Star Wars Alan Dean Foster Reviews Summary

Writing Style

Pros:

• "Foster's clipped, uncomplicated writing style is a good fit for action, too, and the film's many set-piece battle scenes are expertly relayed."
• "The writing is fluent, the action is plentiful."
• "The writing style is tolerable and funny and I did like the liberal use of language."
• "You can picture in your head what he is describing in his writing."
• "The author does a wonderful job of moving the story along and providing insight to the characters inner thoughts."
• "Excellent writing; I loved the opportunity to get further into the thoughts and motivations of characters than the movie ever could have."
• "It's a fast paced read that keeps you on your toes."

Cons:

• "However, the Foster's style seemed to be missing something for me."
• "Prose can be clunky--Dean Foster seems to have a love affair with using a big word when a simpler one would be more effective."
• "The writing in this book is wooden and lifeless."
• "The prose is rudimentary and littered with unnecessary adjectives/adverbs to explain what everyone is feeling at any given time."
• "The sentences weren't really free flowing, but could sometimes read like a screen play rather than a novel."
• "The writing was hit-or-miss; some parts were good others were just awful -- the action scenes were the worse."
• "The writing is terrible."

Adaptation & Additional Content

Pros:

• "If you've seen the movie you know what to expect. It does however adds in a few more details that you might have missed."
• "It gives a deeper look into the new characters as far as their internal motivations, speech and how they are perceived by the other characters."
• "There are expansions on various sub-plots, which in some cases add little splashes of colour and exposition."
• "There are some additional Scenes (deleted scenes from the movie) which provide you a little more insight into what is going on."
• "It includes fascinating insights into the character's thoughts."
• "There's always something in the books that isn't in the movies, this has that."
• "It also includes scenes or moments you don't see in the movie, so it's perfect for those fans who never have enough of SW!"

Cons:

• "If anything, the additional scenes ruin the surprise that the movie achieves through subtle call-backs."
• "The author took a gross amount of liberty in putting words in characters' mouths."
• "The author unnecessarily 'added some scenes' and 'deleted some scenes' unrelated to the film that only confused matters."
• "Some scenes are added or given more depth, but overall, it doesn't contribute much you won't find in the movie."
• "I was kind of hoping that JJ Abrams and Disney were going to give Alan Dean Foster some leeway to add some more detail between the scenes. Unfortunately, he stuck to the script, and added very little insight to the questions that the movie leaves you with."
• "I picked this up after hearing that it covered some plot points that were edited from the film. While a few scenes do receive additional color, nothing presented resolves the major backstory holes or questions about character relationships you consider after leaving the theater."
• "The novel does offer a few extra scenes, most notably giving a little additional information about Poe, but none of them do much to enhance the story."

Character Development

Pros:

• "It provides more insight to the characters thoughts and motivation."
• "Individual voices for all the characters were a good match and the characters’ attitudes were spot on."
• "There's more depth where we see what the characters are thinking, get to know them and their motivations more so than in the movie."
• "Interesting snippets that weren't in the movie indicate Kylo Ren knows who Rey is and where she came from before she was left on Jakku."
• "A few additional nuggets of information are provided in the book so it's worthwhile for rabid fans of the films."
• "The book 'fleshes out' the background for you and some areas in the movie that could have used more story are much more clear and enjoyable."
• "A fabulous representation of the movie and it includes fascinating insights into the character's thoughts."

Cons:

• "The characters are hugely underdeveloped and stiff for book characters."
• "However, with most of the characters I was left wanting more inward reaction to all of the events we saw on screen."
• "I don't feel he really captures any of the characters particularly well."
• "I never once felt like I was reading about the same characters I had seen in theaters -- the characterization was just off."
• "Kylo comes off as a sneery intellectual (just like about half of Foster's villains), Rey is a lot more angry and peevish than idealistic and lonely."
• "Most of the others have extra bits like small additional scenes or more insight into characters' thoughts and motivations. This one reads more like a transcription of the dialogue written by a high schooler with a thesaurus."
• "The book is also blessed with excellent characters in the form of Fin (formerly known as stormtrooper FN1287), Poe and some others with very short term roles only."