New Releases by Douglas Adams

When Douglas Adams died in 2001, he left behind 60 boxes full of notebooks, letters, scripts, jokes, speeches and even poems. In 42, compiled by Douglas’s long-time collaborator Kevin Jon Davies, hundreds of these personal artefacts appear in print for the very first time. Douglas was as much a thinker as he was a writer, and his artefacts reveal how his deep fascination with technology led to ideas which were far ahead of their time: a convention speech envisioning the modern smartphone, with all the information in the world living at our fingertips; sheets of notes predicting the advent of electronic books; journal entries from his forays into home computing – it is a matter of legend that Douglas bought the very first Mac in the UK; musings on how the internet would disrupt the CD-Rom industry, among others. 42 also features archival material charting Douglas’s school days through Cambridge, Footlights, collaborations with Graham Chapman, and early scribbles from the development of Doctor Who, Hitchhiker’s and Dirk Gently. Alongside details of his most celebrated works are projects that never came to fruition, including the pilot for radio programme They’ll Never Play That on the Radio and a space-inspired theme park ride. Douglas’s personal papers prove that the greatest ideas come from the fleeting thoughts that collide in our own imagination, and offer a captivating insight into the mind of one of the twentieth century’s greatest thinkers and most enduring storytellers.

”Pitääkö tuonpuoleiseen olla pöytävaraus?” Linnunrata-sarjan toinen osa pursuaa verbaalista ilotulitusta ja pilailua scifin ja vakavammankin tulevaisuuspohdiskelun kustannuksella. Arthur Dent halusi vain kupin teetä. Yksinkertaisen juoman valmistus sai tietokoneen piuhat solmuun, mikä puolestaan jätti Kultasydän-aluksen puolustuskyvyttömäksi vogonien hyökkäykselle, mikä taas johti siihen, että liftarijengi hajaantui maailmankaikkeuden eri kolkkiin. Ei kuitenkaan aihetta paniikkiin, jos matkan varrelta vain löytyy joku kiva, paikallinen ruokapaikka. Vaikka sieltä maailmanlopun tienoilta. Douglas Adams (1952–2001) oli tieteiskirjallisuuden ja brittiläisen, mustaakin kuivemman huumorin kärkinimiä. Hän loi Linnunradan käsikirjan ensin BBC:n kuunnelmaksi ja muokkasi siitä myöhemmin romaanisarjan, josta on nähty myös dramatisointi poikineen. Adams oli innokas tietokoneharrastaja ja vähemmän innokas kirjoittaja: legenda kertoo hänen lukittautuneen kolmeksi viikoksi hotellihuoneeseen kustannustoimittajansa kanssa saadakseen Linnunradan neljännen osan Terve, ja kiitos kaloista valmiiksi. Adamsin kirjallinen perintö näkyy lukuisten nykypäivän fantasia- ja science fiction -kirjailijoiden tyylissä.

"Älä hätäile. Maapallo tuhotaan tänään." Onko se lintu? Onko se lentokone? Onko se science fictionin ehdottomin kulttiklassikko, räävittömin parodia, vai molempia? Peukalo pystyyn ja Linnunradan laitaan! Suuri ilveily käynnistyy, kun hyperavaruuden suunnittelutoimiston edustaja ilmoittaa Maan asukkaille, että maapallo on raivattava avaruuden pikatien rakennustöiden alta. Posahduksesta jää eloon ainoastaan aamutakkiin pukeutunut Arthur Dent, joka päätyy liftausopasta päivittävän Ford Prefectin kanssa peukalokyydille pitkin galaksia. Kaikki sujuu, kunhan pyyhe on mukana! Douglas Adams (1952–2001) oli tieteiskirjallisuuden ja brittiläisen, mustaakin kuivemman huumorin kärkinimiä. Hän loi Linnunradan käsikirjan ensin BBC:n kuunnelmaksi ja muokkasi siitä myöhemmin romaanisarjan, josta on nähty myös dramatisointi poikineen. Adams oli innokas tietokoneharrastaja ja vähemmän innokas kirjoittaja: legenda kertoo hänen lukittautuneen kolmeksi viikoksi hotellihuoneeseen kustannustoimittajansa kanssa saadakseen Linnunradan neljännen osan Terve, ja kiitos kaloista valmiiksi. Adamsin kirjallinen perintö näkyy lukuisten nykypäivän fantasia- ja science fiction -kirjailijoiden tyylissä.

