Results tagged “and another thing...”

Douglas Adams possessed one of the keenest wits of his generation and, quite possibly, this century. Though they’re occasionally dismissed as works of silly humor, the books in Adams’ Hitchhikers’ Guide trilogy (or series) are deceptively packed with Adams’ thoughts on society and conservation. My strongest memory of this overlap appears in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, as Zaphod, Arthur, Trillian, and the gang are presented with a cow that has been bred to want to be eaten. As the cow points out the most tender and succulent parts of itself, I realized, while laughing, that Adams’ was saying something about genetic optimization in industrialized food production. And it went further, by making an animal that wants to be eaten, then you’ve taken out the moral dilemma of eating the animal. It’s a big doggone parable wrapped up as a comedy sketch.

This is all to say, he had a mind that was worth exploring, and this is where Neil Gaiman, one of today’s most gifted storytellers comes in. Gaiman collects and coalesces a plethora of printed and recorded materials to create a historical record which is less like a traditional biography than it is an extended conversation with the author himself.

Oh, and then there’s all the wonderful trivia you’ll pick up along the way. Do you remember which of the Hitchhikers’ books Douglas Adams’ hated? The one he was depressed and worried that he was no longer writing in his own voice while producing? Do you know which television show, currently experiencing its own revival, in which Douglas was involved?

It’s all here, including insight into many of the author’s thoughts as his own journey through The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Universe spread out before him. Further separating this from so many other biographies out there is how very readable this is. I found that once I got going, I would lose track of time and the number of pages I had run through.

Among my favorite bits in this book, is the section on the Hitchhikers’ computer game. Do you remember that game? If you need a refresher, you can play it here: The Hitchhikers’ Guide computer game. Anyway, I remember it as one of the more frustrating experiences of my early computer gaming years. Mind you, by the time I found it, this game had already been out for a while, so there was plenty of help to be found when I was ready to turn to it. But that first experience of trying to go through it blind…well, I could have used a towel. So it was interesting to read that Doug found this to be among one of the most rewarding and interesting additions to The Hitchhikers’ Guide universe.

If we have learned anything from reading Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers’ Guide trilogy it’s that having the complete Hitchhikers’ Guide at your disposal is important to the success of any journey. We know that the one thing you absolutely must have is a towel. And that a trilogy sometimes contains more than three parts.

We here at Suvudu are concerned about the dearth of towels we’ve noticed in public recently, and further want to ensure that you have the latest installment in the Hitchhikers’ Guide trilogy, And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer. To address these needs and concerns, we, along with the good folks at Hyperion, have put together our “And Another Thing…” Sweepstakes.

So how do you enter?

It’s so simple that Aruthur Dent could do it without breaking a sweat. Probably. Er, maybe. Anyway, send in your name and your mailing address to by midnight on Friday, November 6, to be entered into a drawing for a prize pack containing one SIGNED copy of Eoin’s new book And Another Thing… (the sixth book in the Hitchhikers’ Guide trilogy), one copy of Artemis Fowl: the graphic novel, and a Don’t Panic promotional towel, so you’ll always be prepared to be where ever you are.

Be sure to check out our legal for full details on the prizes, entry requirements, and all that good stuff.

Good luck!

Eoin Colfer, bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series and now writer who holds Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker pen, is joining us on Suvudu tomorrow for a chat at 3:30 PM EDT / 12:30 PM PST!

Eoin will be talking about his new book, And Another Thing… as well as anything his fans ask. Got a question for him about the book? Ask it. Got a question about writing? Ask it. Got a question about what it is like living in Eire? Ask it!

Sign up for a chat reminder below. That way you won’t miss out tomorrow!

To read more about And Another Thing…, visit Eoin’s website at www.eoincolfer.com!

More tomorrow!

Eoin Colfer, bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series and now writer who holds Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker pen, will be joining his fans for a chat on October 30th at 3:30 PM EDT / 12:30 PM PST!

He will be talking about his new book, And Another Thing… as well as anything we all ask.

Sign up for a chat reminder below. That way you won’t miss out on it!

To read more about And Another Thing…, visit Eoin’s website at www.eoincolfer.com!

And to discover where Eoin is touring, make the jump!

On October 30th, Suvudu will welcome for a chat the newest Hitchhiker in the Universe!

Salmon will no doubt be there!

Don’t panic!

Author Eoin Colfer, bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series and now new writer on the Douglas Adams Hitchhiker series, will be joining his fans for a chat on October 30th at 3:30 PM EDT / 12:30 PM PST!

He will be talking about his new book, And Another Thing… as well as anything we all ask. More information will be forthcoming, along with a contest, but be sure to sign up to be reminded about the chat!

To read more about And Another Thing…, visit Eoin’s website at www.eoincolfer.com!

More soon. Stay tuned!

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams is getting new covers on its five novels.

And just in time for the release of the sixth book in the trilogy, And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer!

It was a sad shock when I discovered that Douglas Adams had passed on to that great salmon in the sky. I was a bookseller in 2001 and it shook our store to its core. He was only 49 years old and had a plethora of hilarious stories to yet tell. There have only been a handful of writers who made me laugh continuously while reading a book—Terry Pratchett and David Sedaris being the other two of the the trifecta—and Mr. Adams sat atop that triangle. He will forever be one of the best comedic and satiric writers of our time.

I’m happy to see these new covers. Sometimes getting books into a new generation of readers is about re-packaging them and making them salient once more.

Here are the new covers in their salmony delight:

If you haven’t read these books and want something light and fun to read, definitely give these a try. You won’t regret it.

Hyperion Books has revealed to the world the newest cover to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.

Book Six, titled And Another Thing…, will be written by Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer. It will be released Oct. 12 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the publication of the first book in the series by the late Douglas Adams, who sadly died long, long, long before his time.

It is hard for me to know what to think about And Another Thing…. I’m genuinely not a fan of resurrecting a dead writer’s series with a different voice, a different talent. I’ve seen it done both correctly and incorrectly, and both leave me slightly unnerved, like someone accidentally stepping upon a grave in a cemetery.

Colfer is very talented and a quite amusing man to boot as I’ve met him twice, but the salmon in the universe will never again see a writer like Adams. He was a one of kind, writing in a sub-section of fantasy that is so unique only one or two people can do it convincingly. Will Colfer pull it off? I don’t know.

But I really, really, really hope so!

And I’ll read it to find out.