Customer Reviews

And Another Thing... (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

I've been reading Eoin Colfer's book 'And Another Thing' and I'm pleasantly surprised to discover that I happen to like it. That's a biggie, really unexpected, as I'm one of those people who can't accept the possibility that anyone could measure up to Douglas Adams in his own (reflection of this) universe.

Let's state the obvious, shall we? Eoin Colfer isn't Douglas Adams. If he'd tried to clone Douglas's work, this book wouldn't have floated. Eoin (I think I can call him that, having shaken his hand) hasn't tried to be Douglas Adams, but he has tried to satisfy Douglas's supporters by writing in a very similar style. It reads well without sounding like a cheesy attempt to mimick the original.

I don't want to be hyper-critical (oh, gwaaan, gwaaan), but these are notes on Douglas's style and what's remained the same or changed:

1. Douglas might have been writing about aliens, but he was really talking about us. The Vogons are human bureaucrats, planning officers, for example. Douglas criticised, but never attacked his targets too hard, never losing hearts and minds. Eoin has understood this and does it very well. From an Irish writer, just following the EU's capture of Ireland, this line is Douglas at his cutting best: 'If we win, then you will join our happy group; if you win, then we keep coming back until we win.'

2. Douglas was a script writer and he specialised in dialogue. In the first two books, the proportion of quotes is very high, compared to description. In a novel, the use of witty script makes it read like a fast television show. Eoin does use speech, clearly, but the proportion has moved, i.e. more toward description.

3. The first HHG book used footnotes from 'The Book' at regular intervals and readers loved them. As with Shakespeare, the prologue became a character in its own right. The second book used fewer notes from The Guide and then the rest of the series dropped them. If you ask the fans which books they prefer, you will generally find that they like the books in direct proportion to the number of Guide footnotes they include. Eoin has probably spotted this (or at least enjoys the footnotes) as he's dropped in lots of them. The difference is...

Douglas would write a footnote which was imaginative, surreal and then made a huge arching observation about the nature of the Universe, our perception of life itself or a cutting critique of human nature. He'd ask us to look at the thing from a new perspective, to open our eyes and shine a light in our minds, then he'd follow that with a silly twist at the end (the comedy pay-off). Eoin's footnotes are surreal, imaginative, they even use planet names, species and locations from the original books, but... the guru-like thinking, the great idea, the divine revelation isn't there. the footnote is funny, it's true, but Douglas had more insight into the human condition.

4. Imagination and escapism: Douglas wrote 'alternative world fiction', also called 'alternative reality' or 'what if?' fiction. He based his universe in science, never magic, and tried to find an engineering solution for each piece of alien strangeness. The only exception to the rule, as far as I can remember, was when his characters started flying (mind over physical laws). Eoin Colfer came to HHG as a magic writer (leprechauns etc). He has successfully made the transition to Douglas's way of thinking.

5. Douglas was a cynic and sometimes even depressive. His worst book was Mostly Harmless, in which he blows up the Earth, observes Marvin's death, kills all his characters, turns his back, shakes the blood off his hands and walks away feeling relieved. HHG followers generally didn't like Douglas's final HHG book. Eoin's advantage was that he's an upbeat writer and, as an ex-fan, his book couldn't possibly be as sickening to the loyal readers as Mostly Harmless. We didn't expect him to write something as good as the Hitch-Hiker's Guide, that's too much to ask, but there was hope he couldn't cock it all up (as they did in the film version by dropping all of the best lines). I'm delighted to report that Eoin has produced a book that is much closer to Douglas's best titles than Douglas's worst ones.

I expected 'And Another Thing' to be soul-less, mid range and uninspired, just another commercial fan-fiction vehicle for the characters. I expected it to stray from Douglas's rules of writing. I anticipated that Eoin might not know Adams' universe in any great detail or 'hear the music' in his lilting prose.

Those expectations have been confounded. The book rocks.

Adam Corres

The never ending trilogy.

A surprising choice to add to the famous Douglas Adams five part trilogy, the author being a children's/YA writer.

But in order to review this we need to go back in time to when Douglas Adams was to SF what Terry Pratchett was to become to Fantasy. Clever and inventive and a very nice guy. Somewhere at home I have the first three HitchHiker books all signed and I remember how down to earth and friendly Douglas Adams was, despite half the queue being in dressing gowns and holding towels. But those fans will all be about 50 today, so Eoin Colfer had to write to appeal to the nostalgia of that generation but also those younger fans who have discovered the HitchHikers Guide over the years. There is also the point that how will the humour of the late 70's translate 30 years later when having a hand held information provider is no longer science fiction?

Well, in my view, it was okay. It raised a smile now and then as Colfer does manage to replicate some of Adams' style. It was a nice reminder of how fresh and exciting the first few HHGTTG books were but I was not overly grabbed by the story and I did wonder what the point of this actually was. This doesn't really add anything to the five book trilogy (and accepting that the last original book was by far the weakest). I was surprised to find that Colfer was a reasonably safe pair of hands in this endeavour, even if one might question the endeavour itself. I was slightly worried that it might be me, what was so fresh 30 years ago has not dated specifically, but is was 'of a time' and this new addition seems strangely out of place.

