The Approaching Storm: Prematurely Released? (no spoilers please)

Was TAS released too early?

I think so. An end of May or beginning of June release would have been far better, as we would have seen Episode II and been intrigued as to what happened before.

Releasing the book before the movie spoils the movie, it gives away info, it could be accused of being crass merchandising.

Which side you come down on depends on how you like spoilers, TAS being a kind of legitimsed spoiler or hint material or a sort of grand trailer.

If you do not want the films to be spoiled then TAS' release is premature. Had Dath Maul and Cloak Of Deception come out before TPM I would have avoided them in a similar fashion and made a similar accusation against them.

The work itself may be excellent, mixed reviews seem to be the case, irrespective of that, the release is too early for me.

Anyone else agree?

Jedi Ben

 

I don't think it spoiled the film. I haven't been avoiding spoilers, but I haven't been seeking them, either, and I still don't have a clue what's going on in the film. Reading the book didn't change that one bit. Okay, so some guy named Dooku had a couple lines and the Commerce guild was mentioned a few times. If I hadn't heard that these things were actually in the film here, I'd have no idea that they were.

 

Will interest go up in the book once people have seen the film?

I'd reckon so, I know I will probably get it once I've seen the movie, just not before.

Jedi Ben

 

Well, according to the inside of TAS' cover, Obi-Wan and Anakin just returned from Ansion, the planet where TAS takes place. Why not read it to know what takes place right before ATOC?

 

Because I want to see the movie first. I want to see how ObiWan is played by McGregor, I want to see the older Anakin. After that I'll have a better idea of how to approach the book.

What happens before the movie assumes far greater significance after you've seen the movie.

Jedi Ben

 

I don't think the book spoils the film in any way...certainly not beyond what any official statements have revealed.

Alan Dean Foster said that he based his characterization of Obi-Wan mostly on Alec Guiness's portrayal in ANH, modified for the fact that Obi-Wan is younger.

I'm not sure what standard he used for Anakin's portrayal. My guess would be that he used background materials provided to him by LucasFilm. Then he might have created some overlay between Jake Lloyd's portrayal of Anakin in TPM, the character of Vader in the original trilogy, Luke in ANH, and whatever feeling ADF got for Anakin from a perusal of the AOTC script. As I recall, Foster had to go to Skywalker Ranch to read the script. He couldn't take the script with him. He could only read it and (presumably) take some notes.