Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. As heard on BBC Radio 4 (Hitchhikers Guide)

Maybe my expectations were to high but I felt the book wasn't that good. The writing seems to drag on. The almost 300 page book seems to cover about what Adams would have covered in 50 pages. If you feel you need to read it go ahead, just do not expect much.

Not nearly as good as the originals. Works WAY too hard to make fun of Christianity and religion in general. I'm a great fan of irreverence in the right time and measure, but jeez, give it rest already!

Someone allowed this book to be written. This was widely regarded by many as a bad idea.

Reads like poor fan fiction and the footnotes of pithy things about the galaxy are mostly dumb. There are so many of them you can't even read the dang book. Nearly every page has one or two and instead of enhancing the book (ala Adams) it makes reading it a disjointed, frustrating exercise. It's like having my wife coming in every 2 minutes while I'm reading and ask me where the sugar or light bulbs are. Again and again and again.

If you loved the other Hitchhiker's books, do not read this one. Colfer's humor cannot hold a candle to Adams's. Where Adams is witty, Colfer is fart jokes. The end of the the 5th book was great, Colfer ruined it. I wish this was never written.

...and trying really hard not to be too gushy about...but for who's sake? Mr. Adams is dead, I really don't think he will care if you say you like Mr. Colfer's version. No, it was not written by Douglas Adams, but the concept was taken from his notes and was adapted by a greatly accomplished writer. Most of you have never even read Colfer's other books and are judging him based on the fact that he writes childrens books. Unfair!

As a person who has read all of Mr. Colfer's previous books and is an adult (ahem) who is also a fan of HGTTG, I am going to say that this book is brilliant. It is sad that Mr. Adams did not get the chance to complete it himself, but we really do have to think about how Mr. Colfer felt stepping into this particular arena especially since there was major (negative)hoopla about Colfer writing it in the first place long before he even began!

Stop comparing Mr. Colfer's style to Mr. Adams' style because they are just simply two very different styles...however, I still hold my opinion that Mr. Colfer was indeed the best choice to complete Mr. Adams work.
Get the book, read it, laugh your butt off, and simply enjoy it knowing that it was not written by Adams, but definitely competently written by Colfer and get over your flamboyantly bloated selves.

So long, and thanks for all the fish ;-)

This book is a fanfic. It is amazing the inconsistency of this book. The most egregious is how the author say's there is no such thing as a happy ending, but then everyone gets a happy ending. I miss Douglas and now his series is dead with him.

This sequel to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe increasingly poorly named trilogy is a fun fast paced read. Mr Colfer gets Douglas Adams "voice" right and uses similar warped turns of phrase that made the originals, well, original. It doesn't stay with you long, but is a fun way to remember how fantastic HHGTG was to discover those many years sago.

If you are expecting to step back into the hitchhiker's guide world as so beautifully created by Douglas Adams then this book is not for you. Go back and reread the series again, you will find something new each time. However, with this book you are getting a sad attempt at trying to copy his humor which at its best is difficult to get comfortable with and seems a bit patronizing and at its worst reads like fanfiction. Save your money and read everything else by adams, the genius is gone and there is no recreating him but his work still entertains and inspires.

The whole Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy franchise is huge enough to allow room for new "entries".
Seems to me, Mr. Colfer, a great writer in his own right, had a lot of fun writing "And another thing...", just as I had a lot of fun, reading it.
I has been great to have a new, and fresh, opportunity to visit the galaxy with the beloved gang of HHGG one more time. Zaphod is particularly insane in this book. Thor and the deities, hilarious, creative, so Adams like.
Froody book, to say the least!!!!

There are plenty of negative reviews of this book here, so I won't repeat the criticisms that have already been expressed by many others. Add me to the list of those who couldn't stomach finishing this book.

If you're craving more of the H2G2 universe, get yourself a copy of the complete radio series instead of buying this book. The final "phases" of that production, published in 2005, provide a different and very satisfying ending while staying true to Adams' humor, intelligence, style and characters.

I have used the store for years and have never written a book review... until now. The reason being is that this book was so disappointing and lame that I felt it would be cathartic to write a review expressing my displeasure.

As I read all the other 1 star reviews here, I realized they pretty much beat me to the punch in terms of describing all that is wrong with this book, so by all means please read those reviews next. It is a unfunny, poorly written, rambling mess. The insertion of meaningless "guide notes" breaks up any flow the author attempts to establish. There is a whole new set of characters introduced -- transplanted humans living on a nano-planet elsewhere in the galaxy -- that is dull beyond belief. And Colfer insists on extending scenes far longer than necessary (there are pages and pages devoted to dry exchanges between the Vogons and some incomprehensible discussion between Zaphod Beeblebrox and some heretofore unknown representative of the Nordic gods.

Worst of all, though, is the authors insistance that every other sentence (or so it feels) is a babbling non sequitor. Descriptors that come out of nowhere or parenthetic comments that make no sense whatsoever. Really, this technique truly makes the entire book feel like the ramblings of an idiot.

Sorry, Mr. Colfer. I think you're best off sticking with children's books.

I was extremely excited to read the next chapter in the Hitchhiker series. I pre-ordered the book from the store and eagerly tore into it upon arrival. However, after finishing the book, I can only summon the energy for one emotion: disappointment. This book was an utter travesty and was a waste of the money. Rather than continuing the interesting storytelling method pioneered by Adams, Colfer seemingly weaves poorly-written irrelevant threads together and breathes a sigh of relief at the end when they happen to coalesce into a "book". I had to put the book down several times just because I was too disgusted to continue. With the hope that it *might* get better, I eventually staggered on, but cursed the writer for wasting my time and for polluting Adams' memory.

From endless tracts about depressed Greek gods to pages upon pages of stupidity while describing a lost human colony to mangled and poorly-written characters, Colfer does Adams a disservice. To be fair, the first 1/3 of the book was an interesting way to wrap-up the supposed death of the characters by the Grebulons, but it got mind-bogglingly dull after that. Reading this book was a waste of time and I implore you not to buy it and feed the notion that Colfer can capitalize on the success of Adams by producing this piece of garbage. Adams' estate should have left the dream of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy intact and not sold-out to such mediocrity.

I was particularly angered that this ENTIRE BOOK seemed to be one criticism after another of religion. I will be the first to admit that religion has done much damage over the centuries, but to constantly mock it as a central theme of a novel seems to be more of an agenda that a plot device.

Mostly harmless. I just finished reading it and as much as I enjoyed revisiting the characters and laughed out loud at some parts it just felt hollow; and that's no slam to Mr Colfer. Had Douglas Adams churned the book out written just this way (and I understand this was based partly on notes of DA) my opinion would not have changed. I've read several reviews that slam the interactive HHGTTG, but it IS a newer version and I thought it was annoyingly froody. A must-read for true fans of the "trilogy", but I can all but guarantee there will be no re-reads of it.

Someone else reviewed this as "A froody read for fans"... I have to disagree. I own this, I read it. To be sure, I read it twice. This is a HORRIBLE attempt to conclude THHGTTG series... Colfer reads nothing like Douglas Adams... The plot was muddled and hard to follow (And I have read "Heart of Darkness")... He treats the characters cavalierly, with little regard to how they should act and speak.

Having said that, I must admit to some bias. I read Artemis Fowl just after it came out because my children were interested (I always keep aware of what they are being exposed to, although I rarely disallow anything), and I have to say I disliked it intently. I like to think my enthusiasm for a Hitchhikers book kept my bias against him to a minimum, but I am aware there is a possibility.

Unless you are seriously a fan AND a completlist, and are already a fan of Colfer, I advise leaving this one alone.

I've recently completed reading all the Douglas Adams "Hitchhiker's Guide" books so the story was fresh in my memory. I was thrilled to see Eoin Colfer's book hoping that he would tie up the loose ends from the last Douglas Adams book. I have enjoyed Colfer's Artemis series so had high hopes for this book. But I was sadly disappointed. The story seemed to be all over the place. I still never found out what happened to Arthur's girlfriend who just disappears in the last Adams book. But most of all Colfer keeps interspersing information about creatures, sayings, or places as though they are from the Hitchhiker's Guide itself. They seem forced & they are boring to read. Someone else said they had to force themselves to finish the book & I found I had to do the same. And I skipped over so much of the book because it was just plain boring. As a Librarian I love to read & encourage reading. Unfortunately, this is one book I could not encourage someone to read. But I do highlyi recommend Colfer's other books. Those are worth the time to read.

I found this sequel to the original work by Douglas Adams to be about average. It retains all of the major characters with exception of one. All of the characters retained their original traits. The characters themselves become relatively developed during the course of the book, some more than others. The storyline was written in the typical Douglas Adams style of random happenstance and odd coincidences and unexplained impossibilities. The humor is reminiscent of Adams, though at times only UK readers may understand. The plot resumes around the end of book 5, Mostly Harmless. Earth is destroyed, but all the main character manage to survive with the help of the version 2 of the Hitchhikers guide, when placed them in a VR state for several decades, but reverses once it ran itself out of battery. Also some Earthling managed to survive the Vogon attack and resettled on an artificial planet. Arthur et al. avoid being blown up by escaping in a dark matter powered spaceship. The new Earth is looking for a god to rein in the populace, there is a sympathetic Vogon, Trillian falls in love and it Zaphod seem to be in control of the entire story.
It was a pretty cool read, nothing that was mind blowing, it does adequate justice as sequel to Hitchhiker's guide.

I have to admit, I got this with some trepidation. I'm only twenty pages in, and already I feel like throwing it against a wall. Or two. It has none of Adams' goofy charm. The opening pages read like someone name dropping at a very posh party: "Did I mention the time I had no credits whatsoever for a Gargle Blaster? I didnt? Well, let me tell you...." It's like he had this little list of things he knew had to be at least mentioned but he had no idea why.

I dont think I can handle finishing it.

This is the first book for adults written by Eoin Colfer, writer of the Artemis Fowl series; This is the first sequel to the Hitchhiker’s Guide that has been written since Douglas Adams’ death in 2001.

As fans of the series know, Douglas Adams writes with a singular voice, distinct, I think, from any other writer I’ve read. It’s astounding to me that Colfer has been able to channel Adams’ tone and wit to such a degree that I find the differences to be imperceptible. I don’t know if Douglas Adams left any notes behind about future Hitchhiker’s novels, but this one nestles in perfectly with the series.

I don’t think this replacement author gets enough credit for attempting to fill the shoes of the original creator. This has to be a difficult and cosmically unfair task, but Colfer nails it. This is a great book, and worthy to be part six of three.

While this is quite definitely a "Hitchhiker's" book, it is quite definitely not a Douglas Adams "Hitchhiker's" book. That's not a criticism but a description. Keep that thought in your head and you might actually find this book to be largely enjoyable. Eoin Colfer is a competent writer with a good sense of humor, and this tome did elicit some genuine laughs from me as I read it. To Colfer's credit, he finds his own rhythm and style rather than trying to mimic the inimitable Adams, but he does toss in a few too many unnecessary references to the earlier novels, as if to say, "No, really, I did read the other books!" His frequent use of irrelevant "Guide Entries" are also rather jarring and interrupt the flow of the story rather than being seamlessly worked into the narrative (one of the Guide entries towards the end more or less admits that it's doing this, so apparently Colfer was aware of it on some level but kept doing it anyway).

Apart from that, Colfer stays mostly faithful to the absurd rules of the "Hitchhiker's" universe established in Adams' earlier writings, and while the characters aren't exactly spot on they're close enough for the purpose, even if they are slightly more self-aware, as if for the first time they're in on the jokes (at one point, Ford mutters something to the effect of, "Humans always did like digital watches," an observation that doesn't really make sense in the context). And true to the spirit of the melancholy Adams, the novel can not be said to have a happy ending, though certainly not as macabre as the conclusion of MOSTLY HARMLESS. Although it does seem that Colfer has his eye on a sequel, ending the story with the words "The End of One of the Middles" which is a reference to an earlier joke and implies that there is more to come.

If you're a fan of the Hitchhiker's universe then Colfer does a decent enough job of continuing the series in a way that I think most fans will find inoffensive and fun. That is not to say that all of the jokes are inoffensive, just that Colfer's book can be enjoyed by all but the most diehard Hitchhiker's purists. While it's nowhere near as good as anything written by Adams, I think there are enough interesting new ideas and interesting new takes on old ideas to make it worth your time.

I was kind of scared to read this book. Actually, I was very scared, but I was also very excited--and then I read the forward. It was wonderful. Eoin Colfer knows he's not Douglas Adams, and he knows that his contribution to the trilogy won't be the same or mean the same thing to the readers. But he also clearly knows and appreciates his Hitchhiker's Guide, and he's funny.

So I read the book. It was nice right away, because the characters weren't all dead. Then the story took off on its own interesting and funny direction, and I was happy to go along in whatever really cool ship they could hitch a ride on. It clearly wasn't written by Douglas Adams, but it's also definitely part of the Hitchhiker's Guide--much more so than Terry Jones' Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic, which felt like it took place in another universe (in which they use "translation blisters" instead of babblefish).

I was afraid Colfer wouldn't include the random, hilarious, interesting, and sometimes thought-provoking tangents that Douglas Adams used to fill a lot of the pages of the previous books in the trilogy, but they were in there, diverting us from the main story as always. There were a lot of things in there from the previous books that I'd worried wouldn't make it in, or things that I'd kind of forgotten about (there was another Vogon poem, although I actually don't think it was half bad). There were also plenty of new things, some of which I thought were great, some of which...well, let's just say I got tired of the word "buffa."

Still, bringing in new stuff is not only not bad, it's necessary. Books that come after other books have to add new stuff so that they won't be the same as the first books. I'm sure had Douglas Adams written another Hitchhiker's book, there would be new stuff in it. And the new things and characters in this book were good new things and good new characters. Plus, the old things and old characters were done well. Unfortunately, there was very little that was actually about Arthur. My guess is that Colfer felt more comfortable making more minor characters his own (including fleshing out the backstories--not to mention current stories--and personalities of some people only mentioned briefly in the first five books) than trying to take on Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect. And hey, apart from what I assume were his fjords, where was Slartibartfast? And where was any mention of Marvin? Just curious.

But I don't want to end on a complaining note. Other characters like Agrajag did get nice mentions. So did Douglas Adams himself--or at least an episode in his life, which I thought was a really nice touch, and actually made me a little misty, before I kept reading and got to something funny. Also, interestingly, this was the second book I read today (well, the first one I just finished today, this one I read completely)--AS WELL AS the second book I've ever read--that included the word "philately." I'm not sure what that signifies, if anything, but I wanted to mention it.

Thanks, Eoin Colfer, for bringing the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy back for a while, but most of all thanks to Douglas Adams for bringing it to us in the first place.

The story begins with how the lives of the different characters have panned out. Arthur Dent is happily making sandwiches in a beach hut, Ford Prefect is livin' it large at a big leisure and pleasure resort, Trillian is flying around the universe being a famous reporter, and Random has become the President of the Galaxy. However, they soon realise that it's all an illusion, created by the Guide Mark II. In fact, they've never left Stavro Mueller's Beta restaurant, and the Earth is still under attack. The bird-shaped book is running out of batteries, however, and can't sustain the virtual reality any longer. Also, it's not happy with the way things are working out.

Luckily, a most improbable thing happens - Zaphod Beeblebrox arrives with the Heart of Gold, whisking them all away to outer space, leaving the Earth to bubble away into space. They end up sharing a ride with Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, who has started to find the whole buzzing around the galaxy insulting people not having the same appeal as it used to. In fact, he'd rather die. Good thing Zaphod knows a deity with a reputation management issue ...

The big question anyone would ask about this book is naturally, "is it any good?" or "is it funny?" Yes, on both accounts. "Does it live up to the original trilogy in five parts?" Yes, I think it does. I enjoyed it the first time I read it (last year), and I enjoyed it even more now. It's very funny, and it's clever (the whole cheese cult on Nano is hysterical - "Appease the Cheese!").

Even more importantly, "Can Eoin Colfer compare to the genius that is Douglas Adams?" and "Can he make it justice?" Yeah, kinda. Granted, it's different. He's not Douglas Adams, and I think the novel works best when he's not trying to be Douglas Adams. Adams used Guide notes sparingly, and when he did, they were at least half a page long. Here, they're common and normally just a short paragraph, and not as satirical somehow.

The way he could turn a phrase is legendary, and Colfer misses the point a bit with them. Adams rarely used phrases along the lines of "actually, that's just what the *ians on planet X do", but when he did it, it was remarkably clever. Here, they're over-used and not as brilliant. You don't read them and go "hah, that's amazing!" but more "oh, another one" and well, it's different.

Don't get me wrong, it's a very funny book, and I thoroughly enjoy it, and I will be reading it again. It's a great way of continuing the story and I love how the characters are accurately portrayed. The plot is light-hearted and it references back to the original "Hitchhiker's" books constantly. Colfer knows his Adams, clearly. He is also more skilled as a novelist - the prose flows freely as does the plot; it's well-paced, well-structured and it fits in with the previous books. While "Mostly Harmless" was dark and depressing, this is much lighter. Where "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish" didn't work, this one does.

Adams isn't here to continue writing (or procrastinating, to be fair), but Colfer has taken the characters we've known and loved for over 30 years and made them his own, and I love it, I really do. The only thing I'm waiting for is for him to write another one, because I want more, zark it!

This book is spectacularly average. So amazingly average, in fact, that I would be hard pressed to repeat back the plot to you if a gun were held to my head. It's all a bit muddled and involves Random's abandonment issues with her father Arthur while Trillian falls in love with an annoying and insulting immortal who was a minor character from a previous book. During this time, Ford's old buddy Thor (yes, the deity) gets thrown into the mix in an attempt to confuse you into believing that you are, in fact, reading a Dirk Gently novel.

Okay... maybe I DO remember some of the plot. It seems the hypothetic firearm aimed between my eyes worked.

The problem with this book is the elephant sitting in the room: Douglas Adams didn't write it. To his credit as an author, Eoin Colfer does a commendable job trying to pick up where the late Mr. Adams left off. It's hard to be TOO hard on him because, let's face it, Mostly Harmless was a less than stellar read. Nonetheless, bad Douglas Adams is still better than the best fan fiction - something And Another Thing... winds up feeling like.

This book seems slightly askew from the rest of the series to me. In fanboy jargon, And Another Thing... feels the same way Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Sixth Season (Slim Set) did when it went from the WB to UPN. I know it's the same thing, but it just doesn't feel right.

Hopefully the publisher will let this franchise be. Star Wars didn't need any prequels and we really didn't need another HHGTTG book. Both creative endeavors merited some pretty things to see (on screen and in the mind's eye, respectively) but they should both serve as cautionary tales to just leave well enough alone.

When I read, years before this book's publication, that Douglas Adams's wife had chosen Eoin Colfer to write a new, and sixth, Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy book, I had the strong feeling that Adams's literary legacy, especially with regards to the Hitch-Hiker's books, should be left alone. Surely no one else could write with the creativity run amok that was Douglas Adams's trademark? Could anyone else blend the profound and the preposterous, the scientific and the silly, the poignant and the playful like Douglas Adams? The answer is...yes and no. For the first hundred pages of the book, I felt that Colfer was trying too hard to write like a Douglas Adams clone, and not succeeding. Thick and fast were his attempts at humour, but they rarely hit the spot. Then something changed: it was as if Colfer relaxed and got into his groove, writing using his own voice instead of attempting to channel Douglas Adams. From that point on, I enjoyed the book infinitely more.
The story really comes into its own when Thor (yes, the Norse Thunder-God) is introduced into proceedings. There are points at which the plotline smacks of Tom Holt's 'Valhalla'. Plagiaristic? Not quite. Derivative? Definitely. Ideas, however, have to come from somewhere, and the arrival of Nordic deities in the already-insane Universe created by Douglas Adams drags the story up by its bootstraps. Colfer writes dialogue well; conversations are funny and believable, and the familiar figures remain true to their characters, although Arthur's speech seems less quintessentially English than in earlier books, perhaps the result of being written by an Irish writer rather than the Englishman that was Douglas Adams. In the final fifty pages, Colfer really hits his stride, writing with fearless confidence and beautiful descriptive power. He didn't create the Hitch-Hiker Universe, but he stepped into it and did a good job of making it his own. If the whole book had been as well-written as the closing pages, I'd have given it a five-star review. As it stands, the book was good enough to merit a second read.
Eoin Colfer took on a momentous challenge: trying to fill the literary shoes of Douglas Adams. When Colfer writes in his authentic voice, rather than trying to emulate Douglas Adams, his writing has a beautiful flow of energy, and literary flourishes that lend themselves to repeated re-readings.
Before reading this book, part of me wanted to dislike it, as I felt that to enjoy it would be on some level disloyal to Douglas Adams. I have changed that view now. Wherever his soul is in this Universe, I suspect Douglas Adams is looking down on 'And Another Thing' and smiling.

Okay, so, it's not the brilliance of Douglas Adams, but once I figured out what was going on (though, *SPOILER* hello, "It was all a dream?" *END SPOILER*) I got into the spirit of thing. Which is just... fun. Are there issues with the plot? Yes. Are they meandering story lines that go anywhere? Yes. Do the guide notes interrupt the flow of the story, and sometimes feel like they were stuck in just to do that? Yes. Are the characters completely one-dimensional? Yes.

But I still enjoyed it. I enjoyed the language and the tongue-in-cheek humor. And I enjoyed visiting that world once again, even if it was a pale shadow of its former self.

Nobody, but nobody, writes like Douglas Adams wrote. His Hitchhiker's books are rife with logical leaps of impossibility, wry wit, and seemingly-random turns of events that somehow all come together in the end. 'Improbable' doesn't even begin to describe it.

Eoin Colfer's effort in 'And Another Thing...' to continue the story of wayward Earthling Arthur Dent (who keeps getting planets blown up from underneath his feet) and his spaceborne companions Trillian, Ford Prefect, and Zaphod Beeblebrox is a solid attempt to continue in the tradition Adams left. When I bought it, it was described to me as 'fan fiction - but GOOD fan fiction,' and that description fits just fine. It works. Even though it is missing the real belly-laugh moments and the passages that make me read and re-read them to fully grasp the elegance of the wit from the previous books, it still works. It's entertaining and fun to read.

The basic premise follows Arthur as he continues to try to find his place in the Universe and a decent cup of tea. The Vogons are still trying to destroy the Earth and finding it difficult as different versions of it keep cropping up. Meanwhile a small colony of Earthlings on another planet is recruiting gods, and the interview process is a real killer. Zaphod is no longer President of the Galaxy and Arthur's daughter Random wants to be. Ford is feeling pretty froody in general. Trillian is trying to connect with Random and falling for rude aliens (again). Arthur, meanwhile, just wants to find a place where he can relax.

These characters and situations come across in 'And Another Thing...' and they feel familiar. Eoin Colfer deserves a lot of credit for that. But there's still something missing - because nobody writes like Douglas Adams did.

And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer
All of the main characters that have formed The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy over the years are back once again for an hilarious adventure through space. An altered Zaphod Beeblebrox attempts to become a god for a newly acquired planet, (or at least represent the recently chosen.) The reader gets to be present when an interview with Cthulu for the new job of God is arranged. Arthur Dent once again finds his Earth wife Trillian and together they try to deal with the amusing complications of their daughter Random, and of course Ford Prefect provides the glue to hold it all together. As the group is formed once again, jeopardy is bestowed upon them, This beginning cliffhanger is solved by an alien named Bowerick Wowbagger who happens to appear in the nick of time. Wowbagger doesn't care about these new hitchhikers, he has his own mission - to insult everyone in the universe in alphabetical order -. So with the Vogons on their tale destroying everything in site, the hi-jinx begins!
Eoin Colfer has taken on the challenge to pick up where Douglas Adams left off. The celebrated Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy gets new life thanks to Colfer. It's impossible to create a universe, or to develop a comedy style that Douglas has, but Colfer succeeds using his own brand to combine with Adams. The result is worthy and satisfying. I'm sure Douglas Adams is delighted where ever he may be. So lets all raise a glass of Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and celebrate! (by the way, according to the Hitchhikers Guide, the effect of this drink is like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick.)

When I read, years before this book's publication, that Douglas Adams's wife had chosen Eoin Colfer to write a new, and sixth, Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy book, I had the strong feeling that Adams's literary legacy, especially with regards to the Hitch-Hiker's books, should be left alone. Surely no one else could write with the creativity run amok that was Douglas Adams's trademark? Could anyone else blend the profound and the preposterous, the scientific and the silly, the poignant and the playful like Douglas Adams? The answer is...yes and no. For the first hundred pages of the book, I felt that Colfer was trying too hard to write like a Douglas Adams clone, and not succeeding. Thick and fast were his attempts at humour, but they rarely hit the spot. Then something changed: it was as if Colfer relaxed and got into his groove, writing using his own voice instead of attempting to channel Douglas Adams. From that point on, I enjoyed the book infinitely more.
The story really comes into its own when Thor (yes, the Norse Thunder-God) is introduced into proceedings. There are points at which the plotline smacks of Tom Holt's 'Valhalla'. Plagiaristic? Not quite. Derivative? Definitely. Ideas, however, have to come from somewhere, and the arrival of Nordic deities in the already-insane Universe created by Douglas Adams drags the story up by its bootstraps. Colfer writes dialogue well; conversations are funny and believable, and the familiar figures remain true to their characters, although Arthur's speech seems less quintessentially English than in earlier books, perhaps the result of being written by an Irish writer rather than the Englishman that was Douglas Adams. In the final fifty pages, Colfer really hits his stride, writing with fearless confidence and beautiful descriptive power. He didn't create the Hitch-Hiker Universe, but he stepped into it and did a good job of making it his own. If the whole book had been as well-written as the closing pages, I'd have given it a five-star review. As it stands, the book was good enough to merit a second read.
Eoin Colfer took on a momentous challenge: trying to fill the literary shoes of Douglas Adams. When Colfer writes in his authentic voice, rather than trying to emulate Douglas Adams, his writing has a beautiful flow of energy, and literary flourishes that lend themselves to repeated re-readings.
Before reading this book, part of me wanted to dislike it, as I felt that to enjoy it would be on some level disloyal to Douglas Adams. I have changed that view now. Wherever his soul is in this Universe, I suspect Douglas Adams is looking down on 'And Another Thing' and smiling.

Okay, so, it's not the brilliance of Douglas Adams, but once I figured out what was going on (though, *SPOILER* hello, "It was all a dream?" *END SPOILER*) I got into the spirit of thing. Which is just... fun. Are there issues with the plot? Yes. Are they meandering story lines that go anywhere? Yes. Do the guide notes interrupt the flow of the story, and sometimes feel like they were stuck in just to do that? Yes. Are the characters completely one-dimensional? Yes.

But I still enjoyed it. I enjoyed the language and the tongue-in-cheek humor. And I enjoyed visiting that world once again, even if it was a pale shadow of its former self.

Nobody, but nobody, writes like Douglas Adams wrote. His Hitchhiker's books are rife with logical leaps of impossibility, wry wit, and seemingly-random turns of events that somehow all come together in the end. 'Improbable' doesn't even begin to describe it.

Eoin Colfer's effort in 'And Another Thing...' to continue the story of wayward Earthling Arthur Dent (who keeps getting planets blown up from underneath his feet) and his spaceborne companions Trillian, Ford Prefect, and Zaphod Beeblebrox is a solid attempt to continue in the tradition Adams left. When I bought it, it was described to me as 'fan fiction - but GOOD fan fiction,' and that description fits just fine. It works. Even though it is missing the real belly-laugh moments and the passages that make me read and re-read them to fully grasp the elegance of the wit from the previous books, it still works. It's entertaining and fun to read.

The basic premise follows Arthur as he continues to try to find his place in the Universe and a decent cup of tea. The Vogons are still trying to destroy the Earth and finding it difficult as different versions of it keep cropping up. Meanwhile a small colony of Earthlings on another planet is recruiting gods, and the interview process is a real killer. Zaphod is no longer President of the Galaxy and Arthur's daughter Random wants to be. Ford is feeling pretty froody in general. Trillian is trying to connect with Random and falling for rude aliens (again). Arthur, meanwhile, just wants to find a place where he can relax.

These characters and situations come across in 'And Another Thing...' and they feel familiar. Eoin Colfer deserves a lot of credit for that. But there's still something missing - because nobody writes like Douglas Adams did.

And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer
All of the main characters that have formed The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy over the years are back once again for an hilarious adventure through space. An altered Zaphod Beeblebrox attempts to become a god for a newly acquired planet, (or at least represent the recently chosen.) The reader gets to be present when an interview with Cthulu for the new job of God is arranged. Arthur Dent once again finds his Earth wife Trillian and together they try to deal with the amusing complications of their daughter Random, and of course Ford Prefect provides the glue to hold it all together. As the group is formed once again, jeopardy is bestowed upon them, This beginning cliffhanger is solved by an alien named Bowerick Wowbagger who happens to appear in the nick of time. Wowbagger doesn't care about these new hitchhikers, he has his own mission - to insult everyone in the universe in alphabetical order -. So with the Vogons on their tale destroying everything in site, the hi-jinx begins!
Eoin Colfer has taken on the challenge to pick up where Douglas Adams left off. The celebrated Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy gets new life thanks to Colfer. It's impossible to create a universe, or to develop a comedy style that Douglas has, but Colfer succeeds using his own brand to combine with Adams. The result is worthy and satisfying. I'm sure Douglas Adams is delighted where ever he may be. So lets all raise a glass of Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and celebrate! (by the way, according to the Hitchhikers Guide, the effect of this drink is like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick.)

I grew up loving Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. As a kid the novel clicked perfectly with my sense of humor (and twisted it further). I read every book in the five book trilogy and enjoyed them all (even though I had some disappointment over books 4 and 5). I remember hearing of Douglas Adams' death and mourning the loss.

I was thrilled when I heard another book would be coming out, despite not knowing who Eoin Coifer was. Coifer's addition to the trilogy is wonderful, uncannily similar to Adams' style, and extremely faithful to the original series (well, with the possible exception to the headcount).

Pros:
- Almost as funny as the original
- Very faithful to the series and the characters
- Stylistically very similar to Adams
- An enjoyable story
- Guide notes are frequently awesome
- Cthulhu!

Cons:
- Didn't recap enough initially. A quick two paragraph summary of the previous book would have been fine. It had been too long since I had read the last book and I was slow to remember that it ended up with the earth(s) being destroyed by the Vogons (again) or the circumstances therein.
- Guide notes were occasionally distracting

Overall:
I give "And Another Thing..." a 4.2 out of 5 and rank it as a very welcome 3rd favorite in the series behind The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 25th Anniversary Edition and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

I love Douglas Adams, and when I heard that there was a new installment of Hitchhiker's, I was ecstatic but a little wary. I knew before I started that Eoin Colfer was an amazing author, and now knowing that he wrote this with the permission of Douglas Adams' widow, I like him even more. He writes that he's a fan of Hitchhiker's, and I think that he captured the randomness that all fans of Douglas Adams loved.

Eoin Colfer continues in the sixth installment with a different writing style than Douglas Adams, which is to be expected. Little `Guide Notes' are inserted here and there-random breaks in the writing to explain something, sometimes unnecessarily but it's all in good fun. Eoin Colfer writing is full of humor and wit, but almost nervous seems serious, which makes this novel a fast and fun read.

I'd recommend And Another Thing . . . for any fan of Hitchhiker's, Douglas Adams, Eoin Colfer, or someone just looking for a book that'll make them laugh. And Another Thing . . . gets 5/5 stars from me.

Eoin Colfer's addition to the HHGTTG series held, for me, the hope that perhaps Douglas Adams had left behind sufficient notes about his own intention for the series that someone would need only to flesh it out and finish the job. Somehow, this doesn't seem likely to have been that volume. Prominent among my disappointments were: What I saw as slow pacing; Reduction of some of the characters to caricatures of their former merely somewhat shallow selves; Rampant overuse of the "Notes from the Guide" in a manner that was often tedious, and at the same time; Failure to capitalize upon opportunities for expected gags that would have readily lent themselves to a terse Adamsian Guide Note entry. Douglas managed to destroy the Earth very swiftly, and propel Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect into the thick of things, with an amazing economy of prose; I suspect that part of the reason that this one *seems* so much longer is because of the choppiness. On the other hand, due to its lack of the gloom that surrounded "Mostly Harmless", it does come off somewhat better than that particular entry, at least in a few regards.

I won't say that dedicated HHGTTG fans ought to avoid this book; it's certainly not that bad. But it has some significant shortcomings in my opinion, and might be worth reading the local library's copy prior to deciding whether to acquire one for yourself.

If you read this expecting an exact clone of Adams' style, you will be disappointed. But if you approach it more realistically as a tribute to and continuation of his legacy, then it is a worthwhile and entertaining read. Adams original work had me in stitches, literally falling off my chair laughing. This one brought me only a few smiles and occasional chuckle. But it was obvious that the author was a fan, and took the time to understand the rich legacy of the Guide.

this is fanfiction. Approach it as such and you will be pleasantly surprised. The author makes the Vogons a bit too sympathetic, the Guide Notes a bit too interactive, and never quite reaches the level of absurdity of the original. But the quality of writing is good, often funny, and a fitting continuation of the never ending series.

Good thought but poor execution. I felt like this book was trying to hard to live up to a fantastic legacy and in the process was more of a parody than an homage I'm glad I borrowed it rather than bought it because the disappointment would have been doubled. I was happy to go back to the universe I loved, quoted, laughed over but this continuation was a sad, sorry mess. I can't recommend it.

I'm one of those hardcore Douglas Adams fans, the type who has read everything written by -- or about -- the man, and for whom no one else will ever come close. It may sound ironic, considering Adams' "radical atheism," but to me he was a god. So it was with a heavy-heart that I picked up Eoin Colfer's And Another Thing..., the sixth installment in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, and started to read. Prior to its publication, I signed petitions against its very existence, and planned to boycott it by staying as far away from the finished product as possible. But when it finally arrived, I knew there was no way I could ignore anything involving Arthur, Ford, Zaphod and the gang -- even something (sacrilegiously!) written by someone other than DNA, himself. Unfortunately, the final result is just as I'd feared.

Colfer tries his best to emulate Adams' style of writing (in spite of the claim that he wasn't going to), but there's something decidedly forced about it. Instead of coming off as brilliantly chaotic, as Adams did, it seems formulaic -- as though, Colfer had some sort of outline directing him step-by-step. That would explain the overuse of GUIDE NOTES, which appeared so frequently as to distract one from the main storyline... what little there was of that.

And none of the characters seemed right; it was as though Colfer took the names and general descriptions and then created all new personages in the guise of the originals. Arthur, the story's main protagonist, through whom we -- the reader -- experienced the story, was a mere shadow of himself. Ford and Zaphod, arguably the trilogy's two most popular characters, were nothing like they were as written by Adams' hand. Nor was Arthur's fellow human, Tricia McMillan (a.k.a. Trillian), who had little more to do than interact with her and Arthur's annoying snot of a daughter, Random (an unpopular character introduced by Adams, in what was also the final and least popular of the H2G2 books, Mostly Harmless).

While there were a few moments of enjoyment to be had, and even a couple of chuckles, And Another Thing... mostly reads like glorified fanfiction. While I sympathize with Colfer's plight -- he had enormous shoes to fill -- there's nothing about this installment that feels canonical to the series. Mostly Harmless may have been a dark final chapter to the trilogy, one that left fans wanting more -- but isn't that better than have an inadequate impostor try to fill the hole DNA left behind? I think so.

Chapter 11 begins with the following image: "Hyperspace cleared its throat and hawked out a Vogon bureaucruiser..." Before the next Hitchhiker's Guide entry, we are presented with this simile: "a Vogon without its hostile edge is about as much use as a pooh stick in a bartle bodging contest." It is hard to be both boorish and incomprehensible on one page but Colfer manages here.

I present these selections not because they are Colfer's worst but because they are typical. Cosmic irony is difficult to achieve. Adams was a master in the first Hitchhiker books as was Vonnegut in his early Tralfamadore entries (Sirens of Titan, Slaughterhouse 5). Here, however, in place of original plot concepts or of character development beyond caricature, the book devolves into an endless string of unfunny one liners. At one point, even Arthur Dent has had enough, responding to a particularly leaden quip by Ford Prefect: "Is this the time for jokes, Ford? Is it really?" Probably not. But, the reader is left to wonder, what took Arthur and Colfer so long to notice.

The list of successful sequels by new writers is a short one. And Another Thing won't join that collection. It is the longest 273 pages I have read in a quite a while. Adams had an obvious love for his characters. His light touch allowed them to remain fully realized even as they endured increasingly absurd and original situations. Colfer seems to quickly tire of the gang he inherited. He keeps them on a spaceship for most of the book (like an under financed, original series Star Trek episode.) The characters expend all of their efforts laboring through conversations that we have all heard before. Just before the close, Colfer gives up completely: "Now, that's something you don't see every day, (Dent) thought, resorting to cliches in his amazement."

Arthur waits until the book is almost over to attempt to move the plot with a cliche. The author begins well ahead of him.

In a perfect world, Douglas Adams would still be with us, sharing his wit and observations on all manner of this. Along with that, it would have been ideal for Adams to have spent more time on entry number four in the series, "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish," so as to wrap up the Hitchhiker's Guide series with a satisfying conclusion. Afterwards, having made his point, he could then wield his imagination against new ideas.

The somewhat lower quality of "Fish" no doubt led Adams to write "Mostly Harmless," a far more polished (and yet, in many respects, far more confusing and demanding of the reader) book than "Fish." Another ending to the series was made in this book, albeit not satisfying to readers of a more romantic inclination.

As the story goes, Adams had intended to write another entry, and even got so far as the noted before his life was sadly cut short. Eoin Colfer was given the difficult task of bringing these notes to life, a task that any smart person would approach with some trepidation. The result: "And Another Thing..."

So, how did he do? Not so bad, actually.

This is clearly not a Douglas Adams book, although Colfer does a tremendous job in making the transition work. For the most part, the characters are treated with the respect that they deserve, the plot flows very nicely at exactly the proper pace (in this, Colfer may have exceeded Adams ), and the conclusion does not have the absolute quality of ending that Adam's books did, forcing unholy gyrations to begin the inevitable follow-up book. The tricky bridge between "Mostly Harmless" and "And Another Thing" is handled particularly adroitly, tantamount to pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Overall, the book feels very "logical," if such a word can be applied to this series.

It's by no means an easy dash through the book for the reader, though. The text is frequently interrupted by aside references to the Guide, many of which feel gratuitous. References to planets, themes, and jokes that were used in throw-away lines in previous books are sprinkled liberally throughout the text, to the point where they go beyond sly winks and move into the realm of "Buzzword Bingo." (It gets to the point where one wonders if the galaxy is populated by only a dozen people living on about five planets.) It's not helped by the fact that many of the characters are given names which are not just goofy (as Adams' were) but are in fact in-jokes such as Aseed Preflux, Buff Orpington, which will take the reader momentarily out of the book.

As far as characterizations go, the closest renditions are Zaphod and Ford - although given that they are caricatures to begin with, this is understandable. Specifically, this is Zaphod's book more than any other character, and the reader is able to get into his head(s) in a big way - and it works. Ford is not a terribly big part of the book - in fact, he's mostly used as the focal point of the book's major running gag - but again, the characterization makes sense.

Trillian is fairly unrecognizable, unfortunately, and is a long way removed from the intelligent, level-headed character in the early books. To be fair to Colfer, this is not entirely his fault, as Adams was already moving her down that path in "Mostly Harmless." Still, with Trillian essentially being a flake, the reader's ability to fall back to a "calm center" is essentially removed, and no other character steps in to fill that role.

Random, Arthur's new-found daughter from the previous book, essentially serves the "foil" role that Martin the Paranoid Android used to own, although with more of an edge. She's a fairly one-dimensional character throughout the book, with more minor changes towards the end, and is (alas) not particularly interesting.

Wowbagger, whose only previous contribution to the series was as a running gag in "Life, the Universe, and Everything," is brought back and fleshed out enormously into a three-dimensional character. There would have been so many ways to get this wrong (witness the misuse of Slartibartfast in the aforementioned "Everything"), and reader may be wondering why such a character couldn't be left as a one-time gag - but in the context of the plot, it absolutely works, and Colfer deftly pulls it off without making it feel contrived.

And Arthur? Arthur's role as a "fish out of water" (or recovery thereafter) was the central focus of all of the previous books. In this book, Arthur mostly bounces between two extremes - a worldly (galactic?) traveler somewhat at peace with himself, and a spearthrower whose role is to make important points to move the plot along. There's some attempt to once again make Arthur the object of galactic prejudice, but the attempts fall flat; the character has simply moved on beyond that. Perhaps the best bits with Arthur are when he's alone, meditating on this thing or that thing. This is definitely not Arthur's book, however, even given the focus on him in the final chapter, and it's this point that, more than anything else, gives this book a distinctly different flavor.

"And Another Thing" is definitely a must-read for "Hitchhiker" fans, who I expect will not be let down by the book. Colfer has done a solid job of breathing life into Adams' notes, weaving another point-of-view into the series.