Douglas Adams Continuum (DAC)

Latest news on website plans for the new book.

So i got an email from Dukey telling me that there's going to be a 6th hitchhiker's book and i should pop by here and share my thoughts.


...and my thought about the 6th book is: i think the idea of having a 6th book that's not written by Douglas sucks. I think i may have shared this before...?

_________________
WWJD... for a Klondike bar?

Those are good thoughts, Fenny. Congratulations on agreeing with me.

_________________
This has been another random act of nonsense.

I'm glad i agree with you too, gonz.
Better be on the safe side nowadays...

_________________
WWJD... for a Klondike bar?

That's right, especially with Ken gone missing. I agree with gonz, too!

_________________
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")

The safe side is on the other side of the highway from Gonz :)

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

So I got one of those emails too. I haven't been around here for quite a while. I was part of the radio drama we were doing, back when we were doing it...

I've never heard of this Eoin Colfer before or his Artemis Fowl novels so I really have to reference to gauge if I think he is an appropriate person to attempt a feat such as witting a Douglas Adams book. Though I don't know if anyone is.

My initial reaction to finding this out is not very severe one way or the other. I will definitely buy it and read it. I do not expect to like it though I would very much like to like it. If that makes sense...

_________________
Life... is like a grapefruit. It's orange and squishy, and has a few pips in it, and some folks have half a one for breakfast.

What do you chaps (and chappettes) think of the covers to the new re-releases? Simplicity they say is the mark of genius, and these are clean, uncluttered and simplistic...

_________________
"If you are disappointed in any way with our service, then please. Don't hesitate. FEEL disappointed." Fentible.

A little too clip-art look in my opinion. Or are these the self-made covers with some kind of stickers included, like they planned? Behind 1st and 2nd cover there is a picture that could be those stickers...

Funny idea, if thats what these are.

What... is... that.... font?

Yuk.

_________________
I'm going to start a new company. It's going to be called 'Easy McApple.' The revenue stream will be based on betting who will sue me first...

The design's a bit 1980s, but not so bad. But repeating the title of each book above the isbn number just lloks cluttered when the title is so clear on each cover...

_________________
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/

How many editions have there been of this series in the last 15 to 20 years? Omnibus editions aside, there have to be tens upon tens of different versions. Some with Douglas' visage on it, others with the green guy. And it's not exactly all new information or revised text editions, is it? It's the same books in different packaging.

_________________
This has been another random act of nonsense.

Bit like TV programmes.

_________________
love is a wet spot on the mattress of my life! Tracy Lundgren

after our performance a bunch of little kids were in awe of the size of my bassoon. Appogg

I'm very late in expressing my opinion for the second time, but I'm doing so now, again. I suspect that went out for those who had not already voiced their opinion, but I'll do so again and probably more concisely.

I think it is a bad idea. It will feel like a weird remake of an old television show or cartoon where the actors look similar but just aren't "right," and the writing is off. I do plan to read it, and I'll try to keep an open mind about it, but I am not a fan of this idea.

_________________
It's terrible, but I guess songs are just interesting things to do with the air.
-Tom Waits

Wow. How utterly useless. And what the Zark is the "Children's Edition"?

_________________
"Madness is the first sign of dandruff." - Dr. John "Winston O'Boogie" Lennon

"I'm a pacifist. I don't believe in imaginary violence." - Paul Rudd in Role Models

Q: How many surrealists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Fish.

It's just like the regular edition, but with all the Belgiums taken out.

_________________
I do radio commercials for...products.

i think it´s not bad. true, a bit 80ies style, but the sticker idea is fun and there´s a clean uncluttered design.
beats the look of my old german edition, which is completely random and not in a good way.

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

I think perhaps that The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy as a franchise may be considered to be 'in a holding pattern', gathering only a few knew readers whilst the present fanbase of many years following grows older. Ms Belson wishes to give this so-valuable cashcow a shot in the arm (as it were) to bring it to an all-new generation by award winning author Eoin Colfer.

