Don't Panic?!

[far-trader]

Panic may be an over-reaction but frankly I'm worried.

News Clip intro:

An Irish author has been commissioned to write a new installment of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", the cult science fiction comedy which became a worldwide hit, publishers said Wednesday.


Children's author Eoin Colfer will pen a sixth book in the series with the blessing of Jane Belson, widow of original author Douglas Adams...


Colfer... said he was "terrified" when publisher Penguin suggested the project, calling the original books a "slice of satirical genius."
"My first reaction was semi-outrage that anyone should be allowed to tamper with this incredible series," he said.

Good instincts I think, I totally agree with his first reaction. I guess we'll have to wait and see if he was wrong to go against them. Sounds like a money grab to me, by the widow, publisher, and author.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080917/ten-entertainment-britain-ireland-litera-a56114e.html

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Yeah, I heard about that. My first reaction was horror, but then I remembered that the last couple of books kinda sucked, so...um.

 

[Tysis]

I just could not get into the books. I could not get into the movie either.

 

[far-trader]

heh, until you said it Tysis I'd totally forgotten about the movie which I still haven't seen, and may never.

Like Andrew I found the post trilogy stories a bit less entertaining and in my mind anyway the story ends with "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe".

So my increasingly inaccurately labeled trilogy is a set of two. The other three serve as bookends (work that out for yourselves )

 

[aramis]

I enjoyed most of the books (HHGTTG, RATEOTU, LTUAE, SLATFATF, YZPIS)... but I've not read mostly harmless, and Salmon of Doubt was not actually in the continuity.

 

[Beech]

I have actually read some of the new guy (Eoin Colfer) and frankly you are right to panic.

 

[Rhialto the Marvelous]

Not meaning to sound moralistic, but that's shameless.

It's also a kind of declaration of creative bankruptcy on the part of that Colfer guy. I thought he was semi-famous? Why would he even do this?

 

[Beech]

Not meaning to sound moralistic, but that's shameless.

It's also a kind of declaration of creative bankruptcy on the part of that Colfer guy. I thought he was semi-famous? Why would he even do this?

Money??
It will sell bucketloads even if it is crap once the PR & advertising gets its teeth into it.

What is a great shame is that there are many talented friends of the late Mr. Adams who could have respectfully stepped into his shoes for this: Stephen Fry, Terry Jones, even I believe Terry Pratchett.

 

[far-trader]

It will sell bucketloads even if it is crap once the PR & advertising gets its teeth into it.

I dunno about that, some of the talk on some HH/Adams boards seems to be shock, betrayal, dismay. To put it mildly.

But PR may win through that. And there may be fans who while not being happy about it will want it just for completeness. I haven't made my own mind up yet on that count though I've generally been disappointed in even the best attempts at continuing a literary legacy.

 

[BlackBat242]

I may pick up a used copy (used to deny any royalties & publisher encouragement) to use for a ritual book-burning (my first, will it really be 451°F?).

 

[kafka47]

The CBC morning show used to serialize the radio broadcasts in my teen years. I remember straining to get up at the ungodly hour of 7:30a to listen to what I thought - at first was a serious drama...then realized that it was biting satire and been a big fan of the radio series ever since...the other formats - movie, TV, books, tapes, CDs, computer games, etc. kinda left me cold as there were elements I could relate to but not as much as that original BBC radio series.

 

[Icosahedron]

Money??
It will sell bucketloads even if it is crap once the PR & advertising gets its teeth into it.

What is a great shame is that there are many talented friends of the late Mr. Adams who could have respectfully stepped into his shoes for this: Stephen Fry, Terry Jones, even I believe Terry Pratchett.

Perhaps friendship (and pre-existing personal wealth) stayed their hands?

Either way, the calibre of the next book will not compromise the originals. Hitch hikers Guide will not suddenly become crap just because some new guy (possibly) fails to live up to the image - and who knows, he might just write a really good book?


Shouldn't this be in Random Static?

 

[far-trader]

Shouldn't this be in Random Static?

Why?

Just curious

The way I see it, there are Traveller fora aplenty here. The Lone Star was always (originally at least) for non-Traveller specific or related but not specific Traveller topics. Like it says in the forum heading:

"Meet, greet and socialize with your fellow Travellers in the Lone Star Lounge. Random Topics."

Isn't that what this thread is doing?

But then Hunter choose (or was asked) to create a forum for garbage...

(no offense intended, again just my opinion, and I do post some there too, it's a fuzzy choice for some posts, this being a good example)

...and so was born Random Static.

