Eoin Colfer to continue HHGTTG

[Heradel]

Douglas Adams's increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy is to be extended to six titles, after Adams's widow Jane Belson sanctioned a project which will see children's author Eoin Colfer taking up the story.

And Another Thing… by Colfer, whose involvement with the project was personally requested by Belson, will be published next October by Penguin. No information has yet emerged about the plot of the novel but Hitchhiker fans will be hoping for a resurrection of much-loved characters Arthur Dent, Trillian and Ford Prefect, who were all apparently blown to smithereens at the end of the fifth novel, Mostly Harmless.

Adams himself had plans for a sixth Hitchhiker book, saying in an interview: "People have said, quite rightly, that Mostly Harmless is a very bleak book. And it was a bleak book. I would love to finish Hitchhiker on a slightly more upbeat note, so five seems to be a wrong kind of number, six is a better kind of number."

But his death in 2001, aged 49, meant the book was never written, and "legions of Hitchhiker fans were left with their hearts beating a little too quickly for all eternity," said Colfer, author of the bestselling Artemis Fowl series for children.

The proposal from the literary agency which manages Adams's estate was "quite out of the blue", said Penguin marketing and publicity director Joanna Prior. "It was something I guess [Jane Belson] had been mulling over for some time, and we jumped the minute we got the call – we could immediately see what a fantastic project this would be."...

Salient Points: He was asked to write it by Adams' widow, and Adams already had plans for the sixth book when he died.

Good luck to him, trying to continue Adams's HHGTTG is, well, very possibly career suicide. At least he was chosen to do it rather than just trying to do it himself.

[stePH]

I say, why bother?  The franchise started to decline with the last book in the actual trilogy.  No need to go through the pockets of Dougie's corpse.

[Russell Nash]

Got to say I'm following StePh's pessimistic lead on this one.

[eytanz]

Yeah, I agree. It's not like there are loose plot points or anything like that that fans are clamouring to be resolved. If Adams had completed the sixth book, I may have read it for old time's sake, but not because I was actually interested in another HHGTTG book. With any other author, I just have no interest in this at all.

[stePH]

I didn't think the fourth book was worth reading, and I want my time back after reading the fifth.

[Heradel]

I don't know, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he can turn it around — in dissent I'll say I liked books 4 and 5, not as much as the earlier ones though).

[eytanz]

But why should the series be turned around? When did we become unable to just let something be complete as it stands?

[DKT]

But why should the series be turned around? When did we become unable to just let something be complete as it stands?

Sadly, I think we became unable when we realized there was still more money to be made.  Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert seemed to be releasing new Dune books every other month for a couple years there.  That may be overly pessimistic of me. 

It could be that the woman realizes her husband's hopes and wants to see them through.  I hope that's the case.

Still, this is a bit weird. I actually really like Eoin Colfer.  I haven't even finished the "trilogy" although I really loved HHGTTG.  But I don't know.  Weird.

[Ocicat]

I'd guess she wants to do it because the Hollywood movie money wasn't as good as she'd hoped.

I'll skip it though.  The great stuff about Hitchhiker's wasn't the characters or event the setup, it was the writing.  I think the last two books suffered because Adams would rather have been writing something else, like another Dirk Gently novel (those were pretty good...)

Has anyone else read Last Chance to See?  Nonfiction account of his traveling the world to see endangered species.  I think it's one of his best works - it's just hilarious, and says a lot about the state of humanity and the difficulties of travel.  And there are some bits about animals, but those are a minority of the text - though a majority of the pretty pictures.



Link Bandit was here!

[stePH]

I'd guess she wants to do it because the Hollywood movie money wasn't as good as she'd hoped.

I'll skip it though.  The great stuff about Hitchhiker's wasn't the characters or event the setup, it was the writing.  I think the last two books suffered because Adams would rather have been writing something else, like another Dirk Gently novel (those were pretty good...)

Wholehearted agreement.  It's like Adams had mined out the Hitchhiker's milieu and just needed a fresh new sandbox to play in.  (Mixing metaphors, but you get the idea.)

[Leon Kensington]

After how Colfer screwed up the Artemis Fowl series by extending it past book three (and even taking it past two was a stretch) I just don't trust him with something this important.  Though I must say, I haven't gotten past book four.  My brain just couldn't handle it anymore.

