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Dark Star
ALL SYSTEMS -- SNAFU!If anything could possibly go wrong aboard the scoutship Dark Star, sooner or later it would. Now, in the twentieth year of their mission -- destroying unstable planets -- the ship and its crew were slowly and steadily falling apart.After 20 years in space, isolation and lonliness had left thier mark. The four surviving crew members were bored beyond relief. Only an occasional bomb run or another of the inevitable malfunctions aboard ship upset the monotony.Then, one day, Bomb #20 was primed, armed, and set to detonate...and suddenly life on the Dark Star became frantic...
183 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
9 people are currently reading
410 people want to read
About the author
Alan Dean Foster
498 books2,032 followersBestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
February 23, 2014
A wonderful novel....almost as good as the search that was undertaken to find it. Some 20 years after starting to look for it. I saw this movie on the Late Late show on CBS one night and I was floored. The cheesiness and weirdness of it. I used to read Starlog magazine a lot and there was an ad for this book. But I never ordered it. I was 8 years old.
I developed a desire to read it, and me and my father began the quest. Every bookstore in NJ and PA. No one had it, it was out of print, etc....
We combed book fairs, libraries, garage sales, all bunk. We put up flyers, and my dad even had some other people he worked with trying to find it. Nothing. Over the years, I sorta gave up on it, and those of you who know me well, you know I have difficulty giving up on things. I am a Redsox fan of course. I grew up and my mind changed, but this book always remained a thought, like a pebble rattling around in your shoe, every now and then, giving you a stub to let you know it was there.
One day, I was heading to work in Metuchen. I had to take the bus that day for whatever reason, and I had about an hour to kill. There was a new used bookstore that had just opened, so I grabbed a cup of coffee and ventured inside. As I approached the SF/Fantasy racks....my eyes were trained to read sideways...and the words smacked me right in the middle of my skull. I dropped my coffee and said aloud..."NO FUCKING WAY".
There it was. "Dark Star" by Alan Dean Foster. My heart rate was JACKED. I took it immediately to the register and just dropped crumpled bills on the counter. I don't think I even waited for my change. I left the store and called my father. I asked him: "you will never guess what I just found in this bookstore?"
His reply: "Get the fuck out of here. Really?" I could hear him smiling through the phone lines.
I sat in front of the Metuchen train station, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes, listening to Rush in my headphones and read this book.
I was several hours late for work that day, but it was irrelevant.
When I got home from work that night, I sat down on the couch in the living room, and read it again. Doolittle and Pinback were in my dreams that night....
I developed a desire to read it, and me and my father began the quest. Every bookstore in NJ and PA. No one had it, it was out of print, etc....
We combed book fairs, libraries, garage sales, all bunk. We put up flyers, and my dad even had some other people he worked with trying to find it. Nothing. Over the years, I sorta gave up on it, and those of you who know me well, you know I have difficulty giving up on things. I am a Redsox fan of course. I grew up and my mind changed, but this book always remained a thought, like a pebble rattling around in your shoe, every now and then, giving you a stub to let you know it was there.
One day, I was heading to work in Metuchen. I had to take the bus that day for whatever reason, and I had about an hour to kill. There was a new used bookstore that had just opened, so I grabbed a cup of coffee and ventured inside. As I approached the SF/Fantasy racks....my eyes were trained to read sideways...and the words smacked me right in the middle of my skull. I dropped my coffee and said aloud..."NO FUCKING WAY".
There it was. "Dark Star" by Alan Dean Foster. My heart rate was JACKED. I took it immediately to the register and just dropped crumpled bills on the counter. I don't think I even waited for my change. I left the store and called my father. I asked him: "you will never guess what I just found in this bookstore?"
His reply: "Get the fuck out of here. Really?" I could hear him smiling through the phone lines.
I sat in front of the Metuchen train station, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes, listening to Rush in my headphones and read this book.
I was several hours late for work that day, but it was irrelevant.
When I got home from work that night, I sat down on the couch in the living room, and read it again. Doolittle and Pinback were in my dreams that night....
May 24, 2014
-Entre chistes y situaciones absurdas, toda una tragedia.-
Género. Cienca-Ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. La nave Dark Star lleva años dedicándose a destruir estructuras planetarias inestables para que no haya problemas con ellas en el futuro. Su tripulación comienza a manifestar toda clase de disfunciones psicológicas debido a lo prolongado de su misión y la propia nave presenta algunas fallas. Y una de sus bombas (perdón, aparatos disparadores termoestelares), la última en concreto, tiene muchas ganas de cumplir con su misión.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Cienca-Ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. La nave Dark Star lleva años dedicándose a destruir estructuras planetarias inestables para que no haya problemas con ellas en el futuro. Su tripulación comienza a manifestar toda clase de disfunciones psicológicas debido a lo prolongado de su misión y la propia nave presenta algunas fallas. Y una de sus bombas (perdón, aparatos disparadores termoestelares), la última en concreto, tiene muchas ganas de cumplir con su misión.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
March 27, 2012
Foster became famous for his media novelizations, and this is one his first and best. DARK STAR was a low-budget sf comedy, and Foster both translates the story faithfully and expands it into a priceless humorous novel. (Side note: I first saw the film more than thirty-five years ago, and somehow it never dawned on me until just now that what happens to Talby is a complete steal of Ray Bradbury's "Kaleidoscope.") Anyway, this is a terrific book, and the one-word summation of Doolittle's fate, the last word in the book, is absolutely perfect.
May 21, 2020
I read this because I proofread a new reprint version coming out soon. I’m not generally a fan of sci fi, and didn’t expect to enjoy this novelization of a 70s low budget film, but I actually really did
January 13, 2022
4.25
It’s true that the novelization of a movie is the very definition of derivative — a dirty word in the writing world. Dare I say, taboo? It’s the death of originality and reeks of laziness. But who listens to punks like me anyway? I’ve never made a dime writing anything. On the other hand, Alan Dean Foster has made a career out of it. So, he must be doing something right. His work has nearly elevated novelizations to an art form. And by the time of Star Wars, his name became synonymous with the novelization. Though, Dark Star shows that he was ready for the big leagues long before that.
His version of Dark Star was written as a movie tie-in to John Carpenter’s cult comedy student film, which Carpenter co-wrote with Dan O’Bannon (of Alien fame). To call the story a comedy of errors in space is severely underselling it. A rag tag team of astronauts/officers with names like Talby, Boiler, Doolittle, and Pinback hurtle through space in a sardine can of a spaceship, named Dark Star, looking for planets to bomb. All the while they act unbecoming of officers and astronauts running their ship like a frat house. It’s like an anti-2001: A Space Odyssey, showing the absurdity of technology reliance. Artificial intelligence plays a big role here, but you won’t find it in a serious and narcissist HAL 9000 computer. It’s only in a talking bomb — rather, Thermostellar Triggering Device — that simply wants to do what it was created to do regardless of where it does it. Watch out crew! Adding to the absurdity is an alien beachball that serves as a quasi-mascot until it runs amok throughout the ship eluding capture around every corner.
I haven’t watched the movie, but based on snippets I’ve seen online, the film shows all the hallmarks of a lo-fi, campy B-movie. Though, I do not get that vibe from the novelization. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The novel was written so well — with moments of introspection and well-defined personalities — that it would seem like it was the basis for the movie. Keep in mind, Foster didn’t have the liberty to add or remove elements of the film willy nilly. He had to find a way to get the action onto the page and articulate moments of ambiguity so that they made sense. Not only that, but with a screenplay that’s only eighty pages long, he needed to come up with eighty thousand words. And he had to complete it in short order too. Talk about sinking into quicksand with your hands tied behind your back!
It took some guts to accept these nigh impossible propositions, but the act of doing so forced him to work his magic. Now, the novelization is its own genre. We have Foster to thank or chide for it. I’ll go with the former.
It’s true that the novelization of a movie is the very definition of derivative — a dirty word in the writing world. Dare I say, taboo? It’s the death of originality and reeks of laziness. But who listens to punks like me anyway? I’ve never made a dime writing anything. On the other hand, Alan Dean Foster has made a career out of it. So, he must be doing something right. His work has nearly elevated novelizations to an art form. And by the time of Star Wars, his name became synonymous with the novelization. Though, Dark Star shows that he was ready for the big leagues long before that.
