Colfer Asked To Write Sixth HHGTTG Book

No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by fyrie · 2008-09-17 00:57 · Score: 4, Interesting

I'd rather see the Infocom HHGTTG Sequel completed/released.

Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 01:00 · Score: 1

That's a *much* better plan.
My son knows the radio plays by heart now (he's 14), I never thought of dusting off the infocom stuff, thank you!

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MP3 Search Engine
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by meringuoid · 2008-09-17 01:03 · Score: 3, Informative

I'd rather see the Infocom HHGTTG Sequel completed/released.
Not going to happen. A few fragments of code are all that exist, and there's no commercial market for such games in 2008, and both Infocom and Douglas Adams are dead. Write it yourself; there's a healthy subculture of interactive fiction writing even today, and the Inform language is actually not at all bad, all things considered.

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Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by achacha · 2008-09-17 01:42 · Score: 4, Interesting

The question is: are people willing to use their imagination when they are force-fed every feature directX 10 has to offer (shading, tons of light sources, fog, environments, shadows, physics engine, ragdoll physics) at insane resolutions.
While I grew up playing almost every Infocom game out there and I still have the Atari 8-bit versions ready-to-play via emulator, I have yet to find anyone under 30 that thinks it's fun.
For many, text adventure games are akin to a wheel made of stone, great in the day but with vulcanized rubber why would anyone use a stone wheel except in a museum...
On a positive note, there is a counterculture of writers that still use the Z-Engine (Infocom text game engine) to write games based on their original works. So all hope is not lost :)
To date no game was more memorable than Station Fall, when Floyd died, it broke my heart and to this day I feel sad for him and wished there was a way to save him.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by geoffspear · 2008-09-17 01:42 · Score: 4, Funny

I agree. Eoin Colfer should definitely devote his time to programming an Infocom game instead of writing a book.

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Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Alisoria · 2008-09-17 01:48 · Score: 1

As someone far under thirty, I love the old infocom games. True I play them on a palm pilot now instead of a computer, but they're still great fun.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Verdatum · 2008-09-17 02:07 · Score: 1

If ever a comment deserved to be modded past 5, this is it.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by delmierda · 2008-09-17 02:36 · Score: 1

I'd rather see the Infocom HHGTTG Sequel completed/released.
I could care less how I get my HHGTTG, so long as I get it. Crack's got nothin' on The Book.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by coastwalker · 2008-09-17 02:40 · Score: 1

I wouldn't mind the migration to video games if there was anything worth playing but the only thing that seems to be available are fighting games.
Well I love shooting people and watching their flesh being torn off as my mini gun cuts them in half as much as the next normal sane person who loves children and flowers, but after playing one the rest all seem the same so why bother.
If there was anything out there as evocative and interesting as the old infocom games I would buy it, but there isn't, is there.

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Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Tetsujin · 2008-09-17 02:41 · Score: 2, Interesting

The question is: are people willing to use their imagination when they are force-fed every feature directX 10 has to offer (shading, tons of light sources, fog, environments, shadows, physics engine, ragdoll physics) at insane resolutions.
Oh, snore... Not that old bit about kids these days with their polygons and their shaders. I suppose next you're gonna tell me to get off your "West of house"...
I mean, I like classic games and text adventures - I just hate this attitude that there's some fundamental quality of them that makes them better than today's games. That's just nostalgia talking.

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Bow-ties are cool.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by fyrie · 2008-09-17 02:43 · Score: 1

The question is: are people willing to use their imagination when they are force-fed every feature directX 10 has to offer

That's a good point. It's difficult to say. A large section of the gaming market is made up of people playing pretty horrible looking games in their web browser (bedazzle, free MMOs, etc...). However, those games are still graphical in nature. I think Infocom games are a blast, but I must admit that I was playing them in the 80s too, so I can't really gauge what a 20 year old would think of them.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by fyrie · 2008-09-17 02:44 · Score: 1

When did play one for the first time? Are they nostalgia for you or are they something new for you?
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Enderandrew · 2008-09-17 02:51 · Score: 1

Why not add graphics? They don't have to be incredible, but Sam and Max, and the recent Penny Arcade Adventures prove you can still do an adventure title. PAA heavily used narration.

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http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by sesshomaru · 2008-09-17 02:56 · Score: 1

Well, they tend to be better at text parsing than modern games. How many times do you run into a character in a modern RPG and are given multiple choice answers to his/her questions? Heck I occaisionally even run into a game that requires, gasp, typing and the interface is at best more Scott Adams (the other one) than Infocom. This is in 2008.
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The truth is this goes all the way back to the beginning, you had your graphical adventure games which tended to to have crummy -VERB- -NOUN- parsers, and Infocom which had state of the art text parsers for their games but no graphics.
Infocom died not because their games stopped being popular (though that may have happened eventually, it didn't in the companies lifetime) but because they were mismanaged into the ground by people who wanted them to be the next Microsoft and switch from games to office software. That didn't work, and killed the company, but their games sold all the way up to the bitter end.

--
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by fyrie · 2008-09-17 03:00 · Score: 2, Informative

The BBC did try this with the original HHGTTG game. Give it a go here
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Zalgon+26+McGee · 2008-09-17 03:01 · Score: 2, Informative

Er, Floyd died in Planetfall, as you cradled him in your arms and recited his favourite poem, the Ballad of the Star-Crossed Miner.
O, they ruled the solar system
Near ten thousand years before
In their single starcrossed scout ships
Mining ast'roids, spinning lore.
Then one true courageous miner
Spied a spaceship from the stars
Boarded he that alien liner
Out beyond the orb of Mars.
Yes, that ship was filled with danger
Mighty monsters barred his way
Yet he solved the alien myst'ries
Mining quite a lode that day.
O, they ruled the solar system
Near ten thousand years before
'Til one brave advent'rous spirit
Brought that mighty ship to shore.

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Book(n): Utensil used to pass time while waiting for the TV repairman
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by gEvil+(beta) · 2008-09-17 03:04 · Score: 1

I'm having a slow week at work, so I brought in some infocom games to play. I just started Bureaucracy, which was written by Douglas Adams. So far there seem to be a fair number of H2G2 in-jokes scattered around in there. Worth looking into if you haven't played it.

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This guy's the limit!
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by COMON$ · 2008-09-17 03:08 · Score: 1

Try the myst series if you havent. Yo ucan pick up the box set for dirt cheap. They will drive you nutz.

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CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Inner_Child · 2008-09-17 03:22 · Score: 1

Check out Just Adventure - they seem to be a pretty good resource for those of us that don't like the "kill everything" type games. While adventures are a niche market now, and not the major genre they were back in the late 80's and early 90's, there are still plenty available and still being made.

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Today is red jello day - all workers must eat all of their red jello. Failure to comply will result in five demerits.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by gnick · 2008-09-17 03:26 · Score: 1

Why not add graphics?
I really enjoyed the graphical version of Zork. It was a big shift after playing all of the text adventures, but a fun experience. I can't swear that it would play on a modern OS (I think I was playing it on Win 95), but it can be acquired for a handful of copper plated zinc.

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He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Chaos+Incarnate · 2008-09-17 03:59 · Score: 1

Not the poster in question, but I (mostly) feel the same way; I occasionally bust out a text adventure when I'm in the mood. I didn't play my first one until eight-ish years ago, when I was 14 or 15—years after I'd played "modern" games like Wolf3D and Doom. So, probably not nostalgia. Not exactly "new" at this point either, though
That said, I have a rather low tolerance for games where trial by error is the only way to win, like Hitchhiker's. Maybe "modern" games have ruined me, or maybe I just have a more discerning palate.

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Benford's Corollary to Clarke's Law: "Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced."
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Drooling+Iguana · 2008-09-17 04:45 · Score: 3, Insightful

I played a lot of text adventures when I was a kid, but these days I can't stand anything more primitive than The Secret of Monkey Island. I'm sorry, but endless "guess the verb" sessions are not my idea of a good time.

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... I'm addicted to placebos
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Culture20 · 2008-09-17 04:59 · Score: 2, Interesting

I just hate this attitude that there's some fundamental quality of them that makes them better than today's games. That's just nostalgia talking.
I think text games allow for imagination to blossom, and 3D "shiny" games lend themselves to becoming glorified movies.

Bear with me... It's like the latest commercial from LeapFrog (a computer-learning company): A grown man in a frog costume is behind a table with a bunch of books telling the viewers how much better the LeapFrog Tag(TM) Reading System helps children read, and then a little boy comes up to the table, waves a wand over his LeapFrog book, and the book reads to him. The man asks the boy which book he likes better, the LeapFrog book, or an older book. The boy responds derisively: "That book doesn't talk"
When I first saw that commercial, I was appalled. The boy is just being spoonfed; he's only learning that reading is _hard_ and that talking books are better because you don't have to _think_. I later became appalled that LeapFrog would think that this commercial would appeal to parents. I then later became appalled because I realized that the marketing firm that made the ad must have done their research, and parents really think this is good. /rant

So, a lot of today's games are like the LeapFrog books, where any puzzles are spoonfed because the designers want you to finish the game and buy another title, and you're not required to imagine a little white house. The designers don't _want_ you to imagine stuff, because then you end up falling into an abyss where the level designers forgot to place a wall because you were curious, or you skip a trigger and kill the bad guy before he gives his monologue, and he gives it then anyway. Okay, "give troll to troll" does this too...
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by dosius · 2008-09-17 05:49 · Score: 1

28, and didn't touch Zork until I was 22.
OTOH, I'm not much more than a year away from hitting the big three-oh. :(
-uso.

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What you hear in the ear, preach from the rooftop Matthew 10.27b
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by khellendros1984 · 2008-09-17 06:02 · Score: 1

One of the games I remember fondly was Hugo's House of Horrors...not exactly text-only, but it had the same elements of problem-solving and typing in text commands to do things. I'm significantly below 30, and I was maybe 9 or 10 when I first played that game....as far as text-only games, specifically Infocom's, I've always been fascinated by the Zork series (I didn't custom-set my sig for this post), although I haven't made the time to seriously play through any of them....

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It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by khellendros1984 · 2008-09-17 06:03 · Score: 1

Oooh, my favorite game series!

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It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by khellendros1984 · 2008-09-17 06:09 · Score: 1

Are you thinking Grand Inquisitor? I remember rather enjoying that game....quirky, creative, and not at all afraid to kill your character if you chose to do something foolish =)

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It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by arb+phd+slp · 2008-09-17 06:15 · Score: 1

I really enjoyed the graphical version of Zork. It was a big shift after playing all of the text adventures, but a fun experience. I can't swear that it would play on a modern OS (I think I was playing it on Win 95), but it can be acquired for a handful of copper plated zinc.
Want some rye? Course ya do!
I know I needed some rye after finally getting that fish in my ear in HHGTTG. Then there's the exit DOWN that isn't in the description of the room. That's a puzzle that wouldn't work in a graphical version... and good riddance.

--
There's a perfect xkcd for my sig but I'm too lazy to look it up. sudo someone go find it.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Neoprofin · 2008-09-17 06:23 · Score: 1

Until you discover that the original can be beat in less than three minutes if you know how.

Can't say much for replay value.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by gnick · 2008-09-17 06:35 · Score: 1

Grand Inquisitor sounds right, but it's been a while. Good silly fun in the same spirit as the text adventures.
The road to the south is impassible. Absolutely impossible to pass. Impassible.

--
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Tetsujin · 2008-09-17 07:03 · Score: 1

Well, they tend to be better at text parsing than modern games. How many times do you run into a character in a modern RPG and are given multiple choice answers to his/her questions? Heck I occaisionally even run into a game that requires, gasp, typing and the interface is at best more Scott Adams (the other one) than Infocom. This is in 2008.
So, we've got this big homebrew IF culture now, right? And it's 2008. So where is our better text parser? (Better than Infocom, I mean... In an age where the phones people carry in their pockets are a good couple orders of magnitude more powerful than the machines Infocom games were made to run on, we should be able to make a better text adventure, right?)
In terms of interacting with objects, Infocom games were more or less equivalent to games like Day of the Tentacle - verb, direct object, indirect object. You could type dialogue, but the chances of it actually being understood were pretty slim. And then there's the classic problem with all manner of adventure games - the more freedom you're given to try things, the more apparent it becomes that the game may not support sensible actions the designer didn't think of...
Cornerstone was a fiasco for sure (I guess they should have figured out after a few years that Infocom had already made their name in games, and going after the productivity market, even if it was their goal in the first place, wasn't gonna work...) but I think text adventures were on their way out anyway. Even Infocom was moving away from text-only games, starting with stuff like Lurking Horror, Beyond Zork, and then Zork Zero, etc... So I think there's a strong argument that Infocom's niche was dissolving. No one was "force-fed" the new graphics technologies, gamers wanted that stuff.
But back to the topic at hand - how does text-based gaming's lack of graphics equate to a better game? Why is text adventures' reliance upon the player to mentally imagine the scenes and events considered such a holy property? To me a good game is a fun game. I don't fault people if they find games more enjoyable when they have a decent user interface...

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Bow-ties are cool.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Bent+Mind · 2008-09-17 08:27 · Score: 1

For many, text adventure games are akin to a wheel made of stone, great in the day but with vulcanized rubber why would anyone use a stone wheel except in a museum...
Just a thought, update the interface a bit.
Combine the text adventure with voice recognition/synthesis. Put it on a cell phone. People love wandering around, talking into thin air. They might as well have a bit of fun doing it.
My oldest daughter recently discovered multiple-end fiction. She also enjoys reading the e-books I've been collecting from Tor. Combine the two. Make it look something like a book. You could even use "bookmarks" as save points.
These are just a couple of ideas. I'm sure there are others. The text adventure concept is sound. It's just that the technology was dropped as soon as graphics hit the scene. Television didn't replace books. Why should shiny graphics replace text adventures?

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Request a Linux Shockwave player here: http://www.macromedia.com/support/email/wishform/
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Goldberg's+Pants · 2008-09-17 08:56 · Score: 1

So you could care less? How much less could you care? Since clearly you care more than the minimum you could care, because you've clearly said you COULD care less. Please enlighten us as to how much less you could care.
And this is a fucking awful idea. Without spoiling the last book, doesn't it have a fairly conclusive and rather final ending?
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by toriver · 2008-09-17 09:49 · Score: 1

How much less could you care?
One and a half smidgen.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 13:01 · Score: 0

Dude, you're absolutely right. It's the if-I-werent-such-a-1337-System-V-haxor-I-would-have-been-reading-books-with-my-imaginary-Oxford-chums attitude.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by COMON$ · 2008-09-17 16:34 · Score: 1

That is the beauty in these games, hindsight is 20/20. Knowing that you completed the objectives without a guide is its own reward. Screw re-playability. That's not what makes these kind of games great.

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CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Meski · 2008-09-17 19:36 · Score: 1

The question is: are people willing to use their imagination when they are force-fed every feature directX 10 has to offer (shading, tons of light sources, fog, environments, shadows, physics engine, ragdoll physics) at insane resolutions.
My imagination's resolution is still higher than the latest Nvidia has to offer...
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by Goldberg's+Pants · 2008-09-17 22:11 · Score: 1

Oh well played, sir. Well played.
Re:No. Finish the Infocom Sequel by sesshomaru · 2008-09-19 12:31 · Score: 1

But back to the topic at hand - how does text-based gaming's lack of graphics equate to a better game?

