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New Hitchhiker's Guide Book "Not Very Funny"

daria42 writes "An early review of part of the Eoin Colfer-penned sequel to Douglas Adams's Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy series has panned the book as not being very funny. If you read Hitchhiker to have a good laugh, maybe you're going to be disappointed," wrote Nicolas Botti, on his Douglas Adams fan site earlier this month."

410 comments

  1. meh by Dyinobal · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I always found humor in literature overrated. A few funny bits in any book is fine, but to read an entire book that was suppose to be funny. I dunno I can't see myself enjoying it that much. Even if the jokes were intelligent and witty.

    1. Re:meh by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I always found humor in literature overrated.

      Just because everyone praises the Emporer's new clothes, it doesn't mean he's wearing any.

      Also, the new /. appearance is very confusing. Why would you put a separation line *before* the link to the comments?

    2. Re:meh by BenihanaX · · Score: 5, Funny

      I always found spinach in food overrated. A few tasty bits in any dish is fine, but to eat an entire dish that was suppose to be spinach. I dunno I can't see myself enjoying it that much. Even if the spinach was quality and well prepared.

    3. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      An early review of part of the Eoin Colfer-penned seque

      On the plus side, Eoin Colfer has won the Ambiguously Pronounced Name Award!

    4. Re:meh by mh1997 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I always found humor in literature overrated. A few funny bits in any book is fine, but to read an entire book that was suppose to be funny. I dunno I can't see myself enjoying it that much. Even if the jokes were intelligent and witty.

      Tell me about it, I hate when I read a really good book that keeps me entertained for hours.

    5. Re:meh by gmuslera · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You didn't read Discworld, then? Is not that the entire books means to be funny, but have a lot of good laughs, and that in a story interesting enough that have a bit of everything. When i have to classify the secondary genre of those books, i doubt between fantasy, terror, sci-fi, philosophy and others, but the first one is humor definately.

    6. Re:meh by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Also, the new /. appearance is very confusing. Why would you put a separation line *before* the link to the comments?

      Way offtopic, but I was just wondering the same thing. It's like they're trying to bookend the story, but possibly the most relevant part of the whole thing (the Read More link) is just hanging around outside the whole blocked off area.

      --
      This guy's the limit!
    7. Re:meh by MacTO · · Score: 5, Insightful

      > A few funny bits in any book is fine, but to read an entire book that was suppose to be funny. I dunno I can't see myself enjoying it that much. Even if the jokes were intelligent and witty.

      Normally I would agree with you, except Douglas Adams was the guy who introduced me to the pleasure of laughing. After all, he was the guy who figured out humour for the geek.

    8. Re:meh by dangitman · · Score: 4, Interesting

      A few funny bits in any book is fine, but to read an entire book that was suppose to be funny.

      I'm not sure how we're supposed to take your opinion on literature seriously, after you wrote that sentence.

      --
      ... and then they built the supercollider.
    9. Re:meh by Peter+H.S. · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I always found humor in literature overrated. A few funny bits in any book is fine, but to read an entire book that was suppose to be funny. I dunno I can't see myself enjoying it that much. Even if the jokes were intelligent and witty.

      Humor in literature is in fact vastly underrated because a lot of insecure people have the primitive feeling that if it is fun, then it can only be inferior art. Humorous books aren't wall-to-wall jokes, but often subtle literary works employing a wide array of literary devices to convey the authors intentions. Joseph Heller's "Catch 22", Cervantes' "Don Quixote", Jaroslav Hasek's "The Good Soldier Svejk", Franz Kafka's "The Castle", Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" are all humorous works of the highest literary grade.
      Try a funny book someday, you may like it.

      --
      Regards

    10. Re:meh by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Really,

      What was left unsaid, unexplored, unpadded, etc. in the original Doug Adams volumes? As a series, they were one book too long as it stood, really.

      The creme was in the two BBC radio series, and the material was presented it its most delightful and appealing way in this format.

      The books were little more than these programmes, padded with the narrative required to contextualize in written form. It's my belief that they suffered under this treatment. Certainly, they labored the humor - without the excellent timing and auditory cues, which were integral.

      So. A good author now contributes a mediocre and unnecessary addition to an entertaining body of work, derived with some encumbrance from a superior and lively original radio play. To reiterate my original question, what had not yet been mined from that vein? What had not yet been wrung and worried from that corpus?

      Oh, yes. More publishing revenues.

      I think the Python's were quite good at satirizing this sort of thing - and Adams would have a good turn at it, himself: "The Contractual Obligation Beyond the Reasonable End of the Universe", or so.

      --
      "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
    11. Re:meh by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 1

      I enjoy listening to reruns of classic "My Word" episodes; laughing an=t the verbal antics of Denis Norden and Frank Muir, while punctuating the pauses in in banter by loudly breaking wind.

      But I wouldn't want to do so for very long at a time. Surely the weekend is sufficient for this!

      --
      "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
    12. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed.

    13. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Humour in literature (movies, music, other arts, etc.) is often a device to make you think without asking you to, with the side effect of making the reading process also funny.
      If you want gratuitous terrible humour where only 1% of the book makes you actually laugh and the rest lets you crave for the last page, get any book from Ron Goulart; only then you will realize why Adams was so great.

    14. Re:meh by philljcool · · Score: 1

      It is a strange, slightly pretentious way to write Ian. I think it is from Gaelic.

    15. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is a strange, slightly pretentious way to write Ian. I think it is from Gaelic.

      And Ian is, from the perspective of an English speaker, a strange, slightly pretentious way to write John.

    16. Re:meh by TheVelvetFlamebait · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Absolutely. Everyone's crazy except you.

      --
      You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
    17. Re:meh by fractoid · · Score: 1

      And John is a thrice-translated way to write Yochanan.

      We could do this for hours! :D

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    18. Re:meh by brusk · · Score: 1

      Douglas Adams was the guy who introduced me to the pleasure of laughing.

      My endocrinologist performed that function for me. Turned out I had an inflamed spleen, and once that was treated it no longer hurt to laugh.

      --
      .sig withheld by request
    19. Re:meh by geekboy642 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      And Yochanan is the way a mishugena mis-pronounces .

      --
      Just another "DOJ fascist authoritarian totalitarian bootlicker" -- Zeio
    20. Re:meh by fractoid · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Humor in literature is in fact vastly underrated because a lot of insecure people have the primitive feeling that if it is fun, then it can only be inferior art.

      Cue the Calvin and Hobbes comic contrasting 'high art' and 'low art':

      Calvin: A painting. Moving. Spiritually enriching. Sublime. "High" art!

      Calvin: The comic strip. Vapid. Juvenile. Commercial hack work. "Low" art.

      Calvin: A painting of a comic strip panel. Sophisticated irony. Philosophically challenging. "High" art.

      Hobbes: Suppose I draw a cartoon of a painting of a comic strip?

      Calvin: Sophomoric, intellectually sterile. "Low" art.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    21. Re:meh by aethera · · Score: 2, Funny

      the best spinach i ever ate turned out be be fennel...

    22. Re:meh by Anonymous+Monkey · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I have never said this before but...Boy I wish I had mod points. (I might have but I don't think so). Calvin and Hobbes is by far one of the most insightful things I have ever read. Yet to most people it is still 'low art' and the same goes for the Guide. It is smart, funny, and so obviously about humanity that if the Vogans showed had little tags that read 'post office' or 'DMV' it would go quickly from funny to sadly real. Anyway, +5 insightful

      --
      We are the Borg...
    23. Re:meh by gandhi_2 · · Score: 1

      David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day is one of the few examples where an entire book of humor seems to work fine. But he's just telling stories that happen to be funny, not packing a book full of jokes to fill pages.

    24. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Fuck you, you highbrow fuck.

    25. Re:meh by History's+Coming+To · · Score: 1

      You forgot socio-economic history. And some lovely examples of special relativity that should be used in classrooms. (Thief Of Time). And a classical Asimovian robot-as-pathos work of tragic fiction. (Feet Of Clay). :)

      --
      Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
    26. Re:meh by January's+Child · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I never found HHGTTG to be funny, or "humor for the geek." Stanislaw Lem, however...

    27. Re:meh by hack++slash · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Also, the new /. appearance is very confusing. Why would you put a separation line *before* the link to the comments?

      That's intentional?! I thought it was a layout screwup!

      --
      To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
    28. Re:meh by Colonel+Korn · · Score: 1

      Really,

      What was left unsaid, unexplored, unpadded, etc. in the original Doug Adams volumes? As a series, they were one book too long as it stood, really.

      The creme was in the two BBC radio series, and the material was presented it its most delightful and appealing way in this format.

      The books were little more than these programmes, padded with the narrative required to contextualize in written form. It's my belief that they suffered under this treatment. Certainly, they labored the humor - without the excellent timing and auditory cues, which were integral.

      So. A good author now contributes a mediocre and unnecessary addition to an entertaining body of work, derived with some encumbrance from a superior and lively original radio play. To reiterate my original question, what had not yet been mined from that vein? What had not yet been wrung and worried from that corpus?

      Oh, yes. More publishing revenues.

      I think the Python's were quite good at satirizing this sort of thing - and Adams would have a good turn at it, himself: "The Contractual Obligation Beyond the Reasonable End of the Universe", or so.

      I don't think the BBC series did the books justice, honestly. I wasn't just reading for humor, though, and if you were focusing on quick laughs I can see how you felt otherwise. Did you, by chance, prefer Planet Earth to Last Chance to See?

      --
      "I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
    29. Re:meh by Miseph · · Score: 1

      Not to knock Douglas Adams, or discredit him as a geek humorist... but he was hardly the first author to write humor for geeks, not even the first relatively mainstream one. that is, of course, unless you define "geek" according to a set of interests and social values that didn't actually exist prior to Adams catering to them.

      --
      Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
    30. Re:meh by gmrath · · Score: 1

      Mark Twain's autobiographical stories about life on the Mississippi River as a steamboat pilot are absolutely funny and at the same time insightful and moving. The collection is a great read and well worth the time the time spent.

    31. Re:meh by Orion+Blastar · · Score: 1

      Then you should try eating Ravioli or Toasted Ravioli.

      It is a trick we play on children in St. Louis, MO when they refuse to eat spinach. As it turns out Ravioli has spinach in it, but most people don't know that nor do they taste it when they eat it. When the child won't eat regular Ravioli in St. Louis they invented Toasted Ravioli which seems to have more success at being eaten by a child or even an adult.

      Of course the side effect is eating too much makes one fat, so eat it in moderation.

      It is the same trick to get a dog or cat to take medicine, you put the medicine in meat or their food, and they eat it.

      Cheerios was a good trick to get children to eat enough fiber in their diet by making it a part of breakfast. It is the same trick to get people to eat enough oats.

      --
      Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
    32. Re:meh by hansamurai · · Score: 2

      I agree that the radio series is the best format of taking in the books. I even tried watching the TV series which has pretty much the same crew, and I just couldn't stand it. The books are great, the radio series is simply awesome.

    33. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I am a book, "Contractual Obligation to end 5 book trilogy", Mark 2. I have been activated. I will explode into outlet bookstores and recycling programs in 7 days. 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 45 seconds. 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 30 seconds. 6 days...

      "Oh, Dear." uttered the ghost of Douglas. The ghosts of the other authors twittered behind him. "We told you this would happen" spat Tolkien, who had assumed a rather ungainly set of almost holographic elven ears...

    34. Re:meh by macshit · · Score: 1

      I enjoy listening to reruns of classic "My Word" episodes ... punctuating the pauses in in banter by loudly breaking wind.

      Must have sucked to be in the studio audience though...

      --
      We live, as we dream -- alone....
    35. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You beat me to it and said it more concisely.

      Nor did Adams invent humourous science fiction: as anyone who has ever read Sheckly of (some of) Vonnegut can attest.

      De mortuis nil nisi bonum and all that, but the guy has always been seriously overrated IMHO.

    36. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      The radio series predated the books. TMYK....

    37. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think that's bad?!? Me, I've got this searing pain in all of the diodes down my left side....

    38. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're aware of the fact the BBC series predated the books?

    39. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The books were little more than these programmes, padded with the narrative required to contextualize in written form.

      Admittedly it's a been while since I listened to the radio show or read the books - but, at least in terms of plot, I remember substantial differences. For example, IIRC Trillian doesn't even make it to the shoe planet (she gets eaten by the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal - or something along those lines).

    40. Re:meh by hao3 · · Score: 1

      so? he prefers the books. i haven't got round to listening to series myself, but i've read all the books, and i loved them. i don't care what came first.

      --
      "Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance." - G.K. Chesterton
    41. Re:meh by TheSoepkip · · Score: 1

      I have only read about half of them but what Discworld book had terror as a secondary genre ?

    42. Re:meh by BrokenHalo · · Score: 1

      If all you're looking for is laughs, then sure, the radio series is a well-conceived and witty means to that end.

      The books, however, give the whole plot a depth that is lacking in the original series, and although Adams' wit and humour are more understated, they are nonetheless present.

      As a generalisation (i.e. I'm not just talking about DNA's work here) I find it a bit saddening to see the outright laziness in the common tendency to dismiss the written word. Potted versions of novels rarely come up to scratch. Most of the richness of expression is either lost or thrown away.

    43. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I always found humor in literature overrated. A few funny bits in any book is fine, but to read an entire book that was suppose to be funny. I dunno I can't see myself enjoying it that much. Even if the jokes were intelligent and witty.

      How is this a troll post?

    44. Re:meh by gmuslera · · Score: 1

      If having Death (complete with scythe, black robe, as skeleton, etc) as one of main characters in all the series is not enough, you have plenty (mainly in the 1st books) of events where the end of universe, the end of reality, and/or the coming of Ancient ones/cthuluish monsters/etc is about to happen. Not sure if that elements there turns Discworld into terror, but are typical of that genre.

    45. Re:meh by Don_dumb · · Score: 1

      Not the gp but for what it's worth, I found many if them to be thrilling, not quite sure there were many moments of terror. Perhaps the passages in the early books of the dungeon dimensions but they were often made humorous rather than scary by Pratchett's writing.

      --
      If this were really happening, what would you think?
    46. Re:meh by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 1

      Harry Goddamned Harrison

      "Bill the Goddamned Galactic Goddamned Hero" and "The Goddamned Stainless Goddamned Steel Rat" Goddammit!

      --
      "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
    47. Re:meh by MindlessAutomata · · Score: 1

      Don't forget the classic, A Confederacy of Dunces.

    48. Re:meh by JunkmanUK · · Score: 1

      It's ok, by the sound of the review the book is unfunny enough for you to read safely..

    49. Re:meh by jackchance · · Score: 1

      don't forget Vonnegut. He's funny, sad, insightful, and silly all at the same time.

      --
      1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1597 2584 4181 6765
    50. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what I love of that is that funny emerges from strict literary physics rules and dead serious characters exploiting them.

    51. Re:meh by skine · · Score: 1

      The problem is that most people hate frozen spinach. They routinely mistake the fresh stuff for really good lettuce.

    52. Re:meh by jandersen · · Score: 1

      The Discworld series is brilliant exactly because the stories weren't with humour as the primary goal. Terry Pratchett takes some serious subjects and treats them with depth and insight; and incidentally with a lot of brilliant humour along the way. The Hitchiker's Guide was never more than entertainment - it is not my impression that Adams considered the books as more than that; I think his other books, the ones about the Holistic Detective Agency, were far better literature, and probably closer to his heart.

    53. Re:meh by tygerstripes · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Maybe not terror, but every single Vimes novel was a classic Noir thriller - often dipping or diving into the realms of pastiche, homage or parody, but a full-bodied detective thriller nonetheless.

      --
      Meta will eat itself
    54. Re:meh by IceFreak2000 · · Score: 1

      The whole Brontitall / 15-mile high marble statue of Arthur Dent, built as a reminder of the moment when Arthur appeared in the sky over the city arguing with a Nutrimatic Drink Dispenser / Lintilla / Allitnil episode only appears at the end of the second season of the original Radio 4 series and was not mentioned in either the TV series or any of the books. The idea for the "Shoe Event Horizon" however was transplanted onto Frogstar World B - "the most totally evil place in the galaxy".

      --
      Life is like a sewer; what you get out of it depends on what you put into it...
    55. Re:meh by isama · · Score: 1

      I've read the books and heared the radio series, I found them both to be briliant. Only I don't get what adding a new boo to the series would do exept to fuck it up...

    56. Re:meh by Skrynesaver · · Score: 1

      Eoin is a perfectly standard spelling in Gaelic, we tend to use too many vowels, a friend of mine, Aoife (pronounced eefa) has great fun in other English speaking countries. Now try Aodhan, ;)

      --
      "Linux is for noobs"-The new MS fud strategy
    57. Re:meh by stupid_is · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      It is the same trick to get a dog or cat to take medicine, you put the medicine in meat or their food, and they eat it.

      Do you have a cat? Sticking medicine in their food is the best way to get them to stop eating at your house and to start raiding the neighbour's cat's food. The best way to get a cat to take medicine is to wear the Bear Suit, wrap the cat in a thick towel, scruff it behind the head, prise open the jaws. Then flick the pill down the back of the throat and hold their mouth shut.

