{"id":2040,"date":"2008-09-17T08:15:05","date_gmt":"2008-09-17T13:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.net\/?p=2040"},"modified":"2008-09-17T08:15:05","modified_gmt":"2008-09-17T13:15:05","slug":"on-new-hitchhikers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/?p=2040","title":{"rendered":"On New Hitchhiker’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl<\/i>, will be writing a new novel in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I don’t know what to say.<\/p>\n

I mean, yes, I’ll be curious.<\/p>\n

But at the same time, I just don’t know.<\/p>\n

I mean, I really<\/i> don’t know.<\/p>\n

Colfer himself says<\/a>:<\/p>\n

My first reaction was semi-outrage that anyone should be allowed to tamper with this incredible series. But on reflection I realised that this is a wonderful opportunity to work with characters I have loved since childhood and give them something of my own voice while holding on to the spirit of Douglas Adams.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I just don’t know.<\/p>\n

I’ve written in other people’s universes. I read comics — which are often people writing in someone else’s universe. It just doesn’t seem… right<\/i>… no, workable<\/i>… that someone should be writing in a universe as unique and as perversely weird as Adams’. Yes, I know, there’s Terry Jones’ Starship Titanic<\/i>, but that’s different — Adams was alive, and fuck, it was Terry Jones<\/i>.<\/p>\n

But this<\/i>…<\/p>\n

I admit, I am wholly unfamiliar with Colfer’s work. I’ve heard the name “Artemis Fowl,” but I know nothing more than that. I see that it’s a series of books about a teenaged criminal mastermind. That doesn’t really, erm, lend<\/i> itself to Arthur Dent, does it?<\/p>\n

I’m sorry, I’m still trying to process this.<\/p>\n

Okay. Here’s the thing.<\/p>\n

If Stephen Fry wrote it, I’d be fine with it. If Terry Jones wrote it, I’d be fine with it. It’s the personableness<\/i> of Hitchhiker’s<\/i>. It’s that, if the series must<\/i> continue, I’d want someone who knew<\/i> Douglas Adams, who was snarky like Douglas Adams, who was sarcastic and witty like Douglas Adams, and, above all else, who knew<\/i> Douglas Adams.<\/p>\n

Yes, I know I repeated that last one.<\/p>\n

I have no doubts of Colfer’s ability to write. I have no doubts that the book will turn out interesting and good. But I have doubts as to whether or not it’s necessary<\/i>.<\/p>\n

It’s that Hitchhiker’s<\/i> is, obviously, kinda personal. It is “a weird nerd religion,” as Zadie Smith once described Star Trek<\/i>. If it must<\/i> be done, I want to see it done right<\/i>.<\/p>\n

But must<\/i> it be done?<\/p>\n

Alas, that ship has sailed.<\/p>\n

And Another Thing…<\/i> is due out in October 2009.<\/p>\n

Blogged with the Flock Browser<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl, will be writing a new novel in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. I don’t know what to say. I mean, yes, I’ll be curious. But at the same time, I just don’t know. I mean, I really don’t know. Colfer himself says: My first reaction wasContinue reading “On New Hitchhiker’s”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[108,109,110,111],"class_list":["post-2040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reading","tag-arthur-dent","tag-douglas-adams","tag-eoin-colfer","tag-h2g2","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}