Oh, they don't. I'd never say the lack of something leads to a better game. However, if you have access to something and deliberately leave it out for artistic reason, it could occasionally lead to a better game. Note, that's "could" and "occasionally." Hey, Eddie Casica thinks that old-timey sitcoms went to Hell in a Ham Sandwich when they switched to color. People still occasionally make black and white films, and radio shows.
I had the Lurking Horror and Beyond Zork. Now, I don't know if there is some "souped up" copy of those somewhere that has graphics, but mine didn't have them. I do remember that if you had the right PC, Lurking Horror had sound. However, it's pretty well documented that Cornerstone killed Infocom. There were some games that included graphics, I think Zork Zero was one. Incidentally, the last Infocom branded game I ever played was Tombs and Treasures on the NES, which was sort of similar to Shadowgate. I expect there were others that I didn't play. There were also the digital comics they made a while back, I had one of those...
Homebrew isn't going to produce a much better text parser, and probably text parsers will have the great next leap forward when they are voice parsers. (Phoenix Wright, anyone). My problem is that games that could use text parsers, or games that do use text parsers, tend to use primitive ones. I'm talking about big budget, AAA titles. (Specific Example: Using a computer in Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines. Sure the game failed for various reason, but it was definitely both high budget and high concept. The text interface on the in game PCs was not as robust as it could have been. I was glad they included it, though, and primitive as it was it made the game more fun and increased the immersion.)
As to user interface, a Koan:

One evening, Master Foo and Nubi attended a gathering of programmers who had met to learn from each other. One of the programmers asked Nubi to what school he and his master belonged. Upon being told they were followers of the Great Way of Unix, the programmer grew scornful.
The command-line tools of Unix are crude and backward, he scoffed. Modern, properly designed operating systems do everything through a graphical user interface.
Master Foo said nothing, but pointed at the moon. A nearby dog began to bark at the master's hand.
I don't understand you! said the programmer.
Master Foo remained silent, and pointed at an image of the Buddha. Then he pointed at a window.
What are you trying to tell me? asked the programmer.
Master Foo pointed at the programmer's head. Then he pointed at a rock.
Why can't you make yourself clear? demanded the programmer.
Master Foo frowned thoughtfully, tapped the programmer twice on the nose, and dropped him in a nearby trashcan.
As the programmer was attempting to extricate himself from the garbage, the dog wandered over and piddled on him.
At that moment, the programmer achieved enlightenment. -- Master Foo Discourses on the Graphical User Interface

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"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."

Don't panic by Max+Romantschuk · 2008-09-17 00:57 · Score: 5, Funny

The mice will interfere if need be.

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.: Max Romantschuk :: http://max.romantschuk.fi/

Re:Don't panic by FourthLaw · 2008-09-17 01:33 · Score: 1

The mice will interfere if need be.
I think that's why people like the Infocom versions...

--
Skilled in differentiating ravens from a writing desks.
Re:Don't panic by petes_PoV · 2008-09-17 01:48 · Score: 5, Funny

The mice are underwriting the next book - they want to know what'll happen, too.

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politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons

What? by vjmurphy · 2008-09-17 00:57 · Score: 3, Interesting

How about Brian Herbert, Todd McCaffrey or Christopher Tolkien? Or is it too hard pulling them off the graves and/or shriveling bodies of their parents?

--
Vincent J. Murphy
Spandex Justice

Re:What? by Chrondeath · 2008-09-17 01:10 · Score: 1

Are you suggesting one of them should have been chosen as the writer, or that they should be hiring writers to continue their relatives' work?
Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:13 · Score: 1, Informative

Are you suggesting one of them should have been chosen as the writer, or that they should be hiring writers to continue their relatives' work?

He's saying that it's a horrible idea, and he's using those as examples why.
Re:What? by meringuoid · 2008-09-17 01:23 · Score: 5, Insightful

I don't get the hate for Christopher Tolkien. Without his work, we would have The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings - nothing else at all. We would know the Elder Days only through the fragments of half-forgotten legend we hear in the Third Age - occasional cryptic references to the Eldar of the West, to Numenor, to Gondolin and the swords they made for the wars with the goblins, to Beren and Lúthien... We'd never have heard the full tales.
Christopher Tolkien isn't producing cheap cash-ins on his father's legacy. He compiled the Silmarillion, then spent decades writing and publishing detailed analyses of the reams of notes and fragmentary manuscripts that lay behind the legends, and finally tidied up the Narn i Hîn Húrin to a publishable form. And I for one am very glad that he did so.

--
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:26 · Score: 4, Insightful

I think that's a fair assessment, since for the most part he was acting as organizer and editor of material that was already written. The others, however, are merely riding on their parents coattails.
Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:36 · Score: 0

Brian Herbert writes pulp fiction with exactly one level of meaning, about four levels less than his dad. the apple fell far from that tree, sad to say. He should write comic books, in fact, that's what the Dune continuation is.
Re:What? by vjmurphy · 2008-09-17 01:39 · Score: 1

Not expressing my hate as much as my dislike for authors' estates selling out. I can both appreciate what Christopher Tolkien has done while also realizing that we're getting his version of his father's work and not his father's work (at least not as directly as we'd all like). But there is a point of saturation, and Tolkien reached that many, many years ago IMO.

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Vincent J. Murphy
Spandex Justice
Re:What? by ph0rk · 2008-09-17 01:42 · Score: 2, Informative

Also, quoth wikipedia: CJRT drew the original LOTR maps, so he possessed at least a passing familiarity with the work in the eyes of his father.

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semantics are everything!
Re:What? by pla · 2008-09-17 02:00 · Score: 0, Troll

I don't get the hate for Christopher Tolkien.

Not so much "hate" as "complete and total disregard".

Without his work, we would have The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings - nothing else at all.

Acting as the executor of JRR's literary estate to publish basically-complete but unpublished works, not a problem. Writing entirely new crap "inspired" by his father, I'd rather "have The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings - nothing else at all."
Re:What? by hey! · 2008-09-17 02:15 · Score: 2, Interesting

Well, I was thinking more Terry Jones.
After all, he as already done a novel in the HTTG universe, one that was warmly received by Douglas Adams himself.

--
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 02:26 · Score: 2, Insightful

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were, for me, the only readable books. And only barely readable, in the case of LotR. The Silmarillion makes me reach for a real history textbook for interest. Of all the books I started reading of my own free will (and there are a lot of them), it is, to date, the only one which I've been unable to bring myself to finish.
I think I'm not the only one with that opinion and I expect it's a large part of the hate for Christopher Tolkien.
Re:What? by osee · 2008-09-17 02:32 · Score: 2, Insightful

Care to name the book you are referring to as "entirely new crap"?
I have read a few of his books, but none of them were really new. They just told the story of the creative process based on his father's rather unwieldy mound of notes.
Re:What? by Sobrique · 2008-09-17 02:33 · Score: 3, Funny

What's this nonsense? There are no continuations. There are only 3 Dune books, and they are excellent. I disbelieve your foul and cunning illusion of there being others.
Re:What? by hjrnunes · 2008-09-17 02:42 · Score: 1

Well pal go and read your history textbooks. And when you find how full of bullshit they are, and when you find how that bullshit is only to cover up for even worse bullshit, perhaps you'll get back to the Silmarillion. It's not even comparable... While the textbooks you refer are what a lot of people did compiled by one person, the Silmarillion is a (hi)story about what a lot of people, invented by one person, did, compiled by one person. It's a hell of a work. People talk of parallel universes and I'm yet to see one as developed and beautiful as the one Tolkien made. Hey, you try it!
Re:What? by Austerity+Empowers · 2008-09-17 03:02 · Score: 2, Insightful

There are some really great stories in the Silmarillion, unfortunately it's in a style of writing that's more akin to an academic textbook than a pleasure read.
The problem is that he's trying to create a mythology for a fantasy world. Traditionally the old greek mythology I'm familiar with relied upon the reader to know and accept certain facts as being in evidence, and thus the stories proceeded straight into explaining how those truths came to be, and that's the most fun part. For Tolkien's world, we have no frame of reference, so he has to set the stage in gory detail.
I don't feel very robbed reading what Christopher Tolkien produced (though I get a headache at times, but that was true with LOTR), I believe he's really just cleaning his Dad's work and making it edible, and I think he's done a decent job (at least insofar as the Silmarillion is concerned).
Now Brian Herbert...another story. I'm not even sure Frank Herbert's Dune sequels were that great, I'm not sure why this continues on. I guess I was less enthralled with the Universe of Dune which seemed bland, as I was with the story of Dune.
Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 03:39 · Score: 1, Interesting

Brian Herbert.. I've finally told myself I won't buy another of his books.
First he says he's going to finish the last Dune book his father never wrote, after finding a floppy disk in a security deposit box years later. But first he figures he needs to drum up some new interest in Dune. Let's write about the Butlerian Jihad! Everyone always wondered about it. It had a few good points, but mostly it felt like constant rehashing of the facts. The writing was poor at best, the concepts flawed.
Okay, well you at least got people thinking about Dune again, time for the new books, right? Nope. Now it's time to do prequels using the characters we already knew. Again, the writing is poor, and I wonder if he just sat up at night trying to find tragic events to throw in there.
So finally... hunters of Dune, time to finish that story! Get down to the last few chapters.. gee, this feels like he has a lot to wrap up still. Last page. TBC. Rage.
So for one book he managed to milk eight out of us, and he's still going now with books set between Dune and Dune Messiah.
That's it, I'm done. He's a poor writer, a shadow of his father's legacy and I can't justify handing over any more money to this hack. Attempting to finish his father's work is one thing, this is just blatant opportunism.
Re:What? by joelwyland · 2008-09-17 04:19 · Score: 3, Insightful

I don't get the hate for Christopher Tolkien. Without his work, we would have The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings - nothing else at all.
Amusingly, I think you answered your own question here. The Silmarillion was a horrible book. The scattered notes, often contradictory, were not finished nor meant to be published. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings was what should have been published. Nothing else.
Re:What? by pla · 2008-09-17 04:22 · Score: 1

Care to name the book you are referring to as "entirely new crap"?

Although we could debate CRT's level of input into evenThe Silmarillion, I'd say that Húrin has about as much of JRR in it as The Illiad does.

Anyone can come up with a plot derivative of the classic adventure stories; JRR's skill involved the storytelling itself. Having someone else do that part of the job (even starting from an amazingly detailed plot outline, even starting from a short story version of the same tale) does not make the work a product of JRR, but of his "editor".
Re:What? by joetheappleguy · 2008-09-17 05:19 · Score: 1

Would the combined result be The Book of Lost Tales of the Dragon Hitchhikers of Dune?
Re:What? by retchdog · 2008-09-17 05:42 · Score: 2, Insightful

What?! Three Dune books? I know of no such thing, there is only Dune.

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"They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
Re:What? by PakProtector · 2008-09-17 05:48 · Score: 1

What's this nonsense? There are no continuations. There are only 3 Dune books, and they are excellent. I disbelieve your foul and cunning illusion of there being others.
There are only six Dune books.

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Edward@Tomato - /home/Edward/ man woman
man: no entry for woman in the manual.
"Qua!?"
Re:What? by DamnStupidElf · 2008-09-17 05:53 · Score: 2, Funny

<Voice>Quiet, you! Now go read all 6 books.</Voice>
Re:What? by Neoprofin · 2008-09-17 06:29 · Score: 1

I think his point is that he wont, because the history books are better written, and Silmarillion was boring or otherwise unreadable. Your argument that they're the same thing in essence has absolutely nothing to do with what he said.
Re:What? by ultranova · 2008-09-17 06:30 · Score: 2, Insightful

The Silmarillion was a horrible book. The scattered notes, often contradictory, were not finished nor meant to be published. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings was what should have been published. Nothing else.

It is a horrible book allright, but I'm still glad it was published. Some of us just love to burrow into a backstory like Gollum into Misty Mountains. For example, I've read dozens of D&D rulebooks just for fun, without ever having played the game.
Then again, I also consider physics textbooks light reading before bed...

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Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
Re:What? by andrewa · 2008-09-17 06:49 · Score: 1

Oh, how I wish that I had mod points. If so, I could award them to you for the most inventive and confusing use of punctuation that I've witnessed today.

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Re:What? by Carik · 2008-09-17 06:49 · Score: 1

The point is not how full of bullshit either one is.
The point is that, despite being set in a brilliantly envisioned and almost impossibly complete fictional universe, the writing in the Silmarillion is crap. It reads like a badly written textbook, with the added drawback that it ought to be fun to read, but isn't.
Don't get me wrong: Tolkien accomplished something amazing with his creation of Middle Earth. I just wish he'd been a better writer.
Re:What? by dwye · 2008-09-17 07:56 · Score: 2, Interesting

> Without his work, we would have The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings - nothing else at all
No, we wouldn't even have that. Only he, and his family, and a few friends to whom JRRT told bedtime stories about elves and gnomes, would have had any of it. It was only when Christopher began correcting JRRT, reminding Daddy that he told it differently the last time, that JRRT started putting anything on paper, just to be consistent. Without that, he would never have produced anything more that Farmer Giles and Ham (at least that non-professional philologists would read).
Re:What? by mattack2 · 2008-09-17 15:19 · Score: 1

Do you mean the novelization of "Starship Titanic"? If so, then at least the people who wrote the Wikipedia page on Starship Titanic disagree that it really is in the HHGTTG universe.
If not, what novel do you mean?
Re:What? by Sobrique · 2008-09-17 21:58 · Score: 1

No no. God Emperor of Dune didn't exist either. Heretics and ChapterHouse might have done, if it hadn't been for the prereq of God Emperor.
Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-23 23:00 · Score: 0

Lots of people like the Silmarillion: but that's a matter of taste.
But it is SIMPLY NOT TRUE to say that the Silmarillion was not meant to be published. Tolkien wanted "Lord of the Rings" and the "Silmarillion" to be published as a four volume work; he almost fell out with his publisher over trying to make this a condition.
Do you really think that if, right now, we knew that Christopher Tolkien had something like 2,000 pages of his father's notes -- stories, poems, background information, vocabularies, philosophical essays -- sitting in a filing cabinet, all of Lord of the Rings fans would be saying "Good old Christopher! We don't want to know about the origins of Gandalf and the marriage of Galadriel. This stuff must NEVER BE PUBLISHED."
(c.f "What would you say if you knew that Yoko was sitting on hundreds of hours of John Lennon songs and not letting anyone hear them.")
Andrew Rilstone
Re:What? by joelwyland · 2008-09-24 03:20 · Score: 1

Tolkien wanted "Lord of the Rings" and the "Silmarillion" to be published as a four volume work; he almost fell out with his publisher over trying to make this a condition.
You'll want to go ahead and check your facts here. Lord of the Rings was a single book, a completed book, which he attempted to get published. Publishers refused to accept such a gigantic tome, so he begrudgingly broke LotR into three books. He wasn't fighting for a 4 book deal, he was fighting for a 1 book deal that included... you know... the work ready for publishing, which was LotR.

NO NO NO by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 00:57 · Score: 5, Insightful

Enough Douglas Adams milking already, please for the love of - insert deity here - do not destroy the legacy of this great author.

Sorry for the rant, have just watched the movie...