      Hopefully the Bear Suit will have stood up to this, but there probably won't be all that much left of it afterwards

      .

      --
      -- Intelligence is soluble in alcohol
    58. Re:meh by Nathrael · · Score: 1

      Have you ever read a book by Terry Pratchett? Do it. I'm not exactly a big fan of humorous literature either, but his books are just genius. I recommend "Interesting times", in my opinion one of his best books.

      (Also...I love /. mods. Guys, -1 Troll has a very specific definition and isn't meant to be used as -1 Strongly Disagree And Wish To Censor).

      --
      A good education is a bit like a STD - it makes you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and gives you a desire to spread it.
    59. Re:meh by Hacx · · Score: 1

      It's pronounced how it's spelled. Oh-in col-fer

    60. Re:meh by AlecC · · Score: 1

      Except that the way it is spelled, to me, would be "ee-oin", with a second choice of "Ee-oh-in". Your reading effectively ignores the E. I start from the left: I have no special soind for "eo", so I pronounce the e. That leaves me with "oin" as in coin, join. Then, realising it might be a funny furrin word, I will allow the option of "oh-in". But a totally silent leading E is not something I could deduce.

      --
      Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
    61. Re:meh by mcvos · · Score: 1

      The creme was in the two BBC radio series, and the material was presented it its most delightful and appealing way in this format.

      The books were little more than these programmes, padded with the narrative required to contextualize in written form. It's my belief that they suffered under this treatment. Certainly, they labored the humor - without the excellent timing and auditory cues, which were integral.

      I disagree. Yes, the original radio play was absolutely brilliant, but the books added significant new content and humour. They're very different in places (every new version of THHGTTG needs to contradict all others, a tradition that even the recent mediocre movie continued), and stand very well on their own.

      The first three books, at least. So Long And Thanks For All The Fish wasn't all that great, and quite boring and unfunny in many places. I never read Mostly Harmless.

    62. Re:meh by Sobrique · · Score: 1

      Oh that's easy. It's another cash in, hitch hiker's guide labeled book. It will sell more copies because of that, than some talentless hack's debut novel will.

    63. Re:meh by mcvos · · Score: 1

      "Oh, Dear." uttered the ghost of Douglas. The ghosts of the other authors twittered behind him. "We told you this would happen" spat Tolkien, who had assumed a rather ungainly set of almost holographic elven ears...

      Now I find myself wondering what a fourth Lord Of The Rings book would look like. A servant of Sauron survives, and Frodo comes back from the west to kick his ass? A servant of Sauron somehow managed to infect those western lands across the sea, and Aragorn takes an army to conquer those lands?

      I'm sure other slashdotters can think up much more painful plots for a sequel.

    64. Re:meh by mcvos · · Score: 5, Funny

      Eoin is a perfectly standard spelling in Gaelic, we tend to use too many vowels, a friend of mine, Aoife (pronounced eefa) has great fun in other English speaking countries. Now try Aodhan, ;)

      How about you quit hogging all those vowels and share some with those poor Welsh?

    65. Re:meh by mcvos · · Score: 1

      Putting the medicine in a paste and smearing a glob of it on the cat's head is rumoured to work quite well. Just make him think you're annoying it in a different way, and it won't realise you're actually feeding it medicine.

    66. Re:meh by eoin_tbo · · Score: 1

      An early review of part of the Eoin Colfer-penned seque

      On the plus side, Eoin Colfer has won the Ambiguously Pronounced Name Award!

      The first name is pronounced the same as Owen. At least he didn't spell it the old way, Eoghan. As for the surname, I'd guess it rhymes with golfer?

    67. Re:meh by ubrgeek · · Score: 1

      Kids! Kids! Stop arguing or I'll turn this universe around and we'll go straight home!

      --
      Bark less. Wag more.
    68. Re:meh by ubrgeek · · Score: 2, Informative

      > You're aware of the fact the BBC series predated the books?

      Well maybe in your universe ...

      --
      Bark less. Wag more.
    69. Re:meh by memojuez · · Score: 1

      I thought "Mostly Harmless" closed the series nicely and IMHO, it should have ended there.

      As far as Adams' humour is concerned; it also failed to show up in his own "Dirk Gently" series.

      --
      Signature applied for, Patent Pending
    70. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      cf. encyclopædia or, more to the point, foetus

    71. Re:meh by mcvos · · Score: 1

      If having Death (complete with scythe, black robe, as skeleton, etc) as one of main characters in all the series is not enough,

      He's actually a really nice guy, so no, I don't think that's enough.

      you have plenty (mainly in the 1st books) of events where the end of universe, the end of reality, and/or the coming of Ancient ones/cthuluish monsters/etc is about to happen. Not sure if that elements there turns Discworld into terror, but are typical of that genre.

      Bel-Shamharoth and the creatures from the Dungeon Dimensions are a good point. There's definitely some Lovecraftian references in a few older books. But it's only one of the millions of themes that appear in the Discworld books.

    72. Re:meh by mcvos · · Score: 1

      Vimes is definitely film noir. Every Discworld book has its own theme (in fact, many characters have their own themes) in that way. It's not big enough to be the secondary genre of the entire Discworld series, though. I'd say they're mostly Fantasy, Humour and Barely Hidden Philosophic Insights. In that order, I think.

    73. Re:meh by mcvos · · Score: 1

      The Hitchhiker's Guide also has its fair share of philosophical insights, but they're smaller, given a few pages of exposure, and then forgotten again. It's some clever ideas written up in a clever way, but he doesn't explore them to their full depth in the way Pratchett does.

    74. Re:meh by tygerstripes · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Hmm. I'd say they started that way - Colour Of Magic and Light Fantastic were clearly just parodies of "high fantasy" - but the order changed over time. I think he started focussing on Humour after about the 4th book, which contained a healthy dose of misanthropically insightful philosophy (since this is the source of most of his humour.) Eventually he seemed to move on to using humour to tell us things about the world, with fantasy being just a backdrop.

      Compare the focus of Colour Of Magic with something like Monstrous Regiment. They're all set in the same world, true, but the latter was primarily about people, society, attitudes, culture-shifts, and held up a big mirror to it all in order to say "look how daft we all are!" It speaks volumes that, as his books became more about satirising people than literary style, they became both funnier and deeper, which goes to show how much he developed as an artist of his medium.

      We could go on for hours dissecting Pratchett though, which in itself probably says more about his work than we ever could. The truth is, he is a warmly humanistic, satirical genius whose works will be considered as classic as Mark Twain's in the years to come, and I'm deeply saddened by his onset of Alzheimer's.

      --
      Meta will eat itself
    75. Re:meh by vague+disclaimer · · Score: 1

      See also the entire canon of Kurt Vonnegut...

    76. Re:meh by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      I've seen a few books from Eoin Colfer already (didn't he do that Artemis Fowl series? Never read any of that...) so this isn't just him trying to get a big name for his debut, he's an established writer on his own (I'll just presume "Eoin" is a male name).

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    77. Re:meh by Lachlan+Hunt · · Score: 2, Informative

      The first series (aka. The Primary Phase) was first, followed shortly after by the first book. Both The second series (The Secondary Phase) and and the second book were released in 1980, though I think the radio series predated by the book by a few months. The subsequent series from the Tertiary through Quintessential phases weren't recorded from 2003 onwards, well after books 3 to 5.

      Personally, I like the radio series and the TV series better than the books. Though, I really hate the 2005 film, I saw it once when it came out and I never want to see it again.

      --
      By reading this signature, you hereby agree with the content of the above comment.
    78. Re:meh by Lachlan+Hunt · · Score: 1

      The subsequent series from the Tertiary through Quintessential phases weren't recorded from 2003 onwards, well after books 3 to 5.

      Oops, I meant the phases were recorderd from 2003 onwards.

      --
      By reading this signature, you hereby agree with the content of the above comment.
    79. Re:meh by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      Also, the new /. appearance is very confusing. Why would you put a separation line *before* the link to the comments?

      That's intentional?! I thought it was a layout screwup!

      Given the history of Slashdot's "improvements", those two are nothing approaching "mutually exclusive."

    80. Re:meh by KDR_11k · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      I prefer to pretend Monstrous Regiment never existed. The only reason that ending wasn't predictable was because I expected Pratchett to be better than that.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    81. Re:meh by itsdapead · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You didn't read Discworld, then?

      Depends which ones: The first couple of Discworld books were very much a series of set-piece jokes tied together by a loose plot - very much like the Hitch-Hikers Guide but with wizzards and dragons instead of robots and space ships... However, as the books went on the emphasis shifted from comedy towards plot and character.

      The recent City Watch books are more hard-boiled detective and social commentary. Pratchett's most recent book, "Nation" was decidedly not a comedy.

      Mind you, I get the distinct impression that Pratchett sets out to tell the story he wants to tell and doesn't really agonize over genres. You can only spot his children's books because they're 50 pages shorter and omit the full lyrics of "The Hedgehog Song".

      --
      In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
    82. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Spaceman Spiff was indeed one of the greatest minds of our time... Of course...that really just shows how sad and pathetic the minds of our time have been.

    83. Re:meh by fran6gagne · · Score: 1

      Just add some bacon! Bacon makes everything taste better.

    84. Re:meh by NickFortune · · Score: 1

      They're very different in places (every new version of THHGTTG needs to contradict all others, a tradition that even the recent mediocre movie continued), and stand very well on their own.

      That was the problem really. More precisely, the tone and pacing of the latter books as completely different. The lost that madcap, gag-a-minute feel, and the style would have been far better fitted for Dirk Gently, but I guess Dirk just didn't sell the way HHTG did.

      The other problem was that the later books were, in comparison to the early stuff at least, almost devoid of ideas. I mean look at "So long and thanks for all the fish". Dolphins, Wonko the Sane, Gods Final Message and about eight chapters of padding disguised as Arthur's relationship with Fenchurch. DNA burned off more (and better) ideas in the first half of the first radio show.

      --
      Don't let THEM immanentize the Eschaton!
    85. Re:meh by mcvos · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Hmm. I'd say they started that way - Colour Of Magic and Light Fantastic were clearly just parodies of "high fantasy" - but the order changed over time. I think he started focussing on Humour after about the 4th book, which contained a healthy dose of misanthropically insightful philosophy (since this is the source of most of his humour.) Eventually he seemed to move on to using humour to tell us things about the world, with fantasy being just a backdrop.

      It's become less satire of existing fantasy, and more insights about our own world, culture and history, but it's still fantasy. It's just not fantasy about fantasy anymore, it's now fantasy about our own world. The humour was already there in the first books. It's a less sophisticated humour, but it's definitely intentionally funny.

      But even later books occasionally satirized fiction rather than reality. Many of the Witches books are about fairy tales, for example. It's just not about Fritz Leiber, Anne McCaffrey and Lovecraft anymore. But most of his modern audience has probably never heard of those names anyway.

      I agree he has grown a lot over the years. I still love his earlier books (even his pre-Discworld books like Strata and Dark Side of the Sun), but some of his later books (Thud! and Going Postal are just so amazingly awesome I just can't find words for it.

      I consider him the best writer of this day (but I'm sure many will disagree).

    86. Re:meh by mcvos · · Score: 1

      Monstrous Regiment wasn't my favourite either. Bits of it were really really good, but many of his other books have just that little bit extra.

    87. Re:meh by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Have you read it? In most cases you're right, but HHGTG had me laughing out loud in many places and at least smiling all the way through. Humor can be funny without making one laugh; amusement is enough. Those of us who love reading can enjoy a book about mowing the lawn if it's well written.

    88. Re:meh by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      We have the same problem in the US. The southerners are hogging all the Rs, and the poor New Englanders don't have any at all!

    89. Re:meh by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      After all, he was the guy who figured out humour for the geek.

      Isaac Asimov beat him to it by decades. Many of his short stories are very funny, although not as funny as Adams', and are pure nerd humor. The thiotimoline stories are humorous, but nobody but a geek would enjoy them. Another great one was Pate de foi gras. There are others as well; he was a biochemist doing research at Boston University, and twisted real science in these stories.

    90. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I always thought I was a bit warped for finding Catch 22 funny on the whole... Good to know I wasn't the only one.

    91. Re:meh by johndiii · · Score: 1

      Aoife Clancy had fun with it, the last time I heard her sing live. Rather a different sort of thing, for a midwestern US audience.

      There's also Eithne, though that's a bit more well-known these days.

      --
      Floating face-down in a river of regret...and thoughts of you...
    92. Re:meh by RoverDaddy · · Score: 1

      Personally I think this crowd is trashing the books more than is warranted, and the person pointing out the lack of respect for the written word (vs the more limited depth of radio/TV/movies) is right on. I do agree with you that the whole Fenchurch thing was a low point in the series (I haven't read the books in years but I do recall really disliking that part), and the ending of Mostly Harmless was so upsetting it sparked actual anger in myself (and apparently in others I've discussed the story with). However, Mostly Harmless had some absolutely outstanding flashes of creativity (The Domain of the King being my favorite), but I'm still looking forward to seeing how another author might envision Adams' universe going forward.

      --
      RETURN without GOSUB in line 1050
    93. Re:meh by mcphail · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      You are aware that the correct spelling is "fetus"? "Foetus" would be derived from the Latin for "stench" - which tends to be a post-partum phenomenon!

      --
      Testiculos habet et bene pendentes.
    94. Re:meh by Mastadex · · Score: 1

      I would like to subscribe to your news letter.

      --
      A morning without coffee is like something without something else.
    95. Re:meh by kalel666 · · Score: 1

      You have it easy, moans Frank Herbert, as his ghost is violated by Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert...

      --
      I HAVE CUBIC WISDOM THAT TRANSCENDS AND CONTRADICTS ONE DAY GODS
    96. Re:meh by Col.+Bloodnok · · Score: 1

      I can't finish a Discworld book precisely because I can't stand the lightweight, repetitive humour.

      Humour is subjective of course.

    97. Re:meh by DavidTC · · Score: 1

      I agree. The third and fourth books were a Dirk Gently book, and the fifth book was, in a way, the ultimate Dirk Gently one.

      I mean, 'Reverse Temporal Engineering'? That's essentially the solution in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

      That said, I liked both styles, so I had no problems with the later books. But I can see why people did. The first two HHGTTG books were crazy 'Look at this absurd universe via the eyes of a normal person', whereas the later ones were 'Weird stuff keeps happening to this guy', two plots premises which are not entirely dissimilar.

      It wasn't helped by Adams having to shoehorn Dent into whereever he needed to be for the plot of the book, instead of where he'd been before.

      You have to wonder how fast Dirk would have figured out the whole Krikkit thing.

      Incidentally, I always get confused at the assertions that Adams killed everyone off at the end of the Mostly Harmless. Not only is Zaphod out there, but Fenchurch is somewhere in the multiverse.

      And I love Artemis Fowl, but I have no idea how well the humor will translate. A lot of the Artemis Fowl humor is how smart and somewhat amoral Fowl is, and everyone is mostly competent. That is not how things work in the HHGTTG universe.

      --
      If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
    98. Re:meh by xep · · Score: 1

      I highly recommend getting the HHGTTG audio books, especially for people who preferred the radio drama. Douglas Adams has an amazing reading voice; There is a lot of humor that he puts into his reading that never would have translated as well from the book alone.

    99. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      "Oh, Dear." uttered the ghost of Douglas. The ghosts of the other authors twittered behind him. "We told you this would happen" spat Tolkien, who had assumed a rather ungainly set of almost holographic elven ears...

      Now I find myself wondering what a fourth Lord Of The Rings book would look like. A servant of Sauron survives, and Frodo comes back from the west to kick his ass? A servant of Sauron somehow managed to infect those western lands across the sea, and Aragorn takes an army to conquer those lands?

      I'm sure other slashdotters can think up much more painful plots for a sequel.

      Interesting enough, some time after the release J.R.R. Tolkien actually attempted to write a story set in Post-LOTR Middle Earth. As I recall, it was set centuries later and the main antagonists were a group of Men that found Orc skeletons and artificts in ruins in what used to be Mordor, eventually setting up a cult worshiping Sauron (or maybe it was Morgoth) that tries to take over Middle Earth. However, Tolkien never got farther than the basic plot outline, because he realized that both the magic and epic scale would have left his fictional world. This is because his fiction has a general trend of the fantastic elements disappearing and the world gradually becoming the mundane world we know.

    100. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >The ghosts of the other authors twittered behind him.

      The proper form of the verb is "tweeted".

    101. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the Python's were quite good at satirizing this sort of thing - and Adams would have a good turn at it, himself: "The Contractual Obligation Beyond the Reasonable End of the Universe", or so.

      COBREU!!!!!!!!

    102. Re:meh by GlyphedArchitect · · Score: 1

      It would most likely be derived from Lord of the Rings Online chatlogs, featuring 8 characters named xXxLeGoLlasxX

    103. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    104. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eoin is a perfectly standard spelling in Gaelic, we tend to use too many vowels, a friend of mine, Aoife (pronounced eefa) has great fun in other English speaking countries. Now try Aodhan, ;)

      How about you quit hogging all those vowels and share some with those poor Welsh?

