Thursday, December 3, 2009

Douglas Adams' bath sold for 1,592.42 pounds sterling



Douglas Adams' bath, kindly donated to Save The Rhino by Jane Belson and Polly Adams, has been sold on ebay for £1,592.42. Did they add "42" at the end on purpose? A funny coincidence anyway and a nice price for this bath which was shown at the Hitchcon 09.

The
Vogon Commander Kwaltz in bronze created for the Hitchhiker movie was sold on ebay at £500.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Buy a Vogon!




Thanks to Save the Rhino, you can also buy Vogon Commander Kwaltz in bronze on ebay. This Vogon model was created specially for the film adaptation of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Sculpted by Jamie Courtier for Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, it is a scale representation of Vogon Commander Kwaltz.The start price is 500 pounds but it is an exeptional item and can be sent worldwide (contrary to the bath)!
The acution ends 02 Dec, 200920:45:09 GMT.

Click here to see the auction on ebay

Buy Douglas Adams’ Bath and think like a genius!





Save the Rhino has put Douglas Adams' bath on ebay. Auction finishes the 02 Dec, 2009. The start price is 100 pounds. Of course, you'll have to go in London to take the bath and bring it home.

If you were at the Hitchcon, the bath was on display and the fans had the opportunity to take a picture of themselves in the bath.

  • Many people ask writers where they get their ideas from
  • Douglas Adams always maintained that when he ran out of ideas he took a long bath. This is that bath
  • Here's your opportunity to lie where genius lay, to soak up some of the inspiration that created the galaxy's favourite science-fiction comedy series, in a beautiful wrought-iron bath!
  • Recently removed during a bathroom refit
  • Douglas’s widow Jane Belson kindly donated this bath to be part of Hitchcon’09 at London’s Royal Festival Hall, in celebration of 30 years of the great man’s most famous creation: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and the publication of And Another Thing – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Part Six of Three by Eoin Colfer
  • Think like a genius - take a bath!
  • Kindly donated by Jane Belson and Polly Adams
  • Collection only


Saturday, October 24, 2009

An unexpected H2G2-tribute by the NASA



It was probably one of the best tribute to Hitchhiker for its 30th anniversary. While the LCROSS spacecraft crashed towards the moon on 9 October, its twitter feed quoted the words of the spermwhale that fell towards its death on the planet of Magrathea:

“And what's this thing coming toward me very fast? So big and flat and round,
4:34 AM Oct 9th from web

it needs a big wide sounding name like 'Ow', 'Ownge', 'Round', 'Ground'!”
4:34 AM Oct 9th from web

“That's it! Ground! Ha! I wonder if it'll be friends with me?”
4:34 AM Oct 9th from web

How cool is that? Thanks NASA! (and thanks to Jan for the info)

Here is LCROSS's twitter page
And here is LCROSS's website

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

"Last chance to see" event sold out!



Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine have made this fabulous sequel to the Douglas Adams's book "Last chance to see". The book and DVD of the TV series are now avalaible in all the good shops.

Save the Rhino has organised a special event with Mark Carwardine and Stephen Fry and it will take place on Tuesday 27 October 2009 at 19:30 at the Royal Geographical Society, London. 

Congrats to those who bought the tickes because now the event is sold out! 

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Join Rod Lord's mailing list


Rod Lord is the genius who did the wonderful graphics for the Hitchhiker BBC TV series. Those who were at the Hitchcon had the opportunity to talk to him and buy some prints. There was even an auction for an original piece of artwork (that i sadly lost).

On Rod Lord's website, you can get a lot of details on Rod's work on Hitchhiker, watch a video interview, order some prints and also add your details to a new mailing list to be kept informed of when items of original artwork are to be posted on eBay or new items or features added to the site.

http://www.rodlord.com/pages/hhgg.htm

Webchat with Eoin Colfer : the video online

The 9th october, a few days before the Hitchcon, Eoin Colfer answered to some questions asked by the fans (the first one is mine!). Here is the video of the webchat :

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

"And Another Thing" on Radio 4


Since monday 12th october, Stephen Mangan reads extracts from "And another Thing" in ten episodes on Radio 4 everyday at 22h45. You can listen to the episodes on the BBC iplayer during 7 days after broadcast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n4yrp

And remember that you can also listen to Eoin Colfin's interview on Front Row

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mzyxp/Front_Row_08_10_2009/

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Hitchcon 09 & ZZ9 celebration party videos and pictures are here!


