the film (and some small details actually contradict the film), the book answers none of the big questions the movie posed. I'm perfectly fine with this. The Force Awakens is the first of a trilogy, after all, and not a stand-alone piece. If we didn't want more at this stage, that means it failed in its job.
Edited to add: If you're looking for a book that does a better job of answering questions about the galaxy during the events of The Force Awakens, I recommend Before the Awakening.
I won't pretend this is an objective review, but as a first-generation and long-term but not uncritical Star Wars fan, I found the story both enjoyable and, more to the point, satisfying. I really appreciate the contrast between the surface humor and underlying pathos. The new characters for the most part are true winners. The writing here is workmanlike and unspectacular, but I love the full-circle nature of bringing back Alan Dean Foster, who wrote the original novelization of the first Star Wars, back for this adaptation.
While the novel does fill in some plot-related details from the film (and some small details actually contradict the film), the book answers none of the big questions the movie posed. I'm perfectly fine with this. The Force Awakens is the first of a trilogy, after all, and not a stand-alone piece. If we didn't want more at this stage, that means it failed in its job.
Edited to add: If you're looking for a book that does a better job of answering questions about the galaxy during the events of The Force Awakens, I recommend Before the Awakening.
March 4, 2016
I waited for this book on hold at my library for two and half months. It wasn't worth it. At the same time, I'm glad I didn't give in to my initial impulse to buy it. That would have been a huge waste of $20. Unfortunately, Alan Dean Foster manages to take a great story and make it more pondering, less exciting, and inserts a level of cheese into the dialogue with his added and extended scenes (and even in some cases, changed lines) that ruins things that were good in the actual film.
The stuff I liked most in the movie didn't really translate well, if at all, to the page. The scene where BB-8 gives Finn the thumbs up in the film is one of my favorites, but all the things that make it wonderful (Finn's pathetic pleading with the robot leading up to it, BB-8's body language, his cute noises, and the actual jaunty way he gave the thumbs up) are completely absent, instead replaced by a single line. I had to bring my copy back to the library, but it was basically just "BB-8 mimicked a thumb's up using one of his arms". Boring, functional. Completely missing any sort of voice at all. The whole book is like that.
He did manage to plausibly explain some things only left to your imagination in the actual film, though. Starkiller Base seemed so implausible to me that I just wrote it off as something I just couldn't think about lest it fall apart, but the scientific mumbo jumbo he cranks out makes it seem at least somewhat like it might be a thing that could happen, possibly. There's also the occasional line that has resonance and adds something to the existing script, like the last line, "She wondered what would happen next."
This book entirely coasted on my goodwill from seeing the movie. It would not have stood well on its own, and it's definitely not a good idea to try and read this before watching the movie, like I've seen some very strange people on Goodreads claiming they are going to do. WHY???
Please, Disney and Star Wars people who make these decisions, bring back Matthew Woodring Stover to do the next one. He's really good at this shit.
The stuff I liked most in the movie didn't really translate well, if at all, to the page. The scene where BB-8 gives Finn the thumbs up in the film is one of my favorites, but all the things that make it wonderful (Finn's pathetic pleading with the robot leading up to it, BB-8's body language, his cute noises, and the actual jaunty way he gave the thumbs up) are completely absent, instead replaced by a single line. I had to bring my copy back to the library, but it was basically just "BB-8 mimicked a thumb's up using one of his arms". Boring, functional. Completely missing any sort of voice at all. The whole book is like that.
He did manage to plausibly explain some things only left to your imagination in the actual film, though. Starkiller Base seemed so implausible to me that I just wrote it off as something I just couldn't think about lest it fall apart, but the scientific mumbo jumbo he cranks out makes it seem at least somewhat like it might be a thing that could happen, possibly. There's also the occasional line that has resonance and adds something to the existing script, like the last line, "She wondered what would happen next."
This book entirely coasted on my goodwill from seeing the movie. It would not have stood well on its own, and it's definitely not a good idea to try and read this before watching the movie, like I've seen some very strange people on Goodreads claiming they are going to do. WHY???
Please, Disney and Star Wars people who make these decisions, bring back Matthew Woodring Stover to do the next one. He's really good at this shit.
January 23, 2018
Dear god above that was almost physically painful to read. Alan Dean Foster appears to have watched "The Force Awakens" once or twice, written the novel in some language other than English and then run it through Google Translate to arrive at this ludicrous result.
I think novelizations probably had a bigger meaning and were thus handled more seriously when there was actually some lag time between first seeing a movie and getting to see it again. Heck I remember reading some damn good novelizations in my yester years. Now, I can get home from the movies, hop on Youtube and watch the entire thing all over again. Or you know the scenes with Kylo Ren. If I wanted to. I'm not saying I do that. But if I wanted to I would have the option. To watch Kylo Ren. Over and over again.
Ahem.
My POINT is unless we're talking about a book to film adaptation or an honest to goodness attempt at creating a separate entity that stands on its own apart from the film all you're getting is someone trying (and in this case failing spectacularly) to somehow recapture the literal feelings inspired by the film. Which is impossible because these are two wildly different mediums.
This is a disaster on every possible level in terms of story construction and writing. Its just seriously bad writing regardless. But, its made all the worse because I suspect Foster probably had reams of things he straight up was not allowed to do. I'm sure he couldn't reinterpret anything or put his own spin on scenes or (god forbid) reveal something we haven't seen yet. So we end up with something that reads like a drunk frat boy recapping the movie (which he saw six months ago) for you as he's falling asleep.