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Re:NO NO NO by ari_j · 2008-09-17 01:21 · Score: 4, Interesting

Are you saying that the movie destroyed his legacy, or that you are more sensitive because the movie glorified his legacy and you don't want that feeling taken away?
Re:NO NO NO by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 01:24 · Score: 2, Insightful

I don't think so because the Dirk Gently stuff wasn't produced by then (and that definitely is Douglas Adams at his best, great gods of guilt in a refrigerator :) ).
I think it works like with most things produced by people of such amazing talent, they lose interest because too much of it is already cast in concrete by mistakes earlier on.
Like working on a big software project, the maintenance phase is not the most fun part, unless you did everything just right in the beginning. And judging by Douglas Adams's writing about the making of the hitch hikers guide he was very much feeling his way while making the radio plays and this led to all kinds of dissatisfaction while making the books because so much was already set in stone.
I personally think the radio plays are the 'definitive' edition (in spite of all their shortcomings) because they catch the atmosphere the best. The books however greatly expand upon the story, but I can't help hearing Peter Jones' (rip as well, but at least at a respectable age) voice when reading the guide quotes :)

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Re:NO NO NO by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:25 · Score: 5, Funny

Chapter One
Turning from the rain-streaked window, Trillian's teary gaze searched pensively around the room and came to rest on the silver-framed photograph on the mantelpeice. She sighed, her heart heavy with unshed tears. It seemed so long ago - the good times she had shared with Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect. Could it have been a thousand years? As she remembered one of the good times, a single tear, like a frozen diamond, spilled down her cheek and splashed quietly on the white marble floor. Unable to restrain herself, she collapsed against the floor, hands to her face, and sobbed uncontrollably.
A tiny hand reached up and tugged her sleeve.
"Mommy?"
"Oh Ford Junior!" Trillian sobbed. "You remind me so of your father, and the good times we shared so very long ago.. but they're both dead now, and ypu're all I have left to remember them by."
"That's right, forget about me as usual!." grumbled a familiar voice suddenly.
"Oh Marvin!" she laughed "You know I would never forget about you - after all you're all that I have to remember them Arthur and Ford by. I see you're still your grumpy old self!"
She paused with grief as the full meaning of this hit her, and she shuddered and started to weep again, like a pure white nightingale whose eggs have been stolen and eaten by a fateful cat.
Oh sorry. I see now.. don't ruin the legacy. Gotcha.
Re:NO NO NO by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 01:31 · Score: 4, Insightful

Douglas Adams was one of the bigger obstacles in the way of making a movie, and I don't think it would have ever had his blessing. The script sucks (random rearrangements, insertions of 'new' but irrelevant stuff all over the place, and deletions of essentials elsewhere).
Of course, it made money so who am I to complain, but it left me with a definite unhappy and disappointed feeling.
When hearing the radio play and reading the book you get a definite mental image of the kind of universe that Douglas Adams wanted you to see, and most of the movie contradicts that mental image.
There is a joke about that:
A man walks into a movie theater and sees a donkey standing in the aisle.
He walks up to the row behind the man with the donkey and whispers in the guys ear: "Wow, how amazing, he's really looking at the movie, isn't he?"
Yes, says the guy with the donkey, sure is. But he like the book better...

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Re:NO NO NO by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 01:33 · Score: 1

what a waste to do that anonymous :)
thank you anyway, that had me laughing.

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Re:NO NO NO by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:34 · Score: 0

I'm so sorry I don't have mod points right now. That was pretty wonderfully hilarious, thank you.
Re:NO NO NO by JasterBobaMereel · 2008-09-17 01:40 · Score: 1

"The" Movie was the outcome of a scriptwriting process where the scriptwriter did not understand the point.....
The first draft ended with the destruction of the Earth!
The draft that ended up being made was not how Douglas wanted it ... and was horribly mis-cast (Ford should be knowledgeable and a man of the world, not an bumbling idiot, just odd)
The good bits were pure Douglas the bad bits were shoehorned in by the screenwriter

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Puteulanus fenestra mortis
Re:NO NO NO by Verteiron · 2008-09-17 01:45 · Score: 1, Funny

Wow, I actually threw up in my mouth a little!
BraVO!

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Re:NO NO NO by FST777 · 2008-09-17 01:46 · Score: 1

The screenplay for the movie was started by Adams, and finished by others after his death. Adams has, before he died, had tremendous influence on various aspects of the movie, and remarks he made were influential to many decisions made after his death.

He was most certainly not an obstacle in the way of making the movie.

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Free beer is never free as in speech. Free speech is always free as in beer.
Re:NO NO NO by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:47 · Score: 0

Her name is Random, and she's Arthurs daughter you insensitive clod!
Re:NO NO NO by petes_PoV · 2008-09-17 01:50 · Score: 5, Funny
Enough Douglas Adams milking already, please for the love of -
- insert deity here
- do not destroy the legacy of this great author.
That would be Zarquon - but he's running late
--
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Re:NO NO NO by Hatta · 2008-09-17 01:50 · Score: 2, Interesting

I caught the beginning of that movie on TV the other day. I got as far as Arthur Dent lying in front of the bulldozer, complaining about the demolition notice that was "in the cellar". No mention of a locked filing cabinet, disused lavatory, or even a leopard! I changed the channel right then.

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Re:NO NO NO by bigstrat2003 · 2008-09-17 01:54 · Score: 2, Insightful

Sorry for the rant, have just watched the movie...
Well, speak for yourself... I quite enjoyed the movie, and felt it was a good portrayal of Adams' universe. I've never really been sure why other HHGTTG fans seem to hate it so much.

do not destroy the legacy of this great author.
Nothing can destroy his legacy. He's dead, and his legacy is set in stone. All they could possibly destroy would be the legacy of the guy who did a bad job (if he does a bad job, I guess, but I consider it a fair bet).

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Re:NO NO NO by kalirion · 2008-09-17 01:59 · Score: 5, Funny

what a waste to do that anonymous :)
Would you have preferred that "ecolfer" post as himself here?
Re:NO NO NO by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 02:13 · Score: 1

Karey Kirkpatrick (chicken run!) finished the script, and from what I understand this was a pretty radical departure from the work DNA left behind (this is pure speculation though, since only very few people have seen the versions in between).
The release of the movie went to great pains to explain that it would be 100% Douglas Adams, but the fact that someone else finished the script and that it is unknown how much of it was written by Douglas makes that a hard claim to support.
The 'feel' of the movie is so far off from all the stuff that I'm sure was written 100% by Douglas Adams makes that a lot harder to believe.
I think it is simply one of those things that had to be done because there was money to be made of it.
Even the timing is hard to swallow, adapting a very large book for screenplay is an impossible task at best, it would have been more respectful to leave the movie unfinished instead of rushing to finish the screenplay and release the thing before there would be less mileage to be had from the guides popularity.
Douglas' constant rewriting is what I had in mind when I mentioned him as an obstacle in the way of making the movie, it is no coincidence that the work is only finished after his demise. He most likely would have been still busy refining it or rewriting it until he was satisfied, if it could be done at all he would have been the man, the current movie is a botch job.
Releasing yet another book (this time in complete absence of the original author) is more of the same.

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Re:NO NO NO by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 02:15 · Score: 1

mod parent to high heaven please :)

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Re:NO NO NO by gravis777 · 2008-09-17 02:17 · Score: 2, Informative

Are you refering to the Disney movie that Doglas Adams wrote the screenplay for?
Re:NO NO NO by Verdatum · 2008-09-17 02:24 · Score: 1

I have a HHGttG compilation published in the early 90s where he wrote in the preface that he had just finished a rewrite of the movie script. If his influence wasn't slowing the process down, it can at least be said that his death facilitated production to be pushed through.
Re:NO NO NO by DeusExMach · 2008-09-17 02:29 · Score: 2, Interesting

DNA was notorious for not reading his own work when writing a sequel or adapting it to a different medium, hence all the differences between the Book, and the radio play, and eventually the movie. It's not that he wanted constant rewrites... he just forgot what he said had happened and was too busy to go back and check. Honestly, I don't think he'd be too upset about someone using the Guide universe as a launchpad for another project if his widow benefits. The amazing thing is, we could have had the Guide as a movie 20 years ago, if it wasn't for Dan Akroyd hijacking the pitch meeting for his own purposes. ...fucking Ghostbusters...
Re:NO NO NO by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 02:42 · Score: 1

I think there were at least 5 such rewrites, the idea for the movie was already quite well developed by 1985 there was a pre-production screenplay, Douglas Adams rewrote it several times over the next 15 years, the last rewrite was done after Adams died in 2002/2003 by Karey Kirkpatrick and a bunch of others.
The 'pushed through' is quite apt...

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Re:NO NO NO by xangelo · 2008-09-17 02:47 · Score: 1

I thought that too for a second.. and then I was reprimanded by a friend.
Re:NO NO NO by Tetsujin · 2008-09-17 02:48 · Score: 1

The draft that ended up being made was not how Douglas wanted it ... and was horribly mis-cast (Ford should be knowledgeable and a man of the world, not an bumbling idiot, just odd)
The good bits were pure Douglas the bad bits were shoehorned in by the screenwriter
Yeah, I think people miss the point of Ford being miscast sometimes. They focus on "Oh my god! Ford is black!" or "Oh my god! Ford doesn't sound British!" and miss the rather more important "Oh my god! Ford isn't funny!"
Though I guess it may not be entirely fair to blame Mos Def for that. Some of his best material (the bar scene, more or less straight out of the book) was squeezed into way too short of a time-frame. Compared to the performance in the TV show it just feels like they were rushing through it. (Appropriate, perhaps, given that the world was supposed to end in a few minutes - though if you look at it that way Ford wouldn't stand around talking at all - and good comedy needs good timing...)

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Bow-ties are cool.
Re:NO NO NO by Molt · 2008-09-17 02:51 · Score: 4, Funny

Ford should be knowledgeable and a man of the world, not an bumbling idiot, just odd
A man of the world? A man of the galaxy I'd have hoped, or at least the parts where respectable journalists can get respectably drunk on a utterly disrespectful salary.

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404 Not Found: No such file or resource as '.sig'
Re:NO NO NO by Tetsujin · 2008-09-17 02:55 · Score: 2, Insightful

Are you refering to the Disney movie that Doglas Adams wrote the screenplay for?
OK, first, Adams didn't work in a vacuum or finish the screenplay himself, what with being dead and all. Second, why does everyone assume that the potential for that movie to suck, to miss the point of the original books, etc. is inversely proportional to the extent of Adams's involvement in the project? I don't care if they held a seance to get Adams to review the script before they started shooting - the movie has real problems. And a few high points, but mostly just a lot of problems.

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Bow-ties are cool.
Re:NO NO NO by Abcd1234 · 2008-09-17 03:17 · Score: 4, Insightful

random rearrangements, insertions of 'new' but irrelevant stuff all over the place, and deletions of essentials elsewhere
ROFL, while I have my own critiques of the movie, this is probably the *last* reason to dislike the script. If you read the books and listened to the radio plays (or played the Infocom game), you'd know that DNA was quite happy to alter the HHGTTG storyline in order to fit the medium. The fact that the movie diverges from the books should be *expected*, not derided, given DNA's approach to the material.
Re:NO NO NO by cerberusss · 2008-09-17 03:17 · Score: 4, Funny

From the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2008

Leopold looked up at the arrow piercing the skin of the dirigible with a sort of wondrous dismay -- the wheezy shriek was just the sort of sound he always imagined a baby moose being beaten with a pair of accordions might make.
Shannon Wedge, New Hampshire
Please, PLEASE read the rest of the entries. Hilarious.

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Re:NO NO NO by gsslay · 2008-09-17 03:29 · Score: 1

No, No, No.
Just thought that needed emphasised. The HHGTTG books got progressively worse. It's almost as if with each volume after "Restaurant" Adams set out to bury the story further into an inconsistent mess in order to prevent another sequel.
We do not need another book.
Re:NO NO NO by HebrewToYou · 2008-09-17 03:31 · Score: 2, Funny

He know where his towel is, that's for sure.

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I'm not popular enough to be different.
Homer Simpson, The Simpsons
Re:NO NO NO by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 03:38 · Score: 1

good point :)

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Re:NO NO NO by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 04:13 · Score: 0

Legacy? Have you read Mostly Harmless? He shit on his own meal ticket.
Re:NO NO NO by john83 · 2008-09-17 04:16 · Score: 2

So much of Adams best jokes and ideas were asides, descriptions, inside someone's head, or otherwise unfilmable, that it's inevitable that any film version of the Hitchhiker's work would have to be just different enough to piss off Adams fans, particularly once he himself was no longer there to lend it credibility. The film was charming and fun, and if it was a pale shadow of the book, people should get over it. Douglas Adams is gone, and we won't see such talent applied to that universe again.
"There is a moment in every dawn when light floats, there is the possibility of magic. Creation holds its breath. The moment passed as it regularly did on Squornshellous Zeta, without incident."

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Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
Re:NO NO NO by Kerkyon · 2008-09-17 04:34 · Score: 1

So Long had a wildly different feel from the rest of the series, but was the best of all of them. Do people just bash it because of the change in tone? (Though I'll admit that the radio series were better then So Long.) I'd even say that So Long comes close the the Dirk Gently books in both tone and quality.
Mostly Harmless was truly crap.
Re:NO NO NO by tm2b · 2008-09-17 04:41 · Score: 1

Enough Douglas Adams milking already
I hear George Lucas will be making the prequels!

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"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
Re:NO NO NO by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 04:42 · Score: 0

Not all of us have /. accounts. Some of us just couldn't get past the soul sucking registration, and there isn't a bug-me-not login and password.
Re:NO NO NO by mcvos · 2008-09-17 04:47 · Score: 1

Douglas Adams was one of the bigger obstacles in the way of making a movie, and I don't think it would have ever had his blessing. The script sucks (random rearrangements, insertions of 'new' but irrelevant stuff all over the place, and deletions of essentials elsewhere).
New stuff is traditional. All versions of the Hitchhiker's Guide contradict each other, and the movie should be no exception. The movie has all the basic elements of what makes a story The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, except, perhaps, style and humour. And that's a rather big omision.
The movie has some very good bits: the point of view gun is brilliant. Some other bits are pretty good. But Zaphod was not quite right, and Ford completely uninspiring. I think.
Actually, I'm not quite sure what the movie was like. When I dig through my memories, I keep seeing images from the TV series. Perhaps it's better that way.
(Only Zaphod and Marvin seem to survive. I really can't remember what Arthur looked like in the movie, although I guess that kinda fits his character too.)
Re:NO NO NO by mcvos · 2008-09-17 04:49 · Score: 1

I can't find the option to mod this +5/-100 Brilliant/Gruesome.
Re:NO NO NO by dgatwood · 2008-09-17 04:57 · Score: 1

Adams' asides, while visual, were generally funny....

She paused with grief as the full meaning of this hit her, and she shuddered and started to weep again, like a pure white nightingale whose eggs have been stolen and eaten by a fateful cat.
Marvin grumbled, "Look at me, brain the size of a planet, wasting my time comforting someone who is sad over losing an idiot."
Trillian's mood lightened a bit and she smiled a quirky smile.
It's a strange thing, humor. Sometimes it hits you like a feather, sometimes like a tonne of bricks that mysteriously appeared over Gelatinous V after an infinite improbability drive inadvertently converted one of Zaphod's heads during a tight cornering procedure. But always it hits you, and so it hit Marvin that his comment was funny and he began to laugh.
Marvin laughing? This can't be good, Trillian thought.
His laugh was terrifying, like a maniacal scientest cackling over his creation and screaming, "It's ALIIIIIIVE" as he accidentally threw the switch again and electrocuted his creature back to the death from whence it came. And then he stopped laughing.
"Somehow, this just doesn't seem right," Marvin said. "Oh well. Worth a try. I think one day, I'm just going to wake up and find that this is all a dream. Wake up and... wake up... wake up..."
"Trillian," Arthur said, "Wake up. You were having a bad dream about a clueless nit trying to write a new story in the style of Douglas Adams and utterly failing to produce the desired levels of humour."
Trilian blinked her eyes, squinted, thought "Oh, screw it", and promptly fell back asleep.

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Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Re:NO NO NO by that+IT+girl · 2008-09-17 05:08 · Score: 1

Oh now look what you've done, now there's spit and coffee all over my keyboard ;)

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20 DRINK COFFEE
30 GOTO 10
Re:NO NO NO by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 05:14 · Score: 0

Douglas Adams was one of the bigger obstacles in the way of making a movie, and I don't think it would have ever had his blessing. The script sucks
From listening to the commentary track I think it's clear that DA had a big part in writing the screenplay as it ended up in the movie. And the obstacle he was, was in the way of constantly coming up with new ideas and plots for the script.
I think the movie should be viewed as another dimension of the Guide-story (just as the books don't mirror the storyline exactly as in the original radio play), not as the-books-but-with-moving-pictures.
- Peder
Re:NO NO NO by Drooling+Iguana · 2008-09-17 05:24 · Score: 1

Actually, large parts of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency were produced at around the same time as the HHGTTG radio series, in the form of "City of Death" and "Shada", two stories that Adams wrote for the 1979 season of Doctor Who.