 
You can watch the pictures of this incredible event here : http://picasaweb.google.com/Grand.Ordre.de.la.Serviette/Hitchcon09#

The video of Hitchcon 09 is here :  http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xaslyj_hitchcon-09

And you can watch the video of ZZ9's party at Captain's Cabin on the saturday night :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xas53p_the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy_creation

 And now the pics of ZZ9's tour in Inslington and visit to Douglas Adams's grave.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Grand.Ordre.de.la.Serviette/ZZ9SuperSaturday#

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Mostly Harmless issue 114 sent to ZZ9 members



"Mostly Harmless" is ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha's quarterly magazine (ZZ9 is the offical DNA and H2G2 fan club). Issue 114 has just been sent to ZZ9 members. If you're not a ZZ9 member, you can join here.

The current edition includes some interesting stuff :

- The first part of a long interview with Eoin Colfer who answers with a lot of details to John Coxon's questions. In this first part, Eoin talks about the characters ("I think I went for Restaurant and took that kind of stage development... so when I started the book, that's whre they are and they're very recognisable as characters from the original series, especially the first two books"), Douglas' unique style of writing, one-liners, humour, deadlines, sequels, Hitchhiker as a cult (It's like a mainstream religion rather than a cult. I think there are a few people who might have gotten away with this without the faithful worrying about it, and I'm not one of them").

- David Haddock and friends try to remember what they were doing 30 years ago when the book was published

- "And another book about the science of Douglas Adams..." by Alexander Pawalk who is busily writing a book called "Die Wissenchaft bei Douglas Adams" (The science of Douglas Adams) which will be published in january 2010

- "Hitchhiker's and philosophy. Part two : the ethics of entertainment" by Nicholas Joll

- Reviews of "The rough guide to the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy", "Dont panic" (5th edition) and two reviews for the first half of "And another thing" (one very positive, and a "could have been better" one)

Let's remember that as a ZZ9 member, you have access to their merchandise, which include the world famous Beeblebear, a Don't panic towel, and other fun stuff.

Don't forget to bookmark ZZ9's website

Thursday, October 1, 2009

New Hitchhiker Trivia iphone app


Perfect Storm Software has just released an iphone app called "Ask me again : Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy edition". At first you are delighted! But once you've bought it (for 0,79 euros - a 50% off introductory sale), and tried it, you'll be disgusted.

It's not even pretty, but the worst thing about this Hitchhiker trivia is that there are just 30 questions split in 3 difficulty levels : "Junior shouting officer", "Hitchhiker" and "hoopy frood". In the junior officer section, you even have to reply seriously to that question : "The answer to the great question of life, the universe and everything is...?". I won't tell you the answer because i don't want to spoil the fun.

This kind of trivia game should have 200 questions at least, and it shouldn't be too difficult to make trivia questions with Hitchhiker. The creators promise "live content updating" but they release their app with 30 questions so maybe they will release ten more questions per year - if you're lucky.

Perfect Storm Software, which describe itself on its website as "a company born from a common desire to achieve excellence" is very similar to the infamous Marketing Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, and should be best described as "a bunch of mindless jerks that were the first ones up against the wall when the Revolution came."

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

H2G2, part 6 : Quizz Eoin Colfer on webTV show the 9th October



I just got this email. This is the opportunity to  quizz Eoin Colfer on a webTV show that will be broadcast friday 9th October.
Click here to submit questions before the chat. For more information visit www.6of3.com

"People of Earth! Don’t Panic!

Quiz the author of the latest book in the celebrated Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, ‘And Another Thing...’

 WebTV Show date: Friday 9th October

WebTV Show time: 2.30pm

Do you know the answer to life, the universe and everything?* Can you make a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster? Do you know where your towel is? If this makes sense then you must be aware of the science fiction comedy phenomenon Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. If not then where have you been for the past 30 years?

To mark the three decades since publication of the first book in Douglas Adams' bestselling Hitchhiker's series, a new book is being released that continues the adventures of eternal pessimist Arthur Dent, his alien best friend Ford Prefect and the two headed Galactic President Zaphod Beelbebrox.

The book – ‘And Another Thing’ - has been written by the bestselling author of Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer. Artemis Fowl has sold over 18 million copies worldwide and is published in 44 countries. Fully sanctioned by Jane Belson, the widow of the Hitchhiker's series creator Douglas Adams, And Another Thing is available in all good bookshops from Monday 12th October.