"So Kylo Ren? He's a baaddd guy. Hugely bad. He wears a maaasssk. On his faceee. It makes his voice weird. Cause its a masskkk. On his faceeee."
Now if you'll excuse me Youtube is calling my name.
ps. While I could spend HOURS talking about the writing my "favorite" glaring issue has got to be the writer's utterly insane decision to phonetically spell out all the robots names. I actually had to read "Bee Bee Ate" and "See Three Pee Oh" like one hundred thousand times throughout the book. I WISH I was kidding.
I think novelizations probably had a bigger meaning and were thus handled more seriously when there was actually some lag time between first seeing a movie and getting to see it again. Heck I remember reading some damn good novelizations in my yester years. Now, I can get home from the movies, hop on Youtube and watch the entire thing all over again. Or you know the scenes with Kylo Ren. If I wanted to. I'm not saying I do that. But if I wanted to I would have the option. To watch Kylo Ren. Over and over again.
Ahem.
My POINT is unless we're talking about a book to film adaptation or an honest to goodness attempt at creating a separate entity that stands on its own apart from the film all you're getting is someone trying (and in this case failing spectacularly) to somehow recapture the literal feelings inspired by the film. Which is impossible because these are two wildly different mediums.
This is a disaster on every possible level in terms of story construction and writing. Its just seriously bad writing regardless. But, its made all the worse because I suspect Foster probably had reams of things he straight up was not allowed to do. I'm sure he couldn't reinterpret anything or put his own spin on scenes or (god forbid) reveal something we haven't seen yet. So we end up with something that reads like a drunk frat boy recapping the movie (which he saw six months ago) for you as he's falling asleep.
"So Kylo Ren? He's a baaddd guy. Hugely bad. He wears a maaasssk. On his faceee. It makes his voice weird. Cause its a masskkk. On his faceeee."
Now if you'll excuse me Youtube is calling my name.
ps. While I could spend HOURS talking about the writing my "favorite" glaring issue has got to be the writer's utterly insane decision to phonetically spell out all the robots names. I actually had to read "Bee Bee Ate" and "See Three Pee Oh" like one hundred thousand times throughout the book. I WISH I was kidding.
January 1, 2018
My first time reading (or rather, listening to) a Star Wars movie novelization and I really enjoyed it. The narrative follows the movie really closely, albeit providing a bit more insights into some occurrences which we didn't see in the movie, as well as the inner thoughts and emotions of the characters. BB-8 is given even more of a personality in the book and I absolutely adored it.
I have to say that this novelization is best appreciated via the audiobook. The Audible production of Star Wars' books has always been top-notch and close to Graphic Audio standards with all the requisite sound effects (including BB-8's beeps and warbles). Marc Thompson's Han Solo is so impeccable, one can easily believe it's Mr Harrison Ford himself. While his narration could be overly enthusiastic at times, at least one can never call him monotonous. Coupled with his ability to voice and differentiate multiple characters really well, it culminated in a very entertaining listen.
I have to say that this novelization is best appreciated via the audiobook. The Audible production of Star Wars' books has always been top-notch and close to Graphic Audio standards with all the requisite sound effects (including BB-8's beeps and warbles). Marc Thompson's Han Solo is so impeccable, one can easily believe it's Mr Harrison Ford himself. While his narration could be overly enthusiastic at times, at least one can never call him monotonous. Coupled with his ability to voice and differentiate multiple characters really well, it culminated in a very entertaining listen.
January 5, 2016
Let it be clear that I read this book quickly. Very quickly. That did not save it.
I love this new Star Wars and admittedly, I am a new Star Wars fan. I loathed the prequels and I only like 4-6. I think it's a generational thing and the fact that I saw them so late in my life. I had already seen everything that ripped off Star Wars before I saw Star Wars. Now, I understand that Star Wars was the herald for all this, but it's tough to be impressed by the same old story.
I loved the new movie and wanted to read this to explore a bit into the backstory of the characters. I should not have done that. Anything that was added to the movies was clunky, uninspired, and written poorly. The dialogue in particular--Ren and Rey's--is like...no. The characters don't sound like that. What are you doing here?
If you loved the movie, like I do, skip over this book.
I love this new Star Wars and admittedly, I am a new Star Wars fan. I loathed the prequels and I only like 4-6. I think it's a generational thing and the fact that I saw them so late in my life. I had already seen everything that ripped off Star Wars before I saw Star Wars. Now, I understand that Star Wars was the herald for all this, but it's tough to be impressed by the same old story.
I loved the new movie and wanted to read this to explore a bit into the backstory of the characters. I should not have done that. Anything that was added to the movies was clunky, uninspired, and written poorly. The dialogue in particular--Ren and Rey's--is like...no. The characters don't sound like that. What are you doing here?
If you loved the movie, like I do, skip over this book.
December 19, 2015
Pre-review notice: Although I gave this book two stars, I'm rather happy to acknowledge that Alan Dean Foster is an immensely talented author, and that this review shouldn't really reflect his authorship too much. In fact, his authorship heightens it from what should be a one-star review to the two-star that I'm generously giving it.
