# Is Alan Dean Foster considered a major Sci-fi writer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365 "2004-06-20T22:55:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/1 "2004-06-20T22:55:11Z")
One of my friends told me I would like Sentenced to Prism by Alan Dean Foster. She was right. Is Mr. Foster considered a good writer of sci-fi? If not, who else should I read next? I have read Michael McCollum, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Alan Dean Foster. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/2 "2004-06-20T23:01:59Z")
He’s got a large following, and he writes fantasy & sci fi. His Flinx series is great. I like his stuff. Is there a specific type of sci fi/fantasy you’re looking for? Hard Sci Fi? Mostly fantasy? Comedy? You may want to try Harry Harrison, the Stainless Steel Rat. Great intro to sci fi, very funny and moves quickly. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/3 "2004-06-20T23:55:45Z")
He’s a good writer of SF adventure, but his works are a little too lightweight for him to be considered a major SF writer. He’s quite entertaining, though, and his books are usually fun to read. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/4 "2004-06-20T23:57:14Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > He’s got a large following, and he writes fantasy & sci fi. His Flinx series is great. Coincidentally I’m revisiting the Flinx series presently. I read them as a kid, and I’m really enjoying them now. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/5 "2004-06-21T00:06:13Z")
I’ve never read the Flinx series but I did like: The Call to Arms trilogy Most of the Spellsinger saga Sentenced to Prism To the Vanishing Point Glory Lane Paralellities (I always enjoy alternate universe stories) He has a great sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/6 "2004-06-21T00:18:13Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Is Mr. Foster considered a good writer of sci-fi? Depends who you ask. He’s not a_bad_ writer, at least for the genre. He is a very prolific journeyman writer who has over time created a fairly sizeable persistent ‘space opera’ universe for a lot of his work, into which Sentenced to Prism fits. If you enjoyed that one, you would probably like some of his other, similar, books like Midworld or the Icerigger trilogy ( Icerigger, Mission to Moulokin, The Deluge Drivers - the first two are better than the third ). One of his main fascinations seems to be biologically hostile worlds and/or travelogue-type sf/fantasy. Personally I find him frequently entertaining in a junk-food sort of way, but I always sort of feel like it is a slightly guilty pleasure. He can be a total hack and given his high productivity ( some of which definitely seems to be phoned in ) and involvement with various novelization projects in areas like Star Wars and Star Trek, his reputation isn’t sterling in all quarters. Quality-wise he is generally not considered a giant in the field But I liked Sentenced to Prism as well and I would certainly encourage you to give him another shot. Giant or not, he can still be pretty fun. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/7 "2004-06-21T00:43:13Z")
I have enjoyed some of his stuff. The spellworld stuff was fun at first. The Flinx series has its good moments. I think he is worth taking a closer look at. ---
**Author:** ![Grimpen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/82dd89/32.png) [@Grimpen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grimpen)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/8 "2004-06-21T01:30:51Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Is Mr. Foster considered a good writer of sci-fi? If not, who else should I read next? I have read Michael McCollum, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Alan Dean Foster. It really depends both on what sort of stories you enjoy, and also on what science fiction you’ve already read. I’ve been reading science fiction since the 1960’s, and a lot of recent stuff just looks boringly derivative to me. (Been there, read that.) But if it’s new to new readers, then it’s new, and that’s fine. Authors I currently like a lot would be: Lois McMaster Bujold (her Vorkosigan series); early C. J. Cherryh (“Pride of Chanur,” the Morgaine trilogy, “Faded Sun”); James Schmitz is coming back in print, and he wrote good stories; you might enjoy Christopher Anvil, also now back in print; several of the collaborations by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are very good. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/9 "2004-06-21T01:33:55Z")
I vaguely recall hearing that he ghostwrote the novelization of (the original) Star Wars credited to George Lucas. Am I remembering at all correctly? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/10 "2004-06-21T03:36:28Z")
ADF wrote “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” IIRC. This was the first novel set in the Star Wars universe that wasn’t a movie novelization. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/11 "2004-06-21T12:32:48Z")
Foster did ghostwrite the original “Star Wars” novelization. Lucas let him use his own name for “Splinter in Mind’s Eye.” ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/12 "2004-06-21T13:51:32Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > He can be a total hack and given his high productivity ( some of which definitely seems to be phoned in ) and involvement with various novelization projects in areas like Star Wars and Star Trek, his reputation isn’t sterling in all quarters. Quality-wise he is generally not considered a giant in the field I saw Foster at a con one time where he said he knew his Star Wars/Star Trek novelizations worked against him somewhat with _fans_ but that he had deliberately taken the projects because they helped him with _publishers_. His explanation was that publishers are sometimes more interested in how many books you have sold than in how good your work really is. He knew that the ST/SW books would sell in good numbers and that after cranking them out it would be much easier for him to get his _own_ stuff published. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/13 "2004-06-21T14:00:42Z")
I like the ‘talented journeyman’ characterization. That seems to fit. Foster appears (to my distant ear) to be a writer who likes to write and views it as a profession…something by which he earns his money. He’s not above a few script adaptations (or a lot, actually, it seemed for a while he was the official ‘early 80s adaptor’) and can crank out his own work. I’d put him in that Piers Anthony/Robert Asprin space. Good stuff if it’s your bag…but it won’t be everyones. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/14 "2004-06-21T14:36:34Z")
In a \*Starlog \*interview back in the 80s, Foster said that the reason he does all those novelizations is that he doesn’t want to have to worry about dying broke, like H. P. Lovecraft. Like 'em or not, those things are a steady income. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/15 "2004-06-21T21:41:15Z")
I highly recommend his collections of short stories. In particular, the story **Gift of a Useless Man** is (imho) fantastic. Although, like others, I would call him more of a fun, entertaining author than a “great” author, if that distinction has meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alan-dean-foster-considered-a-major-sci-fi-writer/251365/16 "2004-06-21T22:31:55Z")
You are talking about my very namesake. 🙂 Great light adventure SF, my favorite after Icerigger is **Nor Crystal Tears** a first contact story featuring the insectoid Thranx who are humanity’s partner in his commonwealth universe. Also check out his novelization of Alien a very good read in it’s own right IMHO.