tomtas_anneli's review against another edition
1.0
Guys, I really liked the movie. Which is why this was such a dissapointment. I understand that the author was working under strict restrictions, so I cut him some slack, but this really only reads as if someone had taken an unfinished version of the script (the novel contradicts the movie on some fairly major points and several minor ones) and embellished it with 19th century beurocratic English. How such an action-packed movie can be turned into such a sleeping pill of a novel, I'll never know. There are a couple of added scenes - most notably one in Maz's place - that add to what we're shown in the movie, but do yourselves a favour and skip the rest.
damalur's review against another edition
2.0
Never rises above the level of merely serviceable. I'm not sure what they were thinking by digging up Foster for this project, although I suspect they wanted to evoke nostalgia and a sense of legacy by conscripting the man who ghost-wrote the novelization of 'A New Hope' in the seventies. Foster, though, is a far cry from Matthew Stover, whose 'Revenge of the Sith' not only knocked it out of the park but all the way to the moon.
Maybe the author was working from an old or incomplete script, but he appeared to have no understanding of what connective tissue was needed to make the story work in novel form, and his reworked dialogue lives on a spectrum of clunky to excruciating. He also seems to have absolutely zero understanding of Kylo Ren or why Ren works as a character - at times Foster actually describes Ren's emotional reaction as being the exact opposite of what Adam Driver displays in the movie.
Foster also apparently decided that what this universe needed was more science and accordingly inserted entire pages of technobabble on how Starkiller Base works. That might have worked for a 'Star Trek' story, but on Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness, 'Star Wars' is as squishy as a wet sponge. I would have gladly traded entire chapters of this book for a single paragraph of Stover meditating on the Force.
There was a part with General Hux that made me laugh out loud, and it was nice to put names to some of the more minor roles. I'll also say that Foster knows what he's doing with Leia; the problem is that he doesn't know what he's doing with anyone or anything else.
Maybe the author was working from an old or incomplete script, but he appeared to have no understanding of what connective tissue was needed to make the story work in novel form, and his reworked dialogue lives on a spectrum of clunky to excruciating. He also seems to have absolutely zero understanding of Kylo Ren or why Ren works as a character - at times Foster actually describes Ren's emotional reaction as being the exact opposite of what Adam Driver displays in the movie.
Foster also apparently decided that what this universe needed was more science and accordingly inserted entire pages of technobabble on how Starkiller Base works. That might have worked for a 'Star Trek' story, but on Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness, 'Star Wars' is as squishy as a wet sponge. I would have gladly traded entire chapters of this book for a single paragraph of Stover meditating on the Force.
There was a part with General Hux that made me laugh out loud, and it was nice to put names to some of the more minor roles. I'll also say that Foster knows what he's doing with Leia; the problem is that he doesn't know what he's doing with anyone or anything else.
erichart's review against another edition
3.0
A competent but unremarkable retelling of the film's story. Fans should not expect major insights; questions raised in the movie remain unanswered. Foster goes to great pains to try to explain the physics of the First Order's planet killer - but I suspect physicists will probably still find it outrageous.
desmonday's review against another edition
2.0
I will forever be under the same spell as most Star Wars fans. I mean to say, slap a Star Wars sticker on the front of anything and I will stand in line for hours to buy it. This spell must also be the reason I don't entirety regret the 9 reading hours or $20 I spent on the book.
I have to give Foster credit, since I imagine that it's difficult to write a high quality novelization while racing against a deadline and are forced to work within the creative boundaries set by filmmakers. With that aside, considering the author's decades of experience, I am still underwhelmed. There are moments when the writing becomes so clunky, it's hard not to put the book down.
"If he had been unable to find the right words with which to respond before, her reply, combined with the look she gave him, reduced him to a state of temporary aphasia."
*queue aneurism*
On a positive note, there are a number of scenes in the book that fill in missing pieces of the movie plot. There is also some enjoyable added dialogue. These moments are what kept me going, though they are few and far between.
I recommend this book to anyone who is desperately in need of treating their Star Wars fever, and also requires recent/canon material. Otherwise, go read the Darth Bane series. Play KOTOR. Watch the original trilogy 23 more times. This book goes down a path you should not follow, in my opinion.
I have to give Foster credit, since I imagine that it's difficult to write a high quality novelization while racing against a deadline and are forced to work within the creative boundaries set by filmmakers. With that aside, considering the author's decades of experience, I am still underwhelmed. There are moments when the writing becomes so clunky, it's hard not to put the book down.
"If he had been unable to find the right words with which to respond before, her reply, combined with the look she gave him, reduced him to a state of temporary aphasia."
*queue aneurism*
On a positive note, there are a number of scenes in the book that fill in missing pieces of the movie plot. There is also some enjoyable added dialogue. These moments are what kept me going, though they are few and far between.
I recommend this book to anyone who is desperately in need of treating their Star Wars fever, and also requires recent/canon material. Otherwise, go read the Darth Bane series. Play KOTOR. Watch the original trilogy 23 more times. This book goes down a path you should not follow, in my opinion.
mariellemadden's review against another edition
3.0
Unless you've already seen the film and are simply desperate for more content, this novelization really isn't worth the trouble. The main positives are some interesting added dialogue and a few scenes that didn't make it all the way to the big screen, but the execution is very dry. There's so little added flair that the only way the scenes are interesting is by virtue of remembering the parallel scenes in the film.
farrawayreads's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
raeallic's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book! Alan Dean Foster writes action and sci-fi in a way that is both exciting and enjoyable. The book plays very closely to the movie, with an added flare of the occasional inner monologue or motivation. Def recommend.
northship's review against another edition
2.0
the prose was labored and awful, the pov shifts were awkward, and foster somehow managed to make an exciting movie boring. i really hope they don't let him write anything else in the star wars universe because this in no way did it justice.
spilt_moonlight's review against another edition
2.0
" Look at it, Lieutenant. So much beauty among so much turmoil. In a way, we are but an infinitely smaller reflection of the same conflict. It is the task of the First Order to remove the disorder from our own existence, so that civilization may be returned to the stability that promotes progress. A stability that existed under the Empire, was reduced to anarchy by the Rebellion, was inherited in turn by the so-called Republic, and will be restored by us. Future historians will look upon this as the time when a strong hand brought the rule of law back to civilization."
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"Alone in the room, Kylo Ren—saturnine of aspect, lithe of build, tortured of mien, and troubled of eye—gazed at the silent recipient of his confession."
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Seriously though, this thing is so bad it's good =))
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"Alone in the room, Kylo Ren—saturnine of aspect, lithe of build, tortured of mien, and troubled of eye—gazed at the silent recipient of his confession."
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Seriously though, this thing is so bad it's good =))
iggnaseous's review against another edition
4.0
As is usual for film novelizations, this explains some events from the film and generally makes the story more enjoyable/satisfactory. How is Ray able to perform force stunts beyond basic abilities without ever having received any training? How is Starkiller Base able to hit targets light years away using what looks like a firing beam that should be limited to the speed of light? How does Kylo Ren's/Snoke's approach to the force differ from Sith and Jedi? ADF provides fleshes out some of the details.