Books A/V The Force Awakens Novelization Thread (TFA SPOILERS)

So I just finished the book, and saw the movie 2x (not in that order) I was so happy to see Snap "Temmin" Wexley of both TFA novelization and AfterMath make his big screen debut (albeit as a grown man played by Greg Grunberg) I really like his name, and I do think its one of the stronger names so far, in the post-ROTJ era. Do you guys think we'll get an on screen Mr. Bones? The bada** B1 Battledroid reprogrammed by Wexley himself as a child?

 

I'm about 60 pages away from being finished with the TFA novelization. It's good. I'm enjoying it and it's so much better than ADF's awful Star Trek 2009 novelization (His novelization of the original Star Trek novelization in 1979 is great btw). But I really wish it was long than 260 pages. As it goes on, it feels like the book is just breezing through the movie scenes. I really wish this novelization had been given the special treatment the prequel novelizations were.

Granted, the prequel novelizations were a mixed bag. My favorite was Terry Brooks's TPM novelization. I hated RA Salvatore's AOTC adaptation and was somewhere in the middle with Matthew Stover's take on ROTS. I appreciate the EU references in that one although I thought they were overkill after a while and I don't know what possessed him to spend 160 pages on the first 20 minutes of the movie. Bizarre.

Karen Traviss's adaptation of The Clone Wars movie was another book I didn't like. She decided to take a fun little movie and turn it into a grim story with her portrayal of Anakin.

 

Yes, I would agree, lots of detail at the beginning that is rushed through at the end for the big finale. Could and should have been an entire chapter on Hosnian Prime at the senate.

 

Agreed with a lot of what's already been said. For me, on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being hit it out of the park and 1 being skip it, it was a 6 or 7. High average. It does have some extra exposé and some other things added in. I like Leia's expanded role.

I did really like the description of the Kylo / Han confrontation. I liked how he thought of leaving and then remembered Leia's words to him. I sort of wish it was expanded a bit more, too. Gimme more! I want to hear what was going on in Kylo's head during that exchange.

I also agree with some here about Foster's writing quality. I read Splinter of the Minds Eye when I was a child in elementary school. I feel like his writing style is aimed at that level - elementary school. Honestly, I don't think I would cry a single tear if Foster didn't do another SW novel.

Gotta say, though, I still don't see why they hired Gwendoline Christie for Phasma. She had a small part, she NEVER took off her helmet on screen or in the book. She could have easily been *female extra* in the suit and not a big name. I mean, consider Plutt. That was Simon Pegg in the suit and he didn't get as much hullabaloo as Christie did. For on-screen time, I'd say they're about equal. For face time they definitely are equal.

 

I think I feel the same about Foster's writing - it seems very flat and mechanical to me. I think my favourite novelisation was Stover's 'Revenge of the Sith' mainly for the sections which describe the internal views of the characters which I often find hard to fathom from film and for th links to the EU which I always appreciate.

 

I'm only halfway in but must say that I'm not overly overwhelmed. maybe I'm just spoiled by EP III's novelization but TFA novel seems rushed and written without any love or eye for details/background. while Stover put so much thought and background into his novelizaton, Foster is just running through the motions. And, what? a page count of only app. 250 for a 135 minutes movie??? I know, all the Journey to TFA novels had a ridiculously low page count and were still sold as hardcovers, but this isn't funny anymore
Lost Stars is still the best book that came out after the old EU was thrown out the airlock. Really looking forward to Claudia Gray's next novel. And please, please dear PTB get Stover, Luceno and Zahn back into the fold.

 

I listened to the audiobook by Marc Thompson, but then I stumbled onto a version read by Jonathan Davis.

Why are there 2 versions of this audiobook? The Davis one contains the prologue, the Thompson one doesn't.

Ah ok, it looks like Davis narrated the Jr. novel, and Thompson did the standard one.

I'd rather novelisations don't get written until after the film is complete, then there are no contradictions.