So, The Force Reboots: The Novelization: The Mess. Good grief. Where to begin. Best way I can describe this book is that the weaker elements of the plot of A New Hope were violently blended in with pared-down versions of Jacen and Jaina (without pretty much any of the background that made them remotely interesting characters), poured onto a floor, forgotten about for a few months, gussied up by Mr. Foster (adding a few semi-redeeming qualities), then finally served to the general public.
To begin: the new characters and groups. Finn is by far the most pleasant addition to the cast, as he's actually something NEW. A fairly average, borderline incompetent, but goodhearted Imperial defector? That's the makings of a genuinely interesting character! You get to see him from his origin here, and it should be a lot of fun to see his evolution in future installments. Through no fault of her own, Rey is presented as a pretty severe nonentity throughout TFA, much like Luke in ANH (another of the many, many parallels). The plot just sorta happens to her, and she gets sucked through without really growing or reacting in any notable way. It's nice to have an almost blow-for-blow adaptation of Jaina in the NuEU, especially in such a prominent character position. And then, you've got the hardcore lame duck, Poe. I was half expecting there to be a post-crash reveal that he was just a droid programmed to say "I can fly anything!" or something of that ilk. For something that was advertised to be a borderline main character, he had substantially less personality than Artoo for most of the book, and that's saying something. On that note, it's worth mentioning that BeeBee-Ate is literally just a vaguely more mobile but infinitely less useful Artoo clone, which kinda weirded me out at several points in the book. Also, Maz Kanata's there, I guess...? Finally, onto the bad guys. Snoke got more coverage here than Palpy did in ANH (which is pretty cool, I guess), but the First Order as a whole basically took the Empire's shtick and said "let's somehow make it more boring!". I can't begin to imagine why they would just reuse the stock Empire goals of conquest, rather than spicing it up a bit with something a little new. And that brings me to Kylo Ren. I can just imagine the writers' room when they were airing his concept: "You know what TFA needs? A clone of Vader, but with more exposition!" Ren, while still marginally more interesting than Poe, somehow manages to be one of the dullest villains I've come across in a SF novel, and that's saying something. His characterization is begging for the reader to care that "oh, he's so conflicted!", although the reader is literally never given a SINGLE reason to care. Like a somehow-shittier Anakin, Ren managed to isolate whatever initial investment I had in his dramatic plight and totally bore me during any of his exposition scenes, which is genuinely impressive, considering that I tend to be a fairly forgiving reader.
As per the old characters: this is where the most colossal of this book's colossal screw-ups lays. It's like they looked at the characters of Han and Leia and thought to themselves, "hmm, how can we possibly screw them up the most?" Like, if you asked someone who knew anything about Star Wars what their respective top 3 character traits are, that Han is devoted to Leia to the literal ends of the universe, and that Leia holds the memory of Alderaan nearer and dearer to her heart than pretty much anything else would almost definitely show up. With Han on the lam and Leia rather deliberately dropping the "Princess" title for "General", it's like the authors are deliberately flipping a middle finger to the original characterizations that everyone fell in love with. At least they couldn't screw up Chewbacca, I guess. Although, the question of his Life Debt is now rather pertinent; technically, it should either transfer to Leia or Ben. I hope they don't totally drop that.
Then, the setting. I mean, we've known that Jakku was a desert planet for a while now with borderline slaver-traders and stuff on there, but SERIOUSLY? At least the Prequels shamelessly reused Tatooine for a reason without straight-up renaming it, then sucking away the culture they had built up around it. Same goes for the whatever-the-name-was system they used to replace Coruscant. Then, two planets full of forests. Say what you will about the prequels, but the cultural design and descriptions of Naboo, Geonosis, Coruscant, and Tatooine were infinitely richer than anything given here. And that's like the crux of Star Wars; the richness and fullness of its universe historically put it head-and-shoulders above many of its peer franchises.
Which brings me to my main bone that I've realized I've had to pick with the whole Disney-Star Wars entity. I've read reviews of the movie that say "oh yeah, TFA finally feels like a Star Wars movie again!" No shit, it feels like a Star Wars movie, it's nothing more than a goddamned rehash of A New Hope set in the eviscerated skeleton of the Star Wars universe. While it still would've taken me a while to get over the death of the old EU, I would've been totally A-OK with the NuEU if Disney had chosen to do something remotely original with this whole franchise. I had hope. But Abrams, the king of nostalgia, was attached, so that was a mighty foolish emotion from the get-go. Beyond that, it's like Disney's trying to rebuild some form of the EU in the same. exact. goddamn. way. that the old one was situated and make people care about characters without doing any of the legwork that the old EU did to make the characters feel like they mattered; the old EU's death is feeling like a huger and huger waste on a daily basis.
But whatever. I know I have no real right to judge. Everything I've said here is so stupidly overdramatic, I'm sure I'll look back on this in the future and smack myself for being such an un-self-aware pretentious ass. I have no real stake in this fight. I was just a fan. But, I was a true fan. I lived and breathed Star Wars for something around 15 years, and it provided a fairly foundational aspect of my adolescence. Disney provided a bit of an early end to that, but I'm coming to realize that might not be a bad thing. While the Star Wars chapter of my life is coming to a close, this total reboot will almost certainly give some new fan the wonderful years that I once enjoyed, and that makes me mighty happy to think about.
tl;dr, The Force Awakens is a well-written hot mess that wholly misses the point of Star Wars (in a sense) and the characters that live inside its universe. If you liked the movie for whatever reason, I'm sure you'll love the book.