Colfer will be touring around the UK promoting and signing copies of his new book beginning with Hitchcon'09 on Sunday 11th October at the Royal Festival Hall in central London where a gathering of the largest number of Hitchhiker fans ever will take place. The public will have the opportunity to hear Eoin read from And Another Thing... for the first time, as well as enjoy a host of Hitchhiker related events including a live re-creation of the classic radio plays with the original cast of actors

So for the devout ‘Uberhitchers’ that have waited their entire lives to question a Hitchhiker’s author, or the ‘Artemis Advocates’ that supported Colfer’s appointment, or anyone else interested in what is sure to be the literary event of the year – why not log on to our webchat and submit your questions to our very special guest? Colfer will also be revealing when his book tour will be coming to a city near you.

Eoin Colfer joins us live online at http://www.webchats.tv/chat/people_of_earth_dont_panic on Friday 9th October at TBC to discuss ‘And Another Thing’

Sunday, September 20, 2009

ZZ9's Celebrations of the 30th Anniversary of the H2G2 book saturday 10 october

ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha is Douglas Adams and H2G2 official fan club. If you come to Hitchcon'09 in London the 11th october, you don't want to miss ZZ9's own celebrations the day before.

Events include :

- Inslinghton slouch (13:00)

"Douglas Adams lived at a number of addresses around the Islington area from the mid Seventies, with a few years spent on the west coast of America writing film script drafts. Of special interest for this trip will be a walk past the address where Douglas wrote the first Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book (we have cleared this with the current owner). After that we will probably pop on the tube to nip down to the Angel tube station as Adams used the Islington area for inspiration for the Hitchhiker and Dirk Gently books. Other places we will wander by include the office of estate agents Hotblack Desiato, the Regent's Canal where Dirk Gently sent Richard McDuff swimming, the location that inspired Fenchurch's door in So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, and more."

 - Captain's Cabin Party (19:00)

"The Captain's Cabin is a pub of interest to Hitchhiker fans. It is just around the corner from the site of the Paris Theatre where the first two radio series were recorded. This historic location is now a branch of LA Fitness. After recording sessions at the Paris, cast and crew often retired to the Captain's Cabin for liquid refreshment. ZZ9 will be upholding this tradition and hope to have some special guests to mix and mingle with as we make a weekend of Penguin's Hitchcon'09 event. All welcome, we are booked in upstairs from 7pm, and they serve food until 9pm. There may be a talk and/or a pub quiz if we are really together and hoopy. We have a habit of staying in pubs until they close so pop along any time after seven."

Ful details here :  http://www.zz9.org/events/zz930book.html

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Sorry for the inconvenience

The last few days were quite difficult to manage. Due to bandwidth limitation and the fact that there are a lot of visitors on my website for some weeks, the site went down for several hours. Now it's back and I hope you appreciate the brand new design and the new content (I will still work a lot on the content during the next few months to improve it so if you have comments to share you're welcome).

I launched my first website about H2G2 and Douglas Adams in 2001, had four websites in 2005 (voyageurgalactique.com, douglasadams.info, h2g2radioseries.com and h2g2movie.com) and now back to two (one in french and one in english - which are very similar and share the same forum). It will be of course much easier for me to manage the new bicephalous entity. And thanks to a friend (Ash222), I feel that the design is just right

For a few days yet, when you go on douglasadams.info, you'll have a page in french. But you can click on the british flag and everything should be all right (or just use the adress http://www.douglasadams.info/en_index.php). Anyway this is going to be fixed anytime soon. I really apologize for the inconvenience.

6of3.com : full features are online


6of3 is the official website of "And another thing", H2G2 part 6. It has been launched some weeks ago but now all the features are online. it includes a video introduction by Eoin Colfer, a timeline, ringtones, a presentation of the authors and books, and a competion (only for UK residents) to find the greatest Hitchhiker fan ever, a community section , and more. And of course you can still tweet the galaxy if you haven't done it yet.

And remember that on panmacmillan homage, you're greeted with  a special H2G2 page to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Hitchhikers and announce the new editions with DIY covers, new forewords and exclusive content.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

PAN Macmillan press release on H2G2 reissues


On 12 October 1979 the most remarkable book ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor (and Earth) was made available to humanity – THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy went straight to Number 1 in the UK bestseller list and over 15 million have now been sold worldwide. Well over 2 million copies in the UK alone.

Join the nationwide re-read with Pan’s stunning special editions, re-released one month before the publication of And Another Thing… the sixth book in the trilogy by Eoin Colfer.

All five works have been reissued in a stunning new cover look. Each edition contains brilliant new forewords from famous Hitchhiker fans: Russell T Davies, Terry Jones, Simon Brett, Neil Gaiman and Dirk Maggs. A super limited edition first print run of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy features a Don’t Panic Design-it-Yourself cover and limited edition stickers.

On offer are all the versions of each book: paperback at £7.99, audio download, iPhone app and ebook.

