Alan Dean Foster


Alan Dean Foster is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts.
WWW Official Site

Career

''Star Wars''

Foster was the ghostwriter of the original novelization of Star Wars, which was credited solely to George Lucas. When asked if it was difficult for him to see Lucas get all the credit for Star Wars, Foster said, "Not at all. It was George's story idea. I was merely expanding upon it. Not having my name on the cover didn't bother me in the least. It would be akin to a contractor demanding to have his name on a Frank Lloyd Wright house."
Foster also wrote the follow-up novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye, written with the intention of being adapted as a low-budget sequel to Star Wars if the film was unsuccessful. However, Star Wars was a blockbusting success, and The Empire Strikes Back would be developed instead. Foster's story relied heavily on abandoned concepts that appeared in Lucas's early treatments for the first film.
Foster returned to the franchise for the prequel-era novel The Approaching Storm, and also wrote the novelization of the first sequel trilogy film, The Force Awakens.

''Alien''

Foster has written novelizations of several films in the [Alien (franchise)|Alien franchise], beginning with the first film. He was not allowed to view H.R. Giger's design for the titular creature, leading to the use of vague descriptions such as "something man-shaped but definitely not a man". This adaptation has been noted as a "classic" of novelizations that is "almost as timeless as the movie". It was later collected in omnibus form with Foster's novelizations of Aliens and Alien 3. During the writing of the latter, he attempted to avoid killing off two characters as in the screenplay but was overruled by the film's producers. This led to him turning down the novelization of the following film, Alien: Resurrection, although Foster later returned to the series to novelize Alien: Covenant and write a further spin-off, Alien: Covenant – Origins.

''Star Trek''

Foster wrote 10 books based on episodes of the [Star Trek: The Animated Series|animated Star Trek], the first six books each consisting of three linked novella-length episode adaptations, and the last four being expanded adaptations of single episodes that segued into an original story. In the mid-seventies, he wrote original Star Trek stories for the Peter Pan-label Star Trek audio story records. He has the story credit for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, as he wrote a treatment based on a two-page outline by Gene Roddenberry.
He later wrote the novelization of the 2009 film Star Trek, his first Star Trek novel in over 30 years, and for Star Treks sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness.

Dispute with Disney

In 2020, Foster, together with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, alleged that The Walt Disney Company, which acquired rights to his Star Wars and Alien novels via their acquisitions of Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox, had not paid him royalties for e-book sales of his books. The issue was resolved in May 2021, when Disney arranged to pay Foster and his fellow Star Wars novelization authors James Kahn and Donald F. Glut their royalties.

Awards

Foster won the 2008 Grand Master award from the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.

Humanx Commonwealth Universe

See the Humanx Commonwealth page.

The Damned Trilogy

  1. A Call to Arms
  2. The False Mirror
  3. ''The Spoils of War''

Dinotopia universe

Dinotopia Lost
  • ''The Hand of Dinotopia''

Journeys of the Catechist

  1. Carnivores of Light and Darkness
  2. Into the Thinking Kingdoms
  3. ''A Triumph of Souls''

Marexx

  1. ''Builder''

Spellsinger series

  1. Spellsinger
  2. The Hour of the Gate
  3. The Day of the Dissonance
  4. The Moment of the Magician
  5. The Paths of the Perambulator
  6. The Time of the Transference
  7. Son of Spellsinger
  8. Chorus Skating
"Serenade", a novelette set immediately after The Time of the Transference, was first published in the anthology Masters of Fantasy and was later reprinted in Foster's short story collection Exceptions to Reality.

The Taken trilogy

  1. Lost and Found
  2. The Light-Years Beneath My Feet
  3. ''The Candle of Distant Earth''

The Tipping Point trilogy

The Human Blend Body, Inc.
  • ''The Sum of Her Parts''

''Montezuma Strip''

Montezuma Strip

Standalone novels

The Man Who Used the Universe The I Inside Slipt Into the Out Of Glory Lane Maori To the Vanishing Point Quozl Cyber Way Cat-a-lyst Codgerspace Greenthieves Design for Great-Day Life Form Voyage of the Basset Jed the Dead Parallelities Primal Shadows Interlopers Kingdoms of Light Sagramanda
  • ''Relic''

Collections

With Friends Like These... ... Who Needs Enemies? The Metrognome and Other Stories Mad Amos Impossible Places Exceptions to Reality The Flavors of Other Worlds
  • ''The Taste of Different Dimensions''

Anthologies edited

Smart Dragons, Foolish Elves with Martin H. GreenbergBetcha Can't Read Just One
  • ''Short Stories from Small Islands: Tales Shared in Palau''

Novelizations

''Star Trek'' universe

''Star Trek: The Animated Series''
  1. Star Trek Log One
  2. Star Trek Log Two
  3. Star Trek Log Three
  4. Star Trek Log Four
  5. Star Trek Log Five
  6. Star Trek Log Six
  7. Star Trek Log Seven
  8. Star Trek Log Eight
  9. Star Trek Log Nine
  10. ''Star Trek Log Ten''
    ''Star Trek'' movies
    Star Trek: The Motion Picture, story creditStar Trek, movie novelizationStar Trek Into Darkness, movie novelizationStar Trek: The Unsettling Stars, movie tie-in

''Star Wars'' universe

Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, novelization of Star Wars ghost writing as George LucasSplinter of the Mind's Eye The Approaching Storm Star Wars: The Force Awakens, movie novelization

Alien universe

  1. Alien
  2. Aliens
  3. Alien 3
  4. Alien: Covenant
  5. ''Alien: Covenant - Origins''

Terminator universe

Terminator Salvation, movie novelization

''Transformers''

Transformers Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Standalone novelizations

Dark Star, movie novelizationLuana, movie novelizationMaude, television novelization The Black Hole, movie novelizationClash of the Titans, movie novelizationOutland, movie novelizationThe Thing, movie novelizationKrull, movie novelizationThe Last Starfighter, movie novelizationThe Last Starfighter Storybook with Lynn Haney and Jonathan BetuelShadowkeep, also a computer game Starman, movie novelizationPale Rider, movie novelizationAlien Nation, movie novelizationThe Dig, also a computer gameThe Chronicles of Riddick, movie novelization

Filmography

Star Trek: The Motion Picture