Alan Dean Foster

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Alan Dean Foster
Foster at BayCon in 2007
Foster at BayCon in 2007
Born (1946-11-18) November 18, 1946 (age 77)
New York City, U.S.
Pen nameJames Lawson[a]
OccupationFiction writer
NationalityAmerican
Period1971–present
GenreScience fiction, fantasy
Notable worksHumanx 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.

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

The Force Awakens (2015).[4]

Star Trek

Foster wrote 10 books based on episodes of the

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

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. Strange Music (2017)

Founding of the Commonwealth

Icerigger Trilogy

Standalone Commonwealth novels

In chronological order:

  1. "The Emoman" (1972) short story
  2. "Surfeit" (1982) short story
  3. "Mid-Death" (2006) short story

The Damned Trilogy

  1. A Call to Arms (1991)
  2. The False Mirror (1992)
  3. The Spoils of War (1993)

Dinotopia Universe

Journeys of the Catechist

  1. Carnivores of Light and Darkness (1998)
  2. Into the Thinking Kingdoms (1999)
  3. A Triumph of Souls (2000)

Marexx

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 Builder (unpublished)[15][16]

Spellsinger series

"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)
  2. The Light-Years Beneath My Feet (2005)
  3. The Candle of Distant Earth (2005)

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)
  2. Star Trek Log Two (1974)
  3. Star Trek Log Three (1975)
  4. Star Trek Log Four (1975)
  5. Star Trek Log Five (1975)
  6. Star Trek Log Six (1976)
  7. Star Trek Log Seven (1976)
  8. Star Trek Log Eight (1976)
  9. Star Trek Log Nine (1977)
  10. Star Trek Log Ten (1978)
Star Trek movies

Star Wars universe

Alien universe

Terminator universe

Transformers

Standalone novelizations

Filmography

Notes

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

References

  1. ^ Wenz, John (January 1, 2018). "The First Star Wars sequel: Inside the writing of Splinter of the Mind's Eye". Syfy. SyFy Channel. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  2. .
  3. ^ "Kaiburr crystal". StarWars.com. Archived from the original on September 13, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  4. ^ Osborn, Alex (April 18, 2015). "Star Wars Celebration: Alan Dean Foster Writing The Force Awakens Novelization". Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  5. from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  6. ^ "Alan Dean Foster Writing Star Trek Movie Adaptation". Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  7. ^ "Gallery To Release Star Trek Into Darkness Novel". Archived from the original on June 18, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  8. ^ Flood, Allison. "Star Wars author appeals to Disney in fight over royalties". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  9. ^ "Star Wars Novelist Says Disney Won't Pay Him Royalties it Owes Him". The Verge. Vox Media. November 19, 2020. Archived from the original on November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  10. Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. November 18, 2020. Archived
    from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  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.
  15. ^ "Builder by Alan Dean Foster - FictionDB". www.fictiondb.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  16. ^ "Title: Builder". www.isfdb.org. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  17. ^ Patten), Fred (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. OCLC 548412878 – via WorldCat
    .
  20. from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  21. ^ Osborn, Alex (April 18, 2015). "Star Wars Celebration: Alan Dean Foster Writing The Force Awakens Novelization". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  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

  • Duignan-Cabrera, Anthony (July 1996). "The InQuest Q&A: Alan Dean Foster". InQuest. No. 15. pp. 54–57.

External links