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Hitchhikers' Guide Books

Phrenolo

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"the fifth book in the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy trilogy."
Hmmm - a "trilogy" with more than three books.
[/nitpick]
 
That's quite often how it is referred to e.g. "A trilogy in 5 parts" and so on. It's meant to be humorous.

ETA: E.g. The books are described as "a trilogy in five parts", having been described as a trilogy on the release of the third book, and then a "trilogy in four parts" on the release of the fourth book. The US edition of the fifth book was originally released with the legend "The fifth book in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy" on the cover. Subsequent re-releases of the other novels bore the legend "The [first, second, third, fourth] in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's trilogy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy
 
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It's not like Douglas Adams intended it that way!

He originally was going to write one novelization based on the radio series. But, he got half-way through the story, when he decided to cut it short, and make two books. And, that was supposed to be the end of that.

Then the books got really, really popular. So popular, that Adams was pressured to write a 3rd book. He did so by ripping off an idea he originally conceived for a Dr. Who episode, that did not get completed (until the 1990s, anyway). And that, as they say, was supposed to be the end of that!

Then the books got even more popular, so he wrote a forth one, as well, to end the series. But, he neglected to make it impossible to write any more of them.

Then, several decades later, he wrote a fifth, because he felt the need to end the series in a manner that would make it impossible to write any more of them!

Then, while writing a new Dirk Gently novel, he decided to change it into a sixth HHGG book. But, he died before he could complete it. Some of the scraps of this uncompleted masterpiece are published in The Salmon of Doubt.

That is the story, in a nutshell. I am leaving out lots of stuff: The computer game, the TV series, the other books he had written, his propensity to miss deadlines, etc.

The novels are very good. My favorites, of course. The radio series, both old and new, is relatively good. But, the movie leaves much to be desired.

Share and enjoy!
 
Sure, but I might have used this font:


DON'T
PANIC!!


(the key being "large, friendly letters". Purely subjective, I know.) ;)
 
If they make a Dirk Gently movie, I'd like to direct it. They didn't call on me to direct the first Hitch Hiker's movie and looked how it turned out.
 
In related news, Robert Rankin's Brentford Trilogy is now up to (at least) seven books. IIRC his trilogy got to four parts before Adams' did.

Both excellent, funny authors!

Snow (on a mission to get more people to read RR's "far fetched fiction" novels)
 
Without being mean, you gotta have some kind of giant ego to assume you are smarter than a) Douglas Adams and b) the publishers and promoters of one of the biggest-selling series of comedy/fantasy books of all time.

The 'trilogy in five parts' is a joke in the exact same spirit as the books. Why anyone would think that a writer as accomplished, as genius, as Douglas Adams wouldn't know what the word 'trilogy' means is beyond me.
 
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