[Loz]

The great stuff about Hitchhiker's wasn't the characters or event the setup, it was the writing.  I think the last two books suffered because Adams would rather have been writing something else, like another Dirk Gently novel (those were pretty good...)

Well, not The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul, that hurt.

Has anyone else read Last Chance to See?  Nonfiction account of his traveling the world to see endangered species.  I think it's one of his best works - it's just hilarious, and says a lot about the state of humanity and the difficulties of travel.  And there are some bits about animals, but those are a minority of the text - though a majority of the pretty pictures.

I'll second that, and around and about on the internets there's a free reading of it by Douglas, very basic, sounds like it was the files before they were tidied up for an audiobook release. Stephen Fry is supposed to be working with Mark Cawardine on the sequel, where they go and see how the endangered species are doing some twenty years later and look for more endangered animals.

I only met Douglas once, we'd wrote to his agents to get permission to do Hitch-Hikers as a school play, after about two months with no response we went to a book signing he was doing for Last Chance he gave us verbal permission AND his agents personal phone number, we had formal permission in about 24 hours! Top bloke.

I've not read any of the Artemis Fowl books and don't have any interest in this. The books stopped being good after the third one, and that was only any good because it was a rejected Doctor Who script.

[Raving_Lunatic]

I have a feeling this could go either way quite easily- a complete screw-up or a worthy addition to an SF/Comedy masterpiece. To be honest, towards the end Douglas was more interested in the Dirk Gently novels than H2G2, so continuing those would be more in his wishes. Like some other posters, I don't see why it needs continuing- isn't it good enough already?

[stePH]

Like some other posters, I don't see why it needs continuing- isn't it good enough already?

I would say instead- hasn't it been destroyed by enough sequels already?

[thomasowenm]

Having just read  The Salmon of Doubt three days ago I realize that Douglas Adam's work went far beyond Hitchhikers.  The depth of thought he weilded was just phenominal, a true genius. 

I know he didn't like the ending of the fifth, but then neither did I.  I was left with a WTF feeling.    He probably felt the same, however he did not start on a sixth, I guess not wanting to touch it yet.   The book he was working on was a third Dirk Gently, I wouldn't mind if that did get finished by a second author.  But to have a new author start from scratch and try to add to the Guide is almost like trying to put together a new Python troupe (it might be funny but it wouldn't be the same).   

Sometimes it is better to just say goodbye and let things rest as they are.

Has anyone else read Last Chance to See?  Nonfiction account of his traveling the world to see endangered species.  I think it's one of his best works - it's just hilarious, and says a lot about the state of humanity and the difficulties of travel.  And there are some bits about animals, but those are a minority of the text - though a majority of the pretty pictures.

I have read it and while I'm not even close to being a tree-hugger I did enjoy seeing his experiences through his paticular wit.  I do recommend picking up a copy if you can find it.  I think it was also a BBC show, but I'm not sure.  It would be nice to see it.

[Loz]

It was a sort of radio series IIRC, though the book was much expanded. Mark Cawardine and Stephen 'National Treasure' Fry, are currently in the process of filming the show and writing the book that will be the '20 years on' to that book, going to much the same places as they did last time and seeing how things are for the Komodo Dragon, the Eye-Eye etc etc. Presumably it'll be on the BBC next Summer or Autumn.

[thomasowenm]

It was a sort of radio series IIRC, though the book was much expanded. Mark Cawardine and Stephen 'National Treasure' Fry, are currently in the process of filming the show and writing the book that will be the '20 years on' to that book, going to much the same places as they did last time and seeing how things are for the Komodo Dragon, the Eye-Eye etc etc. Presumably it'll be on the BBC next Summer or Autumn.

Thanks for the correction, and the info.  I knew it had something to do with being broadcast but I just assummed it was a BBC television series.  I know I shouldn't assume but...

[lieffeil]

My brother read this post over my shoulder, asked what it was about, and when I explained, he replied "No." I started to give the various arguments for finishing the series, and was just repeatedly interrupted with "No. No. No. Nope. No."
I suspect this will be the general reaction of fans of the series.
I also suspect that even if the sixth book is a decent piece, it will never be treated as part of Hitchhikers, just an addition. Glorified fan fiction, given more hype and controversy than it probably will deserve.
But I'm not going to lie, I'll most likely read it anyway.