Unter der Regentschaft des geheimnisvollen "Captain" ist Zanak ein zufriedener und wohlhabender Planet. Meistens. Wenn es in den Minen keine wertvollen Mineralien und Edelsteine mehr zum Schürfen gibt, genügt es völlig, dass der Captain ein neues goldenes Zeitalter verkündet, und sie füllen sich wieder. Ein Wirtschaftswunder - also kann da offensichtlich etwas nicht stimmen. Der Piratenplanet ist ein von James Goss verfasster Roman, der auf der 1978 geschriebenen Drehbuch von Douglas Adams basiert.

March 1978 saw the first ever transmission of Douglas Adams'' The Hitchhiker''s Guide to the Galaxy on BBC Radio 4; the beginning of a cult phenomenon. March 2020 marks the 42nd anniversary of that first transmission – 42 being the answer, of course, to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. To mark the occasion, Pan Macmillan are bringing back into print The Hitchhiker''s Guide to the Galaxy: The Original Radio Scripts with an introduction from Simon Jones. The collection also includes the previously ''lost'' Hitchhiker script from the 25th anniversary edition, ''Sheila''s Ear'' and the original introductions by producer Geoffrey Perkins and Douglas Adams. This collection, which is a faithful reproduction of the text as it was first published in 1985, features all twelve original radio scripts – Hitchhiker as it was written and exactly as it was broadcast for the very first time. They include amendments and additions made during recordings and original notes on the writing and producing of the series by Douglas Adams and Geoffrey Perkins. For those who have always loved Douglas Adams, as well as for his new generation of fans, these scripts are essential reading and a must-have piece of Adams memorabilia. This special anniversary edition will accompany reissued eye-catching editions of the five individual Hitchhiker books coming in March 2020: The Hitchhiker''s Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless.

Don''t Panic: collected together in the Hitchhiker''s Guide Trilogy are the five titles that comprise Douglas Adams'' wildly popular and wholly remarkable comedy science fiction series, with a special introduction from the author himself. The Hitchhiker''s Guide to the Galaxy One Thursday lunchtime the Earth gets unexpectedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. For Arthur Dent, who has only just had his house demolished that morning, this seems already to be rather a lot to cope with. Sadly, however, the weekend has only just begun. The Galaxy may offer a mind-boggling variety of ways to be blown up and/or insulted, but it''s very hard to get a cup of tea. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe When all questions of space, time, matter and the nature of being have been resolved, only one question remains - ''Where shall we have dinner?'' The Restaurant at the End of the Universe provides the ultimate gastronomic experience, and for once there is no morning after to worry about. Life, the Universe and EverythingFollowing a number of stunning catastrophes, Arthur Dent is surprised to find himself living in a hideously miserable cave on prehistoric Earth. However, just as he thinks that things cannot get possibly worse, they suddenly do. An eddy in the space-time continuum lands him, Ford Prefect, and their flying sofa in the middle of the cricket ground at Lord''s, just two days before the world is due to be destroyed by the Vogons. Escaping the end of the world for a second time, Arthur, Ford, and their old friend Slartibartfast embark (reluctantly) on a mission to save the whole galaxy from fanatical robots. Not bad for a man in his dressing gown . . . So Long, and Thanks for All the FishThere is a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. It''s not an easy thing to do, and Arthur Dent thinks he''s the only human who''s been able to master this nifty little trick - until he meets Fenchurch, the woman of his dreams. Fenchurch once realised how the world could be made a good and happy place. Unfortunately, she''s forgotten. Convinced that the secret lies within God''s Final Message to His Creation, they go in search of it. And, in a dramatic break with tradition, actually find it . . .Mostly HarmlessArthur Dent has settled down on the small planet Lamuella and has embraced his role as a Sandwich Maker. However, his plans for a quiet life are thrown awry by the unexpected arrival of his daughter. There''s nothing worse than a frustrated teenager with a copy of the Hitchhiker''s Guide to the Galaxy in their hands. When she runs away, Arthur goes after her determined to save her from the horrors of the universe. After all - he''s encountered most of them before . . .

