Sixth Hitchhiker book commissioned
A children’s author has been commissioned to write the first posthumous instalment to the best-selling Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy series.
Mostly Harmless, the fifth and last Hitchhiker book, was written by its creator Douglas Adams 16 years ago. Now the author’s widow, Jane Belson, has given her approval to the plan by publisher Penguin to resurrect the hapless Arthur Dent in a sixth book, entitled And Another Thing…
The novel will be written by Eoin Colfer, best known for Artemis Fowl, the best-selling titles about a teenage criminal mastermind who wreaks havoc in this world and the next.
Colfer, 43, was a primary school teacher in Ireland before he secured the largest ever advance for a children’s novel by an unknown author.
His Artemis Fowl series went on to sell more than 18 million copies worldwide and a film adaptation is due to go into production next year.
The author said he was “terrified” by the prospect of creating a new Hitchhiker book almost a quarter of a century after being introduced to what he described as a “slice of satirical genius” in his late teens.
He said: “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”.
He added: “I feel more pressure to perform now than I ever have with my own books, and that is why I am bloody determined that this will be the best thing I have ever written. Being given the chance to write this book is like suddenly being offered the superpower of your choice. For years I have been finishing this incredible story in my head and now I have the opportunity to do it in the real world. It is a gift from the gods.”
Adams died of heart failure in 2001, at the age of 49.
Around 16 million copies of his Hitchhiker books have been sold around the world, translated into 35 languages.
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