There are 6 audio versions of Star Wars:

-The movie
-Radio drama
-Novelisation audio book
-Original book&record
-Special Edition book&record
-The Princess, Scoundrel and Farmboy audiobook

Star Wars may someday have more versions than the Bible

 

Yeah it's impossible to follow a hard-core strict trajectory for 100% canon. The movies/books/TV shows are all supposed to be the same level of canon, but there will always be conflicts. The only one thing they absolutely agree on is that they aren't Legends. Those versions of SW are yesterday's trash.

Oh here have a Rebels episode about Shantipole.

 

I still don't understand what they're saying about how the original 6 novelizations are still canon "where they match up with what is on-screen." So, in other words, they aren't canon, but the parts that exactly match the movies are? So basically, only the movies are canon. I've never been clear on that. To me, the first six novelizations are Legends.

 

Yeah, that's really confusingly worded for no apparent reason. I think the intention is more that the novelizations are canon except when explicitly contradicted by later events, like in Legends (i.e. General Veers and Hobbie dying in the Battle of Hoth), but it's hard to tell.

 

This would either solve all of the world's problems or be the harbinger of mass violence and war never before recorded in human history, as The Church of the Force struggles for power over the many factions of Legends devotees.

 

I agree. It's the biggest NEU copout. They want to market and sell the novelization as non-Legends because...money.

But they're basically Legends.

I'm unclear on how this relates to the TFA novelization. Cool extra scenes in their I'm hoping are cannon. Anyone know?

 

Absolutely - please please please get Stover, Luceno and Zahn back (and Karpyshyn)!!!

 

did not like the novel. it added nothing to the story. it was inaccurate as it contained scenes deleted from the film, and it did not even contain everything in the vision. sad that a movie had more info than the novel.

 

Speaking of novelizations authors, is James Khan expected to write for SW again, as far as we know? I realize that everyone'sz favorite novelization is that of ROTS, but I'll always have a soft spot for the ROTJ one. The death of Vader, for example, is absolutely beautiful... I'll never tire of quoting it:

 

That was brilliant - I've not read the ROTJ novelisation - I think I'll have to give it a go!

 

Question for you folks:

When it was announced that Chewbacca was back for Ep VII, I along with a good number of others lamented. "He was killed by a moon!" I heard lots of people saying. I personally said that it was appropriate that a great character like Chewbacca had to have a moon fall on him to kill him. Seemed righteous, even.

Now that the movie and book are out, how do you guys feel now? Do you still miss the Sernpidal / Wook war?

 

I have a bit of an odd way of looking at all of that. In physics there are a number of theories which postulate multiple universes. So I see the Legends universe as one version of 'reality' and the new canon universe as a different pathway down the great trousers of time (imaginary time in a GFFA in fact). That way I've not lost any of the old EU and I can still enjoy all the new stuff too. So, yup Chewie is still alive in EPVII but he was also killed saving Anakin. I guess Chewie is Schrödinger's Wookie!

 

Do we have a review thread for this? I just wrote up a review of this novel. I'd give it a 5/10. Really not a big fan of this one. One of the worst books of the new canon, simply because it offers nothing new. Sad, because I actually am a fan of Alan Dean Foster.

 

It does add the scenes with Poe and the crashed TIE.

Also I don't know where this discussion came up about Teedo and/or Teedo's and Rey's dialog suggesting it was the individuals name as opposed to the species - Jason Fry's Rey's Survival Guide says that this is indeed correct. They are Teedo's as a species and are all called Teedo

 

Well, "the Gand is the Gand."

 

It was ok for me. Not great, not terrible.

Spoiler

I do like some of the elaboration/details that are given. I wonder if the actual film ultimately just decided to go in a different direction, or if we'll get some of said details in future films? Probably a mix of both I'd guess. Also it's weird that they cut out the "Poe meeting Rey" scene in the movie. One of the things that I've seen mentioned even by people who like/love the film is that those two never getting a scene together was kind of disappointing. Well turns out that they DID, the movie just removed it, huh?

Probably the most interesting thing for me is the Kylo/Rey early scenes (and his second conversation with Snoke). They have a somewhat different "feel" and context in the novelization than they do in the film. Some of the aesthetically differences, and tweaked dialogue, really make that stand out for me.

 

And the idea that the Starkiller weapon's destructive power comes from dark matter, rather than just the "trapped sun".