In addition, from now until the anniversary on 12th October, www.panmacmillan.com will showcase the stunning new editions of the Hitchhiker trilogy of five, plus the following:

• A DIY cover video, with Marvin decorating his copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• An iGoogle theme so that you can personalise your Google homepage with the new stickers
• Tweets from Marvin the paranoid android on Twitter… “Lovely day today. If you like that sort of thing. Personally I can take it or leave it.” (Or follow him here: www.twitter.com/MarvinsMoan)

Then, in October, bring your towel and raise a glass of Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster for 30 years of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, A Trilogy in Five Parts.

Anniversary celebrations include Hitchcon ’09, the biggest party the unfashionable end of the galaxy has ever seen, on London’s Southbank on Sunday 11th October. Join the largest gathering of Hitchhiker fans ever, watch Hitchhikers live on stage and take part in the mega-signing. For further details see http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

"Last chance to see" the book hits the shelves


The long awaited book, "Last chance to see - on the foosteps of Douglas Adams" hit the shelves the 3rd September. The original "Last chance to see" book was published in 1990 and was co-written by Douglas Adams and zoologist Mark Carwardine. It's a great book, very funny and also very clever.

This time, Mark Carwardine went for a worl tour of endangeard animals with Stephen Fry who was one of Douglas Adams's best friends

"Join Britain's best-loved wit and raconteur, Stephen Fry, as he follows in his great friend Douglas Adams' footsteps with zoologist Mark Carwardine, in search of some of the rarest and most threatened animals on Earth. In the 1980s celebrated writer Douglas Adams teamed up with zoologist Mark Carwardine and together they embarked on a groundbreaking expedition, travelling the globe in search of the world's endangered animals. Twenty years later, comic genius Stephen Fry is returning with Mark to see if the species still exist. A major BBC television series follows the two on six separate journeys which take them to the Amazon basin, East Africa, Madagascar, New Zealand, Indonesia and Mexico to look for a flightless parrot, the Amazonian manatee, man-eating Komodo dragons, man's closest living relative, the northern white rhino and an animal so bizarre it seems to have been assembled from bits of other creatures. These are not just travels to the four corners of the world, but a journey in time to open our eyes to what humans have done to the Earth in the 20 years since the original Last Chance to See expeditions. It is a unique insight into the disappearing world around us, by one of the most extraordinary, informed, enthusiastic and amusing partnerships."

The Guardian has published some nice extras including an article by Stephen Fry and long extracts of the book.

The last chance to see TV series starts Sunday 6th September on BBC2 at 8pm.

The TV series DVD is
due for release on 19/10/2009.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Hitchcon 09 : Full Program and booking informations!



"With other out-of-this-world entertainment throughout the day – including special free screenings of the Hitchhiker’s series in The Clore Ballroom – this is one event no self-respecting lover of classic British comedy will want to miss.

Day pass £32.50 when you book tickets to all events."

- Photo call - Riverside Terrace 11.30 AM Admission free

Start the day at a photocall of the largest number of Hitchhiker's fans ever. Remember to wear your dressing gown and bring along a towel.

- Session 1: The Douglas Adams Chat Show Royal Festival Hall 12.30 PM - £12.50

A full panel of Hitchhiker’s experts and friends of Douglas Adams discusses the great man and his work.

- Booksigning The Clore Ballroom 1.30 PM Admission free

Mega-signing of the fantastic new edition of the first five Hitchhiker's novels.

- Sessions 2 & 3 (And Another Thing... & Hitchhikers Live On Stage!) Royal Festival Hall 3 PM - £25

Session 2 - And Another Thing...
Eoin Colfer, bestselling author of Artemis Fowl, gives an exclusive reading from his new Hitchhiker's novel - the sixth book in the series. Introduced by Ireland’s multi-platinum selling band The Blizzards, playing their single inspired by And Another Thing...

Session 3 - Hitchhikers Live On Stage!
Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Marvin The Paranoid Android and Trillian are set to appear in person - Improbability Drive permitting - along with intergalactic plutonium rock band Disaster Area, to recreate classic moments from the saga, joined by special guests including Eoin Colfer.

- Booksigning: Eoin Colfer - The Clore Ballroom 5.45pm - Admission free

Buy the new sixth book in the series a day before everyone else and get it signed by Eoin Colfer."


