'And Another Thing': Eoin Colfer pens new installment to the 'Hitchhiker's Guide' series

The "Hitchhiker" trilogy is getting a sixth installment.

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" began as a BBC radio program in the 1970s but is now better known through the series of offbeat, satirical novels written by Douglas Adams, starting in 1979.

The five books, called a trilogy by their facetious fans, follow the adventures of Arthur Dent, an Englishman whose planet is destroyed one Thursday morning to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

After hitching a ride on the spaceship Heart of Gold, which runs on improbability, he discovers the origins of cricket (not pretty) and the answer to the Ultimate Question. The novels have sold more than 16 million copies, and had earned Adams a devoted following by the time he died of a heart attack in 2001 at 49.

Eoin Colfer, author of the best-selling "Artemis Fowl" adventure novels for young adults, was chosen by Adams's widow, Jane Belson, to mark the 30th anniversary of the series with a new installment, "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Part Six: And Another Thing ... " (Hyperion, 275 pp., $25.99). Colfer has brought back Arthur and other regulars, including Zaphod Beeblebrox, the larcenous galactic president, and also added some new characters.

Colfer, 44, spoke to Bloomberg News by phone from his home in Wexford, Ireland.

Q: When did you first encounter the ''Hitchhiker"? Was it through the radio or the books?

A: It was the books first. A guy had a sister in London and she brought them over and we adopted them as our own. The way some people go around quoting "Monty Python" or "The Simpsons" or "Seinfeld," we kind of took on board the "Hitchhiker." The biggest influence it had was that I saw you could do comic writing anywhere, even in science fiction, so whatever genre you go into you can bring your sense of humor with you.

Q: Do you have a favorite character or incident?

A: I do like Zaphod a lot because he is such a madcap agent of chaos. I especially like when he steals the Heart of Gold at the very beginning, because you're totally sideswiped, blindsided by that. It's at that point you realize, "OK, all bets are off with this book."

Q: Are you worried, in this day of instant response and fanboy backlash, that you are going to suffer a little bit?

A: That's going to happen. Before I opened my computer I knew, well, William Shakespeare could write this and there would be backlash. And, of course, I'm going to be affected by it and there will be days when I'll think to myself, "Why did I do this?" But I'm hoping to ride it out.

Q: How was writing this book different from writing the "Artemis Fowl" stories?

A: I think I let myself go a little bit more. I didn't mind spending a few paragraphs on something ridiculous. It was the most fun I've had writing in years. I don't know why but when it's someone else's universe I just felt a little bit freer, like the leash had been taken off.

Q: Did you set out to imitate some of Douglas Adams' style?

A: If you try to do that you're going to lose because there's no way you can write like Douglas Adams. But I did throw in every now and then one of his type jokes as a nod to him — the really long complicated sentence that actually means something very simple, which he was very fond of.

Q: Do you anticipate another sequel?

A: Not from me, no. I did what was in my brief that I gave myself, which would be to write something that would boost the celebrations and that would introduce Douglas to a new generation. And it's kind of respectful, and it's an homage. But if you do two I think you're trying to kind of take over and say, "Listen, it's my series now." And that's ridiculous.