Books The Last Jedi by Jason Fry

Why?

 

I like Luke Skywalker a lot. And I like Jason Fry a lot.

 

I have a good feeling that this novel will be the ROTS of ST novelizations

 

As a Seattlite, I may have to go to this con after all.

 

That's excellent. If you do, be advised there's a lottery in place to guarantee yourself a copy (to purchase) of that special edition. The lottery entry ends next week (I think). I've linked to it here, in case you want to investigate more thoroughly.

 

So over in the Jason fry thread, @WebLurker made a point about the inclusion of "expanded edition" on the cover of TLJ. His full words below:

In all honestly, I do feel that the label is very misleading if it just supposed to point out that the book version has more material than the film (which we were all expecting in the first place, by nature of what novelizations are) and I found it utterly confusing, since "extended edition" label inherently implies that there was an "unextended edition" of the book out there (at least that's what I thought and was utterly confused when I couldn't info about it online). However, I do like the dust jacket overall and am looking forward to the book coming out.

Didn't want to gum up Jason's thread with an explanation so I'm doing it here where it seems more appropriate. First off, totally reasonable assessment by Lurker, since aren't all novelizations expanded since they usually include deleted scenes at least? Yeah, they basically are.

So why does TLJ get the cool label and none of the others? Couple of reasons:

First, the TLJ novelization is expanded in a way that really no other novelization for SW ever has been. It's not just about deleted scenes that you'll see on the Blu Ray. Expanded scenes, alternate scenes, and even brand new stuff you ain't ever seen before. With direct input by the filmmaker. That's the kind of next level detail you want to amplify. That goes beyond the default of what a novelization is. That's the kind of message you need to get through to readers who, after the author is announced/release date, probably tune out anything "novelization" related since you kind of know what you're gonna get. So you get an extra label on the cover, you make a trailer with interviews, you do the kinds of things you need to do to get people to pay attention.

Which leads into the second reason. Which is, THAT line is - mostly - for less engaged readers (notice, I don't say casual). People who believe that novelizations are just the movie script printed and bound (a sizable group of people). Readers who see a novelization and ask themselves- "why do I need that? I saw the movie. I have the blu-ray." (another sizable group). Marketing and promotion are all about talking to multiple audiences of readers. Which means you need multiple lines of messaging.

So Yes...it is a "marketing tool." But it isn't a marketing gimmick. And while there will be a small amount of confusion about whether there is an un-extended edition, the value from messaging the expanded material outweighs the small level of confusion.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the heads up!

 

Okay, makes sense.

I'm really looking forward to the book. I've liked a lot of Fry's past Star Wars stuff.

 

Adding book to list of wants .

 

Makes sense! Thank you so much for all the information!

 

Aaaand preordered!

I was already expecting something slight extra from Jason Fry and because it is a novelization but with all these extra points it makes it feel like if it’s TLJ 1.5 and I loved it, bring it Disney.

 

Ditto!!!

 

I'd bet a buck that in a few years, the fact that all of the books are the "Expanded Edition" and the fact that the novel wasn't released until months after the film's premiere will combine to create an intractable rumor that there was a short print run of unexpanded books released at the same time as the movie. Newbie would-be collectors will be in a tizzy trying to hunt down a copy, while the heirs of SuperShadow will tell people how THEY have a copy, and how the Expanded Edition had to drop a few things for page space and they alone have access to the lost pages...

 

"Heirs of SuperShadow" would be a great title for an obscure 1970s kung-fu movie.

 

It's funny you bring that up; I happen to have one of the only existing copies.

 

We need an Heirs of SuperShadow thread!

Sent from my Moto X-Wing

 

I'm hoping so. At the very least, it needs to be better than the Force Awakens novelization.

On a lighter side, this will be the second The Last Jedi novel I'll have.

 

I will have the only copy of the TLJ Extra-Special Super-Expanded VIP Edition and read it while cackling maniacally.

Hey, I do have one of very few English-language PDFs of the Ep II Expanded Visual Dictionary, so there's precedent....

 

eh. they're basically the movie posters. I didn't care for that with TFA or Rogue One, not going to change my mind now. Looking forward to reading it though.

 

Hi Jason fry could you say if you worked with the author of the junior novel and will it have any different content ? no spoilers haha

 

Well, these are better movie posters than the others ones were.

 

Personally I really like the RO novelisation cover however TFA one was boring since that poster was everywhere at the time. I'll have to wait until TLJ is on my bookshelf before I can decide whether I like it's cover

 

True. At least they stayed away from the weird healedess character posters