You can book here on Southbank center website

Friday, August 14, 2009

Hitchhiker convention the 11th october in London


As read on the bookseller.com "A “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” convention will take place in October to mark the 30th anniversary of the famous Douglas Adams series (11th October) and publication of the authorised sequel from Eoin Colfer, And Another Thing . . .
“Hitchcon 2009” is a highlight in a co-ordinated campaign being jointly organised by Adams’ publisher Pan Macmillan and Colfer’s publisher Penguin. Pan Macmillan is to reissue the Adams backlist on 1st September, 42 days before the anniversary date—as Adams fans know, the number 42 is “the answer to life, the universe and everything”.
The special editions, which include a “DIY” jacket for The Hitchhiker’s Guide that readers can customise with a sheet of stickers, will be available only for one year. They include new introductions from the likes of Russell T Davies, Neil Gaiman and Terry Jones, and previously unseen material from Pan Macmillan’s Adams archive.
This includes the original press release for The Hitch­hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and synopses of the novels written by Adams.
Macmillan senior commissioning editor Julie Crisp said: “We have such a history with him, and we wanted to focus on material that hadn’t been seen.”
Macmillan’s marketing includes a promotion with the magazine SciFi Now, and material for bookshops includes dumpbins, window stickers, posters and bookmarks. Meanwhile, Marvin the Paranoid Android will be Tweeting.

Hitchcon will take place at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank on Sunday 11th October, with appearances from Simon Jones, the actor who first played Arthur Dent, and other members of the original cast. Colfer will also do the first reading from his book at the event.
Meanwhile, Penguin is collab­orating with Universal Music label Island Records for the release of a tune inspired by And Another Thing . . . with Irish band The Blizzards. The song is to be released as the “official” single for the book in October.
Penguin is also to launch a website, www.6of3.com, offering competitions, games and ringtone downloads, in September. “Large-scale announcement advertising” is also planned, while a range of videos with Colfer will be seeded across the internet, and material also fed across TV and radio stations. ­
Colfer will do events from 11th to 17th October, including bookshop appearances in Glasgow, Birmingham and ­Manchester, Forbidden Planet in London (Wednesday 14th October 2009 - 6pm-7pm) and Easons in Dublin, and the Cheltenham and ­Manchester literary festivals."
We can add :

- The Official H2G2 fan club ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha will be having a slouch and party in London on the Saturday
- The upcoming publication of "The Rough Guide to The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy" by Marcus O’Dair in October.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

And another thing (the first half): my review


I've just finished reading the first half of "And another thing", the sixth book in "The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" written by Eoin Colfer.

First I'd like to thank Penguin and Eoin Colfer's website for organizing this giveaway and for risking sending to fans half of the book three months before its publication (the 12th October). I always thought that was quite risky as they could get very bad reactions from the fans and utterly bad reviews on the net. Now here is the question: are they right to be so confident about the quality of Eoin Colfer's new book?

Just a few words first about the controversy between fans. Some of them really want to read this book and there are others who won't read it even if their life was at stake and depended on it.

Douglas Adams, the original author of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (H2G2) died in 2001. The last installment of H2G2 ("Mostly Harmless") was published in 1994 and surprised and shocked a lot of fans because the end of the book was utterly dark. But those who understand Hitchhiker know that H2G2 was not founded on an optimistic and innocent kind of humour. A story which begins with the destruction of the Earth to make way for a bypass can hardly be called harmless. A few times, Douglas Adams expressed regrets for such a dark ending to his famous trilogy in five parts. He had a love/hate relationship with "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" which made him so famous, and felt trapped just like a rockstar who would be famous for just one song (or five). But he also was very protective regarding his work (as Howard Zimmerman explains in a foreword to the DC comics adaptation, "Essentially, Douglas wanted no changes to his original prose whatsoever.... The single, major concession I got from Douglas Adams was to allow us to Americanize the British spellings. And this was a hard won battle").

The five Hitchhiker's books are all very different and it is not at all an homogeneous set. The first one is the closest to the original radio series (which for me remains the canon). The second book ("The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" has a lot of new stuff but remains very close to the spirit of the radio series and the first book (the reason why many fans think it is the best). The third one, "Life, the Universe and Everything" is based on a script Douglas wrote for “Doctor Who”. So it's quite different from the two first books and has a plot! But it is also more classical stuff and lacks the sheer originality of the two first books. The fourth book ("So Long and Thanks For All the Fish") is a love story on Earth! A lot of fans don't like this book for this reason but it has always been a favourite of mine. And finally, the fifth book, ("Mostly Harmless") is the darker book in the series and its end seemed to wipe out a possibility for a sixth book.

So, everyone was quite taken aback when Penguin one year ago announced that there will be a sixth book of Hitchhiker and that it will be written by Eoin Colfer, an Irish writer well known for his best selling series for teenagers, "Artemis Fowl". And quite a number of fans decided straight away that it was a terrible idea and that they won't read a Hitchhiker book not written by Douglas.