I always saw it as a (nearly pointless*) duplication of this forum except when Random Static is used for topics that are not about anything (Sienfeldesque). I know a few folks who never look in Random Static for that very reason. And a few who post interesting (to Traveller's) non-Traveller stuff here in The Lounge because of that very reason.

But if it bothers you, flag a mod and ask them to move it, and a few dozen (or more) others

* iirc for a time it was the home of topics that eventually stank so badly Hunter had to create a little bit of hell (aka The Pit) to send them to, once we had The Pit for all the really evil stuff Random Static became imo truly pointless given the definition directive of The Lounge.

To summarize, The Lounge is the place to come and kick back with fellow Travellers about anything (with the exception of forbidden topics that belong only in The Pit). I tend to go further for myself and make it anything not about Traveller unless there's no forum (and we have so many it's rare) more directly related to the topic. Just as a recent example I think the Starship Hacking thread here belongs more in The Fleet forum. But that's just my opinion. I respect the op had a different feeling on the matter and it's fuzzy enough I have no problem with it being here.

 

[DaveChase]

I agree with Far Trader on this one being here

I know many SciFi games that use some part of Adams' books as part of their world/universe. And since many of us grew up with some of these long pass/old stories it is of interest to note what is being done to
1 keep the old things alive
2 update/modernized to draw a new audience
3 watch for what is happening in the unknowning world since it influence the normals

Dave Chase

 

[Andrew Boulton]

The CBC morning show used to serialize the radio broadcasts in my teen years. I remember straining to get up at the ungodly hour of 7:30a to listen to what I thought - at first was a serious drama...then realized that it was biting satire and been a big fan of the radio series ever since...the other formats - movie, TV, books, tapes, CDs, computer games, etc. kinda left me cold as there were elements I could relate to but not as much as that original BBC radio series.

Yeah, the radio series is still the best. The book, record, and TV versions are okay, but the film...isn't.

 

[ThunderChilde]

oh, Terry Pratchet would I think be an excellent choice.

More's the pity, he barely had enough time to settle into his grave before they try to rob it, oh well.

 

[tim_manley]

Money??
It will sell bucketloads even if it is crap once the PR & advertising gets its teeth into it.

What is a great shame is that there are many talented friends of the late Mr. Adams who could have respectfully stepped into his shoes for this: Stephen Fry, Terry Jones, even I believe Terry Pratchett.

My guess is that Jones, Fry and Pratchett refused out of respect....

Widow must need the cash....

 

[jfetters]

heh, until you said it Tysis I'd totally forgotten about the movie which I still haven't seen, and may never.

Like Andrew I found the post trilogy stories a bit less entertaining and in my mind anyway the story ends with "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe".

So my increasingly inaccurately labeled trilogy is a set of two. The other three serve as bookends (work that out for yourselves )

Yeah, I can fit in the third book, but the first two books have the real story arc. Everything else is just extras that frankly don't need to be there. Not that they are bad per se, but they are just different.

I liked the Dirk Gentry books, actually, but no matter how you slice it, this guy won't be Douglas Adams.

 

[far-trader]

You know what I would buy in a heartbeat, and would make a great collaborative authorial effort, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Not the novel, the "actual" guidebook. Collect the various "quotes" from it in the stories ("Earth: Mostly harmless.") add filler of like to pad the page count, slap the cover as described on the package, bundle it with an "official" towel and "thumb"* and run to the bank with wheelbarrows of money. I always wondered why some marketing genius/idiot never took the idea and ran with it. Now don't tell me somebody did and I missed it...

(...some vague recollection of a goodie included with the Infocom game is twigging my grey cells.)

* and now in this day and age make the "thumb" a thumb drive with a serial coded digital version of the HHGTTG and capable of downloadable updates from the official site.

 

[jfetters]

You know what I would buy in a heartbeat, and would make a great collaborative authorial effort, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Not the novel, the "actual" guidebook. Collect the various "quotes" from it in the stories ("Earth: Mostly harmless.") add filler of like to pad the page count, slap the cover as described on the package, bundle it with an "official" towel and "thumb"* and run to the bank with wheelbarrows of money. I always wondered why some marketing genius/idiot never took the idea and ran with it. Now don't tell me somebody did and I missed it...

(...some vague recollection of a goodie included with the Infocom game is twigging my grey cells.)

* and now in this day and age make the "thumb" a thumb drive with a serial coded digital version of the HHGTTG and capable of downloadable updates from the official site.

Oh, I'd be there in line too. I always thought that the device that was pictured on the game box (and the device that was shown in the TV series) was way cool.

But here are the feelies included in the game. Nothing too cool, but I still have the No Tea.