h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Mugfungus wrote 'Respect for DNA would be a start, something the perpetrators of this nonsense would have done well to consider.'

Um, erm, oooh, um how to phrase this delicately (bearing in mind I am not know for my patience nor tact). It was the estate who are the 'perpetrators' of this idea, so maybe we should respect their wishes.

The estate, not the man. Does 'Mostly Harmless' read like a sequel was intended to you?

Maybe his estate have the best of intentions but I think they've made the wrong decision.

I believe that Douglas bought into this idea before he died and the estate is following up on it.

Either way, the thought of judging a piece of work that isn't written seems a little off to me. And as for would DNA do this or do that, we will never truly know, but one thing I can say is that after working for the man for a year, anything is possible.

Don't think I'd like to be in Eoin Colfer's shoes right now...

This is going to cause more of a stir amongst fans than the film did, and we all know how divisive that was!

I honestly think the best he can hope for is that the fans don't lynch him. There are going to be some who'll hate the book on principal and many others who'll not admit to liking it at all...

The poor guy's onto a looser before he starts - just about the only unbiaised audience he's going to get are those that haven't read the original books - and they'll be completely confused by the whole story anyway!

Russ Swan, editor of the Lab Talk Newsletter, is unenthusiastic.

TRiG.

I agree - he is on a tough ticket.

It would have been nice though if members of the site he created gave their support to a proposition he himself agreed to (I believe) rather than tear it to shreds before it has hit the press.

I think it's fair to criticise the idea. Obviously it's pointless criticising the finished work, but I don't think that's what anyone is really doing here.

From the Grauniad piece:

"Penguin hopes that Belson's choice of Colfer will bring a new generation of readers to Adams's work. "It's always a challenge when we haven't got Douglas any more – how can we introduce his writing to the next generation?" asked Prior."

By keeping them on the shelves, as they've always done. It seems odd to introduce people to his writings by using another writer.

And there's a big difference between a sixth book written by Douglas and a sixth book written by anyone else.

I'd much rather see a second volume of unpublished work - I can't believe that 'Salmon of Doubt' was the sum total of Douglas' unpublished legacy. This just seems like another pointless knock-off. It could be fun (I've never read his work, and I've no idea if that would even represent what we could expect) but if not, it won't change the existing books.

Jim, as ever, very eloquently put

After all is said and done, this is nothing new (cf the recent Bond novel), is not actually going to kill anyone and could help bring the entire canon of DNA's work to a new and wider audience.

Surely that can't all be bad.

Hmmm. We are all individuals though - just cos Douglas suggested something before his untimely parting doesn't mean we all have to fawningly accept whatever is put forward as a fulfillment of that desire, blessing of the estate or not. (cf WWDD ibid)

Personally, I never got into Colfer, though I accept he's staggeringly popular. And I don't see him as being able to do something Adamsesque. But then, maybe that's not what he's going to do.

I dare say I'll read it. And I'll try to be open minded, promise, but I find it unlikely that I'll suddenly warm to an author who has so far left me cold, just because he's writing about characters that I know and love, or is somehow going to try to pull together the most convoluted and sprawling plot line in literary history.

Well it's bound to piss off MJ Simpson, and that can only be a good thing.

~*~It would have been nice though if members of the site he created gave their support to a proposition he himself agreed to (I believe) rather than tear it to shreds before it has hit the press.~*~

If he were the one writing it, I'd be behind it 100%. But it just doesn't seem right to me to take control of a world that really belongs to someone else.

Well, I like Eoin Colfer, and I'll read this with interest. But I think I'll approach it with caution.

TRiG.

Can I be the first to say Woohoo!? Was it a good idea to keep Bond going after Ian Flemming? (Umm...) Doctor Who after Anthony Coburn, Sydney Newman, Verity Lambert and William Hartnell? (Definately) Holmes after Conan-Doyle?

I respect that people will be upset that Douglas isn't writing it, but anyone who's seen me on here before will know I'm a big big fan of the series, and I think its potentially a huge tribute to the man that the series that he built could live and breathe after him.

I look forward to its publication, and hope that it can keep the legacy of the series going on well in to the future, in tribute to the great man.

"Penguin hopes that Belson's choice of Colfer will bring a new generation of readers to Adams's work."

Hmm, I did that by buying my son his own copy of the books. I am not sure that he read them all, but he DID read Artemis Fowl, so perhaps yes, he may move on to HHGG.

"just about the only unbiaised audience he's going to get are those that haven't read the original books "

And me! I grew up reading sequels written by someone other than the original author, and as long as the new writer takes the time to get to know the characters, why can't his imagination carry them on?

I have it on good authority that DNA shared an agent with Colfer

I think it's a bad idea, pure and simple. Someone's skint and that's why this idea has surfaced.

Noticed that wobble in the Earth's orbit? That's DNA spinning in his grave.

No that's the impact from the CERN experiment. We've all been sucked into a strange parallel universe.

It might not be all bad. I'll probably be looked upon as a blasphemer, but DNA's strengths were his cynicism, wit and imagination. As a writer he was no great shakes. Wit & cynicism are easily reproduced. As most here will testify I suspect, after reading one of his books you tend to think in that style for a few days afterwards. I think that any new book may not be earth-shatteringly original but we might see a lot more in the way of character development. DNA packed a lot of ideas into his books which tended to be only briefly touched upon before he raced onto the next idea.

I thought this was an interesting quote I found here : <./>http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7619000/7619708.stm</.> -

"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."

Cash cow is the phrase that comes to mind...and a lack of originality among publishers.

The most important word in that quote from Douglas is 'I'.