I feel myself uncomfortable with the concept, as Douglas Adams’ unique style of writing (including his penchant for run-on sentences) and sheer original ideas are quite an important factor in the pleasure you get from reading H2G2. But I love the characters so much that I couldn't help but feel excited at the idea of having them back in new adventures. And I'm still happy when there are opportunities for a few headlines about Hitchhiker and Douglas Adams. I really hope that he and his work will be even more famous in 20 years than they are now.

So I was quite happy to get last week a proof copy of this much awaited book. But now I have finished reading half of the book, which are my feelings on the subject?

Well let's get it straight, it's not Douglas Adams. Eoin Colfer has his own sense of humour, and way of telling stories.

Regarding our heroes. Well they are back (he resisted the temptation to get Marvin resurrected - in the first half at least) but of course sometimes they act and think differently than in Douglas' books. So it can be disturbing the few times it happens. But mainly, I think he got it right. Eoin Colfer also brought back some of the excellent secondary characters you get in the Hitchhiker's series. And he didn't make bad choices.

The plot. Hmm, I would say that the plot is also here very, very thin and to be straightforward not very interesting. There is a kind of plot but more like in the movie and less than in "Life, the Universe and Everything". It's more an excuse of for a plot. And Colfer is very Adamsy when he breaks the continuity of the story with a lot of extra stuff; guide notes, and so on...

Is it funny? If you read Hitchhiker to have a good laugh, maybe you're going to be disappointed. I didn't find it very funny. There are some good funny moments (mainly at the beginning) but Colfer's ideas being less original than Douglas’, you are less surprised. And he has not the same grip on comic timing than Douglas had.

There are also some dialogues which are not Douglasy at all, like most of the stuff around Random's teenage problems and the kind of love story between Trillian and °°°° (a legendary character of the Hitchhiker series, even if it's the first time that we see him that much!). And some speeches are anyway a bit long. I didn't find any great conversations like the ones between Prosser-Arthur, Marvin-Frogstar Robot or even Shooty-Bang Bang-Zaphod.

I don't want to give the feeling that it is a bad book. It is not. But maybe I was expecting too much. And let's keep in mind the fact that it is just the first half of the book with all the transitional bits that were needed (this book has been written in a way that you could read it without reading the other books first - there's a resumé of the previous book at the beginning - but I really, really hope that new readers will read the other books first, or at least afterwards). I don't feel in anyway that it's a shame, or an insult to Douglas Adams' memory; it's a nice fan fiction. Take it or leave it, but if you like Hitchhiker, give it a chance.


EDIT (the 23th august 2009) : I've been quoted on several websites saying that "The new Hitchhiker book is not very funny". I feel a bit taken out of context (and most of these websites don't even put a link back to my website so that people can read the entire review). Maybe some other people will find it very funny (I'm not the judge of what's funny and what's not) and it's annyway not the main quality of the Hitchhiker's series from my point of view. "So long..." and "Mostly harmless" are not funny books, there is a dark and sceptical tone in Douglas'writing that I love. And of course you can't find exactly the same thing in Colfin's writing.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

And another thing : first extract and fist review

Now that Penguin sent the first eight chapters to some lucky bast°°°s who won a copy of the proof, the first reviews (for these eight chapters) begin to appear on the web.

Here is an extract posted by my friend Kevin Davies who chose it because it sounds a lot like douglas adams :

"From "And Another Thing..." by Eoin Colfer, Chapter One:


...Ford Prefect found himself deposited in a room composed of blue sky.

A familiar figure sat in the opposite corner.

'Ah,' said Ford, remembering.

Guide Note: Remembering is generally a two-stage process involving dialogue between the conscious and subconscious parts of the brain. The subconscious opens proceedings by throwing up the relevant memory, an act which releases a spurt of self-congratulatory endorphins.

'Well done, matey,' says the consciousness. 'That memory is really useful right now, and I couldn't remember where I'd put it."

'You and me pal,' says the subconscious, delighted to have its contribution acknowledged for once. 'We're in this together.'

Then the conscious reviews the memory in its in-tray and sends a message down to the sphincter telling it to prepare for the worst.

'Why did you remind me of this?' it rails against the subconscious. 'This is awful. Terrible. I didn't want to remember this. Why the zark do you think I shoved it to the back of my brain?'

'That's the last time I help you out,' mutters the subconscious and retreats to the darker sections of itself where nasty thoughts are housed. 'I don't need you,' it tells itself. 'I can make myself another personality out of these things you've discarded.' And so the seeds of schizophrenia are sown with kernels of childhood bullying, neglect, low self-esteem and prejudice.