She isn't damaging the original works and replacing them with a dumbed-down book for younger readers, the originals are still available, unmolested.

Hopefully Mr Colfer will do justice to Douglas' original works and use his talents to create a new adventure that segues into the present mythology seamlessly.

We can only wish them all the best.

Mike.

_________________
"If you are disappointed in any way with our service, then please. Don't hesitate. FEEL disappointed." Fentible.

Well don't you think that's because everything that has been done since DNA's death seems to be about diluting the core and making it wishy washy so as to be more "accessible", or rather explotable. A bit like trying to make up new Monty Python sketches based on the old ones, with new actors who never saw the original material.

I would suggest that the only franchise works that have been watered down to appeal to a broader audience would perhaps be a certain $60m hollywood film. Certainly the radio adaptations of books 35 have been virtually flawless in their working with the source material, and the graphic novels that came out a number of years ago didn't deviate from the books a great deal. Or am i missing something?

_________________
"If you are disappointed in any way with our service, then please. Don't hesitate. FEEL disappointed." Fentible.

Yes sorry that was a bit of an over generalisation, Dirk Maggs stuff of course is excellent, my apologies for bundling that in. However (thank goodness) that was done by a fan for the love as opposed to the dosh.

Film, reissuing books with childrens editions (childrens editions, what's that?), having other authors write new adventures, that's what I mean, the stuff that seems to now be being done for the money as opposed to respecting the source material.

It's very disappointing.

It really is the proverbial $64000 question; How should The Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy as a franchise push itself out to a new generation? The radio series and books were never particularly anachronistic, and apart from the odd joke here and there about Digital Watches has aged remarkably well, a sign that Adams was well ahead of his time. I'm sure that the person who can answer that question an put it into positive action will be lauded for their efforts.

My personal choice would be to adapt the first book into a television series screened on the Robin Hood/Dr Who slot on saturdays. Lots of energy, slickly shot and don't change any of the words.

It won't happen and can't happen, unfortunately. The tv series, that is. That i CAN tell you with 100% accuracy, fellow DAC'ers...

_________________
"If you are disappointed in any way with our service, then please. Don't hesitate. FEEL disappointed." Fentible.

Well my answer to that is, how does Mozart keep pushing himself on future generations, or Beethoven or the Beatles or Dickens, should somebody be writing new Jeeves and Wooster stories to keep the Wodehouse franchise going?

What these very special people wrote was excellent, in their time, and remains excellent today.

The way to promote the "franchise" is to preserve it as it is. And its' time will come again, and be all the richer for it.

Look what happened to for example Star Trek, TOS was excellent, TNG was great, DS9 was OK, Voyager was well uhm alright sometimes, and Enterprise was crap.

I feel I have to elaborate a bit on that... hehe

I don't mean that attempts shouldn't be made at making films or new versions through new media, but why do they always have to tinker with the material? That's what annoys me, they couldn't make a film of the book for example they had to invent whole loads of new stuff which wasn't as funny, insightful or interesting as the original stuff, which newbies wouldn't know was new anyway and would guarantee to grate with fans. That movie concept was a gross miscalculation, why can't they make a sort of better version of the TV series as a film, that would work for me.

If you perform Mozart you don't change a few notes because you think it sounds a bit better. That's what I'm getting at.

I agree with Iain, totally.

I think it's time for a revised TV series.

Keep the basic framework of the original, keep most if not all of the dialogue, just tighten up the pacing and editing, and give it a more Doctor Who style budget, and I think you'd have a complete winner on your hands.

_________________
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/

...unless your name is Leopold Stokowski.

_________________
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/

Have you heard the new children's version of Mozart? It pisses me off. And that film, Mozart on the moon, nothing like the source material. It really grinds my bones.

_________________
Batman: Nobody wants war.

Robin: Gee, Batman. Belgravia's such a small country. We'd beat them in a few hours.

Batman: Yes, and then we'd have to support them for years.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWOWLXHAUhc[/youtube]

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

according to Amazon, AAT will be 400 pages

Well at least it's good value....there's only 160 sheets on a roll of andrex.