So, The Force Reboots: The Novelization: The Mess. Good grief. Where to begin. Best way I can describe this book is that the weaker elements of the plot of A New Hope were violently blended in with pared-down versions of Jacen and Jaina (without pretty much any of the background that made them remotely interesting characters), poured onto a floor, forgotten about for a few months, gussied up by Mr. Foster (adding a few semi-redeeming qualities), then finally served to the general public.
To begin: the new characters and groups. Finn is by far the most pleasant addition to the cast, as he's actually something NEW. A fairly average, borderline incompetent, but goodhearted Imperial defector? That's the makings of a genuinely interesting character! You get to see him from his origin here, and it should be a lot of fun to see his evolution in future installments. Through no fault of her own, Rey is presented as a pretty severe nonentity throughout TFA, much like Luke in ANH (another of the many, many parallels). The plot just sorta happens to her, and she gets sucked through without really growing or reacting in any notable way. It's nice to have an almost blow-for-blow adaptation of Jaina in the NuEU, especially in such a prominent character position. And then, you've got the hardcore lame duck, Poe. I was half expecting there to be a post-crash reveal that he was just a droid programmed to say "I can fly anything!" or something of that ilk. For something that was advertised to be a borderline main character, he had substantially less personality than Artoo for most of the book, and that's saying something. On that note, it's worth mentioning that BeeBee-Ate is literally just a vaguely more mobile but infinitely less useful Artoo clone, which kinda weirded me out at several points in the book. Also, Maz Kanata's there, I guess...? Finally, onto the bad guys. Snoke got more coverage here than Palpy did in ANH (which is pretty cool, I guess), but the First Order as a whole basically took the Empire's shtick and said "let's somehow make it more boring!". I can't begin to imagine why they would just reuse the stock Empire goals of conquest, rather than spicing it up a bit with something a little new. And that brings me to Kylo Ren. I can just imagine the writers' room when they were airing his concept: "You know what TFA needs? A clone of Vader, but with more exposition!" Ren, while still marginally more interesting than Poe, somehow manages to be one of the dullest villains I've come across in a SF novel, and that's saying something. His characterization is begging for the reader to care that "oh, he's so conflicted!", although the reader is literally never given a SINGLE reason to care. Like a somehow-shittier Anakin, Ren managed to isolate whatever initial investment I had in his dramatic plight and totally bore me during any of his exposition scenes, which is genuinely impressive, considering that I tend to be a fairly forgiving reader.
As per the old characters: this is where the most colossal of this book's colossal screw-ups lays. It's like they looked at the characters of Han and Leia and thought to themselves, "hmm, how can we possibly screw them up the most?" Like, if you asked someone who knew anything about Star Wars what their respective top 3 character traits are, that Han is devoted to Leia to the literal ends of the universe, and that Leia holds the memory of Alderaan nearer and dearer to her heart than pretty much anything else would almost definitely show up. With Han on the lam and Leia rather deliberately dropping the "Princess" title for "General", it's like the authors are deliberately flipping a middle finger to the original characterizations that everyone fell in love with. At least they couldn't screw up Chewbacca, I guess. Although, the question of his Life Debt is now rather pertinent; technically, it should either transfer to Leia or Ben. I hope they don't totally drop that.
Then, the setting. I mean, we've known that Jakku was a desert planet for a while now with borderline slaver-traders and stuff on there, but SERIOUSLY? At least the Prequels shamelessly reused Tatooine for a reason without straight-up renaming it, then sucking away the culture they had built up around it. Same goes for the whatever-the-name-was system they used to replace Coruscant. Then, two planets full of forests. Say what you will about the prequels, but the cultural design and descriptions of Naboo, Geonosis, Coruscant, and Tatooine were infinitely richer than anything given here. And that's like the crux of Star Wars; the richness and fullness of its universe historically put it head-and-shoulders above many of its peer franchises.
Which brings me to my main bone that I've realized I've had to pick with the whole Disney-Star Wars entity. I've read reviews of the movie that say "oh yeah, TFA finally feels like a Star Wars movie again!" No shit, it feels like a Star Wars movie, it's nothing more than a goddamned rehash of A New Hope set in the eviscerated skeleton of the Star Wars universe. While it still would've taken me a while to get over the death of the old EU, I would've been totally A-OK with the NuEU if Disney had chosen to do something remotely original with this whole franchise. I had hope. But Abrams, the king of nostalgia, was attached, so that was a mighty foolish emotion from the get-go. Beyond that, it's like Disney's trying to rebuild some form of the EU in the same. exact. goddamn. way. that the old one was situated and make people care about characters without doing any of the legwork that the old EU did to make the characters feel like they mattered; the old EU's death is feeling like a huger and huger waste on a daily basis.
But whatever. I know I have no real right to judge. Everything I've said here is so stupidly overdramatic, I'm sure I'll look back on this in the future and smack myself for being such an un-self-aware pretentious ass. I have no real stake in this fight. I was just a fan. But, I was a true fan. I lived and breathed Star Wars for something around 15 years, and it provided a fairly foundational aspect of my adolescence. Disney provided a bit of an early end to that, but I'm coming to realize that might not be a bad thing. While the Star Wars chapter of my life is coming to a close, this total reboot will almost certainly give some new fan the wonderful years that I once enjoyed, and that makes me mighty happy to think about.
tl;dr, The Force Awakens is a well-written hot mess that wholly misses the point of Star Wars (in a sense) and the characters that live inside its universe. If you liked the movie for whatever reason, I'm sure you'll love the book.