Dirk Gently, detective holístico, tiene un método de trabajo basado en la interconexión entre todas las cosas. En esta novela, la inexplicable explosión que devasta una terminal del aeropuerto de Heathrow tiene relación con el misterioso cliente que acude a Dirk para que le proteja de una siniestra criatura de dos metros diez, de grandes ojos verdes, peluda y con cuernos. Pero Dirk llega con retraso a la casa de su cliente, que en el ínterin ha sido decapitado. La explicación es muy sencilla: Thor, el Dios del Trueno, está en Londres para dirimir una terrible disputa con su padre Odín, dios supremo del Valhalla, que ha decidido vender su alma inmortal a un abogado y una agente de publicidad. Y en tanto el titánico duelo entre los dioses no se decide, todo Londres se estremece al compás de sus celestiales iras. En el curso de las investigaciones, Dirk tropieza con obstáculos, pero ello no le impide trasladarse finalmente al gran salón del Valhalla. Allí se celebra un sorprendente banquete, y tal vez Dirk consiga poner las cosas en claro y resolver los enigmas de este mundo y del otro. Tras la aclamada serie de los Autoestopistas Galácticos, Douglas Adams creó un personaje que superaba, si cabe, su humor surrealista e ironía explosiva. Dirk Gently (excéntrico, inclasificable por excelencia de las absurdidades y paradojas del frenético y desbocado fin del siglo XX).

Prva knjiga kultne serije Štoparski vodnik po Galaksiji v odličnem prevodu Alojza Kodreta. Nekega četrtka v času kosila je Zemlja uničena zaradi gradnje hiperprostorske obvoznice. Arthurju Dentu, ki se je moral že navsezgodaj soočiti z rušenjem svoje hiše, ni nobeno od teh dejstev prav nič po godu. Nekaj sekund pred uničenjem Zemlje ga reši njegov prijatelj Ford Prefect, Nezemljan pod krinko, ki se predstavlja kot brezposeln igralec. Dinamični par tako začne svojo galaktično odisejado, na kateri prav kmalu sreča Zaphoda Beeblebroxa, Trillian ter depresivnega robota Marvina.

Oltre 700 episodi, 33 anni di programmazione: "Doctor Who" è la serie televisiva dei record, la più longeva saga fantascientifica di sempre. In queste pagine, lo scrittore di culto Douglas Adams ci regala un''avventura inedita, mai portata sullo schermo né tradotta in italiano. Il Signore del Tempo professor Chronotis, vecchio amico del Dottore, si è ritirato all''università di Cambridge, dove nessuno si accorgerà mai che egli vive da secoli. Ma adesso ha bisogno dell''aiuto del Dottore, della sua giovane assistente Romana e di K-9, il suo fedele computer a forma di cane. Lasciando Gallifrey, il pianeta d''origine della potente specie dei Signori del Tempo, infatti, ha portato con sé alcuni souvenir, per lo più innocui. Ma ce n''è uno molto, molto pericoloso, L''antico e venerabile codice di Gallifrey, uno dei Potenti Artefatti, risalenti ai giorni oscuri di Rassilon: un libro che assolutamente non deve cadere nelle mani sbagliate. E quelle del sinistro Skagra sono le più sbagliate che si possano immaginare. Perché lui vuole quel libro, a tutti i costi. Vuole che il professore gli sveli la verità nascosta dietro Shada, il misterioso pianeta-prigione dove vengono rinchiusi i criminali che tentano di conquistare l''universo. E si dà il caso che la conquista dell''universo è proprio il progetto di vita cui Skagra ha deciso di dedicarsi...

Twenty-five years after the original radio series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy exploded into the public consciousness, the further exploits of its bewildered hero Arthur Dent were finally adapted for radio by Dirk Maggs, in part using drafts written by Douglas Adams before his death. The resulting fourteen completely new episodes were produced by Above the Title Productions and broadcast on BBC Radio 4, with nearly all of the original cast reunited for recording. These scripts brilliantly bring to life the last three books in Adams'' perennially popular Hitchhiker series: Life, the Universe and Everything; So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish; and Mostly Harmless. Dirk Maggs supplies notes which highlight original Adams material and explain how the cast, special effects and music were directed. The scripts are introduced by Simon Jones, who played Arthur Dent in both the original and the recent radio series, as well as in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy television series. Douglas Adams first conceived The Hitchhiker''s Guide to the Galaxy for radio and it is an honour to his memory that all five Hitchhiker novels have now been adapted for this medium. These scripts exemplify the freshness of perspective, humour and perspicacity that epitomize the work of Douglas Adams. They will be loved by fans and those new to Hitchhiker’s alike.

Gli abitanti meccanici del pianeta Krikkit sono stufi di guardare il cielo stellato sopra le loro teste, con tutto quell'inutile, monotono scintillio. Così decidono, semplicemente, di distruggerlo, facendo scomparire l'intero universo.