_________________
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/

Thinking of Hitchhiker's as a franchise is completely foreign to me. Dickens is not, in any way, a franchise. Hell, Jane Austen was the Ray Krok of professionally published fanfiction, and I still wouldn't consider the 'Austenverse' a marketable product (although if it was, I'd be the first in line to buy an official Elizabeth Bennett tea cosy).

The way to expand Hitchhiker's influence is to incorporate it into the annals of great literature, mainly by teaching it in schools and publishing valid academic work. Essays on satire, sociology and queer theory should be a snap. I'd also really love to see some work examining the philosophic discrepancy between SLATFATF and MH, namely idealism vs. nihilism. It would legitimize the canon to scholars and snooty critics, at least.

_________________
Conservatives on the Arts: the arts are for gays destroy museums and put up those wild jungle housing projects

What is the porpoise of existence?

i guess the bottom line is: do you see literature or any way of creative output simply from the financial viewpoint? in the case of the new h2g2 book, the answer is a most emphatic yes, methinks. and that´s what i hate about it.

in fact, i´d love the idea of a new tv series, as it´s been put forward here. maybe, in time, we will get to see it. right ownership changes. who knows? i´m all for new interpretations. but stop this outrageous milking!!!

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

Well Adams himself saw it as a franchise, that is why there was a TV show, movie, 3 stage plays, computer game etc. The closest example I can think of is Sherlock Holmes. Clearly his legacy lives on in various media.

The bottom line is many people were unhappy with the ending to book 5 and Colfer is giving the series a happy ending. You can choose to read it and be happy with it or ignore it and stick with books 1-5. No one is being forced to read it. The irony is that had Adams stopped at book 4, which was by his own admission already a weak story then we may not have had Colfer writing another book.

And sorry but Hitchhiker is hardly academic and some people just find it unfunny. I also don't think Conan Doyle is academic either. Sorry

Adams wrote book 5 for the cash, his deal was rather lucrative from what I can remember. He probably did the same for book 4, why else would he write a story that he himself thought was weak?

I'm afraid that you're missing the point. H2G2 was and is Douglas' creation. He could do with it whatever he wanted. The problem is that Douglas is no longer with us and that a lot of fans don't want someone else to mess with the legacy. Neither would I accept a Part IV of The Lord of the Rings. I've nothing against fanfiction but I don't like someone forcing an "official" sequel on me. Colfer should stick to his own imagination.

_________________
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")

oh, don´t get me wrong, in my book (haha) the author is entitled to earn money with his creation, absolutely. the point is: it is his (or her) creation. i believe that there is something special about each and every artist that can´t be copied just like this. it is why i like to read DNA, for example: because i like his specific style, his ideas. btu what we have here is the fact that DNA is dead, he won´t write anything else. there won´t be new ideas invented by him, no new stories, no new jokes.
i think it is preposterous to take another author and basically put him to the task of imitating another, for the sole reason of making even more money. you start this, there will be no end. it undermines the concept of originality!

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

Well you see I am more of a hitchhiker fan than an Adams fan. I haven't read much of his other books and I don't like Dirk Gently. I personally think it is possible that Colfer may write a Hitchhiker book just as good or even better than Adams. Adams last two Hitchhikers books were disappointments. He actually probably should have let Colfer write them!.

You poor, poor child.

_________________
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")

Well this is a Douglas Adams appreciation forum as opposed to a Hitchhikers Guide forum so you may well find yourself fighting a losing battle. No harm in trying though providing things don't get offensive or out of hand. Good luck...

_________________
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)

LOL

Have I been dragged here under false pretenses? I thought it was taking a long time for those dancing gerbils to arrive!

_________________
love is a wet spot on the mattress of my life! Tracy Lundgren

after our performance a bunch of little kids were in awe of the size of my bassoon. Appogg

_________________
"Samantha has to nip out to take her German Shepherd to the park to give him a stroke while he licks her face and pants."
-- Humph

(...don't piss us off)