June 18, 2016
This book answered a few questions I had after watching the movie .
Some scenes looked different in the book, and some characters like Kylo Ren looked weaker and he seemed intereseted in Rey ;) .. that's why the second half was my fav., because it was full of Kylo's emotion and thoughts
And in this book ladies and gentlemen you'll find plenty of proves that my ship will sail #Reylo :P
Snoke: you have compassion for her.
Anakin(episode II): compassion which I would define as unconditional love ..
Some scenes looked different in the book, and some characters like Kylo Ren looked weaker and he seemed intereseted in Rey ;) .. that's why the second half was my fav., because it was full of Kylo's emotion and thoughts
And in this book ladies and gentlemen you'll find plenty of proves that my ship will sail #Reylo :P
Snoke: you have compassion for her.
Anakin(episode II): compassion which I would define as unconditional love ..
August 26, 2016
3.5 Stars
So I mean, this wasn't the most amazingly-written thing in the world or anything. But I love Star Wars and I read this for fun, and ... it was fun. Plus it filled in some of the gaps in the movie's plot, so that was nice. If anything, this got me out of a bit of a reading slump.
So I mean, this wasn't the most amazingly-written thing in the world or anything. But I love Star Wars and I read this for fun, and ... it was fun. Plus it filled in some of the gaps in the movie's plot, so that was nice. If anything, this got me out of a bit of a reading slump.
February 5, 2018
“It is you,” Ren murmured. His words unsettled her: not for the first time, he seemed to know more about her than she did about herself.”
My main problem with this novelization? Kylo Ren's characterization.
Let's face it: he's the best character of the new Star wars trilogy and he can hold his own against the original trio, too. He's being abused, tortured, brainwashedhe's being torn apart someone help this poor boy yes I'm talking to you Rey
ahem
So, Adam Driver's Kylo Ren is fantastic (that man deserves an oscar don't fight me on this) but Alan Foster's Kylo is completely different: he's way too sassy and acts superior, Kylo's not like that. He's collected (except when he feels like smashing somethings with his cool af lightsaber), smart and conflicted. Idk some of his scenes in the novelisation really irked me but he's still the best.
But besides this, I really enjoyed the book. It moves fast (sometimes a bit too fast) and it sometimes gives us info on how to interpret some looks (like what were Han and Kylo feeling when they saw each other?) and actions that weren't that obvious in the movie (and did you see that reylo quote up there? ^^^^^^)
My main problem with this novelization? Kylo Ren's characterization.
Let's face it: he's the best character of the new Star wars trilogy and he can hold his own against the original trio, too. He's being abused, tortured, brainwashed
ahem
So, Adam Driver's Kylo Ren is fantastic (that man deserves an oscar don't fight me on this) but Alan Foster's Kylo is completely different: he's way too sassy and acts superior, Kylo's not like that. He's collected (except when he feels like smashing somethings with his cool af lightsaber), smart and conflicted. Idk some of his scenes in the novelisation really irked me but he's still the best.
But besides this, I really enjoyed the book. It moves fast (sometimes a bit too fast) and it sometimes gives us info on how to interpret some looks (like what were Han and Kylo feeling when they saw each other?) and actions that weren't that obvious in the movie (and did you see that reylo quote up there? ^^^^^^)
December 27, 2015
Will it be revealed in Episode VIII that Rey is the daughter of an illicit inter-film romance between...
January 9, 2018
I loved this book but I just don't have the energy for a review at the moment. It was lovely and offered some good insights into the movie that, of course, left out some elements due to editing and run time.
January 3, 2016
It was great. It was as entertaining as the film. For me it enhanced the movie experience adding more depth to almost every scene. When I started the book I had already seen the film 3 times so I knew all the lines by heart. Of course some of them differ from the novelization but that's to be expected. Not everything that works on page can be translated to the screen. I especially liked seeing how some concepts have changed while filming I loved the additional scenes and I wonder if some of them were filmed. They do add some much needed explanation to some of the events in the film. Having read more than 70% of the book when I saw TFA for the forth time I had new appreciation for the characters and the struggles they faced. I was most fascinated by Kyle Ren's perspective and I really want to see more of him in the form of a prequel. I know we'll learn more in the next films but still I hope for a story similar to "SW: Before the Awakening" which will be the next star wars book I'll read. While the book answered some of the questions I had watching the film it raised new ones as well. Allan Dean Foster has done a great job at turning the script into a enjoyable and captivating book that supplements the movie without being redundant.
June 15, 2017
Agh! - I couldn't take it anymore.
As several reviewers have noted, this is a very disappointing novelization of the movie. The additional dialog and scenes do nothing to enrich our enjoyment of the film (assuming we enjoyed the film; if you didn't, then I don't think anyone's novelization would save it for you). In fact, whoever had a hand in chopping out all the extra verbiage and scenes from the movie did a fine job.
Where's the Foster I remember from novelizations of "Alien" or "Outland"? Or from the first post-"Star Wars" novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye?
