h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Alan Dean Foster - Author - A87828051
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

A Flea Market Rescue of:
A517529 Alan Dean Foster - Author by U65771 Greebo T Cat.

<BB<

I'll have a read through this tomorrow BB

GB

Hiya BB, thanks for rescuing this work by Greebo

"Although the book's cover claims to have been written by Star Wars creator George Lucas, in fact it was ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster." is a bit clumsy, here's a tweak: Although the book's cover claims authorship by Star Wars creator George Lucas, in fact it was ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster.



Millennium Falcoln = I always thought it was Millennium Falcon, but I'm no Star Wars fan and could be wrong so could you check that please?



"This was written long before George Lucas revealed that Luke and Leia were twins.

In 2003 he wrote a new Star Wars novel set between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, entitled The Approaching Storm. Concentrating on the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker, he described this as being fun to write."

It's not clear here who "he" is, Lucas or Foster, and as I suspect it's Foster, I suggest this change:
>>In 2003 Foster wrote a new Star Wars novel<<



>>That story, Ridley Scott's Prometheus, like Alien Resurrection, was sadly novelised by someone else.<< I think you should remove the word "sadly" there; it's not necessary and it reads as biased.



>>Alan Dean Foster now lives in Prescott, Arizona, in a brick house reclaimed from what he describes as a 'a turn-of-the-century miners' brothel'.<< strike the first "a" after "as"



I love this line: "He describes in detail the disturbing life cycle of the alien, from egg to facehugger,"although my memories of John Hurt having his chest exploded holds no affection for me, I almost vomited when I saw that the first time and I wouldn't sit through it again. I like friendly Sci-fi



you could link to Disney Studios A87816900 although you may choose a different link, there's a few to pick from

BB and thanks again to both you and Greebo for bringing this fascinating person to the attention of a wider audience (hopefully more than me, when it hits the FP!)

GB

Thanks for reading through – changes have been made

I've enjoyed all the books of his I've read, but they've mainly been his novelisations. Each book of his I've read was well worth reading - even 'The Dig' had good bits.

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A87828051 - Alan Dean Foster - Author

many of which best sellers --> many of which are best sellers

He not only writes his own work, he is regarded -->
He not only writes his own work, but is also regarded

(where you have "not only", you should have "but also")

Clash Of The Titans --> Clash of the Titans

Splinter Of The Mind's Eye --> Splinter of the Mind's Eye

it neighbours major film studios -- not a good idea to use neighbour as a verb. Reword as:
it is a neighbour to major film studios

when August Derleth1, bought a Lovecraftain2-letter he had written

-- a few mistakes in this:

1. remove the comma before bought
2. Lovecraftain should be Lovecraftian
3. replace the hyphen before letter with a space

a continuingly successful writing career -- not sure what you mean by "continuingly" here. Would it be enough just to say "a successful writing career"?

Though novelisations have existed since the early, pre-sound days of cinema, but it is since the 1960s through the evolution of popular television programmes and cult films that novelisations have become popular.

-- this is a bit of a mess. You have "Though A but B." You repeat "novelisations" in the sentence, and you include a massive explanatory clause "through the evolution of popular television programmes and cult films" in the middle of "it is since the 1960s that...".

I'd suggest:

Though novelisations have existed since the early, pre-sound days of cinema, it is only since the 1960s that they have become popular, through the evolution of popular television programmes and cult films.

Even then, I'm not sure that that is what you intended.

time-and-time again --> time and time again

often their memories are often tricked -- remove one of these oftens

frequently include changes to the original story, often including improvements -- you don't need the "often" since you have already said "frequently". I suggest changing "including" to "with" to avoid repetition.

Alan Dean Foster also wrote connecting segments -- you've mentioned his full name in the preceding sentence so change this one to just "Foster". Also go through the rest of the entry from this point onward and consider each use of Alan Dean Foster and see would it be more appropriate to just use Foster.

the Star Trek: The Motion Picture screenplay -- this is clumsy because of the film-maker's clumsy inclusion of "The" in the title. You could reword it as:
the screenplay of Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Instead, he was involved in producing the Fotonovel -- you have "he was involved in" in the previous sentence so it jars when repeated here. Change this to "he helped in producing" or "he produced".

Jabba the Hut --> Jabba the Hutt

When asked if he had any bad feelings about George Lucas taking sole credit for his novel, Alan Dean Foster has said,

-- change "has said" to "said", since this was a specific time.

The initial idea was that if Star Wars was a modest success, but had made enough profit to fund George Lucas' intended sequel that later became The Empire Strikes Back, a cheaper film could be made as a stepping stone to getting the required amount.
-- I don't understand this. I think you may have left out the word "not". Did you mean to say "but had not made enough"?

It also provides more detail about the characters, giving them more character -- don't use the word "character" in both these ways. Change one of them to something else.

When it came to write the novelisation --> When it came to writing the novelisation

intended to follow the film where possible, but add to the story as well
-->
intended to follow the film where possible, but to add to the story as well

I also think that the very long sentence which this occurs in should be split up in some way.

For more information on Alan Dean Foster... then visit his website
-- remove the word "then"

August Derleth along with Donald Wandrei established the oldest fantasy publishing house in the world -->
August Derleth and Donald Wandrei established the oldest fantasy publishing house in the world

Changes made.

All fairly straightforward, I don't think they require further comment.

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I was in a second-hand book shop on Friday when I spotted a book, 'Lost World of Trek', all about the proposed 'Star Trek Phase II' television series that never was. So I've now tweaked this article's Star Trek section accordingly, adding a quote Foster had made from that.

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When I was in Coventry last weekend I spotted a Forbidden Planet store, so I went in for a browse. I was hoping to find some recycled Trek books, but all they had on sale was new stock and it was mega bucks prices so I left, very disappointed. I am still trying to find a second hand bookstore.

GB

My favourite novelisation of his is "Pale Rider" from the Clint Eastwood film.

It is easy to look down on his books (and many do) but they are rollicking, well written yarns.

Is it worth commenting on his critics? I know nothing of the professional ones, but many of the purist "comic collectors" who were friends in my youth were quite snooty towards his works.

Although I would love to be pleasantly surprised, I suspect that professional critics are likely to be a bit snobbish.

But though he might not be the most critically acclaimed author, I bet that thousands of people who previously had not read a book for pleasure discovered the joy of reading through books, even lowly novelisations, that he has written. And that is important.

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If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

Thanks everyone, and well done Greebo - have a

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Well done

and a for Greebo

GB