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... I'm addicted to placebos
Re:NO NO NO by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 06:12 · Score: 0

Enough Douglas Adams milking already, please for the love of - insert deity here - do not destroy the legacy of this great author.
GladOS is that you?
Re:NO NO NO by Neoprofin · 2008-09-17 06:35 · Score: 1

You say that like Ghostbusters didn't bring us a world of laughs and entertainment...

(That's not sarcasm by the way.)
Re:NO NO NO by Albert+Sandberg · 2008-09-17 07:05 · Score: 1

yeah, the HHGTTG would been much better as a mini tv-series.
Re:NO NO NO by ucblockhead · 2008-09-17 07:17 · Score: 1

I remember reading an interview where the makers of the movie claimed they had to cut the lines because they didn't "flow as well when spoken". This is, of course, utterly ridiculous as the lines were even funnier when spoken in the original radio version.
The idiots who made that film had no sense whatsoever of comedy.

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The cake is a pie
Re:NO NO NO by ucblockhead · 2008-09-17 07:19 · Score: 1

Bah. Those asides, descriptions, etc. worked wonderfully in the radio play.

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The cake is a pie
Re:NO NO NO by DeusExMach · 2008-09-17 07:30 · Score: 1

Aim for the flat-top!
Re:NO NO NO by Wheely · 2008-09-17 07:44 · Score: 1

I nearly gave up at that point too. However I persisted for a little while longer and found that the missing "beware of the leopard" line was a device used throughout the entire stretch of the movie I could bear to watch i.e build up to a very funny joke that was in the book and then miss out the funny bit.
I kept looking forward to the punchlines I knew were coming only to find they didnt.
Re:NO NO NO by object88 · 2008-09-17 07:46 · Score: 1

If you read the books and listened to the radio plays (or played the Infocom game), you'd know that DNA was quite happy to alter the HHGTTG storyline in order to fit the medium. The fact that the movie diverges from the books should be *expected*, not derided, given DNA's approach to the material.
Yes! It seems that few people grasp this. The story was retold and modified, heavily, for every medium it's been transcribed into.
Re:NO NO NO by Bent+Mind · 2008-09-17 08:49 · Score: 1

When hearing the radio play and reading the book you get a definite mental image of the kind of universe that Douglas Adams wanted you to see, and most of the movie contradicts that mental image.
Yes, but did you read the version printed on a towel?

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Re:NO NO NO by aussiedood · 2008-09-17 09:05 · Score: 1

It was!
Re:NO NO NO by aussiedood · 2008-09-17 09:31 · Score: 1

Except of course the Adams co-wrote the screenplay.

"The script we shot was very much based on the last draft that Douglas wrote....All the substantive new ideas in the movie...are brand new Douglas ideas written especially for the movie by him....Douglas was always up for reinventing HHGG in each of its different incarnations and he knew that working harder on some character development and some of the key relationships was an integral part of turning HHGG into a movie." - Robbie Stamp, Executive Producer
Re:NO NO NO by Feanturi · 2008-09-17 09:52 · Score: 1

I'd agree with all of that, except that it wasn't particularly funny. The BBC TV miniseries was far better in spite of being, you know, a BBC TV miniseries.
Re:NO NO NO by zmollusc · 2008-09-17 10:47 · Score: 1

On a salary? When you can pay your drinks bill with a write-up? (Providing you have made a bone fide attempt to pay)

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They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
Re:NO NO NO by zmollusc · 2008-09-17 10:57 · Score: 1

Holy Zarquon's singing fish!! Don't even joke about it!!

--
They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
Re:NO NO NO by Random+BedHead+Ed · 2008-09-17 11:16 · Score: 1

I disagree. I rather liked Mostly Harmless, and particularly the sci-fi concepts he developed in it, particularly the new guide (the bird). But it did end with the destruction of every Earth in every possible universe, which is a bit of a downer. If the sixth book - which I agree should not be done - is done, it should probably deal with the concept of the plural sectors and what happened to Fenchurch. That would be the best way to end on a positive note.
Re:NO NO NO by againjj · 2008-09-17 11:46 · Score: 1

Hardly. The BBC miniseries did it wonderfully.
Re:NO NO NO by ObiWanKenblowme · 2008-09-17 12:48 · Score: 1

He's one hoopy frood.

--
Obvious exits are NORTH, SOUTH, and DENNIS.
Re:NO NO NO by Macgrrl · 2008-09-17 14:00 · Score: 1

It's an excellent example of Britsh farce - the snowballing escalation from slightly wrong into absurd.
The American's seem to not get farce, it's too slow to arrive, they prefer a pie to the face - an immediate payoff. And sadly, that was what was off about the movie script.
That said, I watched it recently and enjoyed it, just not as much as the other versions. It had it's moments.

--
Sara
Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
Re:NO NO NO by mattack2 · 2008-09-17 15:25 · Score: 1

Is there more info about Akroyd hijacking the pitch meeting somewhere?
Re:NO NO NO by zr · 2008-09-17 16:06 · Score: 1

the movie is by far one of the best book-based movies in the history of mankind. it is as brilliant as the book its based on. loved every second of it.
btw, did you notice the Vogons have smashed-in noses from getting smashed in the face with those paddles that hit you every time you have an idea?
Re:NO NO NO by Albert+Sandberg · 2008-09-17 17:26 · Score: 1

yeah, yeah. seen that. ment instead of making a new movie, they should make a new and shiny tv-series if any!
Re:NO NO NO by JasterBobaMereel · 2008-09-17 23:26 · Score: 1

I've seen Mos Def in other things ... he does not suit the part...
In the Books, Record, Radio versions it was not specified what he looked like colour/race/ethnicity except that he looked "slightly odd" but otherwise could pass for human, the TV show gave him very blue eyes ....

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Puteulanus fenestra mortis
Re:NO NO NO by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-18 00:53 · Score: 0

Douglas Adams was one of the bigger obstacles in the way of making a movie, and I don't think it would have ever had his blessing. The script sucks (random rearrangements, insertions of 'new' but irrelevant stuff all over the place, and deletions of essentials elsewhere).
Of course, it made money so who am I to complain, but it left me with a definite unhappy and disappointed feeling.
When hearing the radio play and reading the book you get a definite mental image of the kind of universe that Douglas Adams wanted you to see, and most of the movie contradicts that mental image.
There is a joke about that:
A man walks into a movie theater and sees a donkey standing in the aisle.
He walks up to the row behind the man with the donkey and whispers in the guys ear: "Wow, how amazing, he's really looking at the movie, isn't he?"
Yes, says the guy with the donkey, sure is. But he like the book better...
Douglas Adams penned the script, and approved all major changes...
Re:NO NO NO by DeusExMach · 2008-09-18 02:15 · Score: 1

"The Salmon of Doubt" by Douglas Adams. It's basically a collection of his notes that was published just after his death.
Re:NO NO NO by john83 · 2008-09-18 04:48 · Score: 1

Yes, but radio is a medium where you're obliged to narrate and describe things constantly. If you do the same kind of thing in TV or cinema, you get something like Dragnet (which seems mostly to have been adapted from radio plays). It's clunky. A really great screenwriter might make it work, but most of them aren't nearly that good.

--
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.

how many books planned in the franchise? by RMH101 · 2008-09-17 00:58 · Score: 5, Funny

...42, obviously.

Re:how many books planned in the franchise? by oodaloop · 2008-09-17 01:02 · Score: 2, Funny

I think you've just discovered the ultimate question!

--
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
Re:how many books planned in the franchise? by Jason1729 · 2008-09-17 01:02 · Score: 1

Nah, they'll set a goal of 42 and then keep adding more and calling it an increasingly misnumbered series. They'll stop writing when they've reached the answer to ultimate question. (For the proper defination of ultimate -- "LAST").
Re:how many books planned in the franchise? by Cocoronixx · 2008-09-17 01:42 · Score: 2, Funny

42 Comments?
http://img515.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hhgttgxc5.png
Sweet!

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"Obscenity is the crutch of the inarticulate motherfucker." - cloak42
Re:how many books planned in the franchise? by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 08:18 · Score: 0

oh crap! don't combine the question and the answer or else th

Sounds reasonable by prayag · 2008-09-17 01:02 · Score: 5, Informative

Douglas Adams himself mentioned that Mostly Harmless was too dark and wanted the series to finish on a more upbeat note (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mostly_Harmless#Adams_on_Mostly_Harmless ). So it is quite plausible to believe that his widow would want to make her husband's wish true.

Re:Sounds reasonable by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:49 · Score: 0

The obvious solution, which for instance is universally supported by Amazon user reviews, is simply not to read Mostly Harmless at all. The first four books form a well-integrated package with So Long & Thanks For All The Fish acting as a counterpoint & resolution to the craziness of the previous volumes. There was no reason for a fifth volume at all really, and definitely no reason for the self-hating abomination Adams actually delivered.
Re:Sounds reasonable by Machtyn · 2008-09-17 01:51 · Score: 1

That's interesting. The rumor I heard was that Mostly Harmless was written to finally put an end to the series and get everyone off his back about sequels. But, like I said, that was a rumor I heard before the days of the Intarwebs.
Re:Sounds reasonable by RoverDaddy · 2008-09-17 02:18 · Score: 1

Well that was certainly how I read the story. It seemed like Adams was trying to lock every door and throw away all the keys.

However, I still thought there was a chance that Adams (or now a predecessor) could reboot the story, given how many digressions about various deities the books had included. My money is on Almighty Bob, Old Thrashbarg's deity, or somebody who shall remain nameless from the Domain of the King.

--
RETURN without GOSUB in line 1050
Re:Sounds reasonable by Verdatum · 2008-09-17 02:26 · Score: 2, Insightful

He had said that it was, but that he was in a bit of a dark place at the time, and he rather regretted it.
Re:Sounds reasonable by mathx314 · 2008-09-17 02:30 · Score: 1

While true, the only unfinished book that Douglas left around was The Salmon of Doubt - a Dirk Gently book. Admittedly there were some theories that it could become a HHGG book, but reading the manuscript as is (pick up The Salmon of Doubt if you haven't already for the last bit of Douglas greatness) it's just not possible to see where the plot is going.
Sometimes, a series needs to have a conclusion. The Wheel of Time will be completed by other people (based on highly detailed notes), otherwise the first 11,000 pages will end in a cliffhanger. Hitchhiker's does not need a new author. No one else can match Douglas' wit or really know how to end the story.
Re:Sounds reasonable by Dannkape · 2008-09-17 02:40 · Score: 1

I've read Adams say that what he hated about writing the last couple of books was that it took nearly half the book just getting everyone together again, having been scattered in the previous book. But writing a sixth one would be a lot easier. For once he knew exactly where everyone was: They're dead...

(Personally I think Ford's grinning at the end could be him seeing some bizarre way out...)
Re:Sounds reasonable by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 02:49 · Score: 0

Either that or she wants a hat made of money
Re:Sounds reasonable by Tetsujin · 2008-09-17 03:00 · Score: 1

That's interesting. The rumor I heard was that Mostly Harmless was written to finally put an end to the series and get everyone off his back about sequels. But, like I said, that was a rumor I heard before the days of the Intarwebs.
It certainly seemed that way. I mean, the book ended not only with the re-destruction of Earth and the death of all the characters - but the destruction of all the parallel-universe Earths. It was as if he was burning the bridge behind him...
I would have to re-read the book to see if my opinion on it has changed, but back in the day I found it pretty boring.
BTW, this snippet:

The book will "make no claims for Eoin being Douglas", according to Prior. "It's not Eoin Colfer writing as Douglas Adams, as was the case with Sebastian Faulks,"
makes me happy. I hate when there's some dead author's name in big print on the cover, and then you read the small text and it's just some other author masquerading as that guy for name recognition. Bullshit. If Ian Fleming didn't write it, don't pretend he did. So I'm glad they're not putting on that kind of a sham with the new Hitch-Hikers book. Which I would totally read, BTW, in paperback at least.
Now, how about the return of Svlad Cjelli?

--
Bow-ties are cool.
Re:Sounds reasonable by Quiet_Desperation · 2008-09-17 03:31 · Score: 1

Douglas Adams himself mentioned that Mostly Harmless was too dark
He's still the one who wrote it that way. Tell me having Fenchurch simply erased out of reality, offscreen, into the screaming nothingness between the universes wasn't a big "stop bothering me about this" to the fans.
Re:Sounds reasonable by Drooling+Iguana · 2008-09-17 05:28 · Score: 1

However, I still thought there was a chance that Adams (or now a predecessor) could reboot the story
Did Adams have another accident with a contraceptive and a time machine?

--
... I'm addicted to placebos
Re:Sounds reasonable by techno-vampire · 2008-09-17 05:39 · Score: 1

There's one key Adams forgot to throw away. I never mentioned it when he was alive, because he'd made it clear he didn't want to write any more HHGTTG stories and I didn't feel it was my place to give the unthinking fans ammunition. However, AFAIK, the Heart of Gold is still out there, somewhere, and as long as that's true, quite literally anything is possible.

--
Good, inexpensive web hosting
Re:Sounds reasonable by jfengel · 2008-09-17 05:58 · Score: 1

It WAS a big "stop bothering me" to the fans. And it was something he later regretted. He didn't want it to end on that note, and likely would have continued the series if he'd lived.
Each book is what the author wanted to say at the time, and it's a matter of aesthetic maundering to say that one or the other is the "true" version of the work. "Go away" was what he'd said once, and it's only the fact that he's dead that he can't say that he'd say something different now.
Whether you want to accept the new book as "real" is ultimately up to you. You can also pretend that Star Wars ended at Return of the Jedi, if you want.
But I think that if the book is written right a lot of fans will say that Adams' will had been done.
Re:Sounds reasonable by Machtyn · 2008-09-17 08:20 · Score: 1

But the probability of that happening is something like 99,328,543,556,234 to 1 against.
Re:Sounds reasonable by mgabrys_sf · 2008-09-17 09:05 · Score: 1

Fine but the only person who I can think of who has the right tone and voice for such an outing is Terry Pratchett. Read "Good Omens". With Neil Gaiman he really nailed the narration interruptions (check out his footnotes) and the general English humor. Anyone else would be a waste of time. Neil Gaiman might also do a reasonable attempt but he lacks some of the edge that Terry had and would keep it from being overly focused on the place rather than all the niddling distractions along the way - which was the whole point of DNA's work - if they had a point other than infuriating his publishers with missed deadlines.
Re:Sounds reasonable by David+Gould · 2008-09-17 10:36 · Score: 1

While true, the only unfinished book that Douglas left around was The Salmon of Doubt - a Dirk Gently book. Admittedly there were some theories that it could become a HHGG book, but reading the manuscript as is (pick up The Salmon of Doubt if you haven't already for the last bit of Douglas greatness) it's just not possible to see where the plot is going.
Wasn't Adams himself was the originator of that theory? It's been a while since I read The Salmon of Doubt, but I seem to recall that in one of the commentaries, he said he'd started writing it as a Dirk Gently book, but along the way he felt like it was trying to turn into a Hitchhiker book. I don't know what, if any, additional notes he left regarding where he was going to go with that, and TFA didn't mention whether or not this project would be based on Salmon. Belgium!

