By Scott on Monday, December 21, 2009 - 10:49 am:

I just finished watching James Cameron's movie Avatar and was reminded a lot of the book Midworld which I haven't read in a decade. Granted a lot of the themes are very common themes and "There's no new ideas under the sun", but I was wondering if anyone else saw the similarities.

By Flinxerone on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 06:44 pm:

Well, everyone is influenced and inspired by someone else whether contemporaries or from persons from the past, let's agree on this. If anything, something that is not shared with Pandora to Midworld is that the inhabitants in Midworld strictly dwell on the tops and don't really go down below, they aren't inhabiting different environments as the Na'vi do, the Na'vi seem to inhabit, from was is seen so far, cold climates, coastal shores, etc. Midworld people seem to stay very close to the 'emergents' and that's on top as much as possible.

By Julia on Friday, December 25, 2009 - 07:20 pm:

Absolutely! So many reference! I just wish with all my heart that Midworld could be made. It's always been my favorite and even though James Cameron has now dealt with the basic ideas of that story, I still think that Midworld deserves to be told.

By Fandawen on Monday, December 28, 2009 - 07:13 pm:

Even though its been at least 10 years since I read Midworld, I thought Avatar seemed similar. Guess the thought was nagging enough that I scoured the internet trying to remember the name of the book and now I find myself here posting this comment.

By aok on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - 05:39 pm:

my wife and i saw avatar came home onto the net to see if anyone else saw the similarities in adf writings and this movie wow there sure is a lot of speculation also the cameron interview about who will write the novel is worth a look

By munitor on Friday, January 01, 2010 - 06:44 pm:

I just saw Avatar with my wife and immediately afterward told her I thought that several of the plot devices were lifted from "Midworld", including the concept of a planet spanning intelligent entity. Frankly there are enough similarities that I expected a credit for ADF (but there wasn't one).

By Truth 614 on Saturday, January 02, 2010 - 08:16 am:

I thought that Avatar had similarities to Midworld and Sentenced To Prism. There were also similarities from Dances With Wolves, Lord Jim, The Man Who Would Be King, etc. Besides having something to say about it, who cares? Avatar was a cool movie. I hope it motivates ADF to write a screenplay for Midworld or Mid Flinx, etc. because THAT would truly be cool.

By Julie on Saturday, January 02, 2010 - 11:08 am:

I wasn't as awed with the visuals nor audio of Avatar as I hoped I would be. Maybe because it was late in the evening for me, or the theater was too crowded or the 3D-glasses were distracting, or likely- the theater wasn't that great. I was hoping for a more immersive experience, yeah, it was pretty, but I didn't feel like I was in the movie. I wanted to feel like I was flying on those dinosaur-birds, but didn't get that, compare Spiderman- it was a physical reaction, flying through the air with Spidey. The floating mountains were way cool, my favorite thing in the movie, Roger Dean-ish. I read Midworld back in the mid/late 80's. I'll read it again soon. Happy New Year to everyone

By PAX on Saturday, January 02, 2010 - 09:20 pm:

Saw District 9 and Avatar this weekend. District 9 wasn't bad, but I found it lacking in several areas...like ADF said, major plot holes which are so painfully obvious it was distracting. But I rather liked the documentary take on it and the "prawns" were very unique and good Fx. Predicatable though. One question though--is there a sequal in 3 years? Avatar--awsome! Definite parallels to Midworld, without a doubt, and more than just a couple. But, still, an awsome movie. Great Fx. The details are like no other movie. Beautiful artistry. I found it very predictable as well, but that was easy to overlook with everything that was going on visually. And, like everyone else here, makes me wish ADF could get Midworld on the screen. Not likely I suppose, but it never hurts to wish.

By Talea on Monday, January 04, 2010 - 01:47 pm:

I had wondered briefly if Foster might write the novelization of this. But then, he wouldn't have to, since he wrote the story in the first place that Cameron seems to have pilfered wholesale. ;) Individually, many of the ideas in Avatar aren't so unusual as to be something no two people would ever think of separately. But together? I mean, really. Interconnected flora and fauna AND six-legged creatures? That's just too much to be coincidental. I think Cameron should fess up and give credit where it's due, instead of pretending these things all sprang fully formed from his own head.

By Flinxerone on Monday, January 04, 2010 - 06:00 pm:

James Cameron never said, he alone, came up with these ideeas. He's been influenced and cultivating ideas from authors whom he read since when he was a kid, c'mon, man, have some courtesy.

By Marty on Monday, January 04, 2010 - 09:37 pm:

Yea, most of the interviews with him going back a few years have him saying he was "inspired" by other books and movies. It was probably the PR people that spread the talk of how "original" the movie was. I've seen it at work, a PR blurb for someone doing research will have stuff added by the PR people that they just make up because it sounds good, but is wrong. Found that interview where Cameron says he didn't like the book for Aliens. If he didn't like that what are the chances he has read other ADF books? Tendrils for communication have been in other sci-fi books/movies/shows. The entire planet of Pandora is not covered with the mile high rain forest... Only the home tree seemed to be that tall. So, if you list the differences along with the similarities to Midworld it's not as close a match. The pre movie hype is what hurt this the most, they made it sound like the greatest science fiction ever, when it turns out to be typical Hollywood mindless summer blockbuster fare with some great science fiction visuals.

By Longcoat on Monday, January 11, 2010 - 03:03 pm:

I read Midworld in December and watched Avatar in January. I'd read the blogs about the similarities, and wanted the book to be a recent experience instead of something from years ago. Let me first say that Cameron's movie truly transported me to a fully-realized world that I haven't experienced from a movie since Lucas pulled it off in 1977. The film AVATAR is great escapism, rich in imagery and allegory that tells the Heroes Journey tightly and without waste. It deserves to be the 2nd biggest movie of all time, which it just achieved. I am a huge fan and would live as a Na'vi in a heartbeat. So did it borrow from ADF's Midworld? Oh yes, absolutely! - Creatures & plants that emfol with humans. - Na'vi reverence when taking animal life. - Na'vi's strange pigmentation. - Rivalry then respect between the male suitors. - The competing love interest dies in battle. - Exploring the native world through human eyes. - Home Tree. - Hexapods. - Terrifying birds. - The levels of the forest. - Tree branches thick as pathways. - Phosphorescence. - A person's essence uploaded after death. - Corporate exploitation & nature's fury. There are many differences that make AVATAR its own movie. But as a member of the audience who experienced both creations just weeks apart, it is painfully obvious that the canvass upon which Cameron told his tale was copied from Midworld in multiple ways both overt and subtle. Too many to plausibly expect anyone to believe it was done by 'creative osmosis'. It's a direct lift, and ADF should receive his due as the writer of the world so many have fallen in love with for the first time (the viewers), or all over again (the readers). Despite the critique, how wonderful that we get to see Midworld on the big screen! It's everything I imagined, and more. Thanks to two legendary creatives for taking us where current transportation cannot.

By Flinxerone on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 - 05:57 pm:

Please, do not misunderstand me,I love Mid-World, Longcoat, and I may have not read the masters of sci-fi, but Mr. Foster's, surely, cannot be the sole and direct source material. I can't believe that.

By richard on Friday, January 15, 2010 - 12:02 am:

i`d like to believe that cameron and his advisors would certainly had their lawyers and anyone involved look into the use of any material that would be plagiaristic..as in the following meaning of the word. the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.. it was a great movie and i`d like to agree with longcoat but who cares..what a movie!!

By Andy T. on Saturday, January 16, 2010 - 11:47 pm:

I also went and re-read Midworld and Mid-Flinx in the 2 weeks prior to seeing Avatar. I also came across that interview with Cameron where he ranks on adf and his adaptation of ALIENS. A couple of months ago I posted in one of the "movie novels" threads about the possibility of Cameron not liking ALIENS that much. At the time I had NO idea that all this MIDWORLD/AVATAR stuff was going to come up very soon after. It was total coincidence. In that other thread, adf said that the editors mucked around with the ALIENS book after he submitted it. I have to wonder if Cameron knows this? As for AVATAR - I think that while there are several overlapping details, they are not to the extent you would call it plagarism. I found the whole storyline of Avatar fairly predictable - the setting and special effects sell the story, but if you strip it down it's pretty basic. You set up your main character and follow him as he comes to view the world he decides to belong to... which is greatly threatened. You set up a heroic accomplishment for him to do along the way to be accepted when he would otherwise be outcast (and predictably, he easily does it) You set up a (stereo)typical nasty bad-guy and place him where he and the protagonist have to fight. You steer the story to the point where more and more things start to fail (not unlike the forest fight near the end of Return of the Jedi) where you get emotionally pulled down with sucessive instances of defeat, just in time for the tide to turn and the good guys prevail. Midworld on the other hand, had the mystery in the background of what was the "miracle burl" and what it really meant. And once our protagonist finally found out what was going on, he coaxed elements of the forest into taking out the commercial research station. The threat to the people was not nearly as immediate as in AVATAR. Midworld would not, in my mind, make a better film. It would be spectacular though if you could show it all as well as AVATAR did on the screen, from Upper Hell to Lower Hell. But to show the story as it unfolds in the book, to the general public I do not think would be as rousing nor interesting. Fans of the book would like it, but the people buying all these tickets to Avatar, I'm not so sure. -Andy

By Flinxerone on Sunday, January 17, 2010 - 11:19 am:

Sigh-I've read Mid-world as a teenager and it really fascinated me, but, why not go with the Flinx and Pip series. I mean, it's interesting in itself and does include that universe in the Commonwealth, imho.

By Javajive on Sunday, February 07, 2010 - 09:10 pm:

I just got around to watching the movie last night, and, as many others have noticed, the similarities to Midworld came to mind right away. I haven't read Midworld in a decade or so, though, so I'll need to take another look at it. There are some sites which also discuss the impact that artist Roger Dean's work might have had on the look of Avatar. Personally, I didn't think of the Yes albums, but the floating mountains reminded me of one of the covers of Phillip Jose Farmer's "World Of Tiers" series. Sadly, I can't find the cover online; it's time to trudge over to my main library and look through the Farmer novels...

By Snazzer on Monday, May 03, 2010 - 06:27 pm:

I give it pretty good odds that Foster had a hand in writing this or else has already come to a financial agreement with Cameron, a somewhat lesser chance that they came to one since the movie came out, and a modest chance that there is some haggling still going on. Unless ADF is concerned about suing Cameron and alienating (pun unintentional) the director or making other directors skittish of being involved with ADF.