His version of Dark Star was written as a movie tie-in to John Carpenter’s cult comedy student film, which Carpenter co-wrote with Dan O’Bannon (of Alien fame). To call the story a comedy of errors in space is severely underselling it. A rag tag team of astronauts/officers with names like Talby, Boiler, Doolittle, and Pinback hurtle through space in a sardine can of a spaceship, named Dark Star, looking for planets to bomb. All the while they act unbecoming of officers and astronauts running their ship like a frat house. It’s like an anti-2001: A Space Odyssey, showing the absurdity of technology reliance. Artificial intelligence plays a big role here, but you won’t find it in a serious and narcissist HAL 9000 computer. It’s only in a talking bomb — rather, Thermostellar Triggering Device — that simply wants to do what it was created to do regardless of where it does it. Watch out crew! Adding to the absurdity is an alien beachball that serves as a quasi-mascot until it runs amok throughout the ship eluding capture around every corner.
I haven’t watched the movie, but based on snippets I’ve seen online, the film shows all the hallmarks of a lo-fi, campy B-movie. Though, I do not get that vibe from the novelization. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The novel was written so well — with moments of introspection and well-defined personalities — that it would seem like it was the basis for the movie. Keep in mind, Foster didn’t have the liberty to add or remove elements of the film willy nilly. He had to find a way to get the action onto the page and articulate moments of ambiguity so that they made sense. Not only that, but with a screenplay that’s only eighty pages long, he needed to come up with eighty thousand words. And he had to complete it in short order too. Talk about sinking into quicksand with your hands tied behind your back!
It took some guts to accept these nigh impossible propositions, but the act of doing so forced him to work his magic. Now, the novelization is its own genre. We have Foster to thank or chide for it. I’ll go with the former.
January 14, 2023
Most excellent novelization of john Carpenter's film " Dark Star" which makes the bonkers confusion of the movie into a comprehensible story: Five men sent on a 20 year mission that turns into a race between their ship's crumbling infrastructure and their mind's deteriorating sense of reality.
The Centipede Press edition includes an introduction by the author that is a mini-primer on the ins and outs of novelizing a movie, along with reproductions of movie posters, advertising for other markets and alternate covers for the novel that have appeared over the years.
The Centipede Press edition also includes a very nice original dust jacket illustration by Ben Baldwin and is signed by Alan Dean Foster and the artist. Print run was 300 and is sold out.
The Centipede Press edition includes an introduction by the author that is a mini-primer on the ins and outs of novelizing a movie, along with reproductions of movie posters, advertising for other markets and alternate covers for the novel that have appeared over the years.
The Centipede Press edition also includes a very nice original dust jacket illustration by Ben Baldwin and is signed by Alan Dean Foster and the artist. Print run was 300 and is sold out.
March 19, 2014
Alan Dean Foster is a master of the movie tie-in, which is what this is. I read this after having seen the movie; the script for which was by John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon. It's more difficult than you think to convert a movie script to a novel, particularly where humour is concerned. Alan Dean Foster managed it brilliantly.
September 8, 2012
Dark star is a fine a rendition of pre war Europe as anything I have read. It captures the murky allegiances and moral ambiguity of Europe on the brink of war.
August 1, 2024
I read this way, waaaay back in 1974 around the time when the movie came out. Found it in a second hand sci-fi store.
I was only 14 at the time, but had already seen 2001: A Space Odessy 2 or 3 times, loved the David Bowie song which still was all over A.M. radio (does a.m. radio still exist?), I grew up on Star Trek TOS, (I used to watch it with my older sister), and of course had seen a butt load of other sci-fi films and t.v. shows all in black & white.
So this book was an eye opener for me at a young and not so tender age. Thus the 4☆'s. I had never read a sci-fi book like this before that so blatently took the piss right out of the pretentiousness of sci-fi. My young teenage self loved it. (It irritated my older brother btw. He refused to admit he read the book, lol).
I had never experienced an alien being played for laughs that way before. Or experienced "serious" astronaughts blowing up planets, just because they were all nuts. It was a refreshing experience.
The whole black comedy of the thing was right up my ally. Yeah! Life does drive you nuts sometimes.
I also knew it was a movie because there was a photo section in the book. But I couldn't find any sign of anywhere. It took me about 20 years too see the movie on VHS, borrowed from the public library. It was a bit of a disapointment. The characters of course weren't as well developed because we couldn't see inside their heads. And the Pinback and balloon alien parts were not as funny. Ah well, such is slapstick.
