Books 4-8 The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy

Adam Barnes
Jan 19, 2021
4 min read

There's only one life-form as intelligent as me within thirty parsecs of here and that's me."

Yes that's right, books 4-8, the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. I'm not going mad... well, I don't think I am. But that is what the back of the books say. A radio series that was adapted into TV and then adapted into books, and finally into a film that was pants.

There are 5 books of the original trilogy, and then one more written after the author, Douglas Adams' death. I haven't got around to number 6 in the trilogy, that'll be for a later date. And anyways, it's not fair to compare another authors work to the original... is it?

So here's the next 5 books of my challenge, lovingly stolen (although I don't think they noticed) from mum and dad. I should probably return them, as they are original copies and therefore falling apart. I don't want that on my hands! They're also tiny, so I've missed out on a couple of cm I think! Ha!

We have (in order)

The Hitchhikers 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
Mostly Harmless

If you haven't read these books, do it. They've been a firm favourite of mine since I was younger. They're witty, pretty much nonsense, but above all have a blooming good storyline. If you haven't got time to read, get the radio show and listen to it... they pretty much follow each other perfectly, and the radio show was even revived when book 6 was released!

The two original actors from the Hitchhikers Guide radio and TV Series

So what is it about them that I like? As I said above, they're witty, easy to read, not too long and a rip-roaring intergalactic adventure across Space and Time.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy starts off on Earth, with contractors arriving to demolish Arthur Dent's (the main protagonist) house to build a bypass... as you do. He doesn't want this, so protests, and one thing leads to another, he discovers his friend is an alien, and that the Earth is about to be destroyed so what does it matter if his home is destroyed anyway? One thing leads to another, and through a series of improbable events, they escape earth, picking up a few more people along the way and end up on their search for the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything.

Lost? Probably, but if you read the book, it makes it slightly clearer... not much, but then, I don't think it's meant to make much sense, after all, they're looking for a question, when they already know the answer! The answer is of course... 42. My lucky number. Why is it my lucky number? Because Douglas Adams told me it's the answer to the ultimate question!

The rest of the books end up with them setting out on a quest to find out what the hell the question could be, to come out with the answer 42. The characters find themselves travelling through time, to prehistoric earth (which turns out to be... nope not spoiling it), to the end of the universe, and to exciting new worlds that the fascinating mind of Douglas Adams created. All this armed with a towel and a fish in their ear!

I'm actually going to steal a quote from the Guardian's review of the books now, as it sums the series up perfectly...

"To read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxyis to step into the garden shed of a maverick

genius while he’s out, to discover what ideas he has left lying around. But it is also as though Douglas Adams is speaking to you personally, gently, as he guides you through a perplexing world, assuring you “Don’t panic”

I really don't think I could sum it up better myself. Douglas Adams' had a real way with words, creating nonsense words which pull together and look as if they have always existed. His creation of worlds and their inhabitants is just sublime, and his characters are instantly likeable.

My favourite character is Marvin, it will always be Marvin. Or to give him his full name, Marvin the Paranoid Android. He is a robot, he is incredibly clever and boy does he love to let people know! He also doesn't find any pleasure in anything he does, but comes out with some cracking one liners, such as the one that opened this post. Marvin is one of those characters that you love, but there is no way you'd really want to be as they are just so negative about everything. But he really is put through the wringer, facing killer robots with nothing but his mind, crashing (but somehow surviving) into stars, and waiting for his companions for millions and millions of years. Marvin may well be the only good thing to come from the film. Alan Rickman plays his brilliantly.

Like I say, this series is 100% worth reading or listening to. If you have to watch it, watch the TV series.. the film is awful.