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Why Eoin Colfer is nervous about his new Hitchhiker's novel
You'd think that Eoin Colfer, whose Artemis Fowl fantasy novels have sold nearly 20 million copies, wouldn't have a care in the world. But now that's he's written And Another Thing, the sixth book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy franchise, a series which has sold nearly 15 million copies, the Irish author is finding it difficult to follow Douglas Adams' famous instructions to, well, you know—"don't panic."
"I'm still conflicted," said Colfer about stepping into Adams' shoes when I interviewed him at the San Diego Comic-Con. "It's not something where you make up your mind and then say, 'Well, that's the right decision,' and then put all your doubts behind you. Every day I think about it, I worry. But the reason I decided to do it was, I actually sat down and did pros and cons, and the pros were, I thought if I don't do it, someone else will do it, and they might not love it as much as me.
"Also, Jane and Polly [Adams' wife and daughter] wanted me to do it, which was very important. They were the ones who convinced me. And I honestly think that I can kind of bring something to it and not try to be Douglas ... but maybe people will read this, and then they'll go back and read the other five, which is the whole point."
And Another Thing won't be published until Oct. 12, 2009, but Colfer showed off his first Hitchhiker's-related writing recently when he tweeted a bit of Vogon poetry as part of Hyperion Books' Tweet the Galaxy program. Through midnight, Oct. 11, anyone who wishes can send a tweet which will transmitted into deep space the day the novel comes out. And last Saturday night, in front of a crowded party at Comic-Con, Colfer typed the initial tweet, which you can see above.
"I felt a lot of pressure with that," said Colfer. "You've got a room full of people, all kind of funny sci-fi guys, and you're trying to do a tweet that's worthy, I suppose, of being the first. So I decided I'd do some Vogon poetry. It's kind of a gobbledygook amalgamation of English and Vogon English. It's one of those things that sounds funny, and you're not really sure why. Some words are funny, like sausage, and you're not really sure why it is, but this is a nonsense tweet that you can look up and see what you think."
To keep yourself in a Hitchhiker's state of mind until the book's publication Oct. 12, check out 6of3.com, which features a Vogon training game, an iPhone app and further information on the upcoming continuation. Meanwhile, Colfer will be spending that time in a kind of limbo, nervously waiting for And Another Thing to hit bookstores and for the verdict on his addition to the series from its beloved fans.
"I'm trying to get on with my next book and get a large portion of it done before I go on the road for this book," said Colfer. "I'm quite worried about what will happen in October. It's going to be a very, very busy time, because I'm going to be touring for about two months. I think it'll be a lot easier if the bulk of the reviews are positive. I think that would make it a lot easier for me. Because if it's negative, I'm just going to be going from city to city getting hammered, and I don't really want to do that. We've had a few in already, and they've been extremely kind, so I'm hoping that trend continues.
"Funny—I was talking about this with Neil Gaiman about an hour ago, and he said, you know, the worst that can happen is that a few people who didn't know your name won't like your book. So he said, time will pass, and he said, your other work is great, so try not to worry about it."
In other words—don't panic!
By Zaphod at 11:53 AM ON 08/01/09
When DNA left this mortal coil, that was it for the Hitchhiker's Trilogy as far as I'm concerned. What made those books so special wasn't the characters or the stories, it was the man who told them.
By planettom at 12:04 PM ON 08/01/09
Douglas Adams wrote 3 good Hitchhiker's books and 2 pretty bad ones. And 1 good Dirk Gently book and 1 pretty bad one. And reading the fragments of THE SALMON OF DOUBT, it didn't appear that there was anything good coming of that. I don't have too much of a problem letting someone else take a crack at it.
By Sharon E. Dreyer at 2:27 PM ON 08/01/09
The first three were the best. When in doubt return to what works.
Thanks for sharing the information. Check out my first and recently released novel, Long Journey to Rneadal. This exciting story is a romantic action adventure in space.
By Jason at 6:35 PM ON 08/01/09
I think families cash in on dead artist and writers is sad. Look at Dune. They were excellent books, but his family drove it into the ground with 10 unnecessary books. Let the artist work speak for itself.
By Simon Baylor at 9:15 PM ON 08/01/09
It could well be a great book, but to me the only man that could write a Hitchhiker novel was the man who gave it to us in the First place, Douglas Adams. Im not sure anyone else can quite recapture the magic that Adams achieved. But I will definitely give the book a chance.
By nbotti at 3:45 AM ON 08/02/09
To Planettom : Douglas Adams wrote some pretty bad books? yeah I love your arguments! I hope that "someone else" will write such bad books. i will read them with a lot of pleasure
By mhochman at 7:18 AM ON 08/02/09
The fact that Eoin didn't originally have the idea to do the book and the family wanted him to gives me hope. Nobody can replace DNA, but that doesn't mean that someone can't write a good story set in his universe, Eoin has said all along that he is NOT douglas adams, and he's not trying to be. i'm willing to give him a shot.