As to the narrator: I wasn't thrilled with the narrator. Though it's not his fault he had to read all the extra stuff and he read it well enough, I found his voice annoying. And he crossed the line when he read Kanji Club's leader's lines in a B-movie Chinese accent straight out of "Fu Manchu."
This is a 1.5 star effort, rounded up because I reserve one stars for stuff I couldn't finish or for the truly unreadable.
As several reviewers have noted, this is a very disappointing novelization of the movie. The additional dialog and scenes do nothing to enrich our enjoyment of the film (assuming we enjoyed the film; if you didn't, then I don't think anyone's novelization would save it for you). In fact, whoever had a hand in chopping out all the extra verbiage and scenes from the movie did a fine job.
Where's the Foster I remember from novelizations of "Alien" or "Outland"? Or from the first post-"Star Wars" novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye?
As to the narrator: I wasn't thrilled with the narrator. Though it's not his fault he had to read all the extra stuff and he read it well enough, I found his voice annoying. And he crossed the line when he read Kanji Club's leader's lines in a B-movie Chinese accent straight out of "Fu Manchu."
This is a 1.5 star effort, rounded up because I reserve one stars for stuff I couldn't finish or for the truly unreadable.
March 7, 2017
Kažimo 3.5/5 ali ide na gore pošto su ovo ipak Zvezdani Ratovi :)
Knjiga kao knjiga je kompetentno napisana. Manje više ceo film je tu prošaran sa gomilom sitnih detalja koje niu mogući u filmu (interni monolog i slično) i sa par ekstra scena da malo popune radnju. Što znači da na kraju dobijamo zabavnu knjižicu koja može da posluži kao fini podsetnik ako ima duže kako ste gledali film.
Ili jednostavno rečeno ono što zamišljate to i dobijate sa ovom knjigom.
Knjiga kao knjiga je kompetentno napisana. Manje više ceo film je tu prošaran sa gomilom sitnih detalja koje niu mogući u filmu (interni monolog i slično) i sa par ekstra scena da malo popune radnju. Što znači da na kraju dobijamo zabavnu knjižicu koja može da posluži kao fini podsetnik ako ima duže kako ste gledali film.
Ili jednostavno rečeno ono što zamišljate to i dobijate sa ovom knjigom.
December 31, 2015
Full disclosure: I only bought this because I was on such a Star Wars high that I needed more in my life. Also, I was secretly hoping for Kylo Ren soliloquies, which was kind of half delivered?
This book was good. It's not the best tie-in ever, and it's definitely not the worst - it sits very middle of the ground for me. The novel obviously follows the plot of the film very closely, so I won't spoil anything here (but seriously, guys, it's been out two weeks! Get on that train!), with some departures that make me think the author must have had a copy of the original original screenplay to work off of. There were some glimpses into each character's head and thought process(oh heyyyyy, Kylo Ren!) and some nice backstory and world expansion that Star Wars fans will probably appreciate. Actually, there are bits to appreciate here for everyone, regardless of your nerd level: some things are explained in the book way better than the film, and I think the book definitely has the advantage of having more time to set up situations, unlike the film.
I do have to talk about the audiobook narrator, Marc Thompson. I know people who are massive fans of his, and all the Star Wars stuff he narrates, and while I found him to be quite good overall, I don't know if I'm a massive fan of his narrating style. I found the audiobook to be very over-acted: if Finn had trouble lifting something, or was struggling to break free from something, it was acted. There was Definite Inflection(TM) in every part of the audiobook to go along with every action, thought and mood, which I find great in smaller doses but was a little on the overbearing side here. His character voices, however, were pretty uniformly great, with the exception of Rey. His British accent sucks. #Sorrynotsorry for pointing it out - every time he narrated Rey I cringed a little inside.
If you are a fan of the movie, and you want to get a little more backstory, or you're desperate for more Star Wars before it gets released for home viewing, get this. It was a entertaining read, it did what it said on the box, and I can't ask more of a book than that. If you're less of a Star Wars fan, you can probably skip this. It's the movie written down with some extra scenes thrown in, and if you're happy with the film and don't have a burning desire to fill your life with Star Wars, this book is not going to convert you to the joys of film tie-ins.
And finally... a Kylo Ren gif. #sorrynotsorry #noregrets #kyloren4eva
This book was good. It's not the best tie-in ever, and it's definitely not the worst - it sits very middle of the ground for me. The novel obviously follows the plot of the film very closely, so I won't spoil anything here (but seriously, guys, it's been out two weeks! Get on that train!), with some departures that make me think the author must have had a copy of the original original screenplay to work off of. There were some glimpses into each character's head and thought process(oh heyyyyy, Kylo Ren!) and some nice backstory and world expansion that Star Wars fans will probably appreciate. Actually, there are bits to appreciate here for everyone, regardless of your nerd level: some things are explained in the book way better than the film, and I think the book definitely has the advantage of having more time to set up situations, unlike the film.
I do have to talk about the audiobook narrator, Marc Thompson. I know people who are massive fans of his, and all the Star Wars stuff he narrates, and while I found him to be quite good overall, I don't know if I'm a massive fan of his narrating style. I found the audiobook to be very over-acted: if Finn had trouble lifting something, or was struggling to break free from something, it was acted. There was Definite Inflection(TM) in every part of the audiobook to go along with every action, thought and mood, which I find great in smaller doses but was a little on the overbearing side here. His character voices, however, were pretty uniformly great, with the exception of Rey. His British accent sucks. #Sorrynotsorry for pointing it out - every time he narrated Rey I cringed a little inside.
