Allan Dean Foster TOS novelizations

[TOSalltheway]

NOTE: As corrected below I was discussing the writing of james Blish and not Foster. Thanks Greg for catching my quick brain fart.

As a kid in the early 1970s I devoured these books. Any time I was given a book report to write I picked a an episode that Blish had written in novel form ( is that cheating ?)

Now, some forty years later, I recently picked thm up to enjoy them again.

Times marches on. I found so much of the terminology stale from the 1960s in was embarassing. Female crew members constantly referred to as girls. Newer passing up a chance to refer to a black crew member as a negro, etc.

Can't go back again I guess.

 

[Greg Cox]

I think you might be confused here. James Blish wrote the TOS novelizations. Alan Dean Foster wrote the novelizations of the Animated Series.

Are you talking about the Blish books or the Foster books?

 

[TOSalltheway]

Youre right, I stand corrected. It is the Blish ones I am talking about.

 

[Greg Cox]

Youre right, I stand corrected. It is the Blish ones I am talking about.

I suspected as much. Just wanted to make sure Gerrold didn't get criticized for stuff he didn't write.

 

[Christopher]

Wait, are we talking about Blish, Foster, or Gerrold now...?

 

[Kor]

I used to have all of the James Blish adaptations, and I quite enjoyed them. But I sold most of them a while back when I was unemployed and broke, along with dozens of other books. They're fairly easy to find at a reasonable cost, so I might start replenishing my collection soon.

I always loved the cover artwork. It really gave the whole thing a remote, frontier feel. Does anyone know anything about the artist(s)?

As for the writing, I can't really remember the issues that the OP mentioned.But I read a lot of paperbacks and watch a lot of TV from that time period, so I guess I automatically take the social context of the time into consideration and tune such things out.

There were plenty of times on the series itself when a grown woman was referred to as "the girl." Should that detract from the viewing experience?

Blish wrote the adaptations over several years, into the later 1970s. It would be interesting to see if his language usage changed over time.

Kor

 

[Christopher]

There were plenty of times on the series itself when a grown woman was referred to as "the girl." Should that detract from the viewing experience?

Blish wrote the adaptations over several years, into the later 1970s. It would be interesting to see if his language usage changed over time.

Probably not, because he moved to England, where referring to grown women as "girls" was even more common than it was in the US.

 

[Greg Cox]

Wait, are we talking about Blish, Foster, or Gerrold now...?

Arrgh. I mean Foster, of course.

Clearly, this thread is cursed.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Blish wrote the adaptations over several years, into the later 1970s. It would be interesting to see if his language usage changed over time.

As Blish became more ill, more of the writing was being done by his wife Judith (JA) Lawrence, and her mother. She was only officially credited on "Star Trek 12" and "Mudd's Angels".