Anyways I still have fond memories of the book and it has left a lasting impression on me. I'm glad I read it even though I have to admit it's a little silly at times but so what. Lighten up anal retentives and just have a laugh sometime.
I was only 14 at the time, but had already seen 2001: A Space Odessy 2 or 3 times, loved the David Bowie song which still was all over A.M. radio (does a.m. radio still exist?), I grew up on Star Trek TOS, (I used to watch it with my older sister), and of course had seen a butt load of other sci-fi films and t.v. shows all in black & white.
So this book was an eye opener for me at a young and not so tender age. Thus the 4☆'s. I had never read a sci-fi book like this before that so blatently took the piss right out of the pretentiousness of sci-fi. My young teenage self loved it. (It irritated my older brother btw. He refused to admit he read the book, lol).
I had never experienced an alien being played for laughs that way before. Or experienced "serious" astronaughts blowing up planets, just because they were all nuts. It was a refreshing experience.
The whole black comedy of the thing was right up my ally. Yeah! Life does drive you nuts sometimes.
I also knew it was a movie because there was a photo section in the book. But I couldn't find any sign of anywhere. It took me about 20 years too see the movie on VHS, borrowed from the public library. It was a bit of a disapointment. The characters of course weren't as well developed because we couldn't see inside their heads. And the Pinback and balloon alien parts were not as funny. Ah well, such is slapstick.
Anyways I still have fond memories of the book and it has left a lasting impression on me. I'm glad I read it even though I have to admit it's a little silly at times but so what. Lighten up anal retentives and just have a laugh sometime.
May 7, 2024
It's funny reading the other reviews, as this book apparently has some kind of cult status. I think my copy came in a miscellaneous grab bag from a library sale 😁
This is a very quirky book - and sounds like the time it was written (1974). There are a number of real homophobic slurs which I hope exist just to illustrate how much of a Neanderthal the person uttering them is . . . I hope.
It was funny and intriguing, but I wouldn't personally find it deserving of full-blown cult status. 🤖
This may be the first book I've read from this author, although I think it's possible I've read one of his Star Wars novels back in the day. The writing was interesting enough that I'd consider checking out some of his other stuff.
This is a very quirky book - and sounds like the time it was written (1974). There are a number of real homophobic slurs which I hope exist just to illustrate how much of a Neanderthal the person uttering them is . . . I hope.
It was funny and intriguing, but I wouldn't personally find it deserving of full-blown cult status. 🤖
This may be the first book I've read from this author, although I think it's possible I've read one of his Star Wars novels back in the day. The writing was interesting enough that I'd consider checking out some of his other stuff.
February 22, 2019
Bad Alan Dean Foster!
Bad writer!
Bad author of ALIEN!
Bad drugs!
Bad writing SF while under the influence of said drugs!
Bad!
So, Earth decides to send out a spacecraft with 20 intelligent bombs as precursor to setting up colonies around the galaxy (except it's implied the colony ships are too expensive and will never be made, but whatever). The spacecraft's crew are, without exception, seriously deranged in various unfunny ways. And it's their job to find habitable, colonizable planets... and then blow up nearby unstable planets. Can you predict the result? Then you're smarter than anyone in this novel. And, apparently, smarter than the author of ALIEN.
Bad writer!
Bad author of ALIEN!
Bad drugs!
Bad writing SF while under the influence of said drugs!
Bad!
So, Earth decides to send out a spacecraft with 20 intelligent bombs as precursor to setting up colonies around the galaxy (except it's implied the colony ships are too expensive and will never be made, but whatever). The spacecraft's crew are, without exception, seriously deranged in various unfunny ways. And it's their job to find habitable, colonizable planets... and then blow up nearby unstable planets. Can you predict the result? Then you're smarter than anyone in this novel. And, apparently, smarter than the author of ALIEN.
June 12, 2019
While this book doesn't quite capture the hilarity of the movie, it is fun. Elements that were laugh-out-loud funny in the film, however, become cringe-worthy when described in text. Perhaps I'm only now realizing just how dark the comedy of the movie was. Foster does a great job of getting into the heads of the characters, fleshing them out greatly. And he ends the book with a hilarious bit of narration that couldn't possibly have happened in the film.
November 13, 2024
La sinopsis es un resumen del 80% de la obra. No hay ninguna sorpresa, no hay ningún giro. El clímax y la resolución del conflicto me resultaron «cómicas» en el mal sentido de la expresión. Hay varios elementos añadidos que no aportaron nada al final ni tuvieron relevancia, situaciones planteadas que daban igual. Ni siquiera para ser novela corta me resultó entretenida.
July 10, 2017
3.5 stars. Rounded up to four for the strong ending.
January 22, 2018
Another excellent SyFy novel turned into a movie.
September 21, 2019
Entertaining, humorous, demonstrates an appreciation of space that much SF does not.
July 4, 2021
A fun read.
October 20, 2021
A curious title this - a novelization of a student film. John Carpenter of course has gone on to have much success and become a big name director, but Dark Star was his first cinema release. Alan Dean Foster is a renown author for novelizations and it says something about the base quality of the script that he has been able to produce a fairly impressive novel out of this. For reference, I have not seen the film.
Dark Star focuses on the crew of a spaceship tasked with destroying unstable planets ahead of human expansion in the galaxy. The plot focuses on the 4 (5?) crew on the ship. It is very much about the social relationships, isolationism and existential angst caused by prolonged travel with people you do not necessarily get on with. This is not action sci-fi but more a study in human loneliness.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read - a novelization of a film is always going to feel less developed than a true novel and this one is no exception, but Alan Dean Foster has done an impressive job of getting into the characters heads and fleshing them out. Not bad for a student film!
Dark Star focuses on the crew of a spaceship tasked with destroying unstable planets ahead of human expansion in the galaxy. The plot focuses on the 4 (5?) crew on the ship. It is very much about the social relationships, isolationism and existential angst caused by prolonged travel with people you do not necessarily get on with. This is not action sci-fi but more a study in human loneliness.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read - a novelization of a film is always going to feel less developed than a true novel and this one is no exception, but Alan Dean Foster has done an impressive job of getting into the characters heads and fleshing them out. Not bad for a student film!
October 10, 2024
Se supone que es un libro humorístico pero a mí no me lo ha parecido. Se basa en una película que no conozco, y la mezcla entre unos hechos y unos personajes que en parte se dan por sabidos y no se explican, por un lado, y una traducción que convierte el humor en absurdo, por otro, me ha decepcionado.
Posiblemente me falte el contexto para apreciar el humor de esta novela, porque lo que he encontrado han sido disparates surrealistas sin chispa. Es difícil traducir el humor, y más convertir una sátira cinematográfica en novela.
Posiblemente me falte el contexto para apreciar el humor de esta novela, porque lo que he encontrado han sido disparates surrealistas sin chispa. Es difícil traducir el humor, y más convertir una sátira cinematográfica en novela.
June 24, 2021
First Line
Talby was counting stars again.
A novelization of an older sci-fi movie. The theme of the novel appears to be capturing the boredom of interstellar space while highlighting the dangers and potentials of interstellar space.
A mission to futureproof colonies on other worlds by way of destroying worlds that could interfere: those with unstable orbit that could affect the ability to grow a civilization on the world within the Goldilocks zone. And 20 bombs for 20 worlds across 20 years. The crew is on its last one; set it off and go home.
Isolation has driven all the crew to madness in different ways. Over the course of the novel's events we are treated to varying details to flesh out the characters. And not surprisingly, some of the character traits and personalities drive events within the novel and thus by the end, we can say the events were directly related to the crew's actions. Plus there is an alien creature aboard.
The pacing is slow and steady with spurts of tension, and even a bit of action halfway and at end. The Centipede press edition adds in some fun extras including a foreword from the author about how he ended up writing the novel.
Summary Haiku
A lonely mission
Coming to a boring end
The bomb is not bored
Talby was counting stars again.
A novelization of an older sci-fi movie. The theme of the novel appears to be capturing the boredom of interstellar space while highlighting the dangers and potentials of interstellar space.
A mission to futureproof colonies on other worlds by way of destroying worlds that could interfere: those with unstable orbit that could affect the ability to grow a civilization on the world within the Goldilocks zone. And 20 bombs for 20 worlds across 20 years. The crew is on its last one; set it off and go home.
