In praise of the novelization, pop fiction’s least reputable genre
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Re: In praise of the novelization, pop fiction’s least reputable genre
#2Around 1999, Microsoft had a pulp fiction division. The "Crimson Skies" game had a complicated backstory, which included references to fictional magazines such as "Spicy Air Tales". Microsoft had two volumes of that written and published, plus some other short novels.[1]
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Skies-Spicy-Tales-Fortunes/dp...
Re: In praise of the novelization, pop fiction’s least reputable genre
#3Around 1999, Microsoft had a pulp fiction division. The "Crimson Skies" game had a complicated backstory, which included references to fictional magazines such as "Spicy Air Tales". Microsoft had two volumes of that written and published, plus some other short novels.[1] [1] https://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Skies-Spicy-Tales-Fortunes/dp...
Crimson Skies was wonderful. Ok it took about 5 minutes to load each mission, but it was actually worth it. I miss that game so much.
Re: In praise of the novelization, pop fiction’s least reputable genre
#4See also the mini-story on film novelizations from 99% Invisible: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/mini-stories-volume-9...
A funny part of these is that the author often doesn't get to see the movie they're adapting!
> The novelization of “Alien,” for example, does not have a description of the alien, because 20th Century Fox wouldn’t let the writer look at the puppet while it was being designed. And in “The Empire Strikes Back,” the famously green character Yoda is described as having blue skin.
> Author Hank Searls went off the rails during his adaptation of “Jaws: The Revenge,” adding a plot about the shark being controlled by a “voodoo curse.”
Re: In praise of the novelization, pop fiction’s least reputable genre
#5See also the mini-story on film novelizations from 99% Invisible: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/mini-stories-volume-9... A funny part of these is that the author often doesn't get to see the movie they're adapting! > The novelization of “Alien,” for example, does not have a description of the alien, because 20th Century Fox wouldn’t let the writer look at the puppet while it was being designed. And in “The E…
Another funny anecdote in that category I didn't see in the article is Isaac Asimov's novelization for Fantastic Voyage. Because of filming delays the book was published 6 months before the film release, leading many people to believe the film was an adaptation of the book.
That novelization differs significantly from the movie, but mostly because Asimov thought the screenplay was filled with bad sci-fi plot-holes and was given permission to change whatever he liked.
Re: In praise of the novelization, pop fiction’s least reputable genre
#6I felt sure this would mention Orson Scott Card's novelization of "The Abyss" which I thought gave much more depth for Lindsey (the engineer who designed the "Deep Core" drilling platform, played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio).
I'm not a fan of Card's other work (Ender's Game is a perfectly fine SF story, but didn't need a sequel let alone multiple sequels) but I thought this background really helps The Abyss much more than even the Director's Cut.
Or, if not that then B-to-the-F which is Ryan North's series about the novelization of Back to the Future, eventually published as an e-book - meta!.
But neither of them rates a mention, I guess that even if it lacks praise there was too much going on in this sub-genre to mention it all even in passing.
Re: In praise of the novelization, pop fiction’s least reputable genre
#7There is this wonderful page-by-page review of the novelization of Back to the Future:
Re: In praise of the novelization, pop fiction’s least reputable genre
#8Around 1999, Microsoft had a pulp fiction division. The "Crimson Skies" game had a complicated backstory, which included references to fictional magazines such as "Spicy Air Tales". Microsoft had two volumes of that written and published, plus some other short novels.[1] [1] https://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Skies-Spicy-Tales-Fortunes/dp...
Crimson Skies was wonderful. Ok it took about 5 minutes to load each mission, but it was actually worth it. I miss that game so much.
Now that's a title worth a remake. Especially since Microsoft already has the Flight Simulator engine and huge areas of detailed terrain.
Re: In praise of the novelization, pop fiction’s least reputable genre
#9The Dr Who novelisations were loved in part because they were the only way pre-video for the show's decades of output to be experienced. (And still are for some lost episodes.) I'd hardly ever seen an episode (as a late 70's 10 year old) but had read all the books I could find in the local library.
(I suspect they also inspired many kids to read for similar reasons.)
Re: In praise of the novelization, pop fiction’s least reputable genre
#10The Dr Who novelisations were loved in part because they were the only way pre-video for the show's decades of output to be experienced. (And still are for some lost episodes.) I'd hardly ever seen an episode (as a late 70's 10 year old) but had read all the books I could find in the local library. (I suspect they also inspired many kids to read for similar reasons.)
My parents were not movie people- never went to the theater, rarely rented movies. So my introduction to Star Wars was the Expanded Universe novels at the local library.