Douglas Adams Continuum (DAC)

Is H2G2 turning into a franchise? Will neil gaiman write the 7th? Stephen Fry the 8th?

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Before long now, I'll reach the age where farting will be an essential part of propulsion.
(...don't piss us off)

And let's have Ronald MacDonald write the 9th. Who gives a shit?

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Her mouth opened, her eyes patients, the variety of age and constitution as a pullets egg, with some gobbits of fat, and the heavy sand.

(... don't piss us off)

Agreed. It's always painfully amusing to see how many different
printings there are out there on the shelves already. One with the
movie cover, one in trade paperback, one on a parchment scroll.

I dunno, I've had the same copies for about 20 years now and I
feel like replacing them would be like betraying an old friend, no
matter who they haul out to pen new introductions. Whatever.

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Steal Compass. Drive North. Disappear.

twitter: @kensocrates

same here. mine are used, abused, signed by the DAC, slightly foxed and extremely dragoned, pages covered in notes and comments i added - i just don´t feel the need to buy a new edition.

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"The human gene pool needs more lifeguards!
Either that or stronger chlorination...." (Pitbull)

<gloat> I'm happy with my editions too. Especially the ones that are straight from Douglas' own shelves.</gloat>

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Before long now, I'll reach the age where farting will be an essential part of propulsion.
(...don't piss us off)

okay, can i kill him now?

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"The human gene pool needs more lifeguards!
Either that or stronger chlorination...." (Pitbull)

Here you go.


GET HIM!

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Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

-H.L. Mencken


[url]http://www.madmanoz.blogspot.com[/url]

I just read the new introductions in the bookstore.

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The truth ain't like puppies. A bunch of 'em running around, you pick your favorite.

There's nothing funny about a plastic vagina.

The Epic Project. It happened. Way too late.

HHGTG has ALWAYS been a franchise. Even when Adams was alive it was a series of books, 2 LPs, a radio show, a tv series, a computer game and at least three stage shows. Adams knew it was a cash cow and he milked it all the way.

But it was his cow.

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(... don't piss us off)

And bred so that actually wanted to be milked and was capable of saying so clearly and distinctly!

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D.
The Thirteenth Triskaidekaphobe
--------------------------------------

Hell, we all want to be milked occasionally, don't we?


...Just me, then.

Congratulations, Gwen!

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Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
(Douglas Adams, "Last Chance to See")

Pictures from the cover launch at the Artemis Fowl Fansite

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(... don't piss us off)

and coverage from the Penguin Blog

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(... don't piss us off)

Udder fantasy.

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This has been another random act of nonsense.

<makes mental note never to accept a glass of milk from Kevin Jon Davies>

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Jim's podcast is over there - Historyzine.com

Allegedly it's an ancient medicine against sore throats.

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Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
(Douglas Adams, "Last Chance to See")

Or, so Kevin tells us.

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Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

-H.L. Mencken


[url]http://www.madmanoz.blogspot.com[/url]

See, that I could actually get behind. I'm still desperately struggling to understand why they picked Colfer. He's just not anything special at all. I read the first two Fowl books and never cared enough to pick up another one. Meh.

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Ira

"No, I am not paranoid, 'cause I can say without a trace of irony 'You're all out to get me!'" -- Dave Nelson, NewsRadio

Because Belson and her daughter love his books. Pure and simple.

It appears to me that some of the agression towards Colfer's new novel is slightly unfair. Here are my answers to some of the main objections (and misconceptions):

1. Colfer is doing it for the money

He clearly isn't. Colfer was asked to write the book by Douglas Adams widow as she is a fan of his. The Douglas Adams estate may be making money but this is certainly not Colfer's motivation. We also have to ask whether generating income for Adams widow and his daughter is such a bad thing.

2. Douglas Adams would be turning in his grave

This is a fan assumption. Adams said in a few of his final interviews that he regretted finishing the Hitchhiker series on such a bleak note and that he would like to write a sixth book. Had Adams still be alive today, there would have surely been a sixth novel. Also Adams was not against allow other people to write books based upon his ideas, as seen by Terry Pratchett's Startship Titanic.

