It's a difficult thing to try to review a story of this type, which doesn't really have an author.
I say that because the author (in this case Foster) isn't really the creator of most of it. He has to essentially take the original dialogue, plotline, action as described and only creates text for what would be seen in the original film story. Because of this, you really can't fault the author for deficiencies in the story/ plot, because he has to leave that alone.
Having said that, it's an ok book as is. If Foster had been able to actually rework the story to fully develop it, it'd probably have been a 4 or 5 star... ( )

a real “poor stupid humans are visited by a superintelligent benevolent alien & the military does its best to screw it all up” sigh. stupid ( )

fun and entertaining - you will scream, you will laugh and you will cry.
Will you be rooting for the starman, for the Air Force, or for the renegade whose whole life has been devoted to actually meeting and speaking with an alien?
And will he make it in time to save his life? ( )

It isn’t great literature, but it is good brain candy.

The story is the definition of the standard first contact trope. Aliens find evidence of humanity. Aliens travel to earth. Aliens send investigator to earth to explore. Alien travels for a time as a human, along the way coming to appreciate humanity’s features. Usually there are complications along the lines of militaristic or hostile people, frequently government agents as in this story, who view the alien as a threat and attempt to capture or neutralize what they don’t know. Alien returns recognizing homo sapiens possibility for good as well as destruction.

(Full review at my blog) ( )

NIL