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 78)
New York City, U.S.
Pen nameJames Lawson[a]
OccupationFiction writer
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 prequel-era novel The Approaching Storm (2002), and also wrote the novelization of the first sequel trilogy film, The Force Awakens (2015).[4]

Alien

Foster has written novelizations of several films in the Alien franchise, beginning with the first film. He was not allowed to view H.R. Giger's design for the titular creature,[5][6] leading to the use of vague descriptions such as "something man-shaped but definitely not a man".[7] This adaptation has been noted as a "classic" of novelizations that is "almost as timeless as the movie".[7][8] It was later collected in omnibus form with Foster's novelizations of Aliens and Alien 3. During the writing of the latter, he attempted to avoid killing off two characters as in the screenplay but was overruled by the film's producers.[9] This led to him turning down the novelization of the following film, Alien: Resurrection,[10] although Foster later returned to the series to novelize Alien: Covenant and write a further spin-off, Alien: Covenant – Origins.[6]

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,[11] 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,[12] and for Star Trek's sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness.[13]

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.[14][15][16] 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.[17][18]

Awards

Foster won the 2008 Grand Master award from the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.[19]

Bibliography

Humanx Commonwealth Universe

See the Humanx Commonwealth page.

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)[20][21]

Spellsinger series

Main article: Spellsinger
  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,[22] was first published in the anthology Masters of Fantasy and was later reprinted in Foster's short story collection Exceptions to Reality.[23]

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

  • Smart Dragons, Foolish Elves (1991) with Martin H. Greenberg
  • Betcha Can't Read Just One (1993)
  • Short Stories from Small Islands: Tales Shared in Palau (2005)

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[26]
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.

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. ^ Bently, Lionel; Biron, Laura (2014). "The author strikes back: Mutating authorship in the expanded universe". Law and Creativity in the Age of the Entertainment Franchise. Cambridge University Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-107-03989-6.
  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. ^ "Mini-Stories: Volume 9". 99% Invisible. December 22, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Cotter, Padraig (October 4, 2017). "Alan Dean Foster interview: Alien: Covenant – Origins". Den of Geek. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Mini-Stories: Volume 9 (transcript)". 99% Invisible. December 22, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  8. ^ Lambie, Ryan (April 7, 2014). "Looking back at Alan Dean Foster's Alien novelisation". Den of Geek. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  9. ^ Lambie, Ryan (March 13, 2025). "Alan Dean Foster and a legendary novelist's life in film". Film Stories. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  10. ^ R, Dag (November 22, 2007). "Interview with Alan Dean Foster – SFFWorld". Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  11. ^ Gross, Edward; Altman, Mark A. (June 28, 2016). The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years. St. Martin's Press. pp. 372–374. ISBN 978-1-4668-7285-1. Archived from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  12. ^ "Alan Dean Foster Writing Star Trek Movie Adaptation". Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  13. ^ "Gallery To Release Star Trek Into Darkness Novel". Archived from the original on June 18, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ "#DisneyMustPay Alan Dean Foster". Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. November 18, 2020. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  17. ^ "1 May 2021". Alan Dean Foster. Archived from the original on October 11, 2002. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  18. ^ Johnston, Rich (May 11, 2021). "Disney To Pay Star Wars Novelists Alan Dean Foster And More". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  19. ^ "IAMTW 2008 awards". Archived from the original on November 19, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  20. ^ "Builder by Alan Dean Foster - FictionDB". www.fictiondb.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  21. ^ "Title: Builder". www.isfdb.org. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  22. ^ Patten, Fred (August 4, 2001). "New Alan Dean Foster". Flayrah. Archived from the original on June 4, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  23. ^ "Publication: Exceptions to Reality". ISFDB. Archived from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  24. ^ The human blend. Online Computer Library Center. OCLC 548412878 – via WorldCat.
  25. ^ "THE MOCKING PROGRAM by Alan Dean Foster". Publishers Weekly. July 1, 2002. Retrieved February 9, 2025.
  26. ^ Ayers, Jeff (2006). Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion. Pocket Books. p. 65. ISBN 1-4165-0349-8. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  27. ^ 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.
  28. ^ 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.
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