Luckily, Betelgeuseans don't have much of a subconscious, so that's all right then.

---"

An here is the first intelligent review posted by a guy called Roger Plunkett (Humanracer) on several forums and blogs :

"The book is very good but not excellent. I don’t think this will win converts among those who have decided that without Adams, the book will disappoint. The book is written in such a way that it follows on from Dirk Maggs radio adaptation of book 5, as well as book 5 itself.

Firstly the negatives. The guide sections are generally well written but prefaced only by “guide note”, whereas Adams wrote “The Hitchhikers Guide has a lot to say on the subject of..”. The guide sections in Adams books had a much stronger character. 6 of 3 also suffers from too much sentimentality. We hear about Trillian’s guilt about leaving Random, Arthur’s love for his daughter, Random’s sadness about not having a home etc. Of course this may have been in an Adams novel since he was happily married with a daughter at the time of his death but Hitchhikers works best when it is farcical and even romantic moments in earlier books were played out in a humorous fashion. I would have liked this novel to have been written in the spirit of the first two books, with sentimentality swapped for humour. This is something that was also partly missing from the 5th book. Nearly every paragraph in the first two books was coated with Adams humour and read like a real comedy. Here Colfer spends too much time stating what is happening (Arthur did this, Trillian felt like this etc). Adams kept such explanations to minimum, and when it was used, it was always an excuse for Adams to get another gag in. Of course there should be a reconciliation between Trillian and Random but I think Adams would have made it funny rather than twee. Another criticism is that some of the characters dialogue is a little off. I don’t think Arthur would call someone “mate”, and he wouldn’t use the word “arsehole”. In fact there is a lot of semi swearing in this book. The plot moves along slowly, having finished half the book, the characters are still trying to get out of the same situation they found themselves in after the first few chapters. The book is shaping up to be the longest of the series. Finally, referencing Doctor Who seems a bit far fetched.

The positives?. It’s very well written and while the book is not a laugh out loud novel, the book is a pleasant read and less depressing than book 5. Everything depends on the second half though, the book set up some great concepts which could lead to a great conclusion. There are hints that Arthur still has feelings for Trillian and perhaps this should be explored more in the second half, though hopefully with a lot of humour. A lot of major and minor characters are back, which would please Hitchhiker fans. I actually think the dialogue would be more suited to a radio show since a lot of it would sound far funnier if read out in a humorous manner.

So overall a very good effort which could have been better. The book will please some fans and disappoint others. I may reassess my view after reading the second half.

I have been a big supporter of this project, but it has always been my intention to give a honest and fair review.

Let me know what your other half thinks!"

Friday, July 24, 2009

Be a Vogon, destroy the earth (and other news)

There have been some great news latelty about the upcoming 6th book of H2G2 written by Eoin Colfer.

First, Penguin has just distributed a few preview copies of this sixth book on Eoin Colfer's official website. You could read on the website's blog that "Penguin have just announced that they are releasing a strictly limited run of proofs of the first half of Eoin’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy sixth instalment And Another Thing … These proofs are special in that they’re printed in newspaper form, numbered and will almost certainly be collector’s items." You just had to send an email with your adress (you had to live in UK or Ireland!). We still don't know who are the lucky b****ds but this a very courageous move from Penguin. They must be sure of the quality of this book if they give copies of the first half of the book three months before it's published.

Second, Hyperion Books, the american publisher of "And another thing..." is very active too. Eoin Colfer is now at the San Diego Comic Con so we should have a video of his talk about Hitchhiker quite shortly (we have already a short interview here). Hyperion which has already opened some weeks ago a page on Twitter and has now launched a mini website whith an online game where you can train as a Vogon to destroy the earth.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Last chance to see event the 27th October in London


"On Tuesday 27 October Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine will update us on their quest to find the Northern white rhino; the Northern white rhino lived, until recently, in Uganda, southern Chad, south-western Sudan, the eastern part of Central African Republic, and north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. However this has all changed and the Northern white rhino is unfortunately right on the brink of extinction due to poaching, civil unrest and corruption. Four individuals were seen in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006, but none have been seen there since, and no where else in the wild. There are 11 in captivity, in the Czech Republic and California, but they're not breeding. It is a desperate situation for the Northern white rhino so join us at the Royal Geographical Society in October to hear more about Stephen and Mark's journey."

Tuesday 27 October 2009 The Royal Geographical Society, London 7.30pm (doors open 6.30pm)

For more informations about this event, Check Save The Rhino Website

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Don't forget Towel Day : 25th May 2009!

