42

[Tilapia]

Hitchhiker's Guide back with 6th book in "trilogy"


By Mike Collett-White Mike Collett-white – Thu Oct 8, 12:24 pm ET
LONDON (Reuters) – Don't Panic. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is back with a sixth installment of the absurd, intergalactic and increasingly inaccurately named "trilogy."

Its creator Douglas Adams had always intended a follow-up to the fifth book, which he felt was an unnecessarily bleak ending to the comic, cosmic tales of Arthur Dent, but he died in 2001 before he could write it.

To coincide with the 30th anniversary of the publication of the original Hitchhiker's Guide, Irish author Eoin Colfer was asked to produce the first authorized sequel to the Adams classics, and his novel hits the shelves on Monday.

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" started life as a British radio series in 1978 before being turned into five best-selling novels which sold over 15 million copies worldwide. It has also been adapted for television, the stage and the big screen.

"And Another Thing...," brings Dent, alien friend Ford Prefect and two-headed Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox back from the dead for more madcap adventures in outer space.

Colfer, best known for his "Artemis Fowl" series, said he had major misgivings before agreeing to take up where Adams left off, aware of the risk of a fan backlash and critical drubbing.

"I was aware that there would be definitely some kind of backlash, or even a frontlash before the backlash," Colfer said in an interview in London.
"I still have doubts as to whether I should have done it, but I'm just kind of weathering the storm now," he told Reuters.

"From my own point of view, and I know from (Adams's widow) Jane's (Belson) point of view ... we don't need it. I don't need it and for me it could actually hurt my career." But he added: "I don't think it will."

HARDCORE FANS OBJECT
Colfer has already experienced vitriolic verbal attacks from a handful of diehard Hitchhiker fans, but urged them to read the book before deciding if he was right to accept the invitation.

"I didn't realize at the time until everyone started to tell me how brave I was," he recalled.

"I totally understand people who think in theory the idea of this book is wrong. That is totally fair. But I just couldn't not do it. Read the book and then you're entitled to judge, but this is just vitriol."

Colfer stressed that he was not looking to replicate the stories and writing style of Adams, and that his aim was to appeal to readers familiar with the originals and newcomers.

"It's not trying to be Douglas, it's not trying to claim the series, it's kind of a stand-alone away from the five books."

And the author, who has Belson's blessing, avoided referring to Adams's notes when writing And Another Thing...

"I reckoned if I'd used Douglas's notes, if it turned out well it was Douglas, if it turned out badly I screwed up Douglas's notes," Colfer said.

Colfer was initially asked to consider signing a three-book Hitchhiker deal, but agreed only to one.

And despite his sequel being described by publishers as the "final installment," Colfer believed the door may be open to other writers to take up the challenge.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091008/...oks_hitchhiker

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[sebtarta]

CF motha foca!

[brendan_mac]

Dear Publishing Industry,

Stop re-animating the corpses of dead writers just so that you can anally rape them until their mummified bodies are ground into dust beneath your birkenstocked feet. If we want to read bad writing, there's always Dan Brown.
May you be stoned to death by iPhones and Kindles, and may the drunken ghost of James Joyce urinate ectoplasm on your graves.

-B

[dcrawford]

Ummmmmmmmmmm errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr welllllllllllllllllllllllllll I dunno about this.

Perhaps a prequel would have been better. Yes the "last" book ended in a "Hey now! What's all this?" sort of way but bringing Arthur back after Douglas died?

This concerns me greatly.

[scaryfastskier]

not sure if want.

grant

[Qcanfixit]

43

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YouTube - Mad TV - Arnold's Bedtime

[Wagon Of Fury]

It can't be worse than the abortion of the HHGG movie, could it ? Where were the enraged fanboys then ?

[scaryfastskier]

Hey! I actually thought the movie was a fun take on it (especially considering none of the mediums the story is on really mimic each other well), and am very disappointed there isn't more of them being filmed.

grant

[burnera]

will not read.

[Bryan T]

DA was supposed to speak at my college graduation. He died a few days before.

This book sounds like a terrible idea.

[07Wagon]

In the radio series, they actually had a somewhat happy ending. Everyone showed up at TRATEOTU. Even fenchurch.

[Howl]

Even Douglas's books were a money making manouver -- it was originally just intended to be a radio play.

I don't see this so much as a sequel as a book set in the HHGTTG universe, much like the myrid of Star Wars or Star Trek shows.

[Wagon Of Fury]

Originally Posted by scaryfastskier

Hey! I actually thought the movie was a fun take on it (especially considering none of the mediums the story is on really mimic each other well), and am very disappointed there isn't more of them being filmed.

grant

I think the series is generally unfilmable for a number of reasons:

So much of the wit comes from Adams' prose and writing style
The sheer scope of stories being told, flashbacks, incredible sets, etc - throw all the CGI you want at it, won't make it good
Further, the challenge of telling a good story inside of a two-hour window - where do you break up the story arcs ?
Finally, a challenge for any literary adaptation - making it accessible to the n00b viewer vs. keeping it faithful to the original

I don't think we'll be seeing anymore HHGG movies given how badly the first one tanked.

[MarcsRX]

[orndog]

Originally Posted by MarcsRX

Thread saved.

[dcrawford]

I really enjoyed the movie.

Just as others have said each time the story was re-told it changed a bit (well, a lot). This is a good thing.

Although it is impossible to translate some of the subtle nuances of the books into a movie the same could be said for a radio show. Personally I think the movie did a damn good job with this translation.

I don't understand why the "die hards" would dislike the movie. It did a pretty damn good job. I could see why the masses didn't however for the same reasons.

[bcblues]

Where's my towel?

[orndog]

Originally Posted by bcblues

Where's my towel?

I borrowed it after that pic. sry, thnkx, bye