By theojkett at 11:22 AM ON 08/02/09
Anything Douglas Adams did was delightfully wonderful. Colfer has decided to stick his feet in a pair of huge shoes. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and get the book when it comes out. The Hitchhikers franchise is flawless and unless if he goes completely off the path of the orginal books, it's likely that this book will be just a fantastic as all the others. Good luck Eoin.
By smegforbrain at 12:12 PM ON 08/02/09
Somebody else taking up the mantle, as it were, is always going to be controversial.
Most of what we now have of the writings of JRR Tolkien is due to his son, Christopher, editing and writing and getting stuff published. I've not read the Dune novels, but obviously a lot of people still are.
Even if the quality of the latter HHGttG novels weren't up to snuff, I just can't see anybody else writing in that universe, even if its with the blessing of Adams' family.
By Quinn at 12:31 PM ON 08/02/09
How is this any different from fan fiction? Yes, the quality may be better than 99.9% of fan fiction, but that's still what it is. The original ideas, characters, and universe were all created by someone else. Surely every critique of fan fiction as a form of writing applies here too.
By Paul at 1:48 PM ON 08/02/09
------SPOILER ALERT-------------
-----------Spoiler below---------
I thought the universe was destroyed at the end of Mostly Harmless? Why not just leave it at that?
By Photoboy at 6:21 PM ON 08/02/09
I didn't know he was still writing it! I got an email from Amazon a few months back telling me my pre-order was cancelled because they couldn't get the book. I'd assumed this meant Colfer had dropped out due to all the (baffling) negative attitude towards the book. Instead it just seems like Amazon was being crap. Oh well, I'll try play.com instead.
By utini42 at 10:34 AM ON 08/03/09
Life long H2G2 fan... the the very beginning.
I love every word Mr Adams wrote but am willing to admit that some of the later books were not always the best. So many stories behind some of the poorer writing; Douglas locked in a hotel room because of extremely missed deadlines... Douglas being depressed... Douglas running out of tea and hot bath water...
Yes, the end of 'Mostly Harmless' does come off a bit bleak BUT! thanks to the genius of 'Above the Title Productions' we have the incredible audio shows. They loving re-crafted books 3, 4 and 5, ironing out some story weaknesses and even came up with a fantastic new-ish ending to 'Mostly Harmless.' If you have not heard these, DO SO NOW! Did I mention that the three new shows feature most of the original cast? All of the principals came back. The continuity is awesome.
They also did an amazing job with the two 'Dirk Gently' books and are currently working on a coherent audio drama of 'Salmon of Doubt.' I have very strong faith in this team.
As for Mr Colfer. I LOVE his 'Artemis Fowl' books and am more than willing to give him a chance. As other mentioned, he didn't come up with the idea but was approached to do so. And he's rightfully nervous and so not arrogant about it.
Hopefully there will be another audio presentation based on 'And Another Thing.'
The worse thing that can happen is
By average joe at 4:18 PM ON 08/03/09
Colfer isn't the first author to contribute to the Hitchhikker's universe. Terry Jones, of Monty Python fame, wrote Starship Titanic before Douglas Adams died. Considering the premis of The Hitchhikker's Guide to the Galaxy it seems appropriate to have many authors contributing stories in Adams' universe.
By Kevin at 6:19 PM ON 08/04/09
I've been very fortunate enough to read the first part of And Another Thing and as a big Douglas Adams fan, I'll tell you this: it's no Douglas Adams.
But it is a great read. It feels like it's the same universe, rather than some parody of it, just seen through a different pair of eyes.
When I first heard of this book, I thought it would be awful, but I'll happily take that thought back now.
By Germ-13 at 10:52 PM ON 08/07/09
I always considered Colfer's writing to have the similar "commentary style" that Adams always brought out in his books.
Didn't ask anything on a Artemis Fowl Movie?
By jeopardygirl at 5:11 PM ON 08/27/09
IIRC, the books were sort of spun off the radio series, which was often written in a much more collaborative atmosphere than novels usually are. Adams, as utini42 pointed out, often got depressed when writing his later novels, and this has led me to believe that Adams was a terrific storyteller, but not necessarily pleased with being a sole author. IMO, his best books were produced after the stories and ideas had already been "road-tested" in other media. I'm reserving judgment on And Another Thing...
By Dennis at 2:28 PM ON 09/19/09
Why is there so much hate here?
By Cosmic Tourist at 8:50 PM ON 10/04/09
He should be nervous, it's difficult to do what he is trying to do.
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