"As explained on Towel-day.com :

"What? Carry your towel the whole day with you, wherever you go.

When? Every year at May 25th.

Where? Of course everywhere you go!

And why? May 25th is the commemoration day for the Douglas Adams, the author of the world-celebrated book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, who unfortunately passed away 2001."

Don't forget to take a picture of you and your towel and to post it all around the web.

This year, we're going to make something huge for the Towel day here in Paris.

We found the perfect Deep Thought at Gare du Nord in Paris and we're going to play the 42 scene in front of it for towel Day. There will be a video and some pictures for those who'll miss the event but if you can come it would be great.

We'll meet in the Gare du Nord main hall on monday 25th at 20h30 with our towels.

For those who don't believe we've found Deep Thought here is a picture :

Thursday, May 7, 2009

"Salmon of doubt" on radio but without Dirk Maggs


The british magazine "The Stage" has announced that "Spice World writer Kim Fuller has been enlisted to adapt and complete Douglas Adams’ final and unfinished Dirk Gently novel for BBC Radio 4.

The writer will use information provided in the existing chapters of The Salmon of Doubt - which Adams was working on at the time of his death - to create a six-part drama, which will be the third in a trilogy of Dirk Gently series ordered by Radio 4 from production company Above the Title in 2007.

Fuller, who as well as writing the Spice Girls movie was behind the BBC’s S Club 7 series Miami 7, was brought in to adapt The Salmon of Doubt after Dirk Maggs, who penned the previous two Dirk Gently outings, parted ways with the production company at the end of last year. "

I'm not really sure that it is a good news to tell the truth. The previous Dirk Gently series have been written by Dirk Maggs, a great writer and director well known for his work on radio and who also wrote and directed the three last Hitchhiker's radio series. He knew perfectly well Douglas Adams' unique work.

"Salmon of doubt" is an unfinished book and the new writer would have quite a fair amount of new writing to do.

And if that Fuller has already done a lot of writing, it doesn't seem to be that good.

You can check his work on imdb at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0298279/

He wrote an episode of "red dwarf" and stuff for "spitting image" but it's the closer we can get from Hitchhikers. He wrote "spice world" and things that seem dreadfull like "from justin to kelly"!! WHY and HOW did they choose him? A curious choice after Dirk Maggs.

Anyway, if it's really bad, Radio 4 won't broadcast the new series... At least, I hope so.

You can read the article on The Stage's website here

Monday, March 30, 2009

Cover Art for Hitchhikers 6 “And Another Thing” Revealed

Being deprived of internet access for now three weeks, I publish the news 20 days after it was revealed on Eoin Colfer's website.

Well anyway here is the cover for those who still haven't seen it :

The publication of Hitchhiker's sixth book will be also the opportunity for new editions of the previous titles :

"And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer is published in hardback from Michael Joseph on 12th October 2009 ISBN 9780718155148, £20

New anniversary editions of Douglas Adams’ original titles will be available in paperback at £7.99 from Pan with new introductions from notable people in the Hitchhiker world, including Russell T Davies, Dirk Maggs and Terry Jones and with an afterword from Simon Brett, the original commissioner of the radio series on 4th September 2009"

Well I wouldn't say that Russel T Davies is part of the Hitchhiker world but never mind. It will be interesting to read these introductions and Simon Brett's afterword.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Eoin Colfer has almost finished writing Hitchhikers part 6!

Very far away from Douglas Adams well known craft for missing deadlines, it seems that irish writer Eoin Colfer will finish Hitchhiker' guide to the galaxy sixth part in time. "And another thing" should be finished at the begining of february and published as expected in october. In his hoopy new year video message, Eoin Colfer speaks mostly about Hitchhikers. He shows his christmas present to the camera, a nice little towel with the "penguin logo" (the new Hitchhikers publisher) and the phrase "a hoopy frood always knows where his towel is".

He seems a bit worried about the "controversial" sixth Hitchhikers book. "Some people are going to burn it in their fireplace", he says, "but you know there's not much I can do about that. All I can do is write the best book that I know how to write, that is in equal parts reverential towards the brilliance genius of Douglas Adams but also an other part of it will be just me. So I'm going to bring my own brand of humour and fast pacing and adventure to it... But in these books there are no rules. Everything can happen, absolutely everything... So I've been working on that for the last six monts and I hope to finish it by the begining of februrary I hope. And I jsut gonna have to sit back nervously and see what everybody thinks. So if I can convert 80% of the people, you know that's not going too bad...".

Watch Eoin Colfer hoopy new year message