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

I shouldn't have said nothing new. I meant not enough new stuff for me to recommend it to anymore. I did actually mention in my review that I liked the Poe scene and the explanation for how the Starkiller weapon worked.

 

I liked the Poe scene, the Snoke stuff, the different context for the Rey/Kylo scenes (I loved their film scenes, but the difference IS interesting for me nonetheless), and the R2 thing.

But yeah, I can see why the movie cut a lot of the other stuff. It really isn't that important and might have made the pacing a bit more wonky.

 

Yeah, I felt the Snoke scenes really stood out. Also, if I had just been going off this book and didn't see the movie, I would have suspected Hux was a double-agent or something less than he seemed. That is:

Spoiler

His hesitancy to destroy all those planets. Subtle lines like "he wore his mask internally." It seems he's hiding something or not as genuinely passionate about the order as he is in the film.

 

The part where Snoke actually acknowledged Vader's "mistake" was something I really liked and I really think it should have been in the movie. I like to know that Snoke and Kylo are aware that Vader turned back to the light.

 

Did the novel ever describe what the characters look like? I don't have it in front of me, but I recall Poe having some details about his appearance. Was Finn ever really described?

 

I actually don't recall...

 

I read this a couple weeks ago, and it was... OK? I agree with a lot of the comments from the last couple of pages. Maybe we were spoiled by Stover, but this novelization didn't really add anything. A couple of extra scenes that were kind of cool, like Chewie pulling out Simon Pegg's arms, Threepio doing his Spymaster work, and Poe escaping Jakku (which happened waaay later than I expected it to --- he was on Jakku in one chapter and then showing up at Maz's Castle in his X-wing like just a couple of chapters later), and a bit of elaboration on how Starkiller Base works, but so much of the book was really nothing more than the movie put down on page. It embodied what so many people feel that the new EU is doing --- taking no chances and playing it utterly, predictably safe.

Of course there were plenty of limitations on Foster, but it still seems like he contentedly played within those boundaries instead of pushing against them in any way. If a novelization isn't going to take advantage of its medium and give us anything that the film wasn't able to, then what's the point? Details about Starkiller Base could be given in a Visual Dictionary. We did get inside of Kylo's head a little bit, but that kind of introspection was the rare exception rather than the rule.

Conclusion: Skippable. If you haven't read it yet, don't. Just re-watch the movie when it's released on Blu-Ray next month.

 

Anyone know when this is hitting paperback? Flat-out 2017?

 

Likely 7 months so Summer. That is usually the time frame.

 

@BigAl6ft6 An update. Jedi Bibliothek who have this stuff normally accurate, they follow all the "insider" stuff from Random House have said that:
"The paperback edition of Alan Dean foster's film novel the awakening of power will be released on September 27, 2016 and contains 8 pages of movie stills, Insidershort story "Bait" by foster himself, as well as the amendment of The Perfect Weapon by Delilah S. Dawson, which appears first time printed as bonus material."
Translated from German.

 

@BigAl6ft6 HUGE UPDATE. Found it here in the UK. ASDA has it for £5.99 If I remember correctly and the Junior Michael Kogge for £3.99 both are in the 2 for £7 deal so a great bargain.
Surprised to see it actually.

 

Ooh. I'm not a fan of buying the same book twice, but I might do it just to have a print copy of The Perfect Weapon, if this is accurate...

 

I'm not sure it is. The version I found had no stills. It had a short story which I think was The Perfect Weapon but I can't remember for sure.
No doubt I can check on this weeks toy "run".
STILL no Black Series wave 2, ASDA!

 

worse yet the book did not even follow the film at times.

 

It wouldn't be the first time snippets of bonus dialogue (or differing dialogue for that matter) were present in a novelization.

Matt Stover's RoTS has enormous amounts of "differing dialogue" - but that hasn't stopped it from being popular.

 

"What's a duck?"


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Something that sits, going by Ric Olie's "We're sitting ducks out there!" in TPM

 

Forget if this was asked before on the thread, but, am I alone in preferring the junior novelization? I thought it got into the characters heads better and the writing style and tone felt a lot closer to the movie's. I found the adult novelization was more distancing and seemed to lack a lot of the warmth that the movie and jr. novel had.

To be fair, I did enjoy parts and many of the insights that the adult novel had. The ending was great. I also liked that it worked in conjunction with jr. novel in many scenes. For example, the scene were Finn and Rey swap names is told from Finn's perspective in the adult version but from Rey's in the jr. version. So, you can read both and get the complete picture of what everyone was thinking in that moment in time.

So, I have very mixed feelings about the adult novelization, that lean towards the underwhelmed.

 

Same here. I liked the part with Finn's PoV at the start a lot more in the junior one than the adult, and the fact that the Han/Kylo scene was in Han's PoV instead of objective was great. Gave me the feels as much as the movie did. ADF's one... Eh, not so much. Too bad I don't have both on hand right now so that I could compare the scenes.

 

Almost bought the junior novelization at Barnes & Noble yesterday. I should have done it.

 

From my experience, B&N has been keeping them in stock, at least around my town. I haven't seen that many of the special hardcover editions lately, but you can get the slightly cheaper paperback still. The only difference besides the hard or soft cover is that the hardback has a larger selection of photo inserts. They're nice enough, but I'd recommend using your budget or preference between the hard or soft covers (which have the exact same artwork, the main movie poster) to chose, if you want to buy or order a copy. (I'd recommend it).

By the way, Cheerios4u98, I took a brief look at your review site. Like what I saw so far. I'll need to take a closer look when I have time. (I specifically saw your Stars' End review. If you liked Bollux and Blue Max, you should enjoy the rest of the trilogy. If you liked the trilogy all together, you'd probably find A.C. Crispin's trilogy of Han Solo novels -- Paradise Snare, Hutt Gambit, and Rebel Dawn -- of interest, if you haven't read them already. Crispin worked to tie all six books together.

 

They had plenty of both the hardcover and paperback editions when I went the other day. I'll probably go back and pick up a hardcover if they still have any.

And thanks! I keep forgetting to update the link in my signature, but I've read and reviewed all three books in Daley's Han Solo trilogy. Stars' End was my favorite but the other two were a lot of fun as well. Haven't read Crispin's trilogy yet, but it's definitely on my to-do list! Next books I want to read are the Lando Calrission Adventures trilogy. Though I'll probably read Bloodline first when that comes out next week.

 

I didn't like the Lando books as well as the other ones (but the reviews that inspired me to find them were rave reviews). I liked the writing style and the characters, but found the story a little less engaging. I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts on them. If you do decide to review the TFA jr. novel, I'd be curious to read a review of that as well.

 

For me it goes, Han Solo trilogy by AC Crispin, Lando trilogy and then Han Solo Adventures by Daley.
The HSA just doesn't work as much as the other two imo.
The Lando trilogy was a nice surprise imo. Very good.