Una gigantesca autostrada cosmica sta per essere costruita nei pressi del sistema solare. Un'uscita secondaria è prevista vicino a un piccolo pianeta azzurro-verde, abitato da primitive forme di vita intelligente, discendenti dalle scimmie...

Le stravaganti vicende di Arthur Dent e Ford Prefect, surreali e irriverenti viaggiatori delle Galassie sempre alle prese con avventure che hanno per scenario l'intero universo.

Inside this book is another book - the strangest, most important and most dangerous book in the entire universe. The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey is one of the Artefacts, dating from dark days of Rassilon. It wields enormous power, and it must not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. Skagra - who believes he should be God and permits himself only two smiles per day - most definitely has the wrong hands. Beware Skagra. Beware the Sphere. Beware Shada.

Op een donderdag tegen lunchtijd wordt de Aarde gesloopt om plaats te maken voor een nieuwe hyperruimtesnelweg. Voor Hugo Veld, wiens huis die ochtend al gesloopt was, lijkt het meer te zijn dan hij aankan. Maar helaas is het weekend nog maar net begonnen en blijkt de Melkweg een wel zeer bizarre en verbazingwekkende plek. Gelukkig is er één houvast als alles faalt: Het transgalactisch liftershandboek. Met als belangrijkste advies: geen paniek! Douglas Adams (1952-2001) bedacht deze klassieke sf-reeks in 1978, als een BBC-radiohoorspel. Al snel volgden andere media, waaronder een televisiebewerking, een computerspel, drie toneelbewerkingen, negen graphic novels, een speelfi lm en heel veel merchandise. De boeken bleven echter het succesvolst. In 2008 kreeg auteur Eoin Colfer toestemming van Adams' weduwe om de reeks af te maken met een zesde deel: En dan nog iets...

Het Transgalactisch Liftershandboek (Engels: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) is een komisch sciencefictionfranchise bedacht door Douglas Adams. Het begon als een radiohoorspel van twaalf afleveringen, voor het eerst uitgezonden in 1978 door BBC Radio, daarna door de BBC World Service. In 1981 werd er een zesdelige televisieserie gemaakt. Al snel volgden andere media, waaronder een computerspel, drie toneelbewerkingen, negen graphic novels, een speelfilm en heel veel merchandise. De boekenserie was echter het succesvolst: tussen 1979 en 1992 verschenen vijf delen van de reeks. In 2008 kreeg auteur Eoin Colfer toestemming van de weduwe van Douglas Adams om de reeks af te maken met een zesde deel dat dit jaar in het Nederlands verschijnt: En dan nog iets...

Comment garder tout son flegme quand on apprend dans la même journée: que sa maison va être abattue dans la minute pour laisser place à une déviation d'autoroute; que la Terre va être détruite d'ici deux minutes, se trouvant, coïncidence malheureuse, sur le tracé d'une future voie express intergalactique; que son meilleur ami, certes délicieusement décalé, est en fait un astrostoppeur natif de Bételgeuse et s'apprête à vous entraîner aux confins de la galaxie? Pas de panique! Car Arthur Dent, un Anglais extraordinairement moyen, pourra compter sur le fabuleux Guide du voyageur galactique pour l'accompagner clans ses extraordinaires dérapages spatiaux moyennement contrôlés.

Arthur Dent''s accidental association with that wholly remarkable book The Hitchhiker''s Guide to the Galaxy has not been entirely without incident. Arthur has travelled the length, breadth and depth of known, and unknown, space. He has stumbled forwards and backwards through time. He has been blown up, reassembled, cruelly imprisoned, horribly released and colourfully insulted more than is strictly necessary. And, of course, he has comprehensively failed to grasp the meaning of life, the universe and everything. Arthur has, though, finally made it home to Earth. But that does not mean he has escaped his fate. For Arthur''s chances of getting his hands on a decent cuppa are evaporating along with the world''s oceans. Because no sooner has he arrived than he finds out that Earth is about to be blown up . . . again.

