Alan Dean Foster...the right pick for this?

[Teresa, Ewok Defender]

I am just curious how you folks feel about who they picked to pen the novelization?

[Daniel]

I don't know. (Can't remember if I ever got around to reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye.)

I am not really sure I liked the novelization as much as the prequel novelizations but then again I think Foster was on a tighter leash due to canon and evolving storylines than the other novelizations were, so it is hard to determine if it is the writer or the restrictions that say the wrong way with me.

[Aaron, Jedi Master]

My first reaction when I started reading the novel was they picked the wrong author for this novel. His style just didn't match the tone I remember from the movie. The more I've read it though, I think he did fine. Like Daniel said, it seems Foster had a very clear path he had to follow and wasn't able to deviate.

I don't think it would have mattered who wrote this. I hope the novelizations of future movies aren't just a strict retelling but add more to the story.

[Bruce]

I like his early writings, but he wrote the more recent Star Trek movie novelizations and thought they were lacking much depth and additional scenes not in the films. So I was hesitant about him authoring TFA, and it's what I was expecting. Not as insightful as his ANH novelization under George's name. TFA is still a good read but don't expect to get much beyond what's in the film.

[Jared]

I liked that they brought Foster back in one last time due to the fact that he wrote the original novelization. But unfortunately I hope this will be his last Star Wars book. I would give anything for Del Rey to enlist Zahn again or to get Stackpole to write a new canon X-Wing book.

[Drew]

He didn't seem to bring us anything spectacular, but was nice to read/listen to when I wasn't able to go and so the movie for the --th time.

[J]

All I could think when I saw the name was Splinter of the Mind's Eye. Maybe it was an opportunity for the Star Wars Universe to make it up to Mr Foster, maybe the other way around.

Sadly, I felt the novelization lacked a lot of the energy, spontaneity and humor of the movie. Even the audio adaption with Marc Thompson doesn't save it from mediocrity.

It's not bad, but it's not great either.

[Lady]

They should have picked Timothy Zahn who really kicked off the Expanded Universe.

[Daniel]

I think he did a fairly decent job. I wonder if he had to make some 11th hour changes following JJ's supposedly last minute edits?

[Daniel]

I feel certain there must have been last minute edits since only the ebook came out and then later the physical copies were printed.

[Daniel]

I feel certain there must have been last minute edits since only the ebook came out and then later the physical copies were printed.

[James]

The reason that the hardcover came later was not so they could include last minute changes, it was from Disney - they didn't want leaks about the movie coming from the novelization, so Del Rey couldn't send the book to the printers (where more people could see it) and into the distribution channel (where even more people could see it) until AFTER opening day. With the ebook, only Del Rey staff would have to see it until it could go on sale on opening day.

Once opening day hit, I'm sure Del Rey had their printing and binding divisions working on this as a rush to get it to market as fast as they could. About 17 days or so to get the two hardcover editions (regular and B&N exclusive) onto store shelves, including weekends and the Christmas and New Years holidays. Not too bad!