Alan Dean Foster

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Alan Dean Foster
AlanDeanFoster2007-05-26.jpg
Foster at BayCon in 2007
Born (1946-11-18) November 18, 1946 (age 77)
New York City, U.S.
Pen nameJames Lawson [lower-alpha 1]
OccupationFiction writer
Period1971–present
Genre Science fiction, fantasy
Notable works Humanx Commonwealth and Spellsinger series
Website
alandeanfoster.com

Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts.

Contents

Career

Star Wars

Foster was the ghostwriter of the original novelization of Star Wars, which was credited solely to George Lucas. [1] When asked if it was difficult for him to see Lucas get all the credit for Star Wars, Foster said, "Not at all. It was George's story idea. I was merely expanding upon it. Not having my name on the cover didn't bother me in the least. It would be akin to a contractor demanding to have his name on a Frank Lloyd Wright house." [2]

Foster also wrote the follow-up novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978), written with the intention of being adapted as a low-budget sequel to Star Wars if the film was unsuccessful. However, Star Wars was a blockbusting success, and The Empire Strikes Back (1980) would be developed instead. Foster's story relied heavily on abandoned concepts that appeared in Lucas's early treatments for the first film. [3]

Foster returned to the franchise for the prequel-era novel The Approaching Storm (2002), and also wrote the novelization of the first sequel trilogy film, The Force Awakens (2015). [4]

Star Trek

Foster wrote 10 books based on episodes of the animated Star Trek, the first six books each consisting of three linked novella-length episode adaptations, and the last four being expanded adaptations of single episodes that segued into original story. In the mid-seventies, he wrote original Star Trek stories for the Peter Pan-label Star Trek audio story records. He has the story credit for Star Trek: The Motion Picture , [5] as he wrote a treatment based on a two-page outline by Gene Roddenberry.

He later wrote the novelization of the 2009 film Star Trek , his first Star Trek novel in over 30 years, [6] and for Star Trek's sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness . [7]

Dispute with Disney

In 2020, Foster, together with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), alleged that The Walt Disney Company, which acquired rights to his Star Wars and Alien novels via their acquisitions of Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox, had not paid him royalties for e-book sales of his books. [8] [9] [10] The issue was resolved in May 2021, when Disney arranged to pay Foster and his fellow Star Wars novelization authors James Kahn and Donald F. Glut their royalties. [11] [12]

Awards

Foster won the 2008 Grand Master award from the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. [13]

Bibliography

Humanx Commonwealth Universe

Pip and Flinx

Novels are listed in chronological order of the story (not chronological order of publication). Foster comments, in a foreword to a re-issued edition of Bloodhype, that it is the eleventh novel in the series, and should fall between Running from the Deity and Trouble Magnet. [14]

  1. For Love of Mother-Not (1983) ISBN   0-345-30511-6
  2. The Tar-Aiym Krang (1972) ISBN   0-345-29232-4
  3. Orphan Star (1977) ISBN   0-345-25507-0
  4. The End of the Matter (1977) ISBN   0-345-25861-4
  5. Flinx in Flux (1988) ISBN   0-345-34363-8
  6. Mid-Flinx (1995) ISBN   0-345-38374-5
  7. Reunion (2001) ISBN   0-345-41867-0
  8. Flinx's Folly (2003) ISBN   0-345-45038-8
  9. Sliding Scales (2004) ISBN   0-345-46156-8
  10. Running from the Deity (2005) ISBN   0-345-46159-2
  11. Bloodhype (1973) ISBN   0-345-25845-2
  12. Trouble Magnet (2006) ISBN   0-345-48504-1
  13. Patrimony (2007) ISBN   978-0-345-48507-6
  14. Flinx Transcendent (2009) ISBN   978-0-345-49607-2
  15. Strange Music (2017) ISBN   978-1-101-96760-7

Founding of the Commonwealth

  1. Phylogenesis (1999) ISBN   0-345-41862-X
  2. Dirge (2000) ISBN   0-345-41864-6
  3. Diuturnity's Dawn (2002) ISBN   0-345-41865-4

Icerigger Trilogy

  1. Icerigger (1974) ISBN   0-345-23836-2
  2. Mission to Moulokin (1979) ISBN   0-345-27676-0
  3. The Deluge Drivers (1987) ISBN   0-345-33330-6

Standalone Commonwealth novels

In chronological order:

  1. Nor Crystal Tears (1982) ISBN   0-345-29141-7
  2. Voyage to the City of the Dead (1984) ISBN   0-345-31215-5
  3. Midworld (1975) ISBN   0-345-35011-1
  4. "The Emoman" (1972) short story
  5. "Surfeit" (1982) short story
  6. Drowning World (2003) ISBN   0-345-45035-3
  7. Quofum (2008) ISBN   978-0-345-49605-8
  8. "Mid-Death" (2006) short story
  9. The Howling Stones (1997) ISBN   0-345-38375-3
  10. Sentenced to Prism (1985) ISBN   0-345-31980-X
  11. Cachalot (1980) ISBN   0-345-28066-0

