Lucas commissioned Foster to write a follow-up novel, basically to explore the possibilities of a cheap-o sequel. Lucas wanted something lined up if the first movie did well enough to warrant one but not well enough to get a lot of money to do it. I think the original Planet of the Apes movies got stuck in that vicious cycle.
I never finished Splinter when I first bought it, but coming off of finishing the first novel I'm giving it another go. Something pops out at me immediately in the first paragraph. Writers have tells, just like poker players, and it seems that one of Alan Dean Foster's (at least circa '76-'78) was use of the word 'throve' as a past tense of 'thrive' . Zak S. and Evan picked up on this construction in the Star Wars prologue and Foster whips it out again in paragraph one of the follow-up!
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Norman Mailer's is "glabrous". Dumas' is (oddly) "mechanically".
ReplyDeleteI read that novel years ago, sometime between the release of Star Wars and Empire Strikes back. I have recently acquired another copy of the book, to refresh my memory, since my original copy has parishes in the blackhole of paperback fiction. And, just this week I received the Dark Horse, Star Wars Omnibus; A Long Time Ago, vol. 1. Yeah, there are only three Star Wars movies.
ReplyDeleteI'm about 90% sure Clark Ashton Smith's is "turpitudes." Also hyphens, but I'm guilty of that one myself.
ReplyDeleteFirst novel I ever read - I think it was 4th grade, Ms. Brancini's class at Doris French Elementary school.
ReplyDeleteI read and re-read Splinter many times as a kid... possibly even before I saw Star Wars. It may have been one of the first adult fiction books I owned. Anyway, thanks for that blast from the past!
ReplyDeleteI love writerly habits of that sort. Of course, RPG writers have them too, from Gygax's fondness for things like "Gentle readers ..." to Steve Jackson's habitual use of the phrase "so it goes" ala Slaughterhouse Five.
ReplyDeletePeter: My first adult fiction book was an SF tie-in too, but wasn't nearly as cool as Splinter, historically speaking ... it was Richard Lupoff's novelization of the Gil Gerard "Buck Rogers" movie (the cinematic release of the pilot for the TV show, basically). On the other hand, from what I can remember of it, I'd probably still enjoy it today, so i can only be so ashamed of it ...
I still have it, somewhere, and I still distinctly remember picking it out at a small bookstore, some kind of birthday "you can have five books of your choice" sort of outing. The majority of books I chose were paperback collections of Ziggy cartoons.
I've still never read more than a few pages of Splinter, myself. I didn't dislike it or anything; i just ... never bothered. I probably should.
I own (and have read) that book.
ReplyDeleteIIRC I was a bit disappointed, since the movie(s) was so much better. Now I understand why that was the case. Thanks!
Stephen R. Donaldson writes only in tells, many of which don't mean what he thinks they mean.
ReplyDeleteHe's roynish.
Splinter is a fine adventure, especially when it is not automatically followed by the other two movies. Most people say there are discrepancies, but you know... Lucas approved this at the time, and didn't see anything wrong with it. Just ponder that one.
ReplyDelete> I'm about 90% sure Clark Ashton Smith's is "turpitudes."
ReplyDeleteHis "cacchination," too, has always stuck out for me as a word you'll never see in anyone else's writing.
Dashiel Hammett's tell was "alright." I think he was incapable of writing a story without using that word.
ReplyDeleteChina Mieville kept using 'recurved' in one novel. And not about bows.
ReplyDeleteread that book way back when I was a youth, along with a couple more, maybe that's why what feels right for star wars isn't what came with the most recent movies.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Alan Dean Foster tell: "like so many." He seems to use it at least once per novel.
ReplyDeleteIt was that phrase's occurrence in the Star Wars novelization that made me first realize that it was Ghost Written.
Jeff, found this link to some scripts: http://starwarz.com/starkiller/ Thought you'd be interested. Some strange stuff in the "Luke Starkiller Sourcebook"
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