      I dunno, it's not that that the Irish have too many, it's just they weren't spread out too well. Take my (Irish) friend Sadhbh for example. How the hell is that supposed to be pronounced Saive?

    105. Re:meh by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      It is a strange, slightly pretentious way to write Ian.

      Euan, Iain and Ieuan are slightly pretentious ways to write Ian. If Eoin really is a variant of Ian it'd max out your pretentiometer.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    106. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The BBC RADIO series most certainly predated the books.

    107. Re:meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Welsh has enough vowels, thank you very much. The problem is that eventually the Latin character set was used to write the language.

      So FYI, W and Y are vowels in Welsh. Since Latin was a bit short of consonants, too, some had to be written by combinations of two, such as RH, FF and LL.

      I'm told Irish Gaelic is even weirder. My guide Aoife was proud to have four out of five (modern-day) vowels in her first name :-)

    108. Re:meh by Chris+Burke · · Score: 1

      It is smart, funny, and so obviously about humanity that if the Vogans showed had little tags that read 'post office' or 'DMV' it would go quickly from funny to sadly real.

      Sweet Mary Mother of God. Thank you for making me realize how grateful I should be that of all the indignities I've suffered at the hands of DMV workers, at least none of them have ever tried to read poetry at me.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    109. Re:meh by mfnickster · · Score: 1

      > It's pronounced how it's spelled. Oh-in col-fer

      No, it's spelt 'Eoin Colfer', but it's pronounced 'Throatwobbler Mangrove'.

      --
      "Slow down, Cowboy! It has been 3 years, 7 months and 26 days since you last successfully posted a comment."
  2. Oh, come on... by schon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They said the same thing about the Hollywood movie, and look how that turned...

    Oh, CRAP!

    1. Re:Oh, come on... by rogueleader25 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, really. Now I want to go watch the movie again...

    2. Re:Oh, come on... by Abreu · · Score: 5, Informative

      However, all the major changes in the movie script were penned by Adams himself.

      The radio, book and movie versions of HHGTTG were all supposed to be different in their own way.

      --
      No sig for the moment.
    3. Re:Oh, come on... by Macthorpe · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think it's more pertinent to point out that one person has said that he didn't find it funny. Now, call me old-fashioned, but since when did it warrant an entire Slashdot story based on one person's opinion of a book that hasn't even been released yet? Maybe I'm not with the times.

      So, in a bit of an experiment, I did try and tell the BBC that I watched a pre-release version of 'Avatar' and I thought it was average, but oddly enough they didn't want to screen my interview...

      --
      "It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him." - Tolkien
    4. Re:Oh, come on... by sayfawa · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I didn't know that but, in retrospect, it makes sense. I knew, as I watched it, that there were significant deviations from the book. But it was still funny and entertaining in the same way that I expected a Douglass Adams work to be.

      --
      Free the Quark 3 from asymptotic confinement! Bring your charm! Don't get down! All colours and flavours welcome!
    5. Re:Oh, come on... by Tumbleweed · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They said the same thing about the Hollywood movie, and look how that turned...

      You know, the movie is definitely not as _funny_ as the books, but I think they definitely made the main characters more _likeable_, especially Arthur. If you paid attention, they showed Ford using a towel in many of the appropriate ways, they just didn't call attention to it, which, to me, wasted a great opportunity.

      For me, the funniest parts of the books are the excerpts from the Guide (especially the part about how the Babel Fish has been used for the non-existence of God). If they had added just a couple of minutes to put those into the movie, I think I would've liked it much, much more.

      I love how they slipped the Marvin costume from the old tv show into the scene where there're a lot of people standing in line. Plus you've got to admit Alan Rickman *IS* Marvin. Who knew Marvin and Professor Snape had so much in common?

    6. Re:Oh, come on... by yoshi_mon · · Score: 1

      Correct me if I'm wrong here but I also remember Adams saying that he never thought the HHGTTG could really work in anything but print. And because of a lack of trying on his part either. Just that whenever he worked at trying to make the whole idea behind HHGTTG in another medium even he thought it was lacking.

      Even when I was watching the movie I tried to keep an open mind because I knew it could not be the same as the book(s). But even with me trying to accept it on that different format and what I thought was a honest effort on the part of the movie it just fell flat for me. (And most everyone else.)

      There are just some things you can't change very much without having it lose what was special.

      --

      Really, I know what I'm doing...Ohhhh, look at the shiny buttons!
    7. Re:Oh, come on... by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 5, Informative

      Correct me if I'm wrong here but I also remember Adams saying that he never thought the HHGTTG could really work in anything but print. And because of a lack of trying on his part either. Just that whenever he worked at trying to make the whole idea behind HHGTTG in another medium even he thought it was lacking.

      The problem with this theory is that HHGTTG didn't start its life in print. It was originally a radio play. And he was more than happy to try it out in other media formats.

      --
      This guy's the limit!
    8. Re:Oh, come on... by philljcool · · Score: 1

      I believe Slashdot has an entire type of story dedicated to this: reviews. I agree that multiple data points would be better, but there is a bit of a tradition around this "review" thing.

    9. Re:Oh, come on... by drosboro · · Score: 1

      That would seem like an odd thing for him to have said, since the book came AFTER the radio series.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy

      And, let's not forget about the text adventure game! Possibly one of my favourite ways to enjoy the story, and you can play online too:

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

    10. Re:Oh, come on... by AlHunt · · Score: 1

      >The radio, book and movie versions of HHGTTG were all supposed to be different in their own way.

      Mission accomplished.

      --
      1 in 4 Maine children in struggle with hunger.
    11. Re:Oh, come on... by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 2, Funny

      And had he said Carrot Top was who authored them, you'd have said "It makes sense. It was cheesy and retarded all in the same breath"

      --

      "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    12. Re:Oh, come on... by Macthorpe · · Score: 4, Funny

      Except that isn't what this is. What it is, is a link to a story which links to a review.

      It's 2 orders of stupidity away from actually reviewing a book - if you spoke to a friend of yours, and they said "Oh yeah, I know this guy who knows this other guy who's read the book and he totally says it's boring and stuff", you'd laugh at them and possibly break their ankles for wasting your time.

      --
      "It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him." - Tolkien
    13. Re:Oh, come on... by Wannabe+Code+Monkey · · Score: 2, Informative

      For me, the funniest parts of the books are the excerpts from the Guide (especially the part about how the Babel Fish has been used for the non-existence of God). If they had added just a couple of minutes to put those into the movie, I think I would've liked it much, much more.

      Correct me if I'm wrong, but I specifically remember excerpts from the book being presented in the movie. Didn't they have a voice over by Stephen Fry?

      --
      We always knew Comcast was corrupt, here's the proof: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1909890&cid=34545432
    14. Re:Oh, come on... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure you're not thinking of the series?

    15. Re:Oh, come on... by rainmaestro · · Score: 1

      I was disappointed in how they handled the towel. I went with a few friends, and being the only person who had actually *read* the books, I had to explain the significance of the towels. Of all the Guide entries to leave out, why that one?

      And yeah, Alan was absolutely *perfect* as Marvin.

    16. Re:Oh, come on... by schon · · Score: 1

      However, all the major changes in the movie script were penned by Adams himself.

      The problem is that it was the minor changes (ie. removing all the funny bits) that made it unwatchable.

      The radio, book and movie versions of HHGTTG were all supposed to be different in their own way.

      So you're trying to tell me that Adams decided that he didn't want the movie to be funny?

      I suppose it could be some last practical joke of his, but somehow, I doubt it.

    17. Re:Oh, come on... by schon · · Score: 1

      You know, the movie is definitely not as _funny_ as the books, but I think they definitely made the main characters more _likeable_, especially Arthur.

      The movie not being "as funny" is an understatement among the lines of "you know, being hit in the balls with a 5 pound sledge hammer is definitely not as _pleasant_ as a blowjob, but it's easier to get."

      Yes, the characters were more likeable. Unfortunately, they did it at the expense of making the movie as a whole unlikable. They could have made the characters more sympathetic without removing the humor, instead they chose to do both, to the detriment of all.

      I borrowed the movie from my local library. It cost me $0, and yet I feel I paid too much.

    18. Re:Oh, come on... by Eskarel · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I liked the movie actually.

      It wasn't really the guide, though what the guide is is a little bit fluid, there's the tv mini series, the two different radio series, the books in print, the books on tape read by Adam's himself, as well as the movie. They're all very different, and all funny in their own way. A bit like Monty Python in a sense, the best sketches were done so many times and always involved at least some improvisation so those lines embedded in your brain may not actually be in the version you read/watch.

      It was however, at least I thought, in the spirit of the guide. It's a little less bitter and twisted than the originals were, but if Douglas Adams himself was a lot less cynical and bitter towards the end so that's not really all that surprising. My understanding is that the whole thing started because Douglas Adams used to make a tv show where the world exploded at the end of every episode and he wondered what it would be like to start a story with the world exploding instead. The Douglas Adams of later years was not that same person.

      The biggest problem with the movie was that most people seem to only believe that one of the many formats is the true guide. Some people don't even know there was a radio drama, or a tv mini series, and they don't realize that the universe was different every single time, and so they expect the movie to be the books, but on film, which it wasn't and wasn't supposed to be. The fact that Douglas Adams died before the movie was released, just adds to things because those same people can blame Hollywood for ruining the story, when the reality is that Douglas Adams was heavily involved with the process and the result would likely have been very similar had he survived.

    19. Re:Oh, come on... by yoshi_mon · · Score: 1

      Fair enough. If I could amend my comment then I think maybe it was more in reference to him saying something along the lines of it being hard to adapt the HHGTTG to something beyond what could be done with just the written word. (Yes I played the old Infocom games too. The HHGTTG one was a classic.)

      The main idea being that going from just text or speech to video does not always work 1:1. I often think of one of my favorite series that I'd love to see put into some sort of video, be it animated or live action, Harry Harrison's SSR series. However I also can see why trying to do something like that would be pretty damn hard even in the best of circumstances.

      We humans can do such a great job connecting ideas in our mind when just reading or listening to something. But when you add video you remove that need for our mind to make such connections. And, I think, that part of the magic that some writers have is knowing how to make those connections seem funny, sad, exciting, etc.

      That is not to say that video is bad. I love a lot of video that paints a story that is great even without me having my own paint my own picture. What I'm saying is that some ideas just don't translate back and forth that well. I'm pretty sure that Adams knew that himself and that he even said as much at one point. And even if he never said that exactly well I'm saying it now dammit! So long and thanks for all the fish!

      --

      Really, I know what I'm doing...Ohhhh, look at the shiny buttons!
    20. Re:Oh, come on... by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 1

      If you paid attention, they showed Ford using a towel in many of the appropriate ways, they just didn't call attention to it, which, to me, wasted a great opportunity.

      You think it is a wasted opportunity to be subtle? (I had to link to a UK dictionary because I could not find the word in any US one)

      This is exactly the sort of film that lends itself to having in-jokes for the rabid fans who can recite the radio series verbatim and have the book entries tatooed on their bodies. Unfortunately, those same fans are the ones who complain bitterly at any deviation from the original version despite the fact that this is not unprecedented.

      It all comes down to the appropriate use of the media. In the radio show, someone has to say "look at that towel"; the book can just describe the towel and the film can just show the towel. The beauty of Hitchhiker's Guide is that all of the different versions compliment each other. To get the best from any one version of it, you should watch/hear/read the other versions.

      The real missed opportunity was not to have made hundreds of book entries for the DVD version as interactive extras that pop up during the film. They could have optionally doubled the length of the film with extra book bits - thus retaining the pace of the film while making the fans happy. Most of the time, the book entries are an aside. That's a perfect use of the branching video of the DVD format.

    21. Re:Oh, come on... by Wannabe+Code+Monkey · · Score: 1

      Sure you're not thinking of the series?

      Scene from the recent movie about the point of view gun (skip to about 1:30): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh8R7MwtVC0

      Guide entry from old the BBC miniseries about babelfish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcncPpQ8loA

      Same guide entry from the recent movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyYS-GzBSIg

      --
      We always knew Comcast was corrupt, here's the proof: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1909890&cid=34545432
    22. Re:Oh, come on... by wallsg · · Score: 1

      I think it's more pertinent to point out that one person has said that he didn't find it funny. Now, call me old-fashioned, but since when did it warrant an entire Slashdot story based on one person's opinion of a book that hasn't even been released yet?

      Are you new here?

    23. Re:Oh, come on... by dctoastman · · Score: 1

      But he died before the movie was finished. Reading about Adams's work habits, I'm inclined to believe that there would've been significant tinkering up to and during actual filming. People were probably too respectful of his death to change anything about the movie once he died. The movie felt like something that was almost, but not quite there.

    24. Re:Oh, come on... by Veggiesama · · Score: 1

      For me, the funniest parts of the books are the excerpts from the Guide (especially the part about how the Babel Fish has been used for the non-existence of God). If they had added just a couple of minutes to put those into the movie, I think I would've liked it much, much more.

      While I agree with you, the producers believed the Guide segments were slowing down the narrative pace, especially in the beginning where lots of Guide segments were used. There's only so much you can put in 1.5 to 2 hours of film and expect a brisk, action-packed story (in contrast to the whimsical, sometimes meandering pace of the book). Two different mediums, two different beasts, and two different presentation philosophies of the same story.

      Anyway, they actually produced (most of) the Babel fish segment for the DVD release, seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ctoT7ezTE

    25. Re:Oh, come on... by Sopor42 · · Score: 1

      Not wrong. Stephen Fry was the Narrator and read all of the Guide entries. But the OP was not wrong either... what point are you making?

    26. Re:Oh, come on... by genner · · Score: 1

      And had he said Carrot Top was who authored them, you'd have said "It makes sense. It was cheesy and retarded all in the same breath"

      Carrot Top did write the script just like he did for the Matrix Sequels.

    27. Re:Oh, come on... by Jurily · · Score: 2, Interesting

      But it was still funny and entertaining in the same way that I expected a Douglass Adams work to be.

      It was funny and entertaining in the same way I expected a movie version of a book to be.

      Much of the fun in the books come from the unique descriptions Mr. Adams used. Trying to preserve those on screen felt forced at best, and broke the film into small pieces connected with long pauses. Not good.

      Also, I found the Vogons to be more pathetic than ugly and scary.

    28. Re:Oh, come on... by kreyg · · Score: 1

      I always got the feeling that the script was pretty good, but the delivery of many of the lines and the overall direction and execution fell a bit flat.

      --
      sig fault
    29. Re:Oh, come on... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In his preface to The Ultimate Hitchhicker's Guide, Adams explains how each book movie, radio broadcast basically is completely more correct than the last book in all fact even when contracting and all previous story lines, but any ties to other stories is merely coincidental.

      "I wrote a fourth and last book in the trilogy, So Long, And thanks for all the fish. This was published in Britain and the USA in the fall of 1984 and it effectively contradicted everything to date, up to and including itself."

      I only expect one think from Adams: to be completely random, witty and to make no sense while trying to convince you he's totally logical and makes perfect sense.

    30. Re:Oh, come on... by LKM · · Score: 1

      The movie felt like something that was almost, but not quite there.

      Like telling a joke, but forgetting the punch line. Coincidentally, this is what they did to most of the jokes in the movie.

    31. Re:Oh, come on... by IntlHarvester · · Score: 1

      I think it's more pertinent to point out that one person has said that he didn't find it funny.

      Fanboys decide, Slashdot reports

      --
      Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
    32. Re:Oh, come on... by Jeremi · · Score: 1

      But even with me trying to accept it on that different format and what I thought was a honest effort on the part of the movie it just fell flat for me. (And most everyone else.)

      I was initially disappointed by the movie also; I think that's because I was expecting it to be as funny as the book, and it wasn't. On a second watching on DVD, however, I was able to stop comparing it to the book and just enjoy it on its merits, and at that point I was able to appreciate it a good deal more -- it is, in fact, a good movie, when it's not obscured by the shadow of the books and the radio plays (neither of which had to cram everything into 90 minutes). My sister (who has never read any HHGTTG books) liked the movie even more than I did, which suggests to me that my initially disappointment was largely caused by my outsized expectations.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    33. Re:Oh, come on... by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

      gt; If you paid attention, they showed Ford using a towel in many of the appropriate ways, they just didn't call attention to it, which, to me, wasted a great opportunity.

      You think it is a wasted opportunity to be subtle?

      I think making a movie ONLY for the fans of the books, and removing the parts of the book that IS THE TITLE OF THE MOVIE is perhaps not the best idea. If they wanted to only please the fans of the books, they should've refused to make the movie in the first place. If they wanted to make a faithful cinematic version of the book, they should've put in the funniest parts of the book, which to me, are the excerpts of the Guide itself. It worked well in the tv series; there's no reason why maybe 5 minutes tops of screen time couldn't have been made to work.

    34. Re:Oh, come on... by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

      While I agree with you, the producers believed the Guide segments were slowing down the narrative pace, especially in the beginning where lots of Guide segments were used.