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David Gould
main(i){putchar(340056100>>(i-1)*5&31|!!(i<6)<< 6)&&main(++i);}
Re:Sounds reasonable by Random+BedHead+Ed · 2008-09-17 11:23 · Score: 1

There is another key. Arthur comes from Earth, and Earth is apparently in one of the plural sectors. We still don't entirely understand what this means, but the effect seems to be that he can return to alternate versions of Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha and find parallel Earths.
The Vogons destroyed all of these alternate versions at the end of Mostly Harmless, but the underlying concept behind the plural sectors was never thoroughly explained. Whatever it all means, it's the reason Fenchurch disappeared between So Long and Mostly Harmless. In explaining why she disappeared this author could conceivably bring both her and Arthur back, but the likelihood is that the resuting book would still not be worth reading.
Re:Sounds reasonable by againjj · 2008-09-17 11:49 · Score: 1

And falling....
Re:Sounds reasonable by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 16:54 · Score: 0

The final book could be fixed by using the ending for the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy BBC Radio version. It ended on a very good note, and was actually sanctioned to a degree by Douglas Adams himself. This version is the only one I'd accept as the true ending to the saga rather than the final book or a new book by another author.
The BBC version did *not* end darkly at all, except for a certain god killing a certain unwilling immortal in an extreamly cheerful way.

Those resposible by ObitMan · 2008-09-17 01:03 · Score: 5, Funny

Those responsible for this will be Sacked, and probably the first up against the wall when the revolution comes.

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Who run Barter Town?

Re:Those resposible by spartacus_prime · 2008-09-17 01:35 · Score: 1, Funny

Those responsible for sacking them will be sacked as well.

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If you can read this, it means that I bothered to log in.
Re:Those resposible by DeusExMach · 2008-09-17 01:57 · Score: 1

Those responsible for the subsequent sackings will later discover that all previous sackings, and in fact, the entirety of revolution itself was actually due to a clerical error at the home office.
Re:Those resposible by MadKeithV · 2008-09-17 02:49 · Score: 2, Funny

[Update] Those responsible were the first against the wall when the revolution came.

Absolute... by adml_shake · 2008-09-17 01:03 · Score: 1

sacrilege!!

NO. by Rob+T+Firefly · 2008-09-17 01:05 · Score: 4, Insightful

A tremendous feeling of peace came over him. He knew that at last, for once and for ever, it was now all, finally, over.

Let's just leave it at that, shall we?

--
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned

Re:NO. by MRe_nl · 2008-09-17 02:15 · Score: 2, Insightful

FTFA
"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."
No, they won't.

--
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
Re:NO. by RoverDaddy · 2008-09-17 02:21 · Score: 1

You have no idea how dejected I was upon reading those words. I'd love to see a reboot, and I don't agree with those who say it can't possibly be well done. Adams was a genius but he didn't have a monopoly on genius.

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RETURN without GOSUB in line 1050
Re:NO. by Rob+T+Firefly · 2008-09-17 02:46 · Score: 2, Insightful

You have no idea how dejected I was upon reading those words. I'd love to see a reboot, and I don't agree with those who say it can't possibly be well done. Adams was a genius but he didn't have a monopoly on genius.
Of course he didn't have a monopoly on genius, there are plenty of other people out there talented enough to come up with new things rather than shamelessly exploit one extraordinary man's vision.

Hitch-hikers was always Douglas' baby, and it now serves as his major legacy and contribution to human culture. Let other geniuses have their own.

--
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned

Nope, sorry by mcgrew · 2008-09-17 01:06 · Score: 4, Insightful

Not going to read it, and I say that as a dedicated Douglas Adams fan - I have the omnibus edition of HHGTTG (thanks to my daughter), the movie on DVD, the BBC TV series on VHS, and am still after the radio play (which I've been told is the best of the lot).

If Asimov's widow asked someone to continue his Foundation series I wouldn't read it, either, and Asimov was my favorite author.

It wasn't the story that made it great, it was the writing. Without Douglas Adams it can't possibly be the same. It will be to the original what margarine is to butter. I can't imagine a writer with integrity taking the job.

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Free Martian Whores!

Re:Nope, sorry by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 01:12 · Score: 0, Offtopic

drop me a line on j@ww.com re. those radio plays

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MP3 Search Engine
Re:Nope, sorry by gEvil+(beta) · 2008-09-17 01:18 · Score: 1

...and am still after the radio play (which I've been told is the best of the lot).

It looks like there will be another round of reissues for the various "phases" of this coming in the next few months.

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This guy's the limit!
Re:Nope, sorry by TheThiefMaster · 2008-09-17 01:19 · Score: 4, Interesting

I have a shock for you. It's called the "Second Foundation Trilogy":

After his death, the Asimov estate, at the request of Janet Asimov, approached Gregory Benford, and asked him to write another Foundation story. He agreed, and at that same time suggested that it should form part of a trilogy with Greg Bear and David Brin writing the other two books, which they agreed to do.
Re:Nope, sorry by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:20 · Score: 0

It's a trap!
Re:Nope, sorry by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 01:35 · Score: 1

it isn't.
but then again, if it was I'd say that wouldn't I...

--
MP3 Search Engine
Re:Nope, sorry by JeanPaulBob · 2008-09-17 01:36 · Score: 1

The two that I read were quite good, I thought...
Re:Nope, sorry by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:42 · Score: 0

Torrent. Sorry, I don't have any idea where to get them legitimately. This link is excellent quality, and by far my favorite version of the series.
Re:Nope, sorry by dkleinsc · 2008-09-17 01:48 · Score: 4, Funny

So in other words, this will be almost but not entirely unlike Douglas Adams' writing?

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I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
Re:Nope, sorry by somersault · 2008-09-17 01:50 · Score: 1

I actually found some on tape in my dad's old stuff, completely forgot to have a listen and don't know where I've put them. Presumably they're all out there on bit torrent somewhere anyway..

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which is totally what she said
Re:Nope, sorry by JayGuerette · 2008-09-17 01:57 · Score: 1

Not going to read it, and I say that as a dedicated Douglas Adams fan - I have the omnibus edition of HHGTTG (thanks to my daughter), the movie on DVD...
You watched the movie, yet you will not read the forthcoming book? This makes no sense to me. The book has a 84% chance of not sucking. The movie had only a 2% chance of not sucking. (Whether it actually sucked is purely subjective.)
Rule #1: Read the book or see the movie, NEVER do both.
Rule #2: No matter how much your brother BEGS you, do not see Dune in violation of Rule #1.
Re:Nope, sorry by kalirion · 2008-09-17 02:04 · Score: 1

Enough with the prequels already! I personally just want to know what happened in the galaxy after Foundation and Earth.
Re:Nope, sorry by SatanicPuppy · 2008-09-17 02:19 · Score: 3, Insightful

Bear, Brin, and Benford are all talented, but there is a difference between extending Foundation and extending HHGTTG.
The problem with extending the Hitchhiker universe is that it's driven by character interaction and DA's sense of humor.
The first Foundation book was basically short stories, each with new characters, new settings, etc...Very easy to extend, just write a short story of your own. Make up your own characters, your own planet, whatever...All you have to do is genuflect toward psychohistory, Hari Seldon, and the fall of the empire. It's a historical backdrop that can accommodate any number of stories.
Now imagine someone else trying to write dialogue between Ford and Arthur.
Yea. It's like that.

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ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
Re:Nope, sorry by ConceptJunkie · 2008-09-17 02:23 · Score: 1

I just bought them all. I hope they don't put out something I would prefer to the existing releases.

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You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Re:Nope, sorry by TheRaven64 · 2008-09-17 02:27 · Score: 1

If Asimov's widow asked someone to continue his Foundation series I wouldn't read it, either, and Asimov was my favorite author
This did happen. The first one introduced a load of extra stuff into the Foundation universe (e.g. wormholes) that needed to removed within fifty years in time for the first Foundation book. The second completely misunderstood evolution and was painful to read. Only David Brin, writing the third one, managed to make the series avoid complete disaster by undoing some of the mess the first two made of the universe, and even he managed to get the founding of Gaia off by a few thousand years.
Out of the three authors, it seems that only David Brin has the same sense of scale as Asimov and has read anything from the Asimov canon beyond the foundation books.

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I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Re:Nope, sorry by CrazeeCracker · 2008-09-17 02:31 · Score: 1

You're absolutely right, the writing was what made HHGTTG what it is.
The only person I'd trust with writing an additional HHGTTG book would be Stephen Fry, as his style and humour are similar to Adams' own. Colfer would probably end up taking the whole thing too seriously and ruin it.

--
Of course I didn't RTFA.
Re:Nope, sorry by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 02:32 · Score: 0

That's highly doubtful, seeing you've just purchased the finest radio play in existence.
Re:Nope, sorry by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 03:01 · Score: 0

Those guys are freaking awesome authors though. Eoin Colfer? Gimme a break.
Re:Nope, sorry by Tetsujin · 2008-09-17 03:12 · Score: 1

It's a trap!
Admiral Ackbar!

--
Bow-ties are cool.
Re:Nope, sorry by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 03:13 · Score: 0

what do you mean "if someone continued the foundation series?" It's already happen they released a trilogy of books written after he had died worst thing ever.
Re:Nope, sorry by Rary · 2008-09-17 03:20 · Score: 1

It wasn't the story that made it great, it was the writing. Without Douglas Adams it can't possibly be the same.
Agreed. However, another book is what Adams wanted, and the author has been hand-picked by Adams' wife, so I see it as a fitting tribute.
I have no expectations that it will truly be a part of the H2G2 world, but I plan to read it.

--
"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein
Re:Nope, sorry by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 03:32 · Score: 0

You mean the increasingly inaccurately named Foundation Trilogy?
Re:Nope, sorry by Welshalian · 2008-09-17 03:38 · Score: 1

I have a shock for you. It's called the "Second Foundation Trilogy":

After his death, the Asimov estate, at the request of Janet Asimov, approached Gregory Benford, and asked him to write another Foundation story. He agreed, and at that same time suggested that it should form part of a trilogy with Greg Bear and David Brin writing the other two books, which they agreed to do.
So that would make it a trilogy in six parts, right?
I know, I know....
Re:Nope, sorry by TimeZone · 2008-09-17 03:47 · Score: 1

I hope I'm not ruining your day, but the Foundation series was indeed carried on after Asimov's departure. A trio of books (Foundation's Fear, Foundation's Triumph, and Foundation and Chaos) called the Second Foundation Trilogy were written by Gregory Benford, David Brin, and Greg Bear. They're all apparently well-known SF authors, but I'd never heard of them before. These are prequels, focussing on Hari Seldon's establishing of the Foundation(s). None of them are particularly enjoyable.
TZ
Re:Nope, sorry by mcgrew · 2008-09-17 03:55 · Score: 1

You watched the movie, yet you will not read the forthcoming book? This makes no sense to me.
Adams himself was behind the movie. He pushed for its filming for a decade and wrote much of its script.
If someone writes a screenplay based on the Restaraunt it stands a chance of having dialogue from the book. Tolkien is dead, but I was pleased with the LOTR movies, even if they weren't quite accurate; movies never are.
The movie I, Robot was IMO an abomination.
But a brand new work attempting to cary the story farther is completely different than adapting an old work to a new medium. It could be accurate and good, or it could suck.

--
Free Martian Whores!
Re:Nope, sorry by Remillard · 2008-09-17 04:34 · Score: 1

It wasn't the story that made it great, it was the writing. Without Douglas Adams it can't possibly be the same. It will be to the original what margarine is to butter. I can't imagine a writer with integrity taking the job.
To be honest, the only two that come to mind would be either Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett. I've read Colfer's stuff, and ... well it's just not even in the same league. Maybe he's not been playing his "A" game. Colfer isn't a diametrically OPPOSITE choice of writing styles, but he's pretty orthogonal.
Hell, I would have approached Terry Jones (Starship Titanic) before Colfer and ST was pretty terrible in some ways.
Re:Nope, sorry by TheThiefMaster · 2008-09-17 04:45 · Score: 1

Actually, Asimov already wrote 7 "Foundation" books himself. The original trilogy, then 4 more (2 sequels 2 prequels) after a 30-year gap.
So if you want to include those 3 it would be a trilogy in ten parts.
However I don't consider them part of "Foundation". They're welcome to claim it as a tribute or similar, but it can never be part of the Foundation series itself, as they weren't created by Asimov himself.
I haven't read them, so I don't know if they are any good and won't make any assumptions.
Re:Nope, sorry by TheThiefMaster · 2008-09-17 04:51 · Score: 1

To deliver it properly you need to add some more pauses, and get the quote right. Like this:

So in other words this will be almost, but not quite, entirely unlike Douglas Adams' writing?
Re:Nope, sorry by andrewirwin · 2008-09-17 05:49 · Score: 1

Too late -- done already.
Benford, Bear, and Brin wrote Foundation's Fear; Foundation and Chaos; Foundation's Triumph
Re:Nope, sorry by jfengel · 2008-09-17 06:06 · Score: 1

They _did_ continue the Foundation series. With Gregory Benford, Greg Bear, and David Brin.
I read one of them. It was OK.
Re:Nope, sorry by savorymedia · 2008-09-17 06:18 · Score: 1

2 copies of the radio play on mp3-CD here: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Radio/dp/0563494212

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1 is the square root of all evil.
Re:Nope, sorry by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 09:31 · Score: 0

and am still after the radio play (which I've been told is the best of the lot).
what? you haven't got the radio play? it *is* indeed the best of the lot!
Re:Nope, sorry by SEE · 2008-09-17 11:37 · Score: 1

Think back to the end of Foundation's Edge.
There has to be a First Foundation project that was behind developing, for example, the mentalic shield. Such a clandestine project, aimed at beings with mentalic powers, would have been organized to protect itself from mentalic discovery and subversion, including cell-type structures and compartmentalization. And a central fear would be of members of the project being subverted.
So, when Mayor Branno goes out with the mentalic shield to crush the Second Foundation, and comes back convinced she negotiated a commercial treaty and that the Second Foundation never existed, it's almost certain some segment of the project is alerted and flees into hiding. The galaxy is huge, full of places to hide. The project-conspiracy has all sorts of bits of tech that involves menatlics; the mental static device, the mentalic shield, the psychometer, the encephalograph, and even old bits like the visi-sonor. They have proof that mentalics are still active, and that it can defeat the current version of the mentalic shield, and thus ample reason to develop ever-more-refined versions of those devices, and new ones working from the same physical principles. Which they then can hook up to major power sources, instead of depending on the energy capacity of biological cells. The advantage is theirs over both the Second Foundation and Gaia.
Except there's Daneel's new transducer lobes. And Daneel can easily figure out all of the above, and so will be expecting cells of opposition. The question then becomes, can the conspiracy to defend the First Foundation defeat the mastermind of millennia?
Re:Nope, sorry by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-30 07:01 · Score: 0

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Complete-Radio/dp/0563504196/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222801034&sr=1-2
Get the radio series! The radio series was the first expression of H2G2, and the first I encountered; it's definitely stuck with me. Indeed, it's my favourite of the many forms. :) The first and second series are the originals, though the rest are also worth a listen, and include snippets of Douglas Adams himself reading the part of Agrajag (intended as a filler before finding a proper actor I believe, but kept after his death).

No! by amdpox · 2008-09-17 01:06 · Score: 5, Funny

I will NOT have my preciousness desecrated by non-canon material! He might introduce story arcs that don't fit with the carefully woven future history Adams so painstakingly built... wait, what was with the sandwiches again?

All the diodes down my left side... by Bilby+Baggins · 2008-09-17 01:08 · Score: 5, Interesting

hurt just thinking about it. Humans, I'll never understand them, you don't even need a brain the size of a planet to know this won't work.