The Damned Trilogy

  1. A Call to Arms (1991) ISBN   0-345-35855-4
  2. The False Mirror (1992) ISBN   0-345-35856-2
  3. The Spoils of War (1993) ISBN   0-345-35857-0

Dinotopia Universe

Journeys of the Catechist

  1. Carnivores of Light and Darkness (1998) ISBN   0-446-52132-9
  2. Into the Thinking Kingdoms (1999) ISBN   0-446-52136-1
  3. A Triumph of Souls (2000) ISBN   0-446-52218-X

Marexx

  1. Builder (unpublished) [15] [16]

Spellsinger series

  1. Spellsinger (1983) ISBN   0-446-97352-1
  2. The Hour of the Gate (1984) ISBN   0-446-90354-X
  3. The Day of the Dissonance (1984) ISBN   0-446-32133-8
  4. The Moment of the Magician (1984) ISBN   0-446-32326-8
  5. The Paths of the Perambulator (1985) ISBN   0-446-32679-8
  6. The Time of the Transference (1986) ISBN   0-932096-43-3
  7. Son of Spellsinger (1993) ISBN   0-446-36257-3
  8. Chorus Skating (1994) ISBN   0-446-36237-9

"Serenade" (2004), a novelette set immediately after The Time of the Transference, [17] was first published in the anthology Masters of Fantasy and was later reprinted in Foster's short story collection Exceptions to Reality. [18]

The Taken trilogy

  1. Lost and Found (2004) ISBN   0-345-46125-8
  2. The Light-Years Beneath My Feet (2005) ISBN   0-345-46128-2
  3. The Candle of Distant Earth (2005) ISBN   0-345-46131-2

The Tipping Point trilogy

Montezuma Strip

Standalone novels

Collections

Anthologies edited

Novelizations

Star Trek universe

Star Trek: The Animated Series
  1. Star Trek Log One (1974) ISBN   0-345-24014-6
  2. Star Trek Log Two (1974) ISBN   0-345-25812-6
  3. Star Trek Log Three (1975) ISBN   0-345-24260-2
  4. Star Trek Log Four (1975) ISBN   0-345-24435-4
  5. Star Trek Log Five (1975) ISBN   0-345-33351-9
  6. Star Trek Log Six (1976) ISBN   0-345-24655-1
  7. Star Trek Log Seven (1976) ISBN   0-345-24965-8
  8. Star Trek Log Eight (1976) ISBN   0-345-25141-5
  9. Star Trek Log Nine (1977) ISBN   0-345-25557-7
  10. Star Trek Log Ten (1978) ISBN   0-345-27212-9 [20]
Star Trek movies

Star Wars universe

Alien universe

  1. Alien (1979) ISBN   0-446-82977-3
  2. Aliens (1986) ISBN   0-446-30139-6
  3. Alien 3 (1992) ISBN   0-446-36216-6
  4. Alien: Covenant (2017) ISBN   1-785-65478-0
  5. Alien: Covenant - Origins (2017) ISBN   9781785654763

Terminator universe

Transformers

Standalone novelizations

Filmography

Notes

  1. This pen name was used for the first publication of many of the Montezuma Strip stories.

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<i>Bloodhype</i> 1973 novel by Alan Dean Foster

Bloodhype (1973) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is eleventh chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series, though it was written second; the main characters only appear in the last third of the book. In the series, it falls after Orphan Star, where Flinx meets the aliens who build him his ship, the Teacher. The novel takes its title from a deadly and addictive drug, for which there is no known antidote, and which causes instant addiction followed by a long, slow, painful death unless the user continues to take increasingly greater doses.

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References

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  11. "1 May 2021". Alan Dean Foster. Archived from the original on October 11, 2002. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  12. Johnston, Rich (May 11, 2021). "Disney To Pay Star Wars Novelists Alan Dean Foster And More". Bleeding Cool . Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  13. "IAMTW 2008 awards". Archived from the original on November 19, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  14. Bloodhype foreword, Del Rey, March 2002.
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  16. "Title: Builder". www.isfdb.org. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  17. Patten, Fred (August 4, 2001). "New Alan Dean Foster". Flayrah. Archived from the original on June 4, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  18. "Publication: Exceptions to Reality". www.isfdb.org. Archived from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  19. The human blend. Online Computer Library Center. OCLC   548412878 via WorldCat.
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  22. Athans, Philip (September 20, 2011). "The Fantasy Author's Handbook Interview XVI: Alan Dean Foster". Fantasy Author's Handbook. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.

Further reading