      It worked quite well in the tv series, I thought, but oh well, I guess it was more important to make an unfunny movie with great narrative pacing. *shrug*

    35. Re:Oh, come on... by tygerstripes · · Score: 3, Interesting

      For all the criticisms I've heard about the film - some of them justifiable, some just uninformed fan-boy ranting - there is one aspect in which the film excelled: The Book.

      Perfectly quirky, simple-looking, clean animation, a "please remain calm" backing track, and the narration masterfully voiced by a calm, eloquent Stephen Fry. Just about the only person who could've done it better than the two radio-series narrators. I feel confident in saying it will never be done better.

      --
      Meta will eat itself
    36. Re:Oh, come on... by Don_dumb · · Score: 1

      My sister (who has never read any HHGTTG books) liked the movie even more than I did, which suggests to me that my initially disappointment was largely caused by my outsized expectations.

      I had a similar reaction but I realised that one of the problems was that the jokes were the same famous jokes from the radio show, which I had just listened to in anticipation of the film - therefore the punchlines had less punch when you were saying them in your head.
      Very few comedies make me belly laugh when I already know the joke. In truth I found it to be well directed and acted, just no new jokes.

      --
      If this were really happening, what would you think?
    37. Re:Oh, come on... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm still not getting this. The version of the film I saw (in cinema) definitely had Guide segments.

    38. Re:Oh, come on... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are also the albums, which were released after the radio shows, but were not actual copies of the shows, but rerecordings, with added parts designed to withstand repeated listenings.

    39. Re:Oh, come on... by uninformedLuddite · · Score: 1

      "You're thinking along the wrong lines," said Marvin, "You're failing to take into account something fairly basic in the relationship between men and robots."

      "Er, I know," said the battle machine, "is it ..." it tailed off into thought again.

      "Just think," urged Marvin, "they left me, an ordinary, menial robot, to stop you, a gigantic heavy-duty battle machine, whilst they ran off to save themselves. What do you think they would leave me with?"

      "Oooh, er," muttered the machine in alarm, "something pretty damn devastating I should expect."

      "Expect!" said Marvin, "oh yes, expect. I'll tell you what they gave me to protect myself with shall I?"

      "Yes, alright," said the battle machine, bracing itself.

      "Nothing," said Marvin.

      --
      The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
    40. Re:Oh, come on... by ciderVisor · · Score: 1

      But when you add video you remove that need for our mind to make such connections.

      "I like radio because the pictures are better".

      --
      Squirrel!
    41. Re:Oh, come on... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it's more pertinent to point out that one person has said that he didn't find it funny. Now, call me old-fashioned, but since when did it warrant an entire Slashdot story based on one person's opinion of a book that hasn't even been released yet?

      Isn't that exactly what Slashdot Book Reviews are?

    42. Re:Oh, come on... by Aladrin · · Score: 1

      "If you paid attention, they showed Ford using a towel in many of the appropriate ways, they just didn't call attention to it"

      I apparently need to rewatch the movie as there are depths to it that I missed the first time.

      And because I feel the need to chime in:

      I was disappointed in many of the changes, especially Zaphod's head, and the fact that Adams okay'd those changes helps a bit... But I'd still rather they stuck to the book a bit better.

      Not that the movie wasn't good... It just wasn't as good as it could have been.

      --
      "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
    43. Re:Oh, come on... by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      This is what the Guide has to say about Douglas Adams:

      Douglas Adams, a figure from a fictious universe where the Earth still exists, is most famous for having invented the reality. Unfortunately he died before he could finish his work. His grave is found easily, because he's spinning rapidly due to what his followers did to his work by trying to imitate him, poorly.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    44. Re:Oh, come on... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget the text adventure (video game)!

    45. Re:Oh, come on... by mcvos · · Score: 1

      And had he said Carrot Top was who authored them, you'd have said "It makes sense. It was cheesy and retarded all in the same breath"

      I wouldn't be surprised if Douglas Adams wrote the original script, and then Carrot Top started messing with it. It has a few really good points (the point-of-view gun is the primary example), but is awfully lame in other places.

      Also, I preferred the Zaphod with the plastic head on his shoulder.

    46. Re:Oh, come on... by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      ou know, the movie is definitely not as _funny_ as the books, but I think they definitely made the main characters more _likeable_, especially Arthur.

      I'll agree there, if you allow for an exception: Fucking Zaphod. WTF?

      Plus you've got to admit Alan Rickman *IS* Marvin. Who knew Marvin and Professor Snape had so much in common?

      Indeed. The only thing that could have made his delivery of the part better was if it didn't seem to be emanating from something apparently designed by Apple...

    47. Re:Oh, come on... by Eskarel · · Score: 1

      Or I suppose technically starship titanic or whatever it was called, which Adams was pretty involved in too, even if it's more of a spin off.

    48. Re:Oh, come on... by c · · Score: 1

      > since when did it warrant an entire Slashdot story based on one person's
      > opinion of a book that hasn't even been released yet?

      An entire Slashdot story dedicated to bashing one person's opinion of something, anything... it's pretty much the official sport of Slashdot. The main difference in this particular story is that is has absolutely nothing to do with Dvorak.

      c.

      --
      Log in or piss off.
    49. Re:Oh, come on... by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      The only thing I didn't like about the movie was that Marvin's diodes didn't hurt; or if they did, he didn't complain about them.

    50. Re:Oh, come on... by idontgno · · Score: 1

      The movie felt like something that was almost, but not quite there.

      So, what you're saying is that the movie is "almost, but not quite, entirely unlike H2G2."

      I wonder if someone at Sirius Cybernetics get an uncredited script doctoring job.

      --
      Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
    51. Re:Oh, come on... by mshannon78660 · · Score: 1

      The only thing that could have made his delivery of the part better was if it didn't seem to be emanating from something apparently designed by Apple...

      Funny - that was the one thing I thought the movie really got right. I never liked the costume for Marvin in the TV miniseries - I didn't think it fit with the Sirius Cybernetics Corps Marketing Division definition of a robot as '... your plastic pal who's fun to be with'. Having the stylish, well designed exterior helps throw his depressed, misanthropic exterior into sharp relief...

    52. Re:Oh, come on... by Bob+The+Cowboy · · Score: 1

      Right, because:

      /. == BBC

      Obviously validates to True.

    53. Re:Oh, come on... by slodan · · Score: 1

      I've been disappointed whenever I've read a book by a secondary author writing within a primary author's world, even with the primary author's permission and blessing. Inevitably, the spark that drew me to the initial author is lost. The premier example in my mind is Brian Herbert's bastardization of the Dune series.

      I won't be reading Eoin Colfer's book.

    54. Re:Oh, come on... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i have to strongly disagree with alan rickman being perfect for marvin. I liked stephen moore from the mini series much better however the new body type did fit a lot better. rickman seemed to have a bit more anger in his voice while i saw marvin as just depressed.

    55. Re:Oh, come on... by Steve001 · · Score: 1

      Veggiesama wrote and included the following with a post:

      For me, the funniest parts of the books are the excerpts from the Guide (especially the part about how the Babel Fish has been used for the non-existence of God). If they had added just a couple of minutes to put those into the movie, I think I would've liked it much, much more.

      While I agree with you, the producers believed the Guide segments were slowing down the narrative pace, especially in the beginning where lots of Guide segments were used. There's only so much you can put in 1.5 to 2 hours of film and expect a brisk, action-packed story (in contrast to the whimsical, sometimes meandering pace of the book). Two different mediums, two different beasts, and two different presentation philosophies of the same story.

      Anyway, they actually produced (most of) the Babel fish segment for the DVD release, seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ctoT7ezTE

      I think the movie and book being two different mediums is the key. With a movie, you only have a limited amount of time to tell the story. Even with the amount of time available in the "Lord Of The Rings" series (the DVD versions I have runs a total of slightly more than 9.25 hours for the three movies) there were still things from the book that were left out of the movie.

      It is the same thing with comic books. Even a relatively short story in comic book form can become extremely long in another form. An example is the DC Comics' series "Infinite Crisis." As a comic book it was a total of six regular issues and one longer issue, and in novel form it is 371 pages. As a full-cast audiobook, "Infinite Crisis" is approximately 13 hours long, and it took that much time to get all of the story into the audiobook.

    56. Re:Oh, come on... by the_other_chewey · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Much of the fun in the books come from the unique descriptions Mr. Adams used.

      Exactly. How do you film a spaceship that hangs in the sky in much the same way that a brick doesn't?

    57. Re:Oh, come on... by martin-boundary · · Score: 1

      I think it's more pertinent to point out that one person has said that he didn't find it funny.

      Yeah. Who is that one person anyway? I'd like someone to explain exactly where that one person went wrong. And who knows? Maybe we'll find some more of that one person's greatest mistakes. Personally, I think that would be cool, and it should about wrap it up for that one person.

      Incidentally, if this post reads like everything you never wanted to know about HGTTG but have been forced to find out, be grateful. It could have been poetry.

    58. Re:Oh, come on... by Wannabe+Code+Monkey · · Score: 1

      Not wrong. Stephen Fry was the Narrator and read all of the Guide entries. But the OP was not wrong either... what point are you making?

      This is exactly what the OP stated:

      If they had added just a couple of minutes to put those into the movie, I think I would've liked it much, much more.

      Or in other words:

      P: they put guide entries into the movie
      Q: I would like it more

      Stated:
      P -> Q
      ~Q

      Therefore:
      ~P

      Since the OP did not "like it more", he's saying that the producers did not take the time to add guide entries to the movie. The point I was making was that there were indeed guide entries in the movie, and my mention of Stephen Fry was just to reinforce my recollection, so that it wasn't just me saying, "nuh uh, were too".

      --
      We always knew Comcast was corrupt, here's the proof: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1909890&cid=34545432
  3. Surprise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I only found the first two books funny. The rest... not so much.

    1. Re:Surprise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I found the first several chapters of the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to be very funny. Much like Family Guy.

      Then - repetition ad nauseam.

    2. Re:Surprise? by bradgoodman · · Score: 1

      I liked the first book so much I ran out and bought the series. By the time I got about half-way through the third? fourth? - I just gave up...

    3. Re:Surprise? by Mr.+Underbridge · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I only found the first two books funny. The rest... not so much.

      Third was pretty good. Not as good as the first two, but pretty good (in my opinion).

      The fourth was OK. Definitely a "OK, here's your damn book, get off my back." The best parts seemed self-referential - the supposedly final book is "so long, and thanks for all the fish?" Cute move.

      The fifth was hilarious in a way because it seemed to be a genial "fuck you" to forces that insisted on a new book. He closed the book in a very clever way that resulted in the main character being killed off.

      Then of course he died himself, which if he could have written it would have been hilarious. I mean no disrespect, but I think he'd have appreciated the symmetry.

    4. Re:Surprise? by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm totally blowing my ability to mod because of this, but I hated the ending of the last book for the longest time. Now I think it's kinda funny, like some kind of uber-joke you might not "get" for a while but keeps growing on you. It was a completely appropriate way to end the series.

      It matches extremely well with someone's explanation of where "42" actually came from - they said it's binary.

      Hold your hands up to your face, palms facing you, thumbs in.

      Now, assume each digit of "42" represents one hand - i.e. 4 is left hand 2 is right hand.

      Now, what's 4 in binary? 0100

      And what's 2 in binary? 0010

      Match your fingers with the digits, and you get a glorious double-middle-finger flipping off everyone, kinda like the ending of the 5th book.

      My favorite joke in the book, though, was the running "flowerpot that says 'oh no not again'" joke. That and flying. And crickett. Top 3, ok?

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
    5. Re:Surprise? by lennier · · Score: 1

      "The fourth was OK. Definitely a "OK, here's your damn book, get off my back.""

      It's weird, that. The fourth HHG is my favourite of all of DNA's work by a long shot. Probably because it's so dissimilar to the rest, and because it has a single cohesive storyline, and it has (what passes for) a happy ending.

      I mean, flying sex scene. With jumbo jet. Best. Thing. Ever.

      I think I like it so much because he was so 'off his stride' that he forgot to stop and make it cynical, miserable and depressing.

      --
      You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
    6. Re:Surprise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      It would need to be 44 because the middle finger is in the same position on both hands.

    7. Re:Surprise? by Rary · · Score: 1

      The fourth was OK. Definitely a "OK, here's your damn book, get off my back."

      The fourth was my least favourite at the time I read it, which was when I was 13 years old. The first three blew me away as a youngster, and the fifth, which came out when I was in my early twenties, was a welcome sigh of relief after what I perceived to be such a lackluster fourth book.

      However, after going back and re-reading the fourth a few times, I've come to the conclusion that it may actually be the best of the five (or maybe second best). It certainly has a different tone than the first three, but it's actually quite brilliant and hilarious.

      The fifth is a nice balance of the maturity of the fourth book with the zaniness of the first three. And then there's the Dirk Gently books, which are more along the lines of the fourth and fifth H2G2 books (and also brilliant). Salmon of Doubt had the potential to be just as good, but I guess we'll never know.

      --

      "You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein

    8. Re:Surprise? by clarkkent09 · · Score: 1

      It's weird, when I read the first one I did it in one sitting and I was laughing out loud the whole time. I went out the same day to get the next one and became a huge fan, waiting impatiently for each new book and buying it as soon as it hit the bookstores (as I remember it was years between books). Just for the hell of it I started reading them recently again (all 5 bound together into one volume) and while I appreciated the cleverness, I hardly cracked a smile. Not sure why, they just don't seem as good as I remembered them.

      --
      Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
    9. Re:Surprise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OMG! This has to be the best explanation of "the answer" I've ever heard.

    10. Re:Surprise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OMG! No, it's not. It's idiotic.

    11. Re:Surprise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My friend, there is no finer demonstration of geekedness than what I have witnessed here today. Well done.

    12. Re:Surprise? by Triv · · Score: 1

      My favorite joke in the book, though, was the running "flowerpot that says 'oh no not again'" joke. That and flying. And crickett. Top 3, ok?

      You may have gone off on a tangent without realizing it - all three of those things are from "Life, the Universe, and Everything," not "Mostly Harmless."

    13. Re:Surprise? by MaWeiTao · · Score: 1

      That interpretation for 42 is kind of cool, but I recall reading that Adams had nothing in mind when he chose the number. It was just a number.

      And I'm fairly certain Adams explained that the reason for the tone of the 5th book was that he was dealing with a number of personal issues. In fact, he started that he wasn't happy with how he ended the series, that he would have preferred ending it on an upbeat not, perhaps in a 6th book. In fact, the Wikipedia entry on the book states this as well.

    14. Re:Surprise? by Radical+Moderate · · Score: 1

      "Then of course he died himself, which if he could have written it would have been hilarious. I mean no disrespect, but I think he'd have appreciated the symmetry."

      I never really thought about that, but it's a good point. Thanks.

      --
      Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
    15. Re:Surprise? by Archibald+Buttle · · Score: 1

      Personally I never thought that Mostly Harmless was an FU. I enjoyed it immensely. Yes, it's down-beat compared to the other novels in the series, but Adams said that was a reflection of his life at the time. I believe most of it had been written when he was having relationship troubles.

      There is more than one possible way of interpreting the ending, and the events surrounding it. Arthur dying is clearly the obvious version, but there are other possibilities.

    16. Re:Surprise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If only DNA was American, where the middle finger is an insult, rather than English and writing at a time when the concept hadn't made it over the pond. Come back when you've worked out how it could be a V sign.

    17. Re:Surprise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It matches extremely well with someone's explanation of where "42" actually came from - they said it's binary.

      "The point" of 42 is that it doesn't mean anything, yet people will go through absurd contortions trying to give it some meaning as you have so admirably demonstrated.

    18. Re:Surprise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I, of course, like my explanation.

      Paradise!

      Take a pair-o'dice and all up the faces ... 42. :\

      _srr

    19. Re:Surprise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was another explanation as to the origin of "42"

      Ford and Arthur find the question to be, "what do you get if you multiply six by nine." Of course this doesn't work.... in base 10. In base thirteen it works!!

      When told of this however, Adams said, "Nobody writes jokes in base 13 [...] I may be a pretty sad person, but I don't make jokes in base 13."

  4. it doesn't matter by greymond · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No matter what author at any level of talent that had picked up the books and decided to continue them would be met with heresy or at very least a review of "not as good as the original".

    As a writer I know how to mimic the words of others, but it doesn't mean that a person with a significant and highly educated fan base wouldn't pick up on the subtle differences, because no matter how good someone try's to imitate another person, in writing, it's just not the same.

    Besides the fact that the expectations, especially those of slashdot's community, are so high you have little chance of being honored with anyone other than "mainstream" media who may have water on the brain, but enough money to throw at people to make them happy, even if slashdot or many fans don't approve.

    1. Re:it doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Question: Was Mostly Harmless as funny as the other ones? I didn't find it particularly funny, so perhaps the new author continued down the non-funny path started in mostly harmless and may have written it much as Douglas Adams would have?

    2. Re:it doesn't matter by EvanED · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I was also not a fan of Mostly Harmless; wikipedia says Adams said that he was disappointed with the bleak nature of the book, and would have written the 6th more upbeat; it's quite possible that this would have improved it.