I just finished reading the 2003-updated edition of Neil Gaiman's Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and I have to say that I don't believe anyone can really emulate Adams' particular style of writing. And unless they've found a treasure trove of almost-finished manuscripts (unlikely) the best that we have from Adams' writing before his death is mostly compiled in The Salmon Of Doubt, and there was just the merest inklings of a beginning of a truely Adamsian epic tale in there...

Besides, we all know the only person who could write HHGttG properly is Terry Pratchett, and he is ONLY allowed to write Discworld books until he's unable to write or they cure Alzheimer's Disease. And someone sure as hell had better cure it.

Re:All the diodes down my left side... by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 01:15 · Score: 2, Insightful

Good call on Terry Pratchett, he definitely took a lot of pages from Douglas Adams's play book. At the same time that sort of disqualifies him (emulation != the oroginal (tpine ?)).
It really is very simple, Douglas Adams is dead, and no amount of 'franchising' is going to change that one bit, it never was about the story, it was about the writing, and that magical touch is not going to be reinstated with good will or effort, it would take the original to make that happen.
That said, it is probably 'worth a lot of money' (said in a squeeky high voice) so most likely it will be done anyway.
I for one will not be buying it.

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MP3 Search Engine
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by baldass_newbie · 2008-09-17 01:20 · Score: 1

I have to say that I don't believe anyone can really emulate Adams' particular style of writing
Heck, I don't even think Adams' could emulate his own style. SLATFATF is a MUCH different book than the first three and, while nice and humorous at times, it lacked a certain tautness from the earlier stuff.
Not complaining. Good book. Just different.
Anyone trying to do anything along these lines would elicit groans whenever they were funny. It would not be an experience I would seek out.

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The opposite of progress is congress
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by belg4mit · 2008-09-17 01:31 · Score: 1

See also: Starship Titanic.

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Were that I say, pancakes?
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:32 · Score: 0

we all know the only person who could write HHGttG properly is Terry Pratchett
Seconded!
I have several times introduced friends to the Hitchhiker-series who had never heard of Douglas Adams before. Since I knew most of them had read Discworld books, I explained it was sci-fi written in the sort of same way as Pratchett writes fantasy.
(Now, I don't know if they ever picked up the books or not, but I still think they have some similarities in style)
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by DarkSarin · 2008-09-17 01:41 · Score: 1

I was thinking essentially the same thing, and had to read down the page to make sure no one else had the same thought.
In fact--why would anyone consider asking ANYONE BESIDES Terry?
Oh, fine, he has Alzheimer's. Big FARKING DEAL! It's serious, yes, but I'm certain he's getting the best care anyone can get, and I'm sure he's got the capacity for a story like this in him still. I'd love it.
Terry Pratchett is, and always will be, one of my favorite authors. I hope he is cured or at the VERY least the progress is halted for a good long time. His books are worth their weight in freaking platinum. Or something.

--
"We don't know what we are doing, but we are doing it very carefully,..." Wherry, R.J. Personnel Psychology (1995)
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by somersault · 2008-09-17 01:58 · Score: 2, Interesting

Besides, we all know the only person who could write HHGttG properly is Terry Pratchett
That's exactly what I was thinking :) Pratchett has a very similar style of humour to Adams, but IMO his stories are much better. Adams admitted that he just made up HHGTTG as he went along (though some parts tie in quite well together, showing he's still very clever as well as randomly creative), but Pratchett has stories that are sometimes amazingly intricate, and all his books fit in well together.
Pratchett's books seem to have spoiled me with their combination of wit, often epic plots and well paced storytelling. They're so good that I sadly often find other books rather dull now (trudging through Dune at the moment, it reminds me a lot of LOTR with all the pointless geographical musings.. Pratchett manages to setup his atmosphere, landscapes and cityscapes rather well without being too monotonous).

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which is totally what she said
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Ihlosi · 2008-09-17 01:58 · Score: 1

In fact--why would anyone consider asking ANYONE BESIDES Terry?
How many books by Colfer have you read so far? For me, they're the books of choice if there's no new Discworld novel available.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Ihlosi · 2008-09-17 02:21 · Score: 2, Interesting

Pratchett has a very similar style of humour to Adams, but IMO his stories are much better.
Compare the earlier Discworld novels to the later ones, and you'll find that the writing style and the storytelling get better and better. Adams was on the same track, but unfortunately never got to write his later novels.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by somersault · 2008-09-17 02:21 · Score: 1

I hope you're just saying that Pratchett is a good writer, but he's not Douglas Adams and so shouldn't try to continue HHGTTG. But I still feel slightly slighted that you suggest that most of Pratchett's style is due to Adams - to me it seems more likely that they were both a result of watching too much Monty Python ;) Discworld didn't come out until 5 years after the HHGTTG radio show started, so perhaps there was an influence, but Pratchett is an excellent writer on his own merits. Even without the amazing humour and wordplay, Discworld books would still be interesting reads..

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which is totally what she said
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by aero6dof · 2008-09-17 02:24 · Score: 1

It really is very simple, Douglas Adams is dead, and no amount of 'franchising' is going to change that one
You've never heard of L. Ron Hubbard have you?
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 02:30 · Score: 1

There are some ways of turning a sentence around so that it becomes a joke that I'm pretty sure Pratchett lifted from Adams, but that does not make him a bad writer.
I have most of his books and really enjoy the way he manages to fit things into the discworld universe.
If anybody could do an emulation of Adams it probably would be Pratchett, but I personally think that it is not 'nice' to go and take over the universe of a dead author while trying to claim some kind of association.
Let's be happy with what Douglas Adams left us and leave it at that, without wondering how it might have turned out if he had lived longer, he didn't. The world is a more empty place for it, but besides all the works that Bach didn't compose and the books Douglas Adams didn't write I'm sure that there is room enough for original work by new authors that do not claim to be linked in some way to a deceased composer or author.
That's just milking the cash cow.

--
MP3 Search Engine
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Sobrique · 2008-09-17 02:42 · Score: 1

And lets face it, pterry losing it a bit whilst writing extra extensions would hardly be noticed within the overall context of the setting.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by ConceptJunkie · 2008-09-17 02:53 · Score: 4, Interesting

I've been reading the Discworld books since "The Light Fantastic" was new. Frankly, (and I know I'm going to generate some real hating from this), I thought Terry Pratchett was more or less imitating Douglas Adams in the first two books, with their more-or-less meandering plots and fairly random happenings (plus lots of excellent writing and humor), but then he got BETTER. Much BETTER. [Don't get me wrong, I love Adams' stuff and my copies of his books are all dog-eared and well-worn... I even used to read them to my kids (they totally love the BBC TV version and the revent movie, but their consensus is that the BBC version is better, which makes me proud), and I play the radio shows on CD when we are in the car.]
Pratchett gets the details the way Adams would... tons of really clever jokes (the guy even puns in Latin for cryin' out loud) and great dialog, the outrageously bizarre creations, the fantastic imagination of it all, but to that he adds incredible characterization and detailed plotting, stopwatch-perfect pacing, and some of the best satire ever written. I can get more of a "feeling" for, more inside the minds of, Commander Vimes or Granny Weatherwax or Tiffany Aching or even the Librarian from one chapter than I can get from Arthur or Trillian or Ford from 5 books. Out of places I've never been, Anhk-Morpork is more real and detailed to me than London, Paris or San Francisco.
And the stories... they are huge, sprawling and often very abstract working on many different levels, while remaining very cohesive, and we never lose the little details that make the Discworld perhaps the "realest" imaginary world ever created, more detailed in many ways than Tolkien, stranger in many ways than Wonderland, and yet it's really just a funhouse mirror that casts an exaggerated, but very, very true reflection of our real world and our complex, wonderful and insane nature as human beings.
Adams universe was just a vehicle for delivering his exceptional writing style and brilliant humor, but it never had a sense of being a "real place". The Discworld is carried by four elephants on the back of the great A'Tuin the star turtle, and yet feel more real than the most hardest of hard science fiction and the most scrupulously detailed of fantasy worlds.
Plus, Nanny Ogg. Anyone who could create Nanny Ogg (or really, discover her and reveal her to the world!) is a hero in my book.

--
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 02:55 · Score: 0

Douglas Adams didn't write the novel for Starship Titanic. Terry Jones was asked to do it because it would never meet the deadline otherwise.
I wouldn't say that it's impossible for another author to write like DNA (Adams modelled himself on PG Wodehouse, after all), but it's certainly not something every author could do. Terry Pratchett doesn't come close.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by belg4mit · 2008-09-17 03:06 · Score: 1

>Douglas Adams didn't write the novel for Starship Titanic
*whoosh*

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Were that I say, pancakes?
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by somersault · 2008-09-17 03:08 · Score: 1

Actually, I agree with all of that, no flaming here :)

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which is totally what she said
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by somersault · 2008-09-17 03:14 · Score: 2, Interesting

Well, the first book was written in 1979, he had plenty of time to write more - he was just interested in other things. I was googling earlier to see if Pratchett ever mentioned being influenced by Adams, and saw a quote from Pratchett saying that Adams felt that writing got in the way of having fun, while for Pratchett it was kind of the other way round - he would much rather be writing! Pratchett brings out a new novel more than once a year, and it's not like they are lightweight drivel. I'm not suggesting that Adams wasn't a good writer too, but it wasn't something he was so passionate about compared to Pratchett.

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which is totally what she said
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Tetsujin · 2008-09-17 03:16 · Score: 1

Terry Pratchett is, and always will be, one of my favorite authors. I hope he is cured or at the VERY least the progress is halted for a good long time. His books are worth their weight in freaking platinum. Or something.
I dunno - I enjoyed "Going Postal" but "Equal Rites" kind of put me off Discworld almost entirely...

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Bow-ties are cool.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by geekoid · 2008-09-17 03:44 · Score: 1

Adams sentence twisting style, while excellently executed and highly refined, isn't unique to him.
Of course, everyone stands on the shoulders of those that came before them, to some degree.

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The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Bilby+Baggins · 2008-09-17 03:54 · Score: 2, Interesting

Oh yes, I fully agree- often times my favorite parts of Discworld novels are the not-funny parts- like the climax of The Fifth Elephant which brought me to tears, reading it yesterday in my dark, electricity-deprived apartment.

Pratchett's humor (or is it humour?) comes from the same essentially British, psuedo-Pythonesqe dry wit and wry observations on life. I think that IF another book in the HHGttG multiverse were to be written, Pratchett would be the best option- BUT! It would be a Terry Pratchett book, written as he wants to write it. Only Douglas Adams can write Douglas Adams, but without the aid of a good crysal ball operator and lacking a touch-typing Ouiji board operator, I doubt we'll see any new Douglas Adams-written books.

A few times in Don't Panic Neil Gaiman talks about the dark, somewhat dispairing feeling to much of Adams' works, something the author himself spoke of as well, saying that his situation in life and how he felt about it was reflected in his work, especially the early Hitchhikers works (Radio Series 1 & 2, Book 1). This essential darkness throws the humour into sharp relief while making the characters sense of desperation and hopelessness even more obvious to the reader. Terry Pratchett's works in contrast lack much of that disparity; even in the darker sections of his later novels ( Night Watch in particular, as well as portions of The Fifth Elephant and even going back to Lords and Ladies ) there is a sense of hope, that everyone will survive and we'll all gather around for tea after.

Possibly even a sharper juxtaposition is the difference of "fate" in Pratchett's and Adams' books. The Hitchiker series as well as the Dirk Gently pair of novels indicate by word and action that the characters are free-willed, and the characters seem to understand that there is no "greater purpose"- it's all random, exemplified of course by Arthur Dent's erstwhile daughter Random Dent. Pratchett's books on the other hand always seem to have a "greater Plan", or "fate"- sometimes literally, as the gods playing games in Interesting Times, or as the genetically-predisposed-to-be-king Captain Carrot.

Note: I'm stopping here because you've stopped reading anyhow, and this is deep in the comments so no one else will see it. Also, I'm hungry, and going to lunch.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by somersault · 2008-09-17 04:01 · Score: 1

Note: I'm stopping here because you've stopped reading anyhow
Wow, it's like you were watching me the whole time!

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which is totally what she said
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 04:11 · Score: 0

"...Terry Pratchett, and he is ONLY allowed to write Discworld books until he's unable to write or they cure Alzheimer's Disease"
Well shit, too bad no one told him that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_(novel) (New PTerry book, NOT Discworld)
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by NiteShaed · 2008-09-17 06:06 · Score: 2, Interesting

Well, since both names came up, how about a Neal Gaiman/Terry Pratchett collaboration....As pointed out in this thread, Gaiman has his ties to HHGTTG (as the gp mentions), Pratchet really is a great fit, and they did a great job on Good Omens together.

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Some bring out the best in others, some the worst. Some bring out far more.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by ucblockhead · 2008-09-17 07:21 · Score: 1

Agreed. Terry Pratchett is the only man who could conceivably do a decent job of it. Hopefully he has enough good sense not to desecrate a dead man's work, though.

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The cake is a pie
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by MrNiceguy_KS · 2008-09-17 07:37 · Score: 1

That's interesting. I have introduced several friends to Terry Pratchett by explaining that it was like Douglas Adams, except fantasy.

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Redundancy is good And also good.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by escay · 2008-09-17 07:38 · Score: 1

Amen to that. only TP can match up to Adams' style, and Discworld is too good to stop. In any case, at least don't make it a part of the trilogy - just use the universe that Douglas Adams created (which probably made a lot of people angry and was widely regarded as a bad move at that time) and build new stories in it, with new characters and plots - don't continue the storyline. like fan fiction, only more official.

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My sig has been answered.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by MrNiceguy_KS · 2008-09-17 07:45 · Score: 1

"Going Postal" is one of his later books, and "Equal Rites" one of his earliest. While I do enjoy his earlier books, he didn't really hit his stride till roughly book 4 or 5. I usually recommend either "Small Gods", or "Guards, Guards" for a good introduction to Pratchett.

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Redundancy is good And also good.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by MrNiceguy_KS · 2008-09-17 08:17 · Score: 1

I had never thought about it that way, but I definitely agree with you about the first few Discworld books being more Adams-like than the later ones. I always thought that Pratchett's books improved dramatically starting at about book 4 or 5. That's when he seems to get past the "random collection of jokes loosely connected with a thin plotline" and really develops an entire world.
I think Adams started moving in that direction with "Life, The Universe, and Everything", but had intended that book to wrap things up. "So Long and Thanks For All The Fish" has a completely different feel to it. "Mostly Harmless" to me says, "Screw it - this time I really am done with this, so stop asking."
I do really enjoy Douglass Adam's writing, and I wish he still around, and still writing. (Preferably having fixed the script to the HHG movie.) But I'm not sure that he was really happy writing. I mean, look at all the different sort of projects he was involved with - fiction, non-fiction, radio dramas, TV, Movies, computer games. I think he just liked to play around with a lot of different things.
I read once that, late in their careers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Ian Flaming both developed what could almost be described as a hatred for the protagonists they had created. But they kept writing because the book-buying public wanted more Sherlock Holmes and more James Bond. Both protagonists are apparently killed off at the end of multiple books, with the next book opening with a mention of how they miraculously survived. I wonder if "Mostly Harmless" was Adam's way of trying to avoid that.
Pratchett, on the other hand, clearly loves the characters he created - from the diversely insane faculty of the wizard's college, to the country witches, elderly barbarians, policemen/women/undead, to the Machiavellian patrician, to the guy with the scythe and the all-caps voice who comes for them at the end. All of these are very real people to Pratchett, and he has made them real to his readers.

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Redundancy is good And also good.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Samah · 2008-09-17 11:40 · Score: 1

On the other hand, Nanny Ogg should probably be renamed Nanny Vorbis, unless of course she's more into movies rather than music.

