Timewaster's Guide Archive
Departments => Books => Topic started by: Spriggan on September 17, 2008, 07:55:09 PM
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080917/od_nm/britain_galaxy_odd_dc;_ylt=AqLkOPGNqvC8OJljjtT2BCCs0NUE
Written by the guy who did Artemis Fowl.
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Hrm....I don't know how keen i would be to a non-adams written HHG book. Not that any writer couldn't be as witty, or clever, or do it justice, it's just that Adams had such a unique way of writing, i'm unsure the book would be the same as anything penned by the man himself. I'll probably check it out, though.
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I heard about this a few days ago and it peaked my interest. I was a big fan of the Hitchhiker books. Although I've never read anything by Eoin Colfer, I'll probably give it a shot when it comes out.
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Having read a bit of Eoin Colfer, I don't see that this is a good match. He is too serious, even when he is trying to be funny. Douglas had a serious side, but a lot of Hitchiker's is just pure silliness for the sake of making no sense at all.
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Interesting..... Having read the whole series, I guess I'll have to read this just to be sure, and/or for completeness and/or so I can mock it if it is terrible :)
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I don't know what they can do, what with both the Earth and the main characters being destroyed at the end of the previous book. (Or at least the Earth was; the main characters were too, right? It's been so long.)
I've only listened to the first Artemis Fowl book, and had a bit of a mixed reaction. The guy can write, sure, but I'm not sure he can write a HHGG book. If he's really as big a fan as he says, though, that's a hopeful sign.
But still, my question is why. Douglas Adams said he wanted to write another book? Really? What did he plan to do in it, since the previous book basically brought everything to the kind of close that you just cannot continue from?
I'd rather have more Dirk Gently.
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Yes! More Dirk Gently would be much better. I don't re-read Hitchiker's anymore, but I still love the Dirk Gently books.
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We should write one as a board, post by post, with the Mods as editors... It'd be an interesting social experiment.
The Hitch Hikers Guide pt.7 (I think), By TWG!
*giggle*
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New book? huh? what? Isn't everyone dead?
*brain explodes*
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A person is never too dead for a wonderful dose of deus ex-machina. :D
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A person is never too dead for a wonderful dose of deus ex-machina. :D
Does that mean J.K. Rowling will help to write the next book?
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Ooo.....What a frightening thought! :o
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I know, and Halloween is over too. Potter was interesting but the consistent use of Deus Ex Machina from her drove me insane. It was almost like she was happiest when she wrote herself into a corner.
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I must say I'm not optimistic.
The good thing about the HHGG books had nothing to do with the world and everything to do with the voice of the writer. Although, bringing everyone back from the dead, just because he could, is something I can totally see Adams doing.
Meh, I doubt anyone can duplicate his voice with enough fidelity and natural flow to make it worth it.
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Yeah... No one can quite ever really duplicate that combination of sanity and self-amazement that Douglas wrote with; it was almost schizophrenic in an awesome sort of way.
On the bright side though, the guy who did Artemis Fowl (could someone have picked a more glaring epitome of a second-rater?) does NOT make my top 10 list of writers I'd hate to see write another HHG.
Maybe have Jim Davis or Scott Adams do it, now that'd be good times...
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Try reading Airman. I am sort of luke warm about Artemis Fowl but I really liked that one. Though I think he is a completely ridiculous choice to try and follow Douglas Adams.
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Hitchhiker's Guide was a great yet silly trip I will go on again but with the original books, not any new material that comes out. It would have been a stretch for Adams to pull another book out of that series let alone someone ells. A new author might tack a Hollywood ending on it. No I think I can do without a new Hitchhiker Guide book or a sequel to Hamlet.
Arthur was not destined to have a happy ending even though was I cheering for him.
"You know," said Arthur, "it's at times like this, when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young."
[Ford Prefect:] "Why, what did she tell you?"
[Arthur:] "I don't know, I didn't listen."
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I picked this book up yesterday. I figure I should give it a fair chance and read it, since the HHG series is my favorite book series ever.
"You know," said Arthur, "it's at times like this, when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young."
[Ford Prefect:] "Why, what did she tell you?"
[Arthur:] "I don't know, I didn't listen."
One of my favorite all time quotes from the book.
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I have heard nothing good about it. Certainly not a resounding success like The Gathering Storm was, and I hear that it was really the publisher pushing for the sequel and for Colfer even though they claimed it was Adams' widow pushing for them.
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I have heard nothing good about it. Certainly not a resounding success like The Gathering Storm was, and I hear that it was really the publisher pushing for the sequel and for Colfer even though they claimed it was Adams' widow pushing for them.
Yeah, i'm certainly not expecting everything i ever wanted and then some out of it. I'll let you guys know what i think when I get around to reading it. I'm expecting to get some mild entertainment out of it at best.
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So i just finished the book. I won't go to an in depth review, but I'll give my impressions.
All in all, it was a luke-warm book at best. There are times when it almost feels like the book WAS written by adams, but then suddenly Colfer's voice comes crashing through and you realize it isn't. After all the time I personally have invested in the original HHG books (they're my favorite books) it was refreshing to read something new involving what, at this point, feels like old friends. Zaphod and Ford didn't QUITE feel like themselves, but Arthur and Random feel well done to me. Trillian seemed sort of hit-n-miss. Some points in the plot (like the general absurdity of things that happen) felt in place for the HHG universe, but overall, the plot didn't seem like something you would expect it to go from the previous sets. As far as comedy goes, I didn't really find any parts that got more than a brief chuckle or head shake out of me, and nothing too terribly memorable. A large quantity of things from the previous books were reused and brought up quite a bit, which seemed out of place to me. For example, it seemed like the words "Froody dude" were in every other sentence from Zaphod and Ford, in extreme excess to what was in any of the previous books, which was one small niggle of mine that I really felt I just couldn't ignore as a whole.
At the end of the day, If you consider yourself a big HHG fan, i would recommend reading it, but be sure to set your sights down a notch or three.