>Also, while I'm being mildly contrarian, has anyone else noticed
>that—if the novelization is actually a reasonably close
>representation of the plot of the film, which I admit is never a sure
>bet—this is the same story as the original Star Wars?

Yeah, the novel has a few extra scenes (Poe escaping Jakuu, the Resistance scenes before Leia and Han meet again, and the fat salvage trader showing up again to harass Rey at Maz's are the big ones), but yeah, everyone's commented on that at this point. It's usually the biggest complaint about the movie really. Personally, I like one summary I saw regarding it. Instead of reinventing the wheel, like the prequels tried and were crucified for, they're showing people they understand why the wheels are round. Episode VIII is where they'll start really shaking things up, I expect.

Hell, if nothing else, watching the movie, you got the impression that Han had noticed the same thing, well before making it to Starkiller Base. "Desert planet, droid with vital intel, the Falcon... Aw hell, I'm the daft old man, aren't I?"

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter