Trilogy

Douglas Adams is a . . . NUT. And not of the macadamian variety. Not satisfied with a reputation that has become a byword in science fiction (a word not mentionable in polite society) or for creating a rush on hotel towels--and oh, yes, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," a must for those extra-terrestrial minded. No-ooo --he has to go write yet a fourth book in his aforementioned trilogy and extend his reputation (and career) even further.

It all began with a lonely man in Japan. David Peace was an English teacher in Tokyo in the mid-1990s, searching for some decent crime fiction. Having made his way through the one English-language bookstore's supply of James Ellroy, Walter Mosley and George Higgins, Peace was so starved for quality reading material that he began writing his own book, born of the memories of his Yorkshire childhood. The result -- "Nineteen Seventy Four" -- is a sort of anti-love note to the north of England, clammy in its intimacy.

Among the ruins of Middle-earth, the family of sheep farmer Ian Alexander is astounded by the popularity of its remote rural pastures. Since the Alexander family allowed director Peter Jackson to film J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy on its land in 1999, pilgrims have been flocking to the family farm in a bucolic northern corner of this island nation. There are absolutely no links to modern life on the farm -- no buildings, no power lines, not even any planes flying overhead.

"To the Ends of the Earth," the latest goody from "Masterpiece Theatre," PBS' long-standing English Embassy of the Air, adapts a seafaring trilogy by William Golding, best known as the author of "The Lord of the Flies."

Tiger's Curse A Novel Colleen Houck Splinter: 416 pp., $17.95 Inter-species romance has become routine in young adult lit lately, especially between nubile young women who like their guys muscular and wolfen, at least for part of the day. In the kickoff to a trilogy from debut author Colleen Houck, the object of affection this time is feline ? a big cat of regal bearing with azure eyes and a purr that rumbles like a train. FOR THE RECORD: "Tiger's Curse": A Jan. 16 review of Colleen Houck's novel "Tiger's Curse" calls it the first part of a trilogy; it is part of a five-book series.

It's not often that someone accepts one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the world by comparing it to a bus. "You wait 20 years for a Booker Prize, and two come along at once," Hilary Mantel joked after taking the stage in London on Tuesday night to accept the 2012 Man Booker Prize for "Bring Up the Bodies," the second novel in her Thomas Cromwell trilogy. Mantel also won the Booker for the first book in the series, "Wolf Hall," in 2009. She is the first woman to be a two-time winner of the prize, Britain's most prestigious award for literary fiction.

Stephen King "couldn't stop reading" it. Stephenie Meyer was so "obsessed . . . I had to take it with me out to dinner and hide it under the edge of the table." Publisher's Weekly called it "the best book of 2008." What's the source of all the buzz? Suzanne Collins' novel "The Hunger Games" -- an action-packed, post-apocalyptic, young adult fantasy in which 24 children are selected to compete to the death before a television audience. The hang-on-the-edge-of-your-seat dystopian fiction is now in its ninth printing, with foreign publishing rights sold for 35 territories and a movie in the works.

Warner Bros.' New Line division may be let down over the underwhelming opening of its big-budget "Jack the Giant Slayer," but the company has something to celebrate: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" crossed the $1-billion milestone Sunday. The first in Peter Jackson's 3-D film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's 1937 kids novel is  the 15th film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide at the  box office. The filmmaker's "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" is also a member of the club, as the 2003 release ended up with a staggering worldwide tally of $1.1 billion.

From an artistic point of view, star Mary Pickford famously said, "It would have been more logical if silent pictures had grown out of the talking instead of the other way around. " Likewise, it would have been better all around if Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films had not come before his new, three-part version of "The Hobbit. " It's not just that the 1937 J.R.R. Tolkien novel, which he began as a simple bedtime story for his children, was written first and covers events that precede the considerably more complex "Rings" story.

Although the first installment of Peter Jackson's three-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel "The Hobbit" carries the subtitle "An Unexpected Journey," it wasn't entirely unexpected that the director would revisit Middle-earth after the worldwide success of his "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. This time around, however, Jackson may have gotten off on the wrong foot. Early reviews of "The Hobbit" were lukewarm on the padded story and the new high-frame-rate technology being used to project the film in some theaters, and many top critics are now chiming in with similar opinions.