3. The Hitchhiker books were about Douglas Adams thoughts rather than a proper story

This would probably have Adams turning in his grave. Adams wanted to write a story, not an insight into his life. If you really want to know Adams thoughts then read the articles in Salmon of Doubt. Hitchhikers is by and large a story with a plot and interesting characters. It is not the "thoughts and feelings of Douglas Adams". Adams hero was P G Wodehouse who also wrote quirky characters. No one reading Wodehose would say that they mainly reading the thoughts on the author rather than a story.

4. A Hitchhiker book without Adams is not Hitchhikers.

This implies that only Adams can write a good Hitchhikers book. Adams had the help for others for his radio series and his first two books were based on that. Adams wrote two bad Hitchhikers books, So Long And Thanks For All The Fish and Mostly Harmless. So Long was criticised by Adams himself who said he regretted writing it. Mostly Harmless was widely panned by a large number of fans. It is not inconcievable to say that Colfer may be capeable of writing a Hitchhiker novel that is good or perhaps even better than one written by Adams.

Of course you still may disagree but please stop sending hate mail to Colfer. It is that kind of obsessive fan reaction that probably made Adams tired of the series.

humanracer = Colfer's public relations person?

Obviously, this is a Douglas Adams fan site, if we see or even think that someone is out to ruin the thing that we love; we're gonna bitch about it. Because this is a fan site.

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WWJD... for a Klondike bar?

And hate mail, from here? I don't think so, a few honest comments when they were requested, but I think the general feeling of unhappiness has been kept here, but in any case, if Mr Colfer can't stand the heat he should try another job like writing about his own characters and universe.

And there's profit to be made.

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This has been another random act of nonsense.

So it's up to fans that his survivors profit on his legacy? Without knowing Ms. Belson or his daughter, I would hope to think they could manage what is already available, thank you very much.


Terry Jones wrote ST and only because Adams was busy with other projects. Plus, the book was a tie-in to a game that had been written by Adams.

Interesting Freudian slip there since Pratchett has stated several times that when he dies, so does the Discworld series.

As for the sixth book, that was for Adams to write. Since he didn't write it, the series ends as it has ended. I've never recalled him saying, "I would like to do a sixth Hitchhiker's novel but if I die before that happens, I hope someone else does."


Any work a writer does is a reflection of himself so it's asinine of you to suggest that Adams' thoughts didn't influence the material. Adams' atheism, for example, is illustrated in his lampooning of religion and God. Also, there are his later views on conservation and the environment. Many fans, myself included, claim the HHGTG books changed their worldview. And while that wasn't the only reason we continued going back to his books, it's safe to say that most of us enjoy his insights and philosophies as much as we do the characters and the adventures.


Where does LTUAE fit in there? Is it a book "co-written" or was it "criticized"? It was based on previous material ("Doctor Who and the Scratchmen") so it's recycled material (as was the first Dirk Gently book). SoD was going to be a Hitchhiker's book but, as Adams said, it was the wrong fit.

Anyone who has read about DNA knows that he often hated the most recent book he had written. In any case, your argument lost its way somewhere after the words "This implies...". It does not make sense. What are you debating here?


But it's those same obsessive fans that you expect to "generate income" for Adams' widow and daughter.

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This has been another random act of nonsense.

So if they had preferred Stephen King, he would have written this book? Could Jeff Lindsay have penned a version? Had Mario Puzo been alive, would he have been the one to write it? Tom Wolf?

My point is, just because you can, doesn't mean that you should. That they like him doesn't mean that he is perfect for the job. And frankly, I think that everyone, including Colfer, would be happier if he wrote a story with his own characters instead of trying to mooch of nostalgia based on someone elses work. Especially the work of someone like Adams, most of whoms appeal lies in his style of writing.

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Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

-H.L. Mencken


[url]http://www.madmanoz.blogspot.com[/url]

Actually, it is. Inconcievable, impossible and absurd.

The thought alone seems like a giant shit on the very legacy of Douglas'
work and what it is we love about it.




In, um, my opinion, anyway.

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Steal Compass. Drive North. Disappear.

twitter: @kensocrates

humanracer,

You are aware, are you not, that despite not being a screenwriter, Douglas Adams penned more than half of every version of the screenplay for Hitchhiker and deeply loathed every version he didn't write?

You are aware as well that Douglas Adams clashed with TV series producer/director Alan Bell because he shot down most of his ideas for the show? And in addition, Douglas admitted in an interview with our own Kevin Davies that HHGG was so much his baby that he was so protective over it and that was why he was there on radio and TV.

Did Douglas want to end the series in a more upbeat note? Certainly, I remember he said that very distinctly. But would he want someone else to do it after his death? I very seriously doubt it. He never let anyone else do it while he was alive!

And humanracer, before you go accusing me of hating Eoin Colfer, I don't hate Eoin Colfer. I am unfamiliar with his work but I'm sure he's a very talented author and an even nicer guy, I just think in taking on a sixth Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book, he bit off a little more than he could chew. He admitted himself he's not going to try to emulate Adams' style, he was simply going to write his own novel with Douglas Adams' characters in it, which could never possibly work in a million years.

Let me put it another way, could you see George Lucas putting the HHGG characters in Star Wars? Probably not, and you know why? Because they're two different animals and they don't go together. If they're not written his way, they're not Douglas Adams' characters.

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"If there's anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot now!"

-- Zaphod Beeblebrox

-- Wrestling is a spectacle all right. But believe it or not, some of the most devoted fans are highly intelligent people

Well, there was no reason for anyone else to do it whilst he was alive...

I wonder - if his daughter Polly wanted to write a Hitchhiker novel one day, would anyone have the right to tell her not to?

So if she wants one of her favourite authors to write one right now, what's the difference?

I'm still looking forward to seeing what Eoin Colfer has written.

I will read it, Kevin, just out of idle curiosity, but if I turn out to enjoy it, I'll be very surprised.

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"If there's anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot now!"

-- Zaphod Beeblebrox

-- Wrestling is a spectacle all right. But believe it or not, some of the most devoted fans are highly intelligent people

Who do you think you are to accuse us of sending hate mail to this guy?? You are attacking the wrong target launching into such an unprovoked attack like this.

This is, in my view, the most open-minded and tolerant site on the whole internet, on ANY subject matter. You should have done a little homework before flaming us in such an arrogant manner.

I take a simple view on this.

I loved Adams' style, his wit, his use of language, his wordcraft, his beautifully engineered flights of fancy and fantasy, his wonderfully uplifting yet cynical optimism of the human spirit.

I just love his writing, it's as simple as that. I have only to pick up any of his books and read a page at random and I feel my brain tingle and a smile spread across my lips. I don't get this with any other writer.

In actual fact, I don't think the Hitchhikers guide has a very interesting plot, and the characters are shallow and two-dimensional, and there is virtually no character development. I am not even much of a science fiction fan. For these reasons I see no point in dragging out the series any further.

I couldn't really care two hoots what happens to the characters in the Guide, nor what happens to the plot. To me, the Guide itself is not a sacred cow.

It is entirely possible that 'Coiffure' can make a riveting good read out of the ingredients he has been handed. But however good it may be, it won't be Douglas' work. It will just be 'officially-sanctioned fan-fiction', nothing more.

But I do care about the legacy of Hitchhikers, because it reflects on Adams as its creator. We've already had a disastrous movie adaptation, which has, in my view, devalued the franchise and by default the whole Adams legacy. There is a risk this book could have the same effect, and I'm scared. That is why I wish it were not happening.

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The drug purportedly affected an area of the brain called "Shatner's Bassoon"

I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.
http://s267.photobucket.com/albums/ii297/h2g230/

...what Tony said.

In fact, just consider my post and Tony's as one extremely strong opinion.

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This has been another random act of nonsense.

Yeah, that gets to the heart of it. It was his voice that enthralled us.
His voice. I have never once thought to myself, "I wonder what
happened next to Arthur Dent? Or Ford Prefect?" Because I know
that the only man I would ever want to tell me that, if he so desired,
is no longer with us.

More than that, though, the act of reading, by it's nature, becomes
a rather intimate experience. What I loved about H2G2 or Dirk Gently
was not finding out what happend to these characters, but hearing that
voice again, that delightful, singular voice that was his. Without that,
the characters will be like thin cardboard cut-outs, paper dolls. I don't
care what Colfer does with them. It won't ring true even slightly.

_________________
Steal Compass. Drive North. Disappear.

twitter: @kensocrates

You may be right about Adams being protective towards his work but this was Belson's decision and we would hope she knew Douglas better than anyone and would have take into account all the things you mentioned.

