# HHGTTG vol. 6 of the trilogy released: "And Another Thing..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hhgttg-vol-6-of-the-trilogy-released-and-another-thing/513591 "2009-10-12T22:00:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Electric\_Monk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/2acd7d/32.png) [@Electric\_Monk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Monk)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hhgttg-vol-6-of-the-trilogy-released-and-another-thing/513591/1 "2009-10-12T22:00:26Z")
Sci-fi nerds the world over have their towels at the ready today as the sixth Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy book, ‘And Another Thing…’, is released by Penguin. [http://www.asylum.co.uk/2009/10/12/how-do-you-feel-about-the-new-hitchhikers-book/](http://www.asylum.co.uk/2009/10/12/how-do-you-feel-about-the-new-hitchhikers-book/) ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hhgttg-vol-6-of-the-trilogy-released-and-another-thing/513591/2 "2009-10-12T22:17:27Z")
Normally, whenever there’s a remake/sequel by another creator and people get in a huff about it, I’m usually the first to jump in and say that they don’t detract from the original works. And I didn’t complain about the movie either. It wasn’t great, but it was a worthy effort. But I drew the line with this book. The Hitchhiker’s Guide IS Douglas Adams and trying to continue it without him is nothing more than glorified fan-fiction. And I hate fan-fiction. So I won’t be reading this book. From what I’ve been reading, it’s [nothing to write home about, anyway.](http://io9.com/5378306/new-hitchhikers-book-is-mostly-harmless-unfortunately) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hhgttg-vol-6-of-the-trilogy-released-and-another-thing/513591/3 "2009-10-12T23:24:26Z")
If Terry Pratchett\* had decided to write one shortly after Adams had died, I’d want to read that book. But this one doesn’t sound that great. - It’s a measure of how deep the love for Pratchett is in the geek world that the spell-checker in Firefox recognized his last name. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hhgttg-vol-6-of-the-trilogy-released-and-another-thing/513591/4 "2009-10-13T04:10:48Z")
You know… normally I’m not a big fan of sequels written by other people, especially when the original author is so… original. But Adams seriously fucked up with the last novel. We need a better resolution than that. So I’m willing to give it a try. I’d like to know more about the background though - how did the new author get chosen, and did they use any unpublished material from Adams? ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hhgttg-vol-6-of-the-trilogy-released-and-another-thing/513591/5 "2009-10-13T23:07:16Z")
A sixth book by a different author can’t really “undo” the fifth one anymore than fan fiction or your own imagination can. Normally I don’t subscribe to the “there never was a sequel!” nonsense, but I’m perfectly happy pretending there were only three books in the trilogy. Imagine if there had been a fourth one set almost entirely on earth with most of the regular characters absent or reduced to cameos, followed by a fifth book bereft of charm and wit and saddled with an inappropriately bleak and dismal ending, and a sixth book penned by a hack trying to imitate the the three books of the actually trilogy. Bah, I say. Bah. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hhgttg-vol-6-of-the-trilogy-released-and-another-thing/513591/6 "2009-10-14T00:05:58Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > Normally I don’t subscribe to the “there never was a sequel!” nonsense, but I’m perfectly happy pretending there were only three books in the trilogy. The fourth one left me so unimpressed that I’ve never re-read it and never picked up #5. So the trilogy is all I actually remember. Looking back, the HHG trilogy holds a special, irreplaceable spot in my heart but I’m really more of a Dirk Gentley person. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hhgttg-vol-6-of-the-trilogy-released-and-another-thing/513591/7 "2009-10-14T02:29:17Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > A sixth book by a different author can’t really “undo” the fifth one anymore than fan fiction or your own imagination can. Actually I thought the BBC radio version of the fifth book/series did a manageable job of rectifying the ending of the fifth book, although beside the horrible downer cliffhanger ending, the book in general was a downer and disappointing follow up to the fourth book which is my favorite and made a nice ending to the series. I wonder whether or not they will bother to adapt this book. I’ll reserve judgment til I read it, but in the meantime I solace myself with the probability that the ‘hack’ will have trouble doing worse than Adam’s himself did on the fifth book. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hhgttg-vol-6-of-the-trilogy-released-and-another-thing/513591/8 "2009-10-14T14:28:17Z")
If I remember correctly The Hack was either chosen or at least endorsed by Douglas Adams widow.