      (Incidentally, anyone think that the reviewer missed the perfect opportunity to call the new book "mostly unfunny", or "almost but not quite entirely unlike humor"?)

    3. Re:it doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      As a writer I know.........no matter how good someone try's

      I sense that you may be enhancing your truthiness a tad.

    4. Re:it doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a writer I know how..........no matter how good someone try's

      Of course you are.

    5. Re:it doesn't matter by Aladrin · · Score: 1

      Also, an imitator is constantly limiting himself to the style of the original. The original is constantly striving to break his own limitations. An imitator could never produce a book as good as the original.

      --
      "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
    6. Re:it doesn't matter by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      I would even say that most people are unwilling to rate the new work fairly. I was a kid when I first read the HHGTTG It really opened my mind up to different ways of thinking. However, now when I read it I may pick up a couple of nuances but for the most part the enjoyment is a nostalgia effect. Reading the other books when they came out Played on the nostalgia effect. Now with a new author I am now would be reading it with more trepidation, and really comparing it vs. judging it on its own merits and giving it my OK before hand ignoring the boring parts, focusing on the good parts.

      Just like how Starwars ep. I,II,III weren't as good as IV, V, VI. Really if you watched IV, V, VI without the nostalgia you would probably go they are rather silly movies with a lot of bad acting. But because it was so long between the two movies it was allowed to sink into our culture. And we all pictured our own ideas what might have happened in Ep. 1,2,3 when it failed to meet our vision we didn't like it. I have always pictured Anakin Skywalker as more of a pure hero without showing signs of going dark. Until ep. III he was faced with a bunch of moral delemas which gradually turned him dark until he couldn't come back.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    7. Re:it doesn't matter by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      As a writer I know how to mimic the words of others, but it doesn't mean that a person with a significant and highly educated fan base wouldn't pick up on the subtle differences, because no matter how good someone try's to imitate another person

      Sorry, but I don't believe you're a writer.

    8. Re:it doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anon since I moderated.

      I bet he is mimicking words of someone else, like "try's".

    9. Re:it doesn't matter by mqduck · · Score: 1

      Besides the fact that the expectations, especially those of slashdot's community, are so high you have little chance of being honored with anyone other than "mainstream" media who may have water on the brain, but enough money to throw at people to make them happy, even if slashdot or many fans don't approve.

      On the contrary, the expectations are going to be very, very low. It's the standard against which it will be measured - largely due to that cynicism - that's unreachable.

      --
      Property is theft.
    10. Re:it doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a writer I know how to mimic the words of others, but it doesn't mean that a person with a significant and highly educated fan base wouldn't pick up on the subtle differences, because no matter how good someone try's to imitate another person, in writing, it's just not the same.

      A writer, you say?

  5. stupid by stoolpigeon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Adams was a genius and having someone else pick up where he left off with anything makes no sense. If they are that good - they should be writing their own stuff.

    I'll never forget the night I was baby-sitting some neighbor kids. They were in bed and I was watching PBS. A show came on and it was hilarious - that's how I found out about HHG - and once I got the books it was all over - I loved reading everything he wrote, even the unedited bits published after his death.

    --
    It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
    1. Re:stupid by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 1

      Agreed. Douglas Adams was a very unique writer, in terms of his sense of humor. It's an insanely difficult act to follow.

      And to be honest, I'm not sure I really want to read any attempts to do so. Why can't they just let a great series be a great series, instead of trying to extend it?

    2. Re:stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Adams was a genius and having someone else pick up where he left off with anything makes no sense. If they are that good - they should be writing their own stuff.

      Exactly when Frank Herbert's Dune should have been left alone.

    3. Re:stupid by SoupGuru · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Exactly. I'm going to record the next Jimi Hendrix album AND paint the next Picasso.

      The reason these guys are so successful is that their views of the world are so skewed from everyone else's and we love them for it.

      --
      What doesn't kill you only delays the inevitable
    4. Re:stupid by lena_10326 · · Score: 1

      And to be honest, I'm not sure I really want to read any attempts to do so. Why can't they just let a great series be a great series, instead of trying to extend it?

      If that thought were applied to movies, we'd have never had DS9 or the JJ Abrams Star Trek movie. Why is it OK for TV and movies but not novels? It's a common thought and I don't get it.

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    5. Re:stupid by ari_j · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I look at it this way ... if George Lucas himself can't come back a couple decades later and make another good Star Wars movie, why would you expect someone other than Douglas Adams to be able to revisit the series a couple decades down the road and do anything good with it?

    6. Re:stupid by Atlantis-Rising · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Perhaps it would have been for the best had we not had the JJ Abrams Star Trek movie.

      --
      "It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance
    7. Re:stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've enjoyed what I read of the newer Dune books personally, although I've only read two of them as far as I remember.

      Actually I haven't read past God Emperor in the original series. Should scrounge up the followups in both at some point.

    8. Re:stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A fair amount of people should be able to, but the writing process would be incredibly difficult.

      The problem here isn't writing a good book. It's writing a good book that's nigh indistinguishable from the original author's.

      Train a person to read all works penned by Douglas Adams and all his notes, listen to interviews by the man, and so on and so forth. Eventually that person will be able to write and think in a manner similar to the original...provided that the sources don't paint a wildly different picture due to changing opinions over time. Once you do all of that, you could create another "Douglas Adams" book.

    9. Re:stupid by Chuck+Chunder · · Score: 1

      It's an insanely difficult act to follow

      Adams' gift (or one of them) was the unexpected. I think anyone trying to write "as" Adams will inevitably fail because no matter how good a writer they are in their own right if they try write as they 'expect' Adams to write then it will be expected by the reader too.

      If case any one reading this likes HHGTG and hasn't read Adam's Dirk Gently novels I can only recommend to get them and read them.

      --
      Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
    10. Re:stupid by lena_10326 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Bull. It was the best in the series. The lense flares were overused but that does not invalidate it was a very well crafted movie.

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    11. Re:stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not having had DS9 would have been a good thing.

    12. Re:stupid by owlnation · · Score: 1

      If that thought were applied to movies, we'd have never had DS9 or the JJ Abrams Star Trek movie. Why is it OK for TV and movies but not novels?

      Who said it was ok for TV and Movies? Few sequels in those media are any good. As your examples prove.

    13. Re:stupid by lena_10326 · · Score: 1

      Slashdotters criticising things that were financially very successful. I'm shocked. No wait, I'm not. I sense jealousy.

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    14. Re:stupid by chromatic · · Score: 4, Funny

      I expect that there may be a few people in the world better at telling a consistent and coherent story than George Lucas.

    15. Re:stupid by JSBiff · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hey, just because *you're* not as good as Jimi Hendrix or Picasso doesn't mean that there is NOBODY in a planet with approx 6 Billion people that could make music in the same style as Jimi Hendrix, and do a good job of it. Or paint in a similar style to Picasso and be brilliant at it.

      The difference here is that, with music, there's no point is calling your album the "next Jimi Hendrix" album (unless you just want to be ridiculed by people), because music is essentially stand-alone. With fiction, you can certainly go write you own completely original (well, ok, there's no such thing as a *completely original* work of fiction, but you know what I mean), but that doesn't mean other people can't write perfectly good stories using your character and setting. I hear there are some pretty good Star Wars books that weren't written by George Lucas. I also hear there are some good Star Trek books which weren't written by Gene Roddenberry. Go to any bookstore, and you will find a whole shelf full of Forgotten Realms books, by a cadre of different authors, and they seems to be, for the most part, well received by fans of Forgotten Realms.

    16. Re:stupid by Enderandrew · · Score: 1

      The weird thing is that Adams himself said he spent the early part of his life trying to be John Cleese, until he realized that John Cleese was John Cleese, and that Adams should try being himself.

      Someone literally stole my copy of Salmon of Doubt from a coffee shop before I could finish reading it. I am a little curious. This new book, is it a continuation of what he started there, or something completely else?

      I'm also not sure the series needs continuation. The plot was never good. Adams never wanted more than three books. He spoke a length about being pressured into the fourth and fifth books. The fifth ended so definiteively that is REALLY hard to imagine further sequels. Honestly, the best parts of the books were the HHG entries and random asides.

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    17. Re:stupid by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I hear there are some pretty good Star Wars books that weren't written by George Lucas. I also hear there are some good Star Trek books which weren't written by Gene Roddenberry. Go to any bookstore, and you will find a whole shelf full of Forgotten Realms books, by a cadre of different authors, and they seems to be, for the most part, well received by fans of Forgotten Realms.

      There weren't any good Star Wars books written by George Lucas, nor Star Trek books by Gene Roddenberry. As for Forgotten Realms, as novels they were conceived as a sort of shared world. I'm not a Douglas Adams fan, but none of the Star Wars, Star Trek or Forgotten Realms books are in the same class as The Hitchhikers' Guide series.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    18. Re:stupid by Atlantis-Rising · · Score: 1

      The movie was terribly crafted. The only part of it that was at all well done was the fact that there was no sound in space, but other than that the movie had holes you could drive a tractor-trailer through- plot holes so large they actually detracted from the enjoyment of the movie, by making one seriously consider the writer's sanity.

      --
      "It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance
    19. Re:stupid by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 1

      The movie was terribly crafted. The only part of it that was at all well done was the fact that there was no sound in space, but other than that the movie had holes you could drive a tractor-trailer through- plot holes so large they actually detracted from the enjoyment of the movie, by making one seriously consider the writer's sanity.

      Agreed. But I liked a lot about it, too. I think they developed Kirk and Pike quite well. Also, those two actors really did a good job in their roles. That's a lot more than I'd come to expect from other Trek movies.

    20. Re:stupid by Atlantis-Rising · · Score: 1

      I admit that by the end of his tenure, I was sure William Shatner was playing the role for laughs more than anything else.

      --
      "It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance
    21. Re:stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      HAH

    22. Re:stupid by Kingrames · · Score: 1

      gah!
      You MORON. Star Wars is THE example of a series that got BETTER when someone else did the story!
      Knights of the old republic was superior to even the first three movies!
      Though it's a shit-fest now, Star Wars Galaxies, prior to the introduction of Jedi as an unlockable class, was the best MMO of its time, a wonderful game, and quite possibly the best MMO to date.

      Even the 5-minute completely fan-driven and made "Troops" which was purely a comedy sketch, was fantastic.
      Star wars becomes a bigger, better franchise BECAUSE of these works and many like them.

      --
      If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
    23. Re:stupid by schon · · Score: 1

      Douglas Adams was a very unique writer

      I disagree. There is no doubt he was unique , but only marginally so. I've read many authors which were much more unique than Adams. In fact, now that I think about it, the amount of unique ness he had was pretty common.

    24. Re:stupid by ari_j · · Score: 1

      Your point is valid, although it's interesting to note that every one of your examples was a different media than the original.

    25. Re:stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except George Lucas wrote all of the Star Wars movies at once. He didn't come back decades later and write them in. The story was there from the beginning.

    26. Re:stupid by I+don't+want+to+spen · · Score: 1
      That was Adams' real gift - it was his uniqueness being more unique that anyone else's. Anyone can be unique, but being more uniquely unique than anyone else needs a special talent.
      If only everyone could be as unique as him. I think we should try to mimic this uniqueness, maybe teach it in large classrooms where everyone can learn by rote exactly what made it unique and reproduce it in a precisely quantified manner.

      ... and so on ...

      --
      Don't go to a brothel if you want to buy broth
    27. Re:stupid by rho · · Score: 1

      The comparison to George Lucas isn't that outre. The "Hitchhiker's" brand--and it was a brand, make no mistake--did not necessarily improve with each successive addition. I got the distinct impression that Adams was phoning it in as the series lingered on. I read the later books more out of a sense of obligation than simple entertainment.

      Which isn't to say they were terrible, but they did have an odor about them, like Adams was taking the money and running. This edition was yet another attempt at the same, only you don't have going into it Adams's imprimatur. It's more clearly a desperate money-grab, and therefore harsher standards will naturally apply.

      --
      Potato chips are a by-yourself food.
    28. Re:stupid by sweetnavelorange · · Score: 0

      The difference here is that, with music, there's no point is calling your album the "next Jimi Hendrix" album (unless you just want to be ridiculed by people), because music is essentially stand-alone.

      Although, "finishing" unfinished classical works (Schubert's 8th, Mahler's 10th, Puccini's Turandot etc.) is a popular musicological pursuit, which could be said to be fairly similar.

    29. Re:stupid by ari_j · · Score: 1

      Every source I can find offhand agrees that Lucas wrote the prequel trilogy in the 90's. The general backstory was there from his work on Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but definitely not in 1977 and he definitely did not "write" the movies in any meaningful way back then.

    30. Re:stupid by SydShamino · · Score: 1

      Financial success has nothing to do with it. X-Men III was a financial success, but that doesn't mean Brett Rattner should ever be allowed near a movie set again.

      --
      It doesn't hurt to be nice.
    31. Re:stupid by UncleTogie · · Score: 1

      X-Men III was a financial success, but that doesn't mean Brett Rattner should ever be allowed near a movie set again.

      I refused to watch X3 after two, and not 'cause of the minor differences. When you have Jean Grey killing Scott, you've moved SO far from the tone of the original that you may as well be talking different characters. C'mon, those two were goofy for each other. I can't believe they screwed that up.

      --
      Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
    32. Re:stupid by FlyingSquidStudios · · Score: 1

      Captain Pendantic- Keeping the internet safe for grammar!

    33. Re:stupid by IntlHarvester · · Score: 1

      There weren't any good Star Wars books written by George Lucas, nor Star Trek books by Gene Roddenberry.

      FWIW, both were credited with movie novelizations. (Good or not.)

      --
      Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
    34. Re:stupid by julesh · · Score: 1

      Adams was a genius and having someone else pick up where he left off with anything makes no sense. If they are that good - they should be writing their own stuff.

      As I understand it, Adams requested that this book be written. He was unhappy with how the last one he wrote ended, and didn't want the series to end like that. That's the kind of request that a writer doesn't turn down.

    35. Re:stupid by clickclickdrone · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Bringing Lucas into the equation is an interesting one. I really liked the first 3 Star Wars movies but after that, I think it was just the force of the initial success pushing things along. If it weren't for those, most subsequent SW stuff whether it's the films or the novels wouldn't have been nearly as successful because frankly, they weren't that good. It was all intertia.
      For me, Adams is similar. I used to be a Radio 4 fan far earlier than was probably good for me and used to listen to it as a matter of course as a teen. I remember the first airing of the first episode and was so blown away by it I couldn't wait to get to school next day to tell everyonre about it. From then on, those first two series were like I'd died and gone to heaven. Ditto for the books. However, anything that came after that was for me, pretty lame. Even the later Dirk Gently books were pretty poorly written and had little compelling content. As someone else said, it is the Emporer's New Clothes - if Adams farted in a bottle everyone would say how fantastic it was. The reality was that it just wasn't - he was being held up by those first two HHGTTG series. Everything else he wrote after that was an also ran.
      Apart from anything else, he was by all accounts a nightmare to work with and left a trail of unfinished projects and pices for other people to pick up as he flitted from one thing to another. Look at the stories of the first and (subsequently canned second) Hitchhiker's Infocom games for examples.
      I wouldn't take anything away from him for those first two radio series - they were brilliant, whether by luck or ability but after that, it was intertia. Pretty much everyone I know read every subsequent book even though they freely admitted after each one it was more than a bit 'meh'.

      --
      I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
    36. Re:stupid by clickclickdrone · · Score: 1

      >I think they developed Kirk and Pike quite well.
      Kirk: Shields up, phasers to maximum. Prepare to engage.
      Pike: Don't Panic! Don't Panic!
      (That's going to go 'whoosh' for non Brit's I suspect)

      --
      I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
    37. Re:stupid by tpholland · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Maybe it's because TV and movies--regardless of how much the original director or writer put in--are always a team effort, the product of lots of different actors', artists' and technician's visions. A novel on the other hand is the unique product of a single imagination, so it inevitably carries a stronger stamp of its creator.

    38. Re:stupid by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      I feel that perhaps a Gaiman/Pratchett effort would have done a great job of extending the H2GT2G. Pity 'bout the alzheimers

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    39. Re:stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      George Lucas is actually the exception that proves the rule. I would expect that anyone else could have done the new Star Wars better.

    40. Re:stupid by NoMaster · · Score: 1

      If case any one reading this likes HHGTG and hasn't read Adam's Dirk Gently novels I can only recommend to get them and read them.

      Or you could just watch the Dr Who episodes "City of Death" and (the unfinished, but available) "Shada" - both the Dirk Gently novels are basically recycled ideas and scenes from those 2 of the 3 Who stories he wrote / edited.

      OK, "Shada" I can almost understand - it never completed production & was canned due to a BBC technician's strike. But recycling "City of Death" as the central concept of a book? Hell, it's wasn't even supposed to be a good story; merely an excuse for the cast & crew to run around Paris for a few days...