If you are a fan of the movie, and you want to get a little more backstory, or you're desperate for more Star Wars before it gets released for home viewing, get this. It was a entertaining read, it did what it said on the box, and I can't ask more of a book than that. If you're less of a Star Wars fan, you can probably skip this. It's the movie written down with some extra scenes thrown in, and if you're happy with the film and don't have a burning desire to fill your life with Star Wars, this book is not going to convert you to the joys of film tie-ins.
And finally... a Kylo Ren gif. #sorrynotsorry #noregrets #kyloren4eva
December 23, 2015
Not great. Had I read it before seeing the movie I might not have seen the movie. I've no idea how the author managed to convey a captivating plot with incredibly interesting characters in such a way that I found myself skipping pages. Very mechanical rendering of the story, a few added scenes to plump it up a bit, but otherwise it read like a very dispassionate summary of the movie version. There were a few bits enjoyed, some added dialogue that clarified a few character's motivations, but if you saw the movie and enjoyed it, don't read this to try and quench your thirst for more. Just head to AO3 honestly, you'll be much more satisfied. Then again hard scifi usually isn't my thing when it comes to choosing books, but I can't imagine it's all like this. Either way I came very close to DNFing this one.
Read
December 3, 2019I’ll read anything to do with Star Wars, gimme that content my dude
January 12, 2016
I’m working on the assumption that most, if not all of you, that are reading this have already seen The Force Awakens so I’m not going to dwell hugely on the story. A word of warning however, if you haven’t seen it then you should know there will be mild spoilers after the end of this paragraph. Don’t say that I didn’t tell you in advance. Got it? Good.
The key question that may have crossed your mind is if reading the novelisation is worth your time or not. You’ve seen the film and so already know the story. Should you bother revisiting it again so soon? The answer to that question is an unequivocal YES. The novel does a perfect job of enhancing the existing story. Put it this way, within a few pages BB-8 came across as even more adorable than he did on screen, Poe Dameron is just that little bit more dashing, Rey is that much more determined and there is far more insight into the differing internal struggles that exist within both Finn and Kylo Ren respectively. Essentially, that is the beauty of a book over a film; you get that extra depth that I think is all but impossible to convey on screen. Those little snippets of internal dialogue that help round out character motivation are so damned delightful.
I love everything that is going on here but my single favourite thing, because I am a raging sentimentalist at heart, is the relationship between Han and Leia. When I wrote my review of Star Wars: Aftermath a couple of months ago I had a minor epiphany regarding how the original trilogy ended and what came afterwards. The scenes in this book between these two characters read like the living embodiment of that revelation. Events don’t happen in a bubble, especially not when it comes to the rise and fall of galactic empires. There are consequences to actions and people suffer as an outcome. Revisiting the ultimate space scoundrel and discovering how things have changed for him and the people that surround him is heart-breaking stuff.
I suppose a movie novelisation ultimately has a single objective. Enhance the experience of the film by making the reader love that movie all the more. In this case, Alan Dean Foster has made that lofty goal appear easy. It feels like he has managed that Herculean task on every damn page. Hell, I want to go and see it again on screen right now*.
Those who enjoy musical accompaniment with reading won’t be massively surprised that I’m going to select John William’s stirring score for the movie as my choice for what your ears should be doing as you read. Hell, may as well go the whole hog and embrace the entire multimedia experience!
There is actually a reasonably good chance that I’ll re-read this again before Rogue One hits our screens at the end of this year. I may be wrong, but I have some suspicions about the interconnectedness of these new films with the old and I suspect that the novelisations may offer some tantalising hints.
Overall I can’t find any fault, this novelization is the ideal companion piece to its celluloid counterpart. I already knew that Alan Dean Foster was a master when it came to the movie tie-in novel (I still remember reading both the Aliens and the Krull tie-in) and this adaption of The Force Awakens confirms that the old magic is still there. Do yourself a favour, you’ve already seen the movie x times, treat yourself to a copy of the book too.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is published by Century and is available now.
*Sadly it is a Sunday morning at 7.45am so the chances of achieving that goal immediately are pretty slim. Perhaps later on today :)
The key question that may have crossed your mind is if reading the novelisation is worth your time or not. You’ve seen the film and so already know the story. Should you bother revisiting it again so soon? The answer to that question is an unequivocal YES. The novel does a perfect job of enhancing the existing story. Put it this way, within a few pages BB-8 came across as even more adorable than he did on screen, Poe Dameron is just that little bit more dashing, Rey is that much more determined and there is far more insight into the differing internal struggles that exist within both Finn and Kylo Ren respectively. Essentially, that is the beauty of a book over a film; you get that extra depth that I think is all but impossible to convey on screen. Those little snippets of internal dialogue that help round out character motivation are so damned delightful.
I love everything that is going on here but my single favourite thing, because I am a raging sentimentalist at heart, is the relationship between Han and Leia. When I wrote my review of Star Wars: Aftermath a couple of months ago I had a minor epiphany regarding how the original trilogy ended and what came afterwards. The scenes in this book between these two characters read like the living embodiment of that revelation. Events don’t happen in a bubble, especially not when it comes to the rise and fall of galactic empires. There are consequences to actions and people suffer as an outcome. Revisiting the ultimate space scoundrel and discovering how things have changed for him and the people that surround him is heart-breaking stuff.
