艾伦·迪安·福斯特

Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) 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.

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 (1978), 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 (1980) 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 (2002), and also wrote the novelization of the first sequel trilogy film, The Force Awakens (2015).

Alien

Foster has written novelizations of several films in the 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 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 Trek's sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness.

Dispute with Disney

In 2020, Foster, together with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), 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.

Filmography

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979, story)

Welcome to Paradox (1998, story for episode "Our Lady of the Machine")