      (Sorry to rain on everybody's parade. 'Hitchhikers' was funny & fun when I was ~13, when the radio series came out, but I'd pretty much gotten over it by the time I was 16 or so. It ain't that funny (people keep mentioning Pratchett upthread, for good reason...), it ain't that deep (note: superficial concepts brought up then not developed, only to pop up repeatedly and get ignored again repeatedy != "deep"), it's about as philosophical as a 'Matrix' sequel - and there's much better stuff produced both before and after that leaves HHGG in its wake.

      Again, apologies - I know too many people who's bookshelves begin and end with Adams, and it's sad...)

      --
      What part of "a well regulated militia" do you not understand?
    41. Re:stupid by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      I expect that there may be a few people in the world better at telling a consistent and coherent story than George Lucas.

      My girlfriend's four-year-old daughter, for example...

    42. Re:stupid by Chelloveck · · Score: 1

      If case any one reading this likes HHGTG and hasn't read Adam's Dirk Gently novels I can only recommend to get them and read them.

      Huh. I would recommend getting them and burying them deep underground to protect anyone else from accidentally reading them. You could burn them, but most places have strict ordinances against burning trash. Really, they're not good. IMnsHO, of course.

      --
      Chelloveck
      I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
    43. Re:stupid by BForrester · · Score: 1

      Indeed. Props to Timothy Zahn for producing the most enjoyable if nearly literary material in the group, but unlike the Hitchhikers' Guide, books from the Star Wars, Star Trek, and Forgotten realms series will never be listed on countless authoritative lists of "essential books to read" or "worlds greatest literature."

    44. Re:stupid by ari_j · · Score: 1

      If he's the exception that proves the rule, let's hear some examples of the rule in action. Name any author in any genre and any medium who has come back to a series 20 years in its original media 20 years after he started it and done something good with it.

    45. Re:stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm going to assume you haven't seen it then, because I liked it better than all but one of the previous movies.

    46. Re:stupid by Atlantis-Rising · · Score: 1

      I have, in fact, seen it. I've seen it about six times, because I needed to write a rather detailed review and I happen to be a masochist.

      --
      "It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance
    47. Re:stupid by KnownIssues · · Score: 1

      Actually, the idea that someone could come back a couple decades later and make a better Star Wars movie than George Lucas is entirely plausible.

    48. Re:stupid by Lost+Engineer · · Score: 1

      Denny crane.

  6. Why? by Darkness404 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Why Eoin Colfer? All of his books have been, meh. And what is with the general trend of taking classic, decent works and making crappy sequels? Its most evident in Hollywood (Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, all the half-hearted Disney made-for-DVD sequels of major works, etc), but now even books are?

    --
    Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    1. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The answer is simple. Money.

    2. Re:Why? by clickclickdrone · · Score: 1

      >And what is with the general trend of taking classic, decent works and making crappy sequels?
      Sometimes it pays dividends. There was a sequel to HG Wells' The Time Machine that was released about ten years ago which I really enjoyed. It totally turned things on their head but in a really cool way.

      --
      I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
    3. Re:Why? by Darkness404 · · Score: 1

      But H.G. Wells died many, many, many, years ago. Few people remember when the Time Machine was released, and it wasn't a series. Not much is really elaborated in the Time Machine, it really only gives you a taste of the world, not the whole thing, on the other hand the Hitchhiker's Guide Book series is a series, elaborated and the author only recently died.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
  7. The ending? by Hunter0000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't understand what drives people so crazy about the ending of Mostly Harmless. Even Adams said he didn't like the bleak ending. Am I alone in thinking this was the best ending of a book I have ever read?

    Sure it's bleak. I don't care. Nearly every other novel I've read that I enjoyed the ending always has seemed abrupt. I get attached to the characters and now the story just 'ends'. Mostly Harmless fixed that. Their dead. The Earth is gone. All of them. There are no 'what now?' questions left. The end of Mostly Harmless had closure - somthing I have failed to find in any story since.

    Now comes this crap, off to ruin it.

    1. Re:The ending? by Enderandrew · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Orson Scott Card said he battled with this when he finished the Ender's Game quartet. People wanted more sequels. He killed the main character, but others felt he still left a door open. Orson Scott Card said in future series he would have to make sure the door was firmly closed shut when he ended something so that people knew it was over.

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    2. Re:The ending? by hansamurai · · Score: 1

      Well, I read all 8 books in the series, but it's not like he had to write the Shadow series. Obviously it probably made him a lot of money though, so what do you expect?

    3. Re:The ending? by Enderandrew · · Score: 1

      I'm a huge Ender's Game fan (hence the handle of EnderAndrew) and I didn't finish the Shadow series.

      Have you read Ender in Exile?

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    4. Re:The ending? by FlyingSquidStudios · · Score: 1

      For those who don't like the downer ending, think about this- Ford could have just hitched a lift on the Vogon ship again, except this time, he could bring all of his friends along. Maybe that's why he was laughing.

    5. Re:The ending? by FlyingSquidStudios · · Score: 1

      Short of "...and then the universe ceased to exist, and all of time with it," I'm not sure how you can avoid someone desperate enough to think of a sequel (or a prequel if necessary) to come up with one.

    6. Re:The ending? by Thundarr+Trollgrim · · Score: 1

      "Their dead."

      Read more.

    7. Re:The ending? by kramulous · · Score: 1

      No. After the brilliance of Ender's Game, I made it as far as Xenocide and made the decision to pull the plug. That way the good memories will last forever.

      --
      .
    8. Re:The ending? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure how you can avoid someone desperate enough to think of a sequel (or a prequel if necessary) to come up with one.

      Make your work so bad that no one would even like to think about a sequel. :-)

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    9. Re:The ending? by Shooter28 · · Score: 1

      I thought Ender in Exile was great. I've read most of Cards works.

    10. Re:The ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Their dead. The Earth is gone. All of them. "
      You forgot something. Their daughter was still alive, just missing. Here's your 'what now' question.

    11. Re:The ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The end of Mostly Harmless had closure - somthing I have failed to find in any story since.

      Try some Vonnegut. Especially "Cat's Cradle".

  8. Bad choice really. by PBoyUK · · Score: 1

    No offence to Mr Colfer, but they really should have gone with a more appropriate writer. Someone in the same vein of writing, or at least comedy. I wonder if Pratchett would have been a preferred candidate before his diagnosis?

    1. Re:Bad choice really. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If you think Eoin Colfer isn't a comedy writer, then you've clearly never read any of his stuff.

    2. Re:Bad choice really. by PBoyUK · · Score: 3, Funny

      I have...which leaves me even more baffled. That was comedy?

    3. Re:Bad choice really. by PBoyUK · · Score: 2, Funny

      Apparently this was funny too. I'm so confused...

      Maybe my funny bone is broken

    4. Re:Bad choice really. by LKM · · Score: 1

      So you'd say Harry Potter is comedy, too?

    5. Re:Bad choice really. by Macgrrl · · Score: 1

      As someone who is a fan of both DNA and Pterry, I would much rather Terry spent his time writing more Terry Pratchett books than trying to contort his imagination to fit inside someone else's universe.

      --
      Sara
      Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
  9. Continuing the trend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Well, it's not like 'Mostly Harmless' was very funny either.

  10. Not Surprised by Rehnberg · · Score: 3, Insightful

    While I am a huge Artemis Fowl fan, I'm not surprised that Colfer isn't able to pull off the Hitchhiker's universe as well. Adams and Colfer just have a completely different style of writing, and Colfer's does not fit the Hitchhiker's universe.

    1. Re:Not Surprised by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As another Artemis Fowl fan my first thought when I heard Mr Colfer was doing the new book was "Wasn't Jasper Fforde available?"

      I *STILL* smile every time I remember his joke on page 47 of The Fourth Bear.

  11. The originals were funny? by StikyPad · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I realize there is plenty of dry and black humor, in the most British sense of the words, but the triumph, in my opinion, was that he told a compelling story in spite of that, not because of it. Obviously if you found them humorous as well, then that probably lent something to the subjective quality of the novels. But the HHGTTG series had a much wider audience than British comedy does, so clearly it wasn't the humor alone that drove the popularity, and I think that focusing on that alone is missing the appeal of the books. It's missing the forest for the trees, the way George Lucas did with his prequels, assuming that the popularity of the series had something to do with the special effects, when they were really just a footnote in a story and universe (ok, galaxy) that we loved.

    1. Re:The originals were funny? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Adams' sense of humor (and also his "humour") was unique, and not merely of this supposedly interchangeably British humour that you posit.

      I would also say that a humorous take on life was integral to the philosophy that underlies his work. Don't panic just because the world is ending, let's go have a drink at the restaurant at the end of the universe.

      It is funny, but not only funny. The humor is just a sherpa for the sense of humanity in the midst of absurdity and awe, which must be taken without too much seriousness in order to be fully appreciated.

    2. Re:The originals were funny? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, we really did love the effects in Star Wars. The story was always stupid, and it became even more so in the fucking prequels.

  12. TELL HIM NO!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and respect Douglas Adams' legacy... TELL HIM NO!!!! Eoin Colfer 1 Priory Hall, Spawell Road Wexford 00000 IE 353 53 24119

  13. Sorry, but the LAST book wasn't that funny, either by wowbagger · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sorry, but the LAST HHGTTG book, "Mostly Harmless", wasn't all that funny, either - and that WAS written by Douglas himself.

    Considering that it ended with the destruction of pretty much EVERYTHING, I don't see how the new book could even BE - let alone BE FUNNY, unless the do a complete reboot of the HHGTTG universe.

    ("...with younger, edgier characters!")

  14. Maybe it's a different type of humor by harmonise · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Maybe the reviewer didn't appreciate the type of humor in the book. I read Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy years ago and didn't find it to be very funny, so maybe I will find this one funny instead.

    --
    Cory Doctorow talking about cloud computing makes as much sense as George W Bush talking about electrical engineering.
    1. Re:Maybe it's a different type of humor by barocco · · Score: 1

      Judging by the way you spell humour, I'm not surprised you didn't find too much fun in the British division of it. This comment is not derogatory in any way.

    2. Re:Maybe it's a different type of humor by myxiplx · · Score: 1

      Well I'm english and I don't find him particularly funny either. Just downright weird.

      Terry Pratchett however, now there's a funny author. It's rare an author makes me laugh out loud, but he's had me crying with laughter more times than I can count.

    3. Re:Maybe it's a different type of humor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I read all the books as a young teen and found them really funny. In my late 20s, I attempted to pick them up again and re-read. No funny. Just stupid, IMHO. That doesn't take away the fondness I recall, it is just that as a man, I've matured.

      OTOH, I'm the most immature 43 yr old that I know. Not having kids lets you stay young and without responsibility.

  15. Re:Sorry, but the LAST book wasn't that funny, eit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Adams himself felt that the last book was a downer, written during a rough period of his life, and expressed a desire to write more than one book in the series to avoid having it end on such a negative note.

  16. Bad title... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Should've been called: "It Is What It Is"

  17. Like 4 and 5 by fyoder · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If you read Hitchhiker to have a good laugh, maybe you're going to be disappointed,"

    So its like books 4 and 5 then. I thought book 4 was the best in the series, though I think I'm in the minority since lots of people didn't like it because it didn't have a laugh a sentence.

    I disliked the 5th book so much I seem to have successfully suppressed it in my memory to the point where I don't even remember what it was about. Perhaps there wasn't even a 5th book and I'm just confused.

    --
    Loose lips lose spit.
    1. Re:Like 4 and 5 by Enderandrew · · Score: 1

      The first few books were so happenstance that I honestly wonder if Douglas Adams had any idea of what was going to happen next. He said when writing the radio show, he had no major thought towards the direction of the show. I think in books 4 and 5, he did seem to have more plot in mind. The books move with more of a purpose. It is entirely possible that people prefered the madcap style of the first 3.

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    2. Re:Like 4 and 5 by Thuktun · · Score: 1

      If you read Hitchhiker to have a good laugh, maybe you're going to be disappointed,"

      So its like books 4 and 5 then. I thought book 4 was the best in the series, though I think I'm in the minority since lots of people didn't like it because it didn't have a laugh a sentence.

      And like the novelisation of Douglas Adams' game Starship Titanic, curiously called Douglas Adams' Starship Titanic, written by Monty Python's Terry Jones. It tries to mimic DA's writing style and does it badly. It's not just not funny, it's not enjoyable. Oddly, its digital form on the game's website is more entertaining, in that all the words are given in alphabetical order.

  18. Re:meh-Discworld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    You didn't read Discworld, then? Is not that the entire books means to be funny, but have a lot of good laughs, and that in a story interesting enough that have a bit of everything. When i have to classify the secondary genre of those books, i doubt between fantasy, terror, sci-fi, philosophy and others, but the first one is humor definately.

    Hey mister can I have one of those sausages? Oh I mean Bark Bark.

  19. Doesn't hurt Adams' by JSBiff · · Score: 2, Insightful

    People get all bent out of shape about other authors stepping in and writing works in a dead (or sometimes living) authors 'universe', but I don't understand how the Colfer guy writing a book makes Adams's books any less good than they already were? Nothing this guy can do can hurt Adams's legacy, so just go sit down, and maybe take some valium or prozac or something.

    1. Re:Doesn't hurt Adams' by LKM · · Score: 1

      I disagree. I think later works absolutely can diminish the value of earlier works. The Matrix was a great movie, but the two sequels destroyed that world. By doing so, they have made the first part a worse movie.

  20. Cogent Gotcha by mindbrane · · Score: 1

    Humour shouldn't have a rigorous, robust and elegant definition. Humour is better served being defined reflexively, funny is just funny. Frame Analysis gives a pretty good working analysis of humour as breaking frame, or, context, or, maybe just wind. Mark Twain's scene of a loud fart in church is pretty good humour, more so because, for many people, myself not included, farts and religious ceremonies don't go together. A good story is something very different than good humour because a good tale has to be engaging and cogent and both are matters of rhetoric and rhetoric is complex and touches upon matters of acquired taste. Good art is a work of genius and rightly beyond analysis.

    --
    ideopath @ play
  21. Read Dirk Gently if you want more Adam by vistic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seriously, if you want more Adams humor, and haven't done so already, go read "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and the sequel "The Long, Dark, Tea-time of the Soul". H2G2 isn't the only great series Adams made.

    They are great books, and probably way better than anything in this new book.

    1. Re:Read Dirk Gently if you want more Adam by Improv · · Score: 1

      I think Gently's humour is a bit less accessible - I've had both series since my childhood and only recently did I really start to like Gently. Adams' writing for Dr Who was even more subtly funny.

      --
      For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
    2. Re:Read Dirk Gently if you want more Adam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously, if you want more Adams humor, and haven't done so already, go read "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and the sequel "The Long, Dark, Tea-time of the Soul". H2G2 isn't the only great series Adams made.

      They are great books, and probably way better than anything in this new book.

      Last Chance to See was probably his finest book - shame as almost no one has read it.

    3. Re:Read Dirk Gently if you want more Adam by DMoylan · · Score: 5, Interesting

      dig out a copy of last chance to see. that has some of adam's best work...

      Sleeping in Labuan Bajo, however, is something of an endurance test.
      Being woken at dawn by the cockerels is not in itself a problem. The problem arises when the cockerels get confused as to when dawn actually is. They suddenly explode into life squawking and screaming at about one o'clock in the morning. At about one-thirty they eventually realise their mistake and shut up, just as the major dog-fights of the evening are getting under way. These usually start with a few minor bouts between the more enthusiastic youngsters, and then the full chorus of heavyweights weighs in with a fine impression of what it might be like to fall into the pit of hell with the London Symphony Orchestra.
      It is then quite an education to learn that two cats fighting can make easily as much noise as forty dogs. It is a pity to have to learn this at two-fifteen in the morning, but then the cats have a lot to complain about in Labuan Bajo. They all have their tails docked at birth, which is supposed to bring good luck, though presumably not to the cats.
      Once the cats have concluded their reflections on this, the cockerels suddenly get the idea that it's dawn again and let rip. It isn't, of course. Dawn is still two hours away, and you still have the delivery van horn-blowing competition to get through to the accompaniment of the major divorce proceedings that have suddenly erupted in the room next door.
      At last things calm down and your eyelids begin to slide thankfully together in the blessed predawn hush, and then, about five minutes later, the cockerels finally get it right.

    4. Re:Read Dirk Gently if you want more Adam by B1oodAnge1 · · Score: 1

      Dirk Gently and Tea-Time are quite a bit better than HHG in my opinion.

      Although maybe that's just because they aren't so overplayed...

      --
      RUGBYRUGBYRUGBY
    5. Re:Read Dirk Gently if you want more Adam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to mention the Meaning of Liff.
      His best book though, is Last Chance to See.

    6. Re:Read Dirk Gently if you want more Adam by PsychoSlashDot · · Score: 1

      The famous litany of Slashdot: "if only I had mod points right now."