Now celebrating the 42nd anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, soon to be a Hulu original series! “Hitchhiker fans rejoice! . . . [Here’s] more of the same zany nonsensical mayhem.”—The New York Times Book Review It’s easy to get disheartened when your planet has been blown up and the woman you love has vanished due to a misunderstanding about space/time. However, instead of being disheartened, Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life a bit—and immediately all hell breaks loose. Hell takes a number of forms: there’s the standard Ford Prefect version, in the shape of an all-new edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and a totally unexpected manifestation in the form of a teenage girl who startles Arthur Dent by being his daughter when he didn’t even know he had one. Can Arthur save the Earth from total multidimensional obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter, Random, from herself? Of course not. He never works out exactly what is going on. Will you? “Douglas Adams is a terrific satirist. . . . He is anything but harmless.”—The Washington Post Book World

Now celebrating the 42nd anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, soon to be a Hulu original series! “A madcap adventure . . . Adams’s writing teeters on the fringe of inspired lunacy.”—United Press International Back on Earth with nothing more to show for his long, strange trip through time and space than a ratty towel and a plastic shopping bag, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription, the mysterious disappearance of Earth’s dolphins, and the discovery of his battered copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy all conspire to give Arthur the sneaking suspicion that something otherworldly is indeed going on. God only knows what it all means. Fortunately, He left behind a Final Message of explanation. But since it’s light-years away from Earth, on a star surrounded by souvenir booths, finding out what it is will mean hitching a ride to the far reaches of space aboard a UFO with a giant robot. What else is new? “The most ridiculously exaggerated situation comedy known to created beings . . . Adams is irresistible.”—The Boston Globe

This beautifully illustrated edition of the New York Times bestselling classic celebrates the 42nd anniversary of the original publication—with all-new art by award-winning illustrator Chris Riddell. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read It’s an ordinary Thursday morning for Arthur Dent . . . until his house gets demolished. The Earth follows shortly after to make way for a new hyperspace express route, and Arthur’s best friend has just announced that he’s an alien. After that, things get much, much worse. With just a towel, a small yellow fish, and a book, Arthur has to navigate through a very hostile universe in the company of a gang of unreliable aliens. Luckily the fish is quite good at languages. And the book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy . . . which helpfully has the words DON’T PANIC inscribed in large, friendly letters on its cover. Douglas Adams’s mega-selling pop-culture classic sends logic into orbit, plays havoc with both time and physics, offers up pithy commentary on such things as ballpoint pens, potted plants, and digital watches . . . and, most important, reveals the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything. Now, if you could only figure out the question. . . .

Lorsqu'un comptoir d'embarquement au terminal 2 de l'aéroport de Londres, un si joli petit aéroport pourtant, saute à travers le toit dans une boule de flammes orange, ce sont toujours les mêmes qui veulent revendiquer la responsabilité de l'événement. D'abord l'IRA, puis l'OLP, puis la Compagnie du gaz. Même le Commissariat à l'Énergie atomique s'empresse de publier un communiqué affirmant que la situation est parfaitement maîtrisée, qu'un pareil accident a une chance sur un million de se produire, qu'il n'y a pratiquement aucune fuite radioactive, que le site même de l'explosion ferait un charmant lieu de pique-nique pour les enfants des écoles, etc., avant d'être obligé de convenir qu'il n'y est pour rien. On ne peut trouver à la catastrophe aucune explication rationnelle : on y voit simplement la main de Dieu. Mais quel dieu ? se demande Dirk Gently, le détective holistique. Et pourquoi ? Que ferait donc un dieu au terminal 2 de l'aéroport de Londres à attendre le vol de 15 h 37 pour Oslo ? Plus drôle que Frankenstein, plus court que Guerre et Paix, plus sanglant que Harry Potter, un monument littéraire réellement inégalable. Dieu merci.

A final installment in the series that began with The Hitchhiker''s Guide to the Galaxy is taken from the late author''s previously unpublished personal files and features the same wacky and offbeat misadventures of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and their companions. 50,000 first printing.

In the fifth volume of the Hitchhiker series, Random, the daughter of Arthur Dent, leaves her remote home planet on the edge of the universe to set out on a cross-galactic odyssey in search of her ancestors'' native planet.

Plus bas que Terre ! Ayant - plus ou moins - survécu à son édifiante promenade cosmico-temporelle, le pauvre Arthur Accroc savoure l''indicible plaisir de fouler à nouveau le sol de sa planète natale. Une planète jadis détruite par les terribles Vogons, sous le prétexte fallacieux de laisser passer une autoroute intergalactique... Pas de panique ! Car l''universellement exhaustif Guide galactique saura sans doute répondre à cet étrange paradoxe. Et peut-être élucidera-t-il un mystère plus angoissant encore : pourquoi les dauphins ont-ils disparu, laissant pour ultime message un laconique Salin et encore merci pour le poisson ?