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Homonyms are fun!
You're driving your car, but they're riding their bikes there.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by palndrumm · 2008-09-17 12:19 · Score: 1

Terry Pratchett ... is ONLY allowed to write Discworld books until he's unable to write or they cure Alzheimer's Disease.
Oops...
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 12:20 · Score: 0

[...] but to that [Pratchett] adds [...] some of the best satire ever written.

Discworld [is] a funhouse mirror that casts an exaggerated, but very, very true reflection of our real world [...]

Adams universe was just a vehicle for delivering his exceptional writing style and brilliant humor, but it never had a sense of being a "real place".
You've just described the exact reasons why I prefer Adams. ;)
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Lehk228 · 2008-09-17 13:34 · Score: 1

Oh yes, I fully agree- often times my favorite parts of Discworld novels are the not-funny parts- like the climax of The Fifth Elephant which brought me to tears, reading it yesterday in my dark, electricity-deprived apartment.

you wouldn't , perchance, live in the Schenectady NY area would you? we had an evening power failure yesterday.

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Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Macgrrl · 2008-09-17 14:18 · Score: 1

I love both Adams and Pratchett and will mourne when Terry stop writing in much the same way I mourned the loss of DNA's unique voice.
It would be a crime to ask Terry to write in the HHGTTG universe when he has so many stories left in his own universe to finish in what seems to be limited time.
Leave DNA's universe as it stands, it may be incomplete, but it's what is there. Let good writers continue to write in their own worlds and keep the hacks away. Everyone will be happier with the results.

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Sara
Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 23:15 · Score: 0

if he is only allowed to write discworld books why did he wright nation!!!
Re:All the diodes down my left side... by Bilby+Baggins · 2008-09-18 01:58 · Score: 1

Nah, ohio, where we had 1.5 million out of power starting sunday evening... for the same reason you did, probably ;)

Re:TELL HIM NO by bigmouth_strikes · 2008-09-17 01:14 · Score: 3, Insightful

Very brave. Using an anonymous account posting someones private contact information. Very brave.

You should have posted his official contact information, where he can deal with the responses during office hours, instead of whenever random /.er calls.

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Oh, I can't help quoting you because everything that you said rings true

Share and Enjoy! by datajack · 2008-09-17 01:15 · Score: 4, Funny

After taking numerous readings of the tastes of the audience, he will produce a book that is almost, but not-quite entirely unlike HHGTTG.

GO STICK YOUR HEAD IN A PIG.

Re:Share and Enjoy! by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 02:52 · Score: 0

I think that perfectly sums up my feelings. There should not be another HHGTTG book until we figure out how to bring back the mind of Douglas Adams, may he always know where his towel is
Re:Share and Enjoy! by CapnRegex · 2008-09-17 06:38 · Score: 1

GO STICK YOUR HEAD IN A PIG.
That would make for a most interesting hat.
Re:Share and Enjoy! by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-18 00:49 · Score: 0

Wanna to bet how many critics will use that sentence once the book is out?

So what does Arthur Dent think about all of this? by mcgrew · 2008-09-17 01:15 · Score: 1

I just went to Colfer's website and found this:

So what does Arthur Dent think about all of this?
Published by Penguinon September 17, 2008 in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.
Tags: And Another Thing, Arthur Dent, Eoin Colfer, hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.
Poor old Arthur Dent had been resting all of these years. Now he's being resurrected for our amusement. He's not pleased. Click the link below to listen to Arthur's opinion.

I'd not heard of Colfer before, but I now intend to visit the library and check him out. As it seems from the quoted text (and I didn't listen, but there is a recorded message from "Arthur Dent" about it) that he's refusing the project, I have great admiration for him.

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Free Martian Whores!

Re:TELL HIM NO by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 01:16 · Score: 1

that's a little harsh innit ?

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MP3 Search Engine

Who is Douglas Adam? by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:16 · Score: 1, Funny

Oh, you meant "Douglas Adams's", didn't you? Good job with the editing, Timothy. Keep up the good work.

Re:Who is Douglas Adam? by ari_j · 2008-09-17 01:24 · Score: 1

Just be glad that it was Timothy and not someone else. Then it'd be Douglases' Adam that we have to worry about.
Re:Who is Douglas Adam? by gEvil+(beta) · 2008-09-17 01:30 · Score: 1

Just be glad that it was Timothy and not someone else. Then it'd be Douglases' Adam that we have to worry about.

Well, it could have been posted by kdawson, in which case the article would be about the HHGTTG, written by Adam Chesterton. : p

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This guy's the limit!
Re:Who is Douglas Adam? by clickety6 · 2008-09-17 01:44 · Score: 1

Darn - I was too busy trying not to put too many vowels in Eoin to notice that I'd transposed the apostrophe and the s. (I would've got away with Adams' wouldn't I?)

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----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
Re:Who is Douglas Adam? by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:52 · Score: 0

I'd have thought the kdawson version would be "Microsoft poisons kittens, Google & McCain applaud".
Re:Who is Douglas Adam? by DeusExMach · 2008-09-17 02:01 · Score: 1

See? Clerical error. We're all screwed.

Prediction by codepoetix · 2008-09-17 01:21 · Score: 1

Arthur will be reunited with Fenchurch...

...who, to Arthur's chagrin, will be in a lesbian relationship with Trillian.

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International Socialist Black Metal

Re:Prediction by DeusExMach · 2008-09-17 02:06 · Score: 1

Chagrin...?
Sounds like a "jackpot" situation to me. ...As long as Arthur can stop himself saying things like "uhm" and "er" and "I don't understand" and "Where's the tea?"
Re:Prediction by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 02:20 · Score: 0

I don't understand.

OK I guess. by T.E.D. · 2008-09-17 01:23 · Score: 5, Insightful

I suppose I don't have a problem with this, as long as its crystal clear that this is Colfer's book, set in the HHG universe. If there is any implication whatsoever that this is a new Douglas Adams book, I have a big problem with it.

He's not pinin' for the fjords. He's dead. Let him go.

Re:OK I guess. by MadKeithV · 2008-09-17 02:54 · Score: 1

Slartibartfast *did* win an award for those fjords!
Re:OK I guess. by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 03:58 · Score: 0

"The book will "make no claims for Eoin being Douglas", according to Prior. "It's not Eoin Colfer writing as Douglas Adams, as was the case with Sebastian Faulks," she said, pointing to Penguin's successful publication of Faulks's new James Bond novel Devil May Care earlier this year. "It's absolutely about him being himself â" Eoin the author, but with the cast of Hitchhiker.""
Ok?
Re:OK I guess. by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 08:03 · Score: 0

I thought what they did with the latest Bond book was rather classy: "Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks, writing as Ian Fleming".
Re:OK I guess. by T.E.D. · 2008-09-17 08:19 · Score: 1

"Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks, writing as Ian Fleming".
I like that...for a James Bond book. Readers of those are just looking for a certian flavor of nice pulpy goodness. You can almost look at "Ian Fleming" as a brand name.
For a HHG book, no. Adam's books are very much extensions of his own personality. Trying to ape that and sell it as his just seems too much like a violaton of Douglas himself. Those of us who grew to like the guy don't want to see that.

I have some misgivings, but... by flinnb · 2008-09-17 01:37 · Score: 3, Funny

Oddly enough, there were exactly 42 comments when I first saw this article. Perhaps this might turn out well...

Re:I have some misgivings, but... by dawgs72 · 2008-09-17 01:45 · Score: 0, Troll

Oddly enough, there were exactly 42 comments when I first saw this article. Perhaps this might turn out well...
/. has made it to only display "42 comments" on the main page.
Re:I have some misgivings, but... by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 02:58 · Score: 1

and it isn't even thursday...

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MP3 Search Engine
Re:I have some misgivings, but... by Falconhell · 2008-09-17 10:53 · Score: 1

It is Thursday here in Australia.....

43rd comment... by g253 · 2008-09-17 01:39 · Score: 0, Redundant

When I clicked "Read more", this story had 42 comments!

Sorry to ruin the magic...

Someone else writing HGTTG? by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 01:40 · Score: 1, Funny

You can call it HGTTG, but you can also put lipstick on a pig.. sorry, wrong thread..

Re:Someone else writing HGTTG? by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 06:15 · Score: 0

They told'em "thanks, but no thanks" to all the fish.

No problem by aoeusnth · 2008-09-17 01:40 · Score: 1

From Jane Belson's perspective any negative results can be blamed solely on her, but additional books can only add to the bottom line and she is long the option in case some of the nth books turn out to be good. Where is the downside, other than the desire to place Douglas Adam on a pristine pedestal? Which he'd have some choice words for, I'm sure.

Re:So what does Arthur Dent think about all of thi by The+Chemical+Crow · 2008-09-17 01:42 · Score: 1

No, he is doing it. If you are able to, listen to the audio post on the main page of his website. He confirms without a doubt that the book is being written.

Better Option by trongey · 2008-09-17 01:45 · Score: 2, Funny

She'd probably make more money if she just set up a website where we can all contribute $5 to keep her from publishing a new book.

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You never really know how close to the edge you can go until you fall off.

Re:Better Option by Zaphod-AVA · 2008-09-17 06:05 · Score: 1

More like insightful.
Release a collection of his work, with cool extras, maybe some memorable personal photographs to share a small part of what he was like with us. Release a collection of artwork inspired by his work. Release a collection of his favorite charities... whatever, I'll buy it. His fans miss him, and will likely buy whatever is released to help support his widow and daughter, but please.. Don't try and replace him.

42 by camperdave · 2008-09-17 01:45 · Score: 0, Redundant

Somewhat fittingly, as I clicked the "Read More..." link, the number of comments was 42.

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When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!

Re:42 by samson13 · 2008-09-17 02:02 · Score: 1

I'd been listening to the HHGTTG on the laptop while cooking dinner and had just sat down to eat. Top article is about HHGTTG and there are (well were) 42 posts...
Probably infinitely improbable! When will normality return? I haven't knocked the flower pot off the bench yet(again).
Re:42 by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 03:00 · Score: 1

Just make sure you don't step on any bits of whale...

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MP3 Search Engine

Not so concerned. by The+Chemical+Crow · 2008-09-17 01:49 · Score: 1

I really don't have a problem with this. I'm firmly of the mindset that if I don't like it I'll ignore it and most likely donate it to a library or sell it to a used book store. I don't place any hopes on this book above and beyond being entertained, and am approaching it as if it were a particularly well-funded piece of fan fiction.

Hey, this gives me an excuse to buy the omnibus edition of the books by Adams and brush up on the story. I had the 4-novel omnibus before the fifth book came out, but no idea what happened to it.

Re:So what does Arthur Dent think about all of thi by Bwana+Geek · 2008-09-17 01:55 · Score: 1

Sorry to disappoint you, but if you listen to the recording or read more info on that page, it's pretty clear he's going forward with it. The book is already titled, even!

Oh please no by Tsaot · 2008-09-17 01:57 · Score: 1

I tried to read his books. I honestly did. The writing however is so simple and lifeless that it became a droning sequence of events. The HHG books are full of wit and humor and I haven't seen any of that in his books. I mean, in the second book, they track the source of a mpeg video because it leaves traces of itself in the very wires it traveled through. How is that even plausible? Oh wait, maybe that's how the tubes get clogged. Videos being transferred on the net leave a residue and it builds up. I'm sorry, but if this is the best he can do, I want nothing to do with him or his works.

Re:Oh please no by Ihlosi · 2008-09-17 02:18 · Score: 1

How is that even plausible?
Oh ... and improbability drives are plausible? Reincarnation? Technical devices outlasting the universe several times over?
Why again are you measuring Colfers books by hard sci-fi standards but don't do so for HHGG? Neither of the two is intended to be hard sci-fi.
Re:Oh please no by Tsaot · 2008-09-17 03:14 · Score: 1

There is a big difference between breaking the laws of physics for a simple plot device (some of the MPG rubs off in the wire) and breaking the laws of physics as an experiment with perception (the secret to flying is forgetting that you're falling). One can be used as an excellent commentary on perception and can even be looped back into the laws of physics (internal observer anyone?). The other is utterly pointless and has no literary or analytical value.

I do appreciate the absurd. I love how Adams grabs the most insane ideas and weaves them into his stories. Each absurdity makes you think and consider what is going on and some may even reveal some things about yourself and how you perceive the world. Colfer doesn't do that. He picks little things that won't do more than just advance to the next plot point. That's what I don't like.
Re:Oh please no by IWannaBeAnAC · 2008-09-17 03:34 · Score: 2, Interesting

The way the HHGTTG universe works is basically what it would be like if god (or multiple gods) had a really warped sense of humour and loved a good joke. From what I remember there are not so many points in the books where something happens that contradicts our experience but without a backstory. When Adams talks about small green pieces of paper that are, on the whole, not the ones that are unhappy, well, this is because the small green pieces of paper are just projections onto our universe of some 10-dimensional hyper-intelligent lego brick. The universe is set up to allow more or less anything, as long as it has some kind of purpose.
The infinite improbability drive, for example, even though it is a bit ridiculous, plays on some of the more bizarre aspects of quantum mechanics, and it isn't so far from being plausible, if you imagine Zarquon has a surreal sense of humour.
In comparison, videos leaving a residue sounds, by itself, a bit dumb. Adams would have invented some reason for them to leave a residue, even if it was just something like they were echoing cries of pain from of a previous universe where videos were used as a weapon of mass destruction. (Yeah OK so I'm not DNA. But hopefully I managed to convey the point?)
Re:Oh please no by ipxodi · 2008-09-17 05:18 · Score: 1

THAT bit of unreality is what offends you? Methinks you're stretching to find fault. It IS of course, Fantasy.
We're talking about a world where faeries, trolls, etc., live inside of the earth (undetected by humans) and utilize high technology the likes of which make us look like cavemen. (And might, at a stretch, explain that the Mpeg video in question DID leave traces of itself...)
I'm reminded of A.C. Clarke:
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

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load "windows7" ,8,1

Futile Fish... by DeusExMach · 2008-09-17 02:04 · Score: 1

...I have a serious salmon of doubt about this whole thing...

Leave it as it s by the_other_chewey · 2008-09-17 02:05 · Score: 2, Interesting

...and go read Jasper Fforde's "Thursday Next" series.

Hilarious, geeky (lots and lots of literary allusions), british as well,
includes special features online (good for us /.ers), ...

Re:Leave it as it s by jaguth · 2008-09-17 05:58 · Score: 0

Agreed, the Hitchikers Galaxy is what it is because of Douglas Adams, and it just won't be the same without him. Just leave the classic alone.

We all know what happens when someone else tries to extend a classic... Star Wars anyone? George Lucas's evil robot twin was allowed to screw with the franchise, and we all know how that turned out.

All Good... by Yvanhoe · 2008-09-17 02:22 · Score: 1

... but why a golfer ?

--
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.

Sixth book of the trilogy? by jebrew · 2008-09-17 02:24 · Score: 1

Ugh, seriously?!? Whose ever heard of a trilogy with six books? We should skip all that nonsense and move straight through to the eleventeenth.

Re:Sixth book of the trilogy? by tompaulco · 2008-09-17 02:36 · Score: 2, Funny

Precisely, no Trilogy should contain more than, say, 5 books.

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If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
Re:Sixth book of the trilogy? by crywolf · 2008-09-17 07:44 · Score: 1

Somebody should tell Piers Anthony.

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CAUTION: Product may be hot after heating

Does it matter? by neverutterwhen · 2008-09-17 02:24 · Score: 1

The widow has asked a guy to write a book. No one is forcing anyone to read it. Ignore it the way I've ignored most of the H2G2 stuff since the radio series.

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My appreciation of Douglas Adams is far deeper than yours.

Increasingly Inaccurately by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 02:26 · Score: 0

Its increasingly inaccurate to call it a Triology!