I suppose a movie novelisation ultimately has a single objective. Enhance the experience of the film by making the reader love that movie all the more. In this case, Alan Dean Foster has made that lofty goal appear easy. It feels like he has managed that Herculean task on every damn page. Hell, I want to go and see it again on screen right now*.
Those who enjoy musical accompaniment with reading won’t be massively surprised that I’m going to select John William’s stirring score for the movie as my choice for what your ears should be doing as you read. Hell, may as well go the whole hog and embrace the entire multimedia experience!
There is actually a reasonably good chance that I’ll re-read this again before Rogue One hits our screens at the end of this year. I may be wrong, but I have some suspicions about the interconnectedness of these new films with the old and I suspect that the novelisations may offer some tantalising hints.
Overall I can’t find any fault, this novelization is the ideal companion piece to its celluloid counterpart. I already knew that Alan Dean Foster was a master when it came to the movie tie-in novel (I still remember reading both the Aliens and the Krull tie-in) and this adaption of The Force Awakens confirms that the old magic is still there. Do yourself a favour, you’ve already seen the movie x times, treat yourself to a copy of the book too.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is published by Century and is available now.
*Sadly it is a Sunday morning at 7.45am so the chances of achieving that goal immediately are pretty slim. Perhaps later on today :)
January 11, 2017
Description: Set years after Return of the Jedi, this stunning action-packed adventure rockets us back into the world of Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2,and Luke Skywalker, while introducing a host of exciting new characters, including Rey, Finn, BB-8 and Kylo Ren.
Darth Vader may have been redeemed and the Emperor vanquished, but peace can be fleeting, and evil does not easily relent. Yet the simple belief in good can still empower ordinary individuals to rise and meet the greatest challenges.
Loved this film, and twice an unbidden tear flowed ...
That scene a quarter of the way through reminded me of Nuremberg Rally footage, or those early scenes in 'Titus' **shudder**
February 6, 2016
Okay I gave this 5 stars but that is mostly because I freaking love Star Wars and it was half my childhood and my mother's before me (heehee). Anyway, I really enjoyed this book! It added a lot of insight to the film, and really delved into some classic and modern characters. If there are any Kylo Ren fans out there...READ THIS. My only issue was the writing was kinda "meh". Not bad, just a little boring. But then, I don't think it was written to be a literary masterpiece.
December 12, 2017
I read this when it first came out, shortly after the film. The story was so fresh in my mind, that the book was boring and so I skimmed a lot of it.
This time, a few days before The Last Jedi came out, I read it again so I could get a refresher and be ready for the sequel. It’s still not as good as the movie, though there are a few extra scenes (that are canon) in here that make it worth the read I think. Not the best New Canon book, but who would expect that of a novelization?
This time, a few days before The Last Jedi came out, I read it again so I could get a refresher and be ready for the sequel. It’s still not as good as the movie, though there are a few extra scenes (that are canon) in here that make it worth the read I think. Not the best New Canon book, but who would expect that of a novelization?
February 24, 2017
It's star war, what can I say I loved it. The 4 stars instead of the 5 is because there's not topping the baddest villain ever, Darth Vader, of course... so yes Kylo Ren falls a little bit short. Oh and this book doesn't strictly adhere to some the previously written stories as is I have my doubts about the Solo offspring.
March 17, 2022
The novelization of the first film of the Disney sequel trilogy The Force Awakens hit the shelves a few weeks after the film’s premiere in theaters to avoid spoilers, written by fantasy-science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster based on the script by J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, and Michael Arndt.
Foster followed the film script faithfully, so faithfully that he barely was in any of the characters heads giving them personality or extra scenes to flesh out the story. But even sticking with the script, Foster’s writing was lackluster and his transition from character to character in the same scene was near confusing at times. What makes it worse is that Foster’s short story, “Bait”, had better writing and characters in ten pages than 300 pages of the primary story of the book. Of the few extra scenes or focus on characters, Foster did address how Rey knew the workings of the Millennium Falcon which helped the narrative as did how Poe Dameron survived but Rey’s use of the Force like the film came off lame. The other and lengthier short story, “The Perfect Weapon”, by Delilah S. Dawson is fantastic and the best reason to pick up this book.
The Force Awakens is a novelization that exists, honestly the two bonus short stories that take up the last quarter of the 400 pages were better reads and earned the second star of this rating.
Foster followed the film script faithfully, so faithfully that he barely was in any of the characters heads giving them personality or extra scenes to flesh out the story. But even sticking with the script, Foster’s writing was lackluster and his transition from character to character in the same scene was near confusing at times. What makes it worse is that Foster’s short story, “Bait”, had better writing and characters in ten pages than 300 pages of the primary story of the book. Of the few extra scenes or focus on characters, Foster did address how Rey knew the workings of the Millennium Falcon which helped the narrative as did how Poe Dameron survived but Rey’s use of the Force like the film came off lame. The other and lengthier short story, “The Perfect Weapon”, by Delilah S. Dawson is fantastic and the best reason to pick up this book.
The Force Awakens is a novelization that exists, honestly the two bonus short stories that take up the last quarter of the 400 pages were better reads and earned the second star of this rating.
October 27, 2024
4.5 stars
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