New ‘Hitckhiker”s Writer Named
Eoin Colfer, best known for the Artemis Fowl series, has been tapped to write new novels set in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Adams’ widow, Jane Belson, personally selected the author.
According to a profile at the BBC, Colfer said the opportunity was akin to "being offered the superpower of your choice".
Penguin International will make the announcement in London today including the news that the new book will be titled And Another Thing… to be published in October 2009. Colfler joins a growing list of authors brought on to write works in another author’s world, a practice that has seen very mixed results from John Gardner’s underwhelming James Bond pastiches to Alexander Ripley’s hated sequel to Gone with the Wind.
Years ago, Adams said, "I suspect at some point in the future I will write a sixth Hitchhiker book…I would love to finish Hitchhiker on a slightly more upbeat note.
"Five seems to be a wrong kind of number; six is a better kind of number."
There are already 16 million copies of the five books in print in addition to television, radio, and film adaptations.
Well at least "Adams’ widow, Jane Belson, personally selected the author." I haven't yet read any Eoin Colfer books, but my son loves them. I think Douglas Adams probably should have stopped with book four.
Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl books are a delight. They mix police procedurals with fantasy, and young Artemis and his bodyguard Butler (a family so old, the job was named after them) are wonderful creations. I've met Colfer a couple times at signings, and he talked a bit about some of the history he's worked out for the characters. A Fowl ancestor, for example, sold Guy Fawkes his munitions.I don't, however, know how well his style will adapt to Hitchhikers. He doesn't seem to have the level of mad whimsy the book would need.Alas, the one writer who I would trust with a new Guide book, Terry Pratchett, is probably not going to be in a position to write one for long. Neil Gaiman could do it, considering his work in Good Omens (with Pratchett) and his assorted writings on the series. I'm betting his respect for Douglas (and a lack of desire to rob his grave) kept his name out of consideration.I agree, the last Guide book was a messy jumboort of random ideas that never really made a cohesive whole, and the ending was downright jarring. They did a good job of explaining and fixing it (thanks to a well-placed piscus ex machina) in the final episode of the radio series, but unless you say to people "Go listen to the radio play or just pretend the last book didn't happen, a great deal of time is going to be spent resolving the end of Mostly Harmless.Personally, I always wished they'd followed the course of the original second radio series. It had a lot of strong ideas, including Lintilla (and the requisite Allitnils), the 15-mile-high staue of Arthur on the planet Brontitall (complete with giant cup held in space by the power of art), and the idea that in fact Zaphod was in collusion with the psychiatrists to blow up the Earth.
Am I the only one who has a copy of The Salmon of Doubt, the SIXTH book within the Hitchhiker's misnumbered trilogy?It was culled from Adams' computer files and released by his estate a few years after his untimely passing.
The Salmon of Doubt is a collection of number of Douglas Adams' different writings and essays. The actual title The Salmon of Doubt also in the collection was supposed to be for a Dirk Gently novel, not a Hitchhiker's novel.
Colfer is a great choice! The Artemis Fowl books are not only very entertaining, they are brilliantly written! The quality of writing is far superior to anything else in the genre aimed at the same age group. But don't look at the Artemis Fowl books for a comparison, you won't see it. You can find other examples of his work if you look and trust me, you will agree that he is the perfect choice! Lookingforward to it!
O frabjous day! Calloo, callay! I need Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, Trillion and even Marvin in my life. I can't tell you how many times I have read, watched or listened to this saga in all its permutations–including the movie which just didn't cut it. Mr. Colfer; please remember that your audience isn't just 12-16 year olds but 40 & 50somethings that cut their teeth on the British humor of Adams and Monty Python. My family is giddy with anticipation.