Here’s a treat. Alan Dean Foster is an author of over a hundred books, including more than forty of his own novels (the Pip and Flinx series and the Spellsinger novels, amongst others.) Perhaps most of all Alan is best known for his tie-in novelisations of movies – the first three Alien novels, Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, Transformers, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and many, many others. On the release of his latest novelisation, Alien Covenant: Origins, SFFWorld had the chance to catch up with a genre legend!
SFFWorld: Hello Alan. Many thanks for doing this.
Your new book, Alien Covenant: Origins, is a return to the Alien Universe and a prequel to your novelisation of the movie Alien Covenant. How does Origins add to what’s been told already?
Adf: In COVENANT we simply come upon a colony ship in space, enroute to a new world. We learn nothing about how the crew was selected, what they might have been involved with on Earth prior to the ship’s departure, and how an assortment of incidents prior to leaving Earth orbit may have affected or influenced them and their attitude to the mission. There is also a great deal we don’t know about Weyland-Yutani, how it functions, how it operates in the absence of Peter Weyland, and the world in which it is such an important player. ORIGINS attempts to answer a number of those, and other, relevant questions.
You have written the novelisation for Alien Covenant and now this prequel. What made you, as a writer, decide to return to Alien?
Adf: I’m a big believer in continuity in series story-telling. The opportunity to do so in such a long-running cinematic franchise is infrequent. When offered the chance to participate again in ALIEN and to perhaps add a little bit here and there to the series canon, I felt it would be intriguing. And I also felt that I could do good by the fans by coming back.
Some of us remember well your first novelisation of the first movie, back in 1979! You wrote your own books first, of course, but how did that first Alien book come about?
Adf: I had done a number of novelizations by then, including STAR WARS and the STAR TREK LOG series. Warner Books asked if I would be interested in doing the book version of this new “unusual” SF film, so I jumped at it. I had met and done some spec work for Ron Schusett when I was a graduate student at UCLA, and Dan O’Bannon I knew from my novelization of DARK STAR, so I went into the project with some idea that the two writers both knew and loved science-fiction.
You then went on to write novelisations of the next two Alien movies. Was the writing process different this time, with the Alien Covenant books, nearly 40 years on?
Adf: Studios have become much more protective of canon in franchise films…because fans have been able to become far more involved, thanks to the Internet. When I wrote the first two ALIEN novelizations, I was simply handed a copy of the script and allowed to do pretty much as I pleased. Nowadays, with COVENANT, or Star Trek, or Star Wars, studios tend to scrutinize everything you write. Sometimes you’re allowed to travel the path you choose, other times the studio will require alterations. It’s much more of a communal exercise these days…at least where franchise films are involved.
You’ve written in several shared/media universes, including Star Wars, Star Trek, Terminator and Transformers that we can think of. How does the Alien universe challenge you in different ways than those other universes?
Adf: Most obviously, it’s far more adult. There’s no attempt in the ALIEN films to appeal to preteens or children. No one is sitting around telling you to tone down a scene because it might upset the kiddies. Also, the ALIEN universe is not built out as deeply as the others you mention. This offers the writer the opportunity to add a little more original material.
A more general question. When you write a novelisation, how much guidance are you given? Do you have strict guidelines or are you given a fairly free rein? Is each project different?
Adf: Again, the more developed and successful the film franchise, the more control is exerted over novelizations and spinoff stories.
You are an author of your own novels as well, of course. We’d imagine writing novelisations is quite different to creating and writing your own worlds. What are the benefits of writing both? Can the two be mutual?
Adf: I try to put as much effort into a novelization as I do into an original novel. That’s the least the reader can expect. I view a novelization in the same way I would collaborating on an original novel with another writer. As to benefits, well, within reason I get to make my own Director’s cut of the film. Every fan does that…and yes, I’m still a fan.
You’ve been a long time in the business. What keeps you writing? Will you ever stop?
Adf: It’s not complicated. I like to tell stories. I don’t expect I’ll ever stop.
What do you do away from writing to relax? Are you still a genre reader?
Adf: Alas, over the years my eyes have grown very weak and I have to restrict my reading primarily to research and current events. I still love the genre, and I’m thrilled when something like ARRIVAL comes along. I have a sizeable number of domestic responsibilities that have to be attended to (the butler having quit). I used to travel quite a bit, but those same responsibilities keep me at home. I still try to participate in the occasional powerlifting meet. Most of my competition is dead.
Finally, what is next for you?
Adf: New Pip & Flinx novel, STRANGE MUSIC, comes out from Del Rey in November. They will release RELIQUARY, a stand-alone SF novel, next year. Short stories in Analog and assorted anthologies. A short story collection, THE COMPLEAT MAD AMOS MALONE, soon. And THE DIRECTOR SHOULDA SHOT YOU, a history of my involvement with novelizations and the film industry, will hopefully find a publisher later this year.
Many thanks, Alan. All the very best in the future.
Alan’s latest novelisation, Alien Covenant: Origins, is out now in paperback from Titan Books.
Interview by Rob B Bedford and Mark Yon for SFFWorld.
Thanks to Laurie and all at Titan Publicity for helping us out with this one.