I thought there were already at least 6.. by JAZ · 2008-09-17 02:27 · Score: 1

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life the Universe and Everything
So Long and Thanks for all the Fish
Mostly Harmless
Young Zaphod Plays it Safe

...or is having 2 "sixth" books in the "trilogy" part of the joke?

--

"Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos." -- Homer Simpson

Re:I thought there were already at least 6.. by ALB1 · 2008-09-17 02:49 · Score: 1

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Restaurant at the End of the Universe Life the Universe and Everything So Long and Thanks for all the Fish Mostly Harmless Young Zaphod Plays it Safe
...or is having 2 "sixth" books in the "trilogy" part of the joke?
Young Zaphod Plays it Safe was a short story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_zaphod_plays_it_safe

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ALB1
Re:I thought there were already at least 6.. by gcranston · 2008-09-17 04:34 · Score: 1

Exactly. At best you could say there are 5-2/3, or "five and a short story"! Come on people!!

Good for her... by MythMoth · 2008-09-17 02:30 · Score: 2, Interesting

...though I probably won't read it. I think that Douglas's style was inimitable - and it's painful when people try. Some people love the books for the story though, and before he died Douglas himself said that he might write another lighter sequel - that he was in a bad place when he wrote Mostly Harmless and that it was too dark as a result.

He left a wife and daughter and I presume he would have wanted them to be ok; why shouldn't his wife do this? The works he was directly involved in are still there and will be no less enjoyable. I disliked the film, but it's still better to have the original stuff and a film that some people will like than just the originals so I feel the same way about this proposed sequel.

People are too precious about these things. If you don't want 'em don't buy 'em. I'm with you. But don't try to tell the heirs about their responsibilities to a dead man if they're not suppressing anything.

By all accounts Eoin Colfer is a good author. It's up to him to make something worthwhile of the new book regardless of whose footsteps he's following in.

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--- These are not words: wierd, genious, rediculous

Re:Good for her... by owlstead · 2008-09-17 05:58 · Score: 1

"He left a wife and daughter and I presume he would have wanted them to be ok; why shouldn't his wife do this? "
I presume they are already ok. And as for the daughter, let her make it on her own, with a little help of a stash of cash. Unfortunately though they will probably get spoiled until the 7th generation.

Dirk Gently by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 02:33 · Score: 2, Insightful

I just put down Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, and frankly I wish there were more books from that Adams' series rather than HHGTTG.

Don't get me wrong, those books are pure gold, but Gently is more my style right now. Mixed feelings though about anyone but Adams having a hand in anything like this...

Re:Dirk Gently by jacquesm · 2008-09-17 03:03 · Score: 1

Have you found the long dark teatime of the soul yet ?

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MP3 Search Engine

Take it on its own merits if & when it's writt by pandrijeczko · 2008-09-17 02:47 · Score: 2, Interesting

I don't see why so many people see this as such a great problem - this kind of stuff has been going on for years.

What about the countless Star Trek books that have been written over the years, generally by authors who never had anything to do with writing for any of the original TV series or movies?

Or how about the additional Star Wars books? It could be argued that a few books from the "X-Wing" series of books would have made much better movies than the dire Episodes 1 to 3.

Or what about the newer James Bond books written by the likes of John Gardner, Raymond Benson & Kingsley Amis?

I've read selections of books from all the above and some are very good and others not so good.

So just leave it at that - if it gets written, decide when you read it. As far as I'm concerned, as a huge British HHGTTG fan, it can't be any worse than that Americanised piece of trash adaptation that hit the cinema screens a few years ago!

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Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.

No. by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 02:57 · Score: 0

Greed. That's all this is. Raping the copyrights.

I should make this bitch buy back my copies of the other 5.

Re:Take it on its own merits if & when it's wr by tillerman35 · 2008-09-17 03:00 · Score: 1

What about 'em? Well they're crap, that's what. The same way that cheap plastic table lamps that look like Tiffany lamps are crap. When I want to read a Douglas Adams book, I want to read a Douglas Adams book, not a book that will have DOUGLAS ADAMS in bold print and the actual writer (note that I do not grace the cad with the name "author") in teeny tiny print. Don't think they'll do that? Bet me $1000 bux then. When the book comes out, whose name is going to be in bigger print? You know it'll be DA's name.

I'm tired of these "postquels" (posthumous sequels) being sold as if they are the work of the original author. Not everyone is smart enough to know the difference, and it can turn off a reader who would otherwise have become a fan (alas too late to eagerly wait for REAL sequels).

can't be any worse... by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 03:11 · Score: 1, Interesting

...than the ending of Mostly Harmless. Very, very depressing and bleak and awful and no way to end the series properly.

There. I said it and I'm not taking it back.

Anonymous
(because I value my health; that's why)

So long and thanks for all the fish... by Wargames · 2008-09-17 03:13 · Score: 1

Someone scrawled "So long and thanks for all the fish" on the giant portrait of Lehman CEO Richard Fuld on which employees of the company wrote their final farewells (Artist Jeffrey Raymond).

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94640730

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-- Each tock of the Planck clock is a new world and here we are still life. --

Re:Take it on its own merits if & when it's wr by pandrijeczko · 2008-09-17 03:17 · Score: 1

What about 'em? Well they're crap, that's what.

By that statement alone, I suspect you've read very few of them, if any.

Personally, my only criteria is whether or not it's entertaining and whether a book's quality justifies it going under the "Star Trek", "Star Wars", "James Bond" or "Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy" name.

And if people are stupid enough not to read the small print, that's their problem.

--
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.

Dark Times by stonefry · 2008-09-17 03:18 · Score: 1

I think he was listening to a lot of The Cure at the time.

Re:Dark Times by Verdatum · 2008-09-18 15:13 · Score: 1

Oh God, mod parent UP!

great! by Quiet_Desperation · 2008-09-17 03:23 · Score: 2, Insightful

Will this one be a another middle finger to the fans that kills off all the rest of the beloved characters?

Re:TELL HIM NO by etwills · 2008-09-17 03:33 · Score: 1

Eoin Colfer 1 Priory Hall, [...]

If he's found lain dead in a stagnant pool tomorrow, we'll be considering it your fault (whoever you are...)

Re:Take it on its own merits if & when it's wr by Whiteox · 2008-09-17 03:57 · Score: 1

I thought it was Canadian. At least I think so. Maybe it was the distribution company. I checked IMDB and although it was filmed in many places, I couldn't determine the production company.

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Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!

Bingo - that's the difference by Weaselmancer · 2008-09-17 04:09 · Score: 4, Insightful

Read the introduction to The Silmarillion. That's all Christopher was doing. Collecting his father's early stories and trying to figure out what was closest to canon. The early stories have discrepancies in them that make them mesh poorly. It was a monumental task to figure out each story and put them into the most coherent framework.

But Christopher took the time out and figured it all out and came up with the most coherent version of the early work and made what wound up being my favorite book in the whole Tolkien series. Without him, we never would have heard about the Music of Arda, or Feanor, or any of it.

He wrote nothing, changed nothing, and brought more of his father's work to the world. He has my eternal gratitude.

Now, let's contrast that with Brian Herbert. Spoilers ahead.

I got through House Atreides. And halfway through House Harkonnen before I gave up in disgust. They're not even as good as fan fiction. They're simply dismal. Having RM Mohaim be the mother of Jessica? Get serious. You know you're in deep shit if you're stealing plot ideas from George Lucas.

And the writing itself is simply awful. It's like he took a dartboard with his father's wonderful mythology on it and threw darts at it. The characters have zero depth and sound like they're doing Dune impressions. He goes too far out of the way to have everyone use words from the original works.

It's really awful. Penny Arcade said it best.

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Weaselmancer
rediculous.

Yes, yes, we know... by rickb928 · 2008-09-17 04:10 · Score: 1

Since it is fairly inevitable that there would be at least 43 comments on this post, the was/is/will be certainty that there will be a post #42.

This is not remarkeable.

Now, if the first post were something other than #1, that would be remarkeable.

And if the last post, whichever one it was, were #42, then I would certainly want to read it. There may be a question there.

But someone had to respond to post #42, and ruin it for all the rest of us. Thanks for nothing.

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deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.

Yes, that's the point! by Tsaot · 2008-09-17 04:12 · Score: 1

You have said what I failed to articulate. Thank you.

Please No by immcintosh · 2008-09-17 04:23 · Score: 1

*** MINOR SPOILER ALERT ***

The fifth book actually ended things. It was a good end. It was a final end. As things stand now the "trilogy" is complete and self-contained. The last thing I want is possibly the most brilliant sci-fi comedy ever written to go the way of Discworld (first book in the series was brilliant, but after that... yeah...). Please leave well enough alone :(

*** MINOR SPOILER ALERT ***

On the bright side... by WileyC · 2008-09-17 04:36 · Score: 1, Funny

...it can't be any worse than the fifth book. Yeeech!

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/// Not a super-genius . . . yet. ///

Chance for more money ... by frogzilla · 2008-09-17 05:01 · Score: 1

Someone is just eyeing a chance to make money. Not that I worship the memory of dead authors but why not publish new work by new authors? I guess that would have more built in risk.

The Infocom game online by Tumbarumba · 2008-09-17 05:26 · Score: 1

http://parchment.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/parchment.html?story=http://labs.toolness.com/parchment/infocom/hitchhik.z5

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My business: Farstrider Studios.

Let Arthur, Ford, and Douglas RIP, darn it! by KoshClassic · 2008-09-17 05:31 · Score: 1

First Brian Herbert, and now this. Is nothing sacred?

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Understanding is a three edged sword. - Ambassador Kosh Naranek, Babylon 5

Poppycock by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 05:34 · Score: 0

Douglas adams was an obstacle in the film because he probably wouldn't ever finish the script has he been asked to write it. Anyone who knows the history of DA would know that. As to the film, the part in the film where they were all turned to wool during the improbability drive sequence was hilarious and beautifully rendered and completely unexpected. I laughed out very loud at that part. Also there was also a TV series remember? and a lot of the film did (in my opinion) hark back to that. Rememeber the 'real' Marvin making a cameo being in the Queue with the other 'aliens'?

The part when Slarty gives a tour of the Planet building 'warehouse' was magnificently done and the TV series nor the book did that part justice.

The film was perfectly fine and as posters below state, DA was not so protective about his product to not let it be changed to suit the medium. I think he would have enjoyed the film myself.

I hope not by roc97007 · 2008-09-17 05:41 · Score: 3, Interesting

I believe this goes against Douglas Adams' wishes. "Mostly Harmless" seemed a deliberate effort by Adams to kill the series. (Spoiler: Everyone dies. The end.) I had an amazing opportunity to talk to Adams shortly before his death, and it seemed like he was deathly tired of the whole Hitchhiker thing.

As far as I'm concerned, the series ended with So Long And Thanks For All The Fish. It's a good ending. No other novels were or are necessary.

What I would much rather have seen is a third Dirk Gently novel. Although I have mixed feelings about someone else attempting it. The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul was a work of art. I don't see another author producing anything near as good that adhered to the spirit of the original.

--
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.

Re:I hope not by omz13 · 2008-09-17 06:58 · Score: 1

I was raised on HH, which seems to overshadow anything else that Douglas did, but I have a special fondness for Dirk Gently, and just wish there could have been more of it... sure, it was different from HH, but there was a certain Douglassness about it.
Re:I hope not by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 07:15 · Score: 0

I totally agree both about "So Long, And Thanks For All the Fish" being the end, and about a third Dirk Gently novel. Would have loved to see that!
Re:I hope not by dwye · 2008-09-17 08:28 · Score: 1

> "Mostly Harmless" seemed a deliberate effort by Adams to kill the series.
A worse railroad drive off a bridge than was "Sherlock Holmes' Final Case" with the the deaths at Reichenbach Falls. It only succeeded in poisoning the previous novels of the series in retrospect. It probably should have been retitled "I'll Show You All Why You Shouldn't Ask For Sequels!!!"
Re:I hope not by roc97007 · 2008-09-17 11:01 · Score: 1

> A worse railroad drive off a bridge than was "Sherlock Holmes' Final Case" with the the deaths at Reichenbach Falls. It only succeeded in poisoning the previous novels of the series in retrospect. It probably should have been retitled "I'll Show You All Why You Shouldn't Ask For Sequels!!!"
Agree completely. When I read the novels to my daughter, I told her ahead of time that we're going to stop at Fish because it had a nice ending and I don't consider the last novel to be part of the story. She liked the way Fish ended and has never asked about Mostly Harmless.
Sorry, ADD moment: Had we not had Holmes' Final Case, we would never have had Mayer's The Seven Percent Solution, however you might think of that. (I enjoyed it.)
Second ADD moment: Similarly, anyone else feel like the third X-Men movie should have been titled "I never want to make an X-Men movie ever again"?

--
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Re:I hope not by dwye · 2008-09-18 00:04 · Score: 1

Sorry, ADD moment: Had we not had Holmes' Final Case,
we would never have had Mayer's The Seven Percent Solution,
however you might think of that. (I enjoyed it.)
No, if Arthur Conan Doyle hadn't reintroduced Holmes after a few years, we would never have had the Seven Percent Solution.
Alternately, if Holmes hadn't cleaned up during his years off after faking his death, Dr. Watson's literary agent would have had nothing more to publish, and Nick Meyers would have had no reason to write up the story from whatever records he found.

Myst by anyGould · 2008-09-17 05:57 · Score: 1

Myst drives you nuts for a very good reason - because everything makes sense, once you understand the background.

It's what I love about the series (less so in the later ones, sadly) - it's not a series of arbitrary puzzles. Once you understand what's going on, the solution becomes rather simple. You get the feeling of actually understanding rather than bruteforcing the solution.

Re:Take it on its own merits if & when it's wr by Neoprofin · 2008-09-17 06:47 · Score: 1

I have to agree with the GP.

Large sections of the Star Wars extended universe are far, far, far, better than the new trilogy, and in some cases probably even better than the originals that spawned them.

Of course you'll never read them. It's funny that someone who is decrying the name recognition factor of putting DA on the cover is absolutely refusing to read books, or buy lamps, or do God knows what else based on the exact same reasoning.

Ledger is the worst thing ever by IndustrialComplex · 2008-09-17 08:38 · Score: 1

I mean, Heath Ledger as the Joker, WTF are they thinking?

Unlike Star Wars, the originals are still there in their Highest Definition Format. If you don't like the new stuff, then stop reading. If you like the new stuff, great!

There is nothing to lose here

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Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj

Wife Broke by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 15:32 · Score: 0

this seems like a ploy to grab even more royalties rather than continuing the legacy.

I would just like to say by Falconhell · 2008-09-17 16:50 · Score: 1

If they do this, (To parapahrase DNA)

You barbarians! I'll sue you for every penny you've got! I'll have you hung, drawn, and quartered! And whipped! And boiled! Until... until... until you've had enough. And then I will do it again! And when I've finished I will take all the little bits, and I will JUMP on them! And I will carry on jumping on them until I get blisters, or I can think of anything even more unpleasant to do.

The good ending of Hitchhikers Guide..... by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-17 17:02 · Score: 0

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Quintessential Phase from BBC Radio #4 is the only acceptable ending to the series beyond the last book.

Really? by crysnamdodshire · 2008-09-17 18:07 · Score: 1

I honestly don't have any problem with another author continuing THGTTG apart from the fact that I have yet to find an ending to anything that is more interesting or appropriate than the end of Mostly Harmless. It had perfect closure, both in tying up loose ends, and tying unexpectedly to the rest of the story, a feat which will be difficult to accomplish a second time.

3rd in DGHDA series by Anonymous Coward · 2008-09-21 13:54 · Score: 0

I will never forgive Doug for dying without finishing the next DGHDA book. Damn it, you promised! Get up and Zombie write it. I don't care! Automatic writing is OK. Eoin Colfer? Can you channel?

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Colfer Asked To Write Sixth HHGTTG Book

338 comments