Isolation has driven all the crew to madness in different ways. Over the course of the novel's events we are treated to varying details to flesh out the characters. And not surprisingly, some of the character traits and personalities drive events within the novel and thus by the end, we can say the events were directly related to the crew's actions. Plus there is an alien creature aboard.
The pacing is slow and steady with spurts of tension, and even a bit of action halfway and at end. The Centipede press edition adds in some fun extras including a foreword from the author about how he ended up writing the novel.
Summary Haiku
A lonely mission
Coming to a boring end
The bomb is not bored
x-tbr-owned
July 10, 2025ordered from thriftbooks, be sure to take it (and the others) off paperbackswap wishlist
At SCF House.
At SCF House.
August 12, 2013
Not a terrible read, but it is a slog, mostly because Foster chooses the wrong places to pad the material out. Instead of exploring the characters more deeply or recounting past missions or what the world was like that they left behind, he instead decides to go on and on about the actual science of everything, which often runs in contradiction to the nonsensical science of the film, missing the point as it's supposed to be nonsensical. Instead of embracing this aspect, he seems embarrassed of it and tries too hard to either justify everything or explain how it's wrong and here's how it should really be working. And I think this speaks to a broader issue with the book in that Foster's style of writing ultimately clashes with the style of humor the film is written in. Foster isn't without humor, but his works often have a dryer, slier wit, and he feels out of touch with the broader, goofier tone of the film, and since he's not selling most of the jokes, the story ends up coming off far bleaker and depressing on the page than it does on the screen, which makes for a largely unpleasant reading experience, no matter how crisp and vivid Foster's prose is.
September 6, 2008
Dark Star is the story of four men, a spaceship, an alien, and a bomb (some or all of whom may be a bit unhinged), in the final days of their twenty year mission.
It is a darkly funny take on an interesting science fiction premise. Although the book was adapted from the script of a not-so-good seventies movie, it goes deeper into the story, the setting, and the characters than a movie ever could. The result is a surprisingly good novel.
This book is part innovative and thought-provoking SF, part hilarious dark comedy, and part touching character study--and wholly enjoyable.
It is a darkly funny take on an interesting science fiction premise. Although the book was adapted from the script of a not-so-good seventies movie, it goes deeper into the story, the setting, and the characters than a movie ever could. The result is a surprisingly good novel.
This book is part innovative and thought-provoking SF, part hilarious dark comedy, and part touching character study--and wholly enjoyable.
October 9, 2012
I got hold of this book having seen the classic Sci-Fi film. I read it from cover to cover laying in bed the night I got it home.
As a novelisation of the film, the reader gets all the fun of the frozen commander, maddening alien and device with delusions of grandeur. If you havent seen the film, I'd question if you are a SciFi fan. Unfortunately the book cant do better than the film though I did spend the entire evening chuckling. Of course if you look around you can see the whole film online.
As a novelisation of the film, the reader gets all the fun of the frozen commander, maddening alien and device with delusions of grandeur. If you havent seen the film, I'd question if you are a SciFi fan. Unfortunately the book cant do better than the film though I did spend the entire evening chuckling. Of course if you look around you can see the whole film online.
November 24, 2015
4 men Lt Doolittle, Cpl Boiler, Sgt Pinback & Cpl Talby with the frozen corpse of their Captain Powell are far from earth in an experimental space craft that is suffering from design flaws & neglected maintenance. Their mission is to destroy unstable planets within any solar system which contains earthlike planets. They bagan with 20 thermonuclear triggering devices and have used 19 of them. Only one more to go and they can begin the return to earth. Then all those small problems reach critical stage.
November 27, 2014
dark humor for dark situations successfully become good light-hearted comedy, and for once, perhaps a space opera that is accurate in detailing what it's like on a long journey in a spaceship.
this seems to pay homage and mock the greatness of 2001: A Space Odyssey at the same time which makes this a fun read.
this seems to pay homage and mock the greatness of 2001: A Space Odyssey at the same time which makes this a fun read.
July 10, 2010
All in all this is pretty much a port of the movie. There might be a few bits, like what specific charaters are thinking that's slightly insightful, but nothing new.
August 26, 2010
Another solid adaptation. This was quite funny.
September 12, 2016
The funniest sc-fi book I ever read!
July 25, 2013
Good adaptation of the cult movie. It provides a little helpful background info about the main characters that is quite welcome.
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