Seven years after Douglas Adams’ death, his classic Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series will be resurrected in the form of a sixth book, penned by Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer.

And Another Thing..., the sixth and presumably final book in the series, will be published in October 2009 as a follow-up to Mostly Harmless, the final book in the series written by Adams in 1992. Before his 2001 death, Adams had stated that he wanted to write a sixth book, “to finish Hitchhiker on a slightly more upbeat note.” The Salmon of Doubt, a collection of essays, short stories, and letters by Adams and other writers, was published in 2002. In total, the Hitchhiker books have sold more than 16 million copies worldwide.

Colfer is best known for his Artemis Fowl series about a teenage criminal genius who pits his skills against a fantasy underworld. Currently in its sixth book, the children’s series has sold more than seven million copies worldwide. He compared his opportunity to carry on in Adams’ legacy to “suddenly being offered the superpower of your choice” and that he was “bloody determined that this will be the best thing I have ever written.”