      Last Chance to See is very likely his best work ever. The fact that it's nonfiction and has a meaningful message is that much more impressive. When I finally laid hands on that book I badly wished for DNA to go on and do more in that general genre. He could have written further on the issues that he personally cared about since it was obviously his passion that reignited his style. While the latter HHGTTG books clearly weren't his best works, Last Chance showed that it wasn't that the author had "lost it" but rather that he'd lost interest in that topic. His death is a shame for a great number of reasons, but the one that rings truest above the personal level is that he could have made important issues accessible and fun to the masses. Like Angelina Jolie only not a Hollywood twit.

      --
      "Oh no... he found the .sig setting."
    7. Re:Read Dirk Gently if you want more Adam by DMoylan · · Score: 1

      i know! i only heard about it about 5 years ago! still haven't found a copy in any bookshop i've visited in that time. have to use a etext version.

      the interview with the poison snake specialist is hilarious.

      on the plus side stephen fry is doing a remake of the series for tv i believe. he may not write as well as douglas adams but he's always intelligent and entertaining.

    8. Re:Read Dirk Gently if you want more Adam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I dunno, reading Dirk Gently made me feel drunk.

      What's wrong with that, you ask?

      Ask a glass of water.

    9. Re:Read Dirk Gently if you want more Adam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... and then, at night, the ice weasels come.

  22. I'd file it under by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 4, Funny

    Mostly Humorless.

    1. Re:I'd file it under by Zaiff+Urgulbunger · · Score: 1

      ...in a cabinet with a sticker saying "beware of the leopard"?

  23. Mark Twain by scribblej · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Funny, geeky, fantasy.

    He told me he was a page. "Go on," I said, "You ain't no more than a paragraph!"

    1. Re:Mark Twain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And if we're naming (lesser-known?) humourous books - try Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. A masterpiece of dry humour with some laugh-out-loud moments of farce.

    2. Re:Mark Twain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's funny?

    3. Re:Mark Twain by Sobrique · · Score: 1

      Amusingly, it seems that Adams had read that one too - I'm fairly sure there's a reference to 'something naaasty in the woodshed' in one of the Dirk Gently books.

  24. B*lgium by oldhack · · Score: 1

    An appropriate tag if there ever was one.

    --
    Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
  25. You *liked* it?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    10 karma points say you also liked BSG (not necessarily the ending, but the "new" series).

    I enjoyed The Guide at first, but it got bleaker and bleaker the longer I read. By the end, it just felt bitter and hopeless, which I didn't find very enjoyable.

    I much prefer Babylon 5's "Faith manages" to BSG's "Everyone sucks".

    1. Re:You *liked* it?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what is BSG?

    2. Re:You *liked* it?!? by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      Battlestar Galactica

    3. Re:You *liked* it?!? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1
      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  26. Re:Adams had the same problem by Enderandrew · · Score: 1

    "I am having terrible difficulty with my lifestyle."

    --
    http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
  27. So it's the novelization of the movie? nt by Fallingcow · · Score: 1

    nt

  28. Well in fairness... by finkployd · · Score: 1

    The last Adams penned HHG2G was not really funny either. Cool, but not funny.

  29. No harm.. by Improv · · Score: 1

    We all define our own notion of the canon - we may orbit around the publisher or primary author, but we're not limited to that. I don't consider any Dr Who after the 7th Doctor to be canon, some of my friends consider everything but the movie to be canon, and there is disagreement about the books as well. People don't hold the same canon on Zelazny, Lovecraft, and plenty of others. I'm sure it'll be likewise with HHGTtG and this book. I don't think we should become too upset over new content unless we really need everyone on the same page.

    --
    For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
  30. Maybe he cheated? by tufa.king.nerdy · · Score: 1

    Perhaps Colfer only watched the movie.

  31. Prolific? by RyatNrrd · · Score: 3, Insightful
    From TFA:

    Prolific British writer and comedian Adams

    Is this the same Douglas Adams we're talking about?

    1. Re:Prolific? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wikipedia lists Over 30 works

      How many books/tv shows/radio dramas etc does an author have to create to count as prolific?

    2. Re:Prolific? by TenMinJoe · · Score: 1

      He wasn't a comedian, though. As he said himself - "A wit says something funny on the spot. A comedy writer says something very funny two minutes later."

  32. So long by JustOK · · Score: 5, Funny

    so long and thanks for all the fiction.

    --
    rewriting history since 2109
  33. done with hitchhiker by roc97007 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think Mostly Harmless made it pretty clear that Douglas Adams was more than done with the series. If any further proof was necessary, I had an opportunity to talk with Adams shortly before his death, and got the same impression -- he was sick of the series, and wrote Mostly Harmless because he had to.

    I would much rather have read a third Dirk Gentley novel than a half-hearted Hitchhiker novel, and might have but for rabid Hitchhiker fans. Not that I'm bitter.

    It doesn't really matter what the new novel is like. I'm done with that.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    1. Re:done with hitchhiker by Kingrames · · Score: 1

      It might just be me, but if you hit it big with a book that you enjoyed writing, and people love you for it, why get upset?
      Just let yourself relax a while and get back into it. Mostly Harmless was fantastic up until he decided "Hey, let's go ahead and kill off all the characters everybody loves."
      It was a douche move, and I still don't like it. It's like getting a birthday cake and then a punch to the face. Why forgive that?

      --
      If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
    2. Re:done with hitchhiker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was lucky enough to attend a stop of his speaking tour (mostly talking about Last Chance to See), about a year before his death.

      What he said then about the Guide was that he was very depressed *back then* when he wrote it and wanted to end it then, and later wanted to start it up again because Mostly Harmless ended on such a down note. Which, amusingly, he figured would be easier to do than the last few times, since he wouldn't need as much effort to get all the characters to the same place again...

    3. Re:done with hitchhiker by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      Because he hated the series and wanted to be done with it. He did a beautiful, satisfying ending with "So long and thanks for all the fish" and that should have ended it. Did end it, as far as I'm concerned. When I read the series to my daughter (about 11 at the time) I told her ahead of time that Mostly Harmless was a book Adams did not want to write, it wasn't very good, and if it's ok, I'd rather end with Fish. She agreed, and we ended the series with Arthur and Fenchurch going off to explore the galaxy, the end.

      Don't misunderstand, I'm not against YOU reading the book. It's a free world. I'm explaining why a Hitchhiker fan might not be interested in another Hitchhiker book.

      I wonder if it's an uniquely American thing, to drag a series past it's ending, whether it be novels, TV, or a movie franchise. "When will there be an end?" "When there's no more bucks in it!" Pfah.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    4. Re:done with hitchhiker by SEE · · Score: 1

      I think Mostly Harmless made it pretty clear that Douglas Adams was more than done with the series

      He was more than done with the series when he wrote Mostly Harmless, yes.

      However, he subsequently changed his mind, and wrote how he regretted how Mostly Harmless ended. Shortly before his death, he was talking about reworking the Salmon of Doubt from the third Dirk Gently into the sixth Hitchhiker.

    5. Re:done with hitchhiker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I completely agree. I almost regret reading Mostly Harmless; I'd recommend that if you liked the way So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish ended, just stop there. You don't really want to know what happens after that.

    6. Re:done with hitchhiker by oljanx · · Score: 1

      When you met him, was he carrying a towel?

    7. Re:done with hitchhiker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He was sick of HHGTG at book three. It was very forced and he only did it for the money after a lot of hassle from the publisher. From an outsider's view, one would wonder why this would be the case? Thinking about it from a developer's angle, would you want to work on the same codebase for a decade, or start something fresh?

    8. Re:done with hitchhiker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not uniquely American, although we do seem to be the most prone to it. The Japanese do it with some thing, though. Most of their drama series are planned through from the beginning, and have short, set runs. However, their sentai series (the stuff the Power Rangers is based on) can run for ages, and will keep going as long as it's popular. This is also true of certain genres of anime, notable shounen action series like Naruto. Family entertainment series hit this as well, with shows like Doraemon and Sazae-san being the two longest running animated series. Sazae-san has been running since the late 1960s...

    9. Re:done with hitchhiker by RedCard · · Score: 1

      Finally - other people have disagreed with me, but I see the Arthur/Fenchurch bit as the high point of the series. Here's Arthur, beaten up for years in the other books, finally find a soulmate and happiness. Marvin finally feels good about something.

      As far as I'm concerned, THE END.

  34. Re:This is where I get to say by TheVelvetFlamebait · · Score: 1

    Here's a hint: wait until you actually read it, or at least until you see more than one person's opinion.

    --
    You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
  35. Series was NEVER that funny by realmolo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Look, when I was 12 (in 1984), I though the first 2 books were funny. The third wasn't. The fourth was terrible. I didn't bother with the rest.

    And you know what? Not even the first 2 books are funny anymore. They haven't held up. At the time of their publication, they were fairly ground-breaking, but that style of humor just hasn't aged well at all (which tends to happen to all kinds of humor). It's juvenile and obvious, really. Nothing wrong with that, but it means the books have a shelf-life, and the HHGTTG books are about 20 years past their expiration date. They are cultural artifacts, not "classics".

    1. Re:Series was NEVER that funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      'The rest' was one book (which was horrible), unless you're referring to the series in other mediums. The TV series was pretty good, unfortunately I have yet to have had that chance to have experienced having heard a version of the radio version.

    2. Re:Series was NEVER that funny by Chysn · · Score: 1

      I almost always have that pang of disappointment when I go back and read something that I once found funny. The Hitchhiker's series wasn't an exception. That doesn't make it un-funny; nothing is ever funny more than once*. The ultimate answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything is 42. That's actually pretty funny. I'm not sitting here laughing at it right now, but its funny.

      TFA never really addresses whether it's actually "good" or "worth reading." Or if somebody who enjoyed following the characters (indeed, even enjoyed watching how they faced death) would enjoy catching up. Colfer can accomplish these things without being funny.

      * Except for Dr. Evil dramatically demanding "one million dollars" as ransom for the planet.

      --
      --I'm so big, my sig has its own sig.
      -- See?
    3. Re:Series was NEVER that funny by houghi · · Score: 1

      The books have not changed. You have.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    4. Re:Series was NEVER that funny by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      I have to disagree -- I was 32 when I first read it in 1984, and it was indeed funny. I reread it when my daughter bought me a volume containing all of the novels last year, and it was just as good then as it was twenty years ago.

      Perhaps the fact that you were an adolescent when you first read it colored the experience of re-reading it as an adult. I've found that to be the case with a lot of books I read when I was 12, and when reading them as an adult thought they were juvenile and obvious.

    5. Re:Series was NEVER that funny by MaWeiTao · · Score: 1

      Maybe for you they're nothing more than artifacts. But I read them for the first time less than 5 years ago, only having known about HHGTTG previously from the text game, and I thought they were great. Very witty, entertaining and in some ways insightful. I wouldn't call them science fiction, but then that wasn't the point. It's not unusual for a novel to lose it's charm on the second read once that initial sense of discovery is lost. But that shouldn't distract from the quality of the books.

    6. Re:Series was NEVER that funny by owlstead · · Score: 1

      Each to his own, but I still get into situations where I think of THHGTTG quotes. With all their humor, some of the things said are pretty insightful. The way the stories connect to the real world is what, IMHO, makes the HHGTTG an all time favorite. It is part of a /very/ select number of books that I've read more than twice.

      I've got the "more than complete hitchhikers guide" (missing one book) and the comments of the intro are already brilliant. Laying on a field with the world slowly spinning around him. Taking a few baths and a degree in English. Priceless, even now.

    7. Re:Series was NEVER that funny by mqduck · · Score: 1

      At the time of their publication, they were fairly ground-breaking, but that style of humor just hasn't aged well at all (which tends to happen to all kinds of humor).

      Topical jokes get old, but otherwise I have no idea what could lead a person to make a statement like this. Really, can you name another example (not that I agree with this one in the first place)?

      --
      Property is theft.
    8. Re:Series was NEVER that funny by darrencook · · Score: 1

      "Not even the first 2 books are funny anymore" I'm about the same age as you, and first read them at about the same age as you, but I still enjoy them; all that has changed is that I start giggling just before the funny bits arrive, rather than just after. Though I thought the 3rd book was brilliant too. The 4th and 5th books were more like the Dirk Gently series: a nice gentle read to unwind with, but nothing to cause the kind of laughter that needs you having to see your doctor like the first three books and radio series.

    9. Re:Series was NEVER that funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How can one person's subjective opinion be flagged insightful? The third was the best of the lot. The fourth was different but good anyway. I didn't bother with the rest either...

      I've reread them all recently and they're still very funny. In fact, those insightful points should be tacked on to the first book. He lampoons so many stereotypes that will never go out of fashion (admittedly, when he's talking about, eg, digital watches, you need to substitute cellphone, etc).

      Juvenile and obvious? Yeah, and Tolkien's clichéd.

  36. Quotation Marks by thefringthing · · Score: 1

    They're in the wrong places in the summary. (As of this comment.)

  37. Dirk Gently by Usually+Unlucky+ · · Score: 1

    So when is the next Dirk Gently book going to be written. Someone should finish A Salmon of doubt.

    The first Dirk book was 10x better than any of the HH books

    --
    -
  38. Re:meh Not a troll, a valid point of view by sien · · Score: 1

    This is no troll. Humour in books doesn't work as well as it does on film, TV or live.

    There are few books I've found to be really funny, and I read 30+ books a year. Douglas Adams' books along with say Catch-22 and maybe Running with Scissors are about the only ones that come to mind.

    Humour works better when you can have the jokes delivered with timing. I've found audio books make some books much funnier when it's done well.

    Even film has it's weaknesses for humour. Film tends to want a narrative to drive things and there often isn't enough time for character development. TV is better. I'd prefer The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Yes Prime Minister, Drop the Dead Donkey, Faulty Towers and Monty Python to most comedy films any day.

  39. Wait! by Runaway1956 · · Score: 2, Funny

    The Hitchhiker's Guide was meant to be funny? No one told me that all those decades ago. I read it like any good student - as if it were a history book!!

    Next thing, you'll be telling me that L. Ron Hubbard made up his religion.

    Man, you slashdotters have a lot of nerve......

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  40. Always gotta ruin a good thing by chucklebutte · · Score: 0

    Q_Q

  41. Indeed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One should always write complete sentences. Fragments? Never.

    1. Re:Indeed by uninformedLuddite · · Score: 1

      Anonymous Coward wept.

      --
      The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
  42. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  43. So what is the point of a HHGTTG not funny? by Orion+Blastar · · Score: 1

    What is the point of a HHGTTG book if it is not funny? Is the Ghost of Andy Kaufman writing it, and the joke is on the readers? Is it more of a Political Book now instead of a Humor Book?

    It is like a Stephen King book that isn't scary and has no horror elements in it and uses adverbs to describe things instead of actions taken by the characters and all of the other stuff Stephen King doesn't do.

    It is like a Stephen Hawking book that is unscientific and tries to convince people to give up science and technology and join the Amish.

    --
    Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
    1. Re:So what is the point of a HHGTTG not funny? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is like a Stephen King book that isn't scary

      You mean like "Eyes of the Dragon"?

    2. Re:So what is the point of a HHGTTG not funny? by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      It is like a Stephen King book that isn't scary and has no horror elements in it and uses adverbs to describe things instead of actions taken by the characters and all of the other stuff Stephen King doesn't do.

      You know, I read a lot of King when I was younger (My aunt was a big fan and I got all her hand-me-down books)... Only one thing he wrote ever scared me. The rest... not so much. I did enjoy "Eyes of the Dragon" though, even if it wasn't scary.

      The one thing that scared me? "The Mist" from "Skeleton Crew"

    3. Re:So what is the point of a HHGTTG not funny? by owlstead · · Score: 1

      It's like a Prius that isn't friendly to the environment.

  44. Some schmuck made a new HHG? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ????

  45. The Original Not... by iconic999 · · Score: 1

    The original Hitchhiker wasn't funny either.

    1. Re:The Original Not... by justinlee37 · · Score: 1

      Yeah it was. I lol'd several times while reading that book. That whole thing about God making the universe being widely regarded as a "bad move" and that bit about the tiny space war fleet being swallowed by a dog were both hilarious.

  46. TV? by Namarrgon · · Score: 1

    Unless he's referring to the actually-quite-good BBC TV series, that was first aired in 1981 - after the first book, before the adventure game, etc etc.

    --
    Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
  47. It's kind of hard to match DA by oljanx · · Score: 1

    Sure, there are many authors I'd consider more witty than Douglas Adams, but his particular flavor was just right. Nobody can reproduce his work.

    1. Re:It's kind of hard to match DA by The_mad_linguist · · Score: 1

      Early Pratchett and early Adams were pretty similar. Pterry would have been my first choice.

  48. Re:Adams had the same problem by UncleTogie · · Score: 1

    "I am having terrible difficulty with my lifestyle."

    ...and cue the fleet-eating canines in 3...2...1...

    --
    Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
  49. It's Simple by dcollins · · Score: 1

    When the writer of your favorite serial entertainment departs (whether it be novels, comic books, TV, whatever), you need to, as well. Took me a long time to learn that, but: It's dead, Jim.

    --
    We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
  50. On the other hand... by ezzthetic · · Score: 1

    If you read the book to be disappointed, maybe you're going to have a good laugh.