Of Colfer bit off more than he can chew but he said that if he had said no and allowed another author to do it then he would never have forgiven himself if it had been a bad book. Of course some might say that if Colfer said no the whole project may not have gone ahead.

But at least you have presented your thoughts clearly and you are the first person I have seen on any forum who has put forward a decent argument against the book. It makes a change from the "I hate colfer", "only Adams should write Hitchhikers" posts.

Fair enough but my argument would be to say that HHGTTG has no plot and that you don't care about characters is actually an insult to Adams. I honestly do not believe that the book is just a vehicle for Adams thoughts. I think Adams wanted the book to be a proper story, that is why it was re-written so many times.

I still think the whole affair's just bollucks.










Yep, that's all I wanted to say.

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Her mouth opened, her eyes patients, the variety of age and constitution as a pullets egg, with some gobbits of fat, and the heavy sand.

(... don't piss us off)

Tony, I've read you when you are being silly, funny, sad, depressed and naughty.

But I gotta say, when you get mad, it's a turn on!

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I'm just here

Ah, sometimes I can be a cunning linguist myself....

Also, I'm afraid I don't quite live up to my avatar in real life...

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The drug purportedly affected an area of the brain called "Shatner's Bassoon"

I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.
http://s267.photobucket.com/albums/ii297/h2g230/

Must be the tooth...

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I'm just here

Back from Bradford and the 60th Eastercon. A few things to report.

In the convention registration packs was a T-Shirt that said Froody on the front and on the back said www.6of3.com I checked that web address today and at the moment it bounces to http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDi ... 48,00.html but I expect it will be used for something more nearer the launch.

Speaking of the launch you might like to keep Sunday October 11th free if you can be in London then. I talked to the Penguin publicity people who were there and it looks like they plan to have a whole set of events that day.

Mr Colfer himself was there and on two programme items. On the Friday night he was on a panel with Kim Newman, Ramsey Campbell and a couple of others discussing "Continuing the Classics". He said that commerce was behind any idea to do a new book in an existing series but should not be the reason the author does it, and was not in his specific case of extending Hitchhiker. He said that he was asked to do the Peter Pan sequel but turned that down as he was not established as a writer and did not want to be the Peter Pan guy. Now he is the Artemis Fowl guy it is different. He said it was his book with Douglas's characters and world. He has shaken things up a bit, and there is an Irish character. Kim Newman when he was talking about what he has done in continuing a series or writing a sequel is not like taking the baton in a relay, and you should juggle things a bit. Colfer wholeheartedly agreed with that. Colfer is a funny guy in person, and would often finish what he was saying with a statement that undercut what he had just said or was self-deprecating. This makes it quite difficult to report what he said as working out what was said in jest is difficult. For example, he was talking about editing his work and said you have be tough and explained about it, but then said with a little glint in his eye that the toughness comes from Guinness. Near the end of the panel he was talking about having written the Hitchhiker book for adults with no attempt to make it for the young adult market, and again reiterated that he wasn't in it for the money just the plastic surgery. I spoke briefly to him afterwards and got a printout I took of the new book cover signed.

On the Saturday, Mr Colfer had the main hall to himself (and an audience) for 75 minutes to talk about the new Hitchhiker book. He did quite a long (and funny) introduction about himself and about Wexford where he comes from, and how his friend Ted had got him into Hitchhiker with the first book, and how he could not pronounce Zaphod properly because he hadn't heard the radio series before he read the book. He said he couldn't talk about the characters or the story, but in making a few points did let some facts about the book slip out. It took him three days to spellcheck, and he mentioned Eccentrica at this point. Usually his books are read by his wife and his editor, but for this one there were more people involved, Douglas's editor and estate, but he was only asked to make 5 edits in total. He said he had already been asked to do #7 but had declined, and said that one is homage, but two would be trying to take over and he didn't want that. Also he said that James told him, "You're too short and too prompt" when they met soon after the book had been delivered before the deadline.

I had quite a long chat with one of the Penguin marketing people in the bar later that evening and gave her a whole bunch of ideas for the launch. They do seem to want to please the current fans as well as generate new ones.

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(... don't piss us off)

As always, the best PR for Eoin Colfer is the man himself. The audio of the event over at ZZ9's website proves that.