    --
    You know what they say about opinions. They're all fabulous!
  51. Eoin Colfer by LKM · · Score: 1

    If they are that good - they should be writing their own stuff

    [Eoin Colfer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eoin_Colfer) actually does write "his own stuff". And I actually really like him as an author. He writes interesting, witty books. They could have picked worse people to write a Hitchhiker's Guide. However, Colfer writes books for children and young adults, while I would say that Adams' books are aimed at adults. Also, the humor is very different. Adams' humour is both wry and very inventive. His books gain much of their humour from his description of bizarre details. Colfer writes very differently. His humor tends to be more banal. Where Adams has the melancholic robot, Colfer has a farting troll.

    So yeah. I haven't read Colfer's Hitchhiker's Guide, obviously, but I would say that if you expect a book along the lines of what Adams was capable of, you're probably not going to get it. If you'll accept a Colfer book set in Adams' universe, you might end up liking it.

  52. Kill them. by hyperion2010 · · Score: 1

    There is a reason why good series end with their characters dead, its so that they end. Adams was no idiot he killed them for a very good reason and they do NOT need resurrecting.

  53. Review Context by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As has been said several times above, this is ONE review of the new book. A review which was written by someone whose idea of a reasonable and publishable sentence runs: "And he has not the same grip on comic timing than Douglas had.â Jesus. I'll wait for a few more opinions myself. Thanks for the headsup though slashdot.

  54. Re:meh Not a troll, a valid point of view by Don_dumb · · Score: 1

    There are few books I've found to be really funny, and I read 30+ books a year. Douglas Adams' books along with say Catch-22 and maybe Running with Scissors are about the only ones that come to mind.

    Humour works better when you can have the jokes delivered with timing. I've found audio books make some books much funnier when it's done well.

    Have you tried Pratchett? His are the funniest books I have ever read, well apart from The Profanisaurus Which is similar to Adam's The Meaning of Lif

    Even film has it's weaknesses for humour. Film tends to want a narrative to drive things and there often isn't enough time for character development. TV is better. I'd prefer The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Yes Prime Minister, Drop the Dead Donkey, Faulty Towers and Monty Python to most comedy films any day.

    Agreed. With the significant exception that is South Park:BLU (many of my friends didn't like the TV series but love the movie), your opinion could be due to your good taste in TV comedy. Might I suggest Spaced? - as it it another example of a TV series that isn't known as well as the films it spawned [Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead] but IMHO being better and funnier.

    --
    If this were really happening, what would you think?
  55. Re:meh Not a troll, a valid point of view by stupid_is · · Score: 1

    You could always learn to read with timing... :-)

    Literary humour works in different ways to visual humour - there are plays on words within narrative that are not possible within audio/video, and there are things that work better on TV/radio - a good conversion between the two mediums works with this (have you seen the Sky TV adaptations of two of the discworld books? Remarkably good, and on quite a small (in Hollywood terms) budget).

    --
    -- Intelligence is soluble in alcohol
  56. Irony by Don_dumb · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Disclaimer, I gfot an A in an English exam on the book of Hitchhikers, the question on the peper was write about someone who finds himself in events over which he has no control, goodbye Huck Finn, hello Arthur Dent

    Irony - Stating one's success in an English exam within a sentence containing several spelling errors.

    --
    If this were really happening, what would you think?
    1. Re:Irony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe he's drunk.

  57. Wasn't a comedy... by PGC · · Score: 1

    I guess the first book of the 5 part trilogy was meant as a comedy, however the complete 'trilogy' wasn't meant as one in my opinion. Though there are plenty of funny bits in the books, the complete work wasn't really funny (although I do think it was quite good..) , especially with all the characters being dead in the end, earth destroyed etc etc Douglas' style was somewhat like that of Terry Pratchett. Even serious topics can be told using a humorous/sarcastic undertone...

    --
    The Dutch will inherit the earth. If not, we'll settle for a bit of ocean. Beta delenda est!
  58. Re:Sorry, but the LAST book wasn't that funny, eit by Kerr · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Mod parent up. I was about to post this observation myself.

    The HHTG series got less funny as it progressed, as Adams grew more frustrated with writing.
    He hated writing with a passion, and often had to be locked in his office to meet deadlines. Since the fourth and fifth books of the trilogy were new material rather than expanded radio scripts, they suffer from this far more obviously - it took him eight years to write Mostly Harmless, with the other books all being released within two years of each-other.

    I must also note that Adams already started on a sequel, (prequel) called Young Zaphod Plays It Safe Wiki

    Unfortunately he suffered a TEF at the gym before he could finish it; his final joke.

    If you have genuine interest in his works you'd probably benefit from checking out the soon-to-be-released BBC remake of Last Chance To See Wiki - A short documentary series following some of the worlds most endangered animals, Due to start September 6th on BBC2

    The entire radio miniseries is available on the BBC website linked above, and is drenched in Adam's usual style.

    --
    Don't try to outweird me, three-eyes. I get stranger things than you free with my breakfast cereal. -- Zaphod Beeblebrox
  59. Zen and the Art of Spinach by Anyd · · Score: 1

    I believe it's actually Quality; and if the spinach is of acceptable Quality than it should be appreciated.

  60. Re:Not middle fingers by aardwolf64 · · Score: 1

    Ok... with my palms facing me and my thumbs in... using 4 on my left hand and 2 on my right hand, I'm sticking up my two ring fingers.

    Thumbs out would have worked, or thumbs in/palms out... but then you'd be flipping yourself off.

  61. Re:Not middle fingers by aardwolf64 · · Score: 1

    Oh... maybe you're from a part of the world that starts counting with your thumbs. We don't do that here...

  62. Tastes Do Change by wwphx · · Score: 1

    I recently sat down to re-read the 5-book trilogy. I first started reading the series before book 4 came out, I don't remember quite when (late 70's, early 80's, something like that). And at that time I loved them. It's probably been over a decade since I read all 5. But here's the sad part: I really don't like them too much any more. There are parts that still make me laugh, and I still think the 1st and 4th books are the best (or at least my favs), but I just don't find them funny anymore. I'm sure that I'll pick up #6, but I don't really have high hopes. I guess all that remains is to re-read the two Dirk Gently books. I liked the 1st, don't remember what I thought of the second.

    --
    When you sympathize with stupidity, you start thinking like an idiot.
    1. Re:Tastes Do Change by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      How many times can you laugh at the same joke?

      42?

    2. Re:Tastes Do Change by Firedog · · Score: 1

      How many beads does my abacus need before it becomes sentient?

      42...?

  63. Breaking news! by Twyst3d · · Score: 1

    Unknown author does bad job of copying beloved author. We never saw it coming. No really.

    More news at 11.

    --
    And this has been another installament of Captain Obvious! /whoosh
  64. Why does that need a sequel? by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

    The Hitchhiker story is over, there's no need for more Hitchhiker books. Why not try to finish that third Dirk Gently book Adams was working on when he died? The series may not be as famous but it probably has more potential.

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  65. Adams tried that. It did't work. by itsdapead · · Score: 1

    Short of "...and then the universe ceased to exist, and all of time with it," I'm not sure how you can avoid someone desperate enough to think of a sequel (or a prequel if necessary) to come up with one.

    Huh? That happened in Book 2 of HHGTTG and Adams himeself did 3 more sequels :-)

    Then in book 5 the Earth gets annihhilated from every possible parallel universe and still the BBC managed to come up with a new epilogue for the radio adaptation.

    --
    In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
  66. Try the BBC version... by itsdapead · · Score: 1

    For those who don't like the downer ending,

    Listen to the BBC radio adaptation of the final book for one solution to this. Normally tacking on a happy ending would be abhorrent, but they claim that Adams expressed regrets at killing everybody.

    Yes, I know its complicated - the first two books were adapted from the radio, the last three books were adapted to the radio and a legion of Bobby Ewings emerged from the shower to paper over the cracks. Thank God (or at least the guy from Eels' dad) for parallel universes.

    --
    In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
  67. I liked Mostly Harmless by turing_m · · Score: 1

    When I read Mostly Harmless I found it riveting. I immediately re-read it and tried to understand what I had just read - like one would after watching Memento, Twelve Monkeys, The Usual Suspects, or LA Confidential. It has been 16 years now, so I can't remember if I could make sense of it or not. At least I didn't hate it in the same way I hate a David Lynch film that deliberately sets out to be completely nonsensical rather than just difficult to understand.

    It wasn't like the other 4 books, or the Dirk Gently novels for that matter. But I don't think it was bad to the point of recommending someone avoid it, like I'd recommend a Metallica fan avoid St. Anger.

    --
    If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
  68. Re:Sorry, but the LAST book wasn't that funny, eit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Warning: The parent message contains spoilers, and shouldn't have been read by those who don't want to know how the last book ends.

  69. Colfer = fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What a shocker...anyone who's read Artemis Fowl knows that Colfer thinks melodrama passes for humor.

  70. The man himself said it best by Alzheimers · · Score: 2, Insightful

    To quote the man himself,

    "This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

  71. WHAT! by sakari · · Score: 1

    Writer not reincarnation of Douglas Adams ? How can this happen? I thought we had somebody taking care of this. I mean, we got the one of the greatest scifi writers ever, and nobody even bothered making sure somebody acts as a vessel for him and makes sure he writes more good stuff, bloody british curse word!

  72. Total waste of time for the author by autoevolution · · Score: 1

    Ridiculous, people need to learn to not drag on something that is done and over with. If you're a good author you don't continue a dead guy's novel series which he ended, you write a new story with new ideas perhaps drawing inspiration from hitchhikers guide. Continuing a series that was ended is just a total waste of time. The series was completed, get over it! (also fans of hitchiker need to reed dirk gentlys wholistic detective agency if you havnt already)

  73. But those came from the original source. . . by JSBiff · · Score: 1

    I see your point, and if you consider *Adams's* later work inferior, that can diminish it. But let's face it, with this other guy who just wrote this new HHGTG novel, since it wasn't from Adams, people who don't like it can just ignore it and say 'that never happened'.

    I went through this last year with the TV series "Legend of the Seeker", which purported to be an adaptation of the series of novels called the "Sword of Truth" series. Because of the TV show, I learned of the books, and read the books. The books were awesome (mostly - some better than others, of course), but the TV show kind of sucked. Does that make the Sword of Truth any less good, just because the TV show was pretty lame? Not to me, at least. (Although, it does mean that nobody else can come along and make a *good* adaptation for TV or movies, because ABC/Disney, who produced the show, secured exclusive TV/Movie rights, which is a shame).

    A fiction author's legacy, is, largely, the books and universe (characters, settings, etc) that the author created. Someone else attempting to add to that and not doing a good job doesn't make the work that came before any less good.

    Even with your example with the Matrix, the first Matrix movie is still a great movie, even if the sequels were a bit of a let-down.

  74. There is only one word... by Murpster · · Score: 1

    ...for people who write sequels to series they didn't write: LAAAAAAAAAAAAAME! This bastard, the bastards behind the new Dune and Amber books, all of 'em. Write your own shit, you parasitic hacks.

    1. Re:There is only one word... by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 1

      I think the best comparison comes from the Dune movie itself. One of the tracks is a remake of "Who Wants to Live Forever?".* It's all right on its own, but pales in comparison to Queen's version. It's "I've got a story to tell before I die" vs. "I like this song and get paid for singing it."

      The damnable part about the Anderson-class Dune books is that they either didn't read them or didn't understand them. There were parts in the prequels and sequels that didn't make sense at all when you filter them through the original.

      Frank Herbert left Easter Eggs in all his books; little things for you to figure out and discover without having it spoon-fed. You'd think about it for years afterwards. Where did Ix come from? How did Earth get destroyed? What price did humanity pay during the Jihad? That's all answered in the books, but only if you looked really hard.

      If it makes you feel any better, Terry Pratchet's wife is under strict instructions: "When I die, destroy the computer and all my notes before you call the doctor."

      *If I'm wrong, I haven't SEEN the movie -- it's what shows up on sky.fm when the song plays. I think Sarah Brightman is singing.

      --

      ---
      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
  75. Style. by changa · · Score: 1


    Most people miss that Douglas Adams was a huge fan of P.G. Wodehouse and would channel his writing style.   Wodehouse just had a damn funny way of
    describing things as an example:

    â€oeShe had a voice like a troop of cavalry crossing a tin bridge.†vs "They hung in the air exactly the same way that bricks don't."

    If this guy can't channel Wodehouse he has no business writing Hitchhikers.

    If anybody I would have rather seen Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen write it but there too many reasons that wouldn't have happened.

  76. Re:Sorry, but the LAST book wasn't that funny, eit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    >Considering that it ended with the destruction of pretty much EVERYTHING, I don't see how the new book could even BE - let alone BE FUNNY, >unless the do a complete reboot of the HHGTTG universe.

    >("...with younger, edgier characters!")

    Exactly. Starting with the _daughter_ that everybody seems to have forgotten about.

  77. So long... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... and tanks for all the fish!

  78. I didn't think the first one was funny... by JimTheta · · Score: 1

    HHGTTG has always been what I thought was my biggest disconnect from geek culture. I read it in college (in '00, probably), and was pretty solidly bored throughout. To me, it was nothing more than a collection of absurdities and non-sequiturs strung into a ungripping narrative. I'd describe it as a trite version of Vonnegut or Heller, but without any of the soul.

    I've never really understood the appeal. I won't assert that it sucks, but it sure isn't on my wavelength.

    That said, I can't believe they would actually try giving this to another writer. This fanbase is too... fickle? smart? discerning?

  79. By Grabthar's hammer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who knew Marvin and Professor Snape had so much in common?

    ...you shall be avenged!

  80. Mostly Harmless was great by Relic+of+the+Future · · Score: 1
    Just because no one else seems to be willing to say it: I thought Mostly Harmless was great. The people who are upset by it seem to primarily be upset that it was the end. Everything good ends, and this ended while staying in-theme, in-character, and in-style with the rest of the series; that's more than can be said for most things.

    Now, if you want to see a truly abrupt ending, read The Salmon of Doubt (and that, if you truly loved the mans work, should make you cry.)

    --
    Those who fail to understand communication protocols, are doomed to repeat them over port 80.
  81. When you already know the punchline... by Radical+Moderate · · Score: 1

    then the joke loses its....punch. "42" isn't funny now because you know it's the answer. The first time you read the book, there's all this build up to it and then...42. The second time around, there's no suspense, no tension.

    I have to admit I could watch Dr. Evil say "laser" with finger quotes a thousand times and it would still crack me up.

    --
    Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
  82. Re:Not middle fingers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Oh... maybe you're from a part of the world that starts counting with your thumbs. We don't do that here...
    The only thing the thumb instruction does is get it out of the way of the right hand count (as well as set you up to only have one finger up on each hand)
    For each hand, the "counting" is done by visualizing a little endian representation for each finger as if it were written down on paper in the order the fingers appear:

    left right
    8421 8421
    0100 0010
    _I__ __I_

    This isn't counting symmetrically from anywhere. In any case, palms toward/away aren't magical in itself. If your friends see things as you have apparently seen them, then the joke starts "palms down..."

  83. Re:meh Not a troll, a valid point of view by sien · · Score: 1

    Yeah, thanks, I have tried Pratchett and didn't like it. I keep meaning to read some more again and give it another chance.

    Spaced is great. As are Black Books, The IT Crowd and The Inbetweeners.

  84. Re:Sorry, but the LAST book wasn't that funny, eit by the_other_chewey · · Score: 1

    The entire radio miniseries is available on the BBC website linked above, and is drenched in Adam's usual style.

    It's not if you happen to be outside the UK: "Not available in your area".

  85. Re:meh Not a troll, a valid point of view by sien · · Score: 1

    True, part of it probably is the way I read. However it seems to be the way quite a few people are.

    That's true about some jokes working better in print. Douglas Adam's books have great jokes about ideas and words that work better in print than in other media.

    But, in general, the devices available live appeal more. The big point is that the parent post was unfairly marked as a troll when the guy was probably was expressing his point of view and a point of view that is probably held by quite a few people here.

  86. What If The Author Is Just Himself? by Steve001 · · Score: 1

    Much of the discussion in this thread focuses on how well/badly the new author will emulate Douglas Adams. What if, rather than that, the new author writes a story in his own distinctive style but set in the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy universe? Instead of trying to emulate the past, the new author focuses on writing an entertaining book.

    The passage to the new author could even be treated as a point of humor in the new novel (the dark humor is suitable to a Hitchhiker's book). Much like in the movie "Monty Python And The Whole Grail" when the knights survive a monster's attack when the monster disappears because the animator suddenly dies.

    As a comic book reader, changing writers is a matter of course for me, and sometimes it can lead to terrific stories. As an example, I've enjoyed Green Lantern over the years and there have been some good stories, but when Geoff Johns took over the series he wrote (and is writing) the best Green Lantern stories I've ever read, and has introduced concepts that taken the series in very different direction. This includes the revelation that there are eight different lantern colors, each linked to a different emotional state, which has lead to a massive war between the different lantern corps.

  87. Re:Sorry, but the LAST book wasn't that funny, eit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, we haven't forgotten about her, although we would definitely prefer that to have been the case.