So there are some nice touches, but I am not sure it was worth the effort or fuss.

I'm just going to get this all out on the table. Give this book a chance. It's good. Colfer was asked to do this book by Adam's widow because she wanted to introduce Adam's writing to a whole new generation of readers. Colfer is a successful authour. He could make a lot more money writing and publishing a children's book in his Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, Book 1) series. He wrote And Another Thing out of respect for Adams and as a favour to Adam's widow. Give the guy a break. Put aside the punter politics. And Another Thing is a great read. I'm thrilled that someone as funny and imaginative as Colfer took up the challenge. I hope that his audience will use this excuse to pick up Hitchikers and the tale will stay alive for another generation.

Adams did not want to write the last two books in the The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series but had to because of contractual obligations. But his true feelings of boredom with the series show in the last two novels. They are dark and forced. Characters die somewhat suddenly and with little explanation. Before Adams could get back into his characters and end the series in a way fans would enjoy, he died, suddenly, on a treadmill in California at the age of 49.

And Another Thing is well written and entertaining and leaves readers left high and dry by Adams sudden death somewhat satiated. Eoin Colfer is touring with this book. He recently visited the Denver Tattered Cover and his explanations and manner quelled even the staunchest of critics. If you remain a doubter, I recommend listening to him speak and then reading And Another Thing with an open mind and heart.

I had hoped that someone who could create Artemis Fowl could do a much better job than this. I don`t expect him to BE DNA, but I do expect him to remain true to the characters. Nobody really rings true to me, and Arthur, at times, is completely unknowable as the original everyman. Ford is now a joke, Tricia is eliminated, with only the weak Trillian from the 5th H2G2 present and barely that. It is a very disappointing book. I think Terry Pratchett would have been a much better choice. While DNA`s books weren`t exactly coherent, they did get you where you were going (as Dirk Gently would put it). And you had a good time along the way, and you could tell you were in the presence of real intelligence and wit. I don`t get that at all with this book.

As a sidenote, for those who really hated the tone and ending of Mostly Harmless, check out Phase 5 of the H2G2 radio series. They did a very nice job of rescuing the gang and made you feel good at the end. Thank goodness for dolphins!

The quote from which Colfer pulls his title rather says it all: The storm had now definitely abated, and what thunder there was now grumbled over more distant hills, like a man saying "And another thing..." twenty minutes after admitting he's lost the argument.

And Another Thing... is the written embodiment of that quote: it's too little, too late. It neither accomplishes anything useful nor does it add anything other than an unsatisfying addendum to a long finished conversation. Ultimately, it's as disappointingly pointless and just plain self-indulgent as rehashing a dead and lost argument. It makes one rather wish he'd left it as it was.

While I do think Colfer caught the general flavor of Adams, that's unfortunately about as far as he was able to go. Worse yet, Colfer seems to have missed who these established characters are. None of the familiar leads seem to be anything but an unforgivably generalized impression of who their earlier incarnations were.

And while I was amused at times, I found myself more irritated than anything by how labored the humor was. Colfer will often mention something in dialogue/description, only to stop and explain with the excessively copious GUIDE NOTES why the reader should be amused by the vaguely wacky (Hey! Spacey name + absurd = comedy!) thing he's written. At one point he even calls attention to how disruptive this is by writing that a particular GUIDE NOTE needes to be short so as not to disrupt the flow. Too late.

Had Colfer written a book utilizing his own characters but set in the Hitchhiker's universe, perhaps it would have been a much more enjoyable experience. But this isn't the book he's written, and as a sequel to a well-loved series, it falls miles short of the mark. Next time, I'll know better and ignore the grumbling.

You know the story where if you have a million monkeys typing on a million typewriters, eventually, you'll get Hamlet? This is not that story.
It's more like what would happen if you gave a single monkey a word processor, copy & paste, 5 previous novels, and the end result would not be wholly indistinguishable from the sixth book.

Colfer's stale, derivative and wholly unremarkable book is a completely unworthy addition to the H2G2 mythos, and if there were a zero star rating, this book would merit it.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

Not in this case.

I simply adored all of the books I've read by the late Douglas Adams. His writing style and use of the English language were simply amazing and entirely captivating. Phrases such as "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't." create such perfect imagery that even the most unimaginative mind could conjure up the exact construct of the scene.

Sadly, Mr. Colfer tries so hard to replicate Adams' style that the book is a miserable...a laborious read. It was work to finish each page. Whereas Adams wrote with surgical precision, Colfer's attempt to match it was done with a sledgehammer. Did we really need a footnote on every page?

Perhaps the infinitely talented Douglas Adams himself could have put together the proper words to describe how truly bad this book is, but I just can't come up with them. Please, PLEASE -- don't waste your money on this travesty.

***I felt the need to return and edit this review after reading many others. I wanted to make it clear that, as many others have mentioned, I am not against the idea of someone carrying on the series written by Adams. I, also, truly WANTED to like this book, and started it in eager anticipation of it being really good, since I enjoyed the original series so very much.

I have used Amazon 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.

Colfer managed to completely miss the mark on this one. The characterizations were all wrong, there were far to many (and unfunny) Guide entries* and instead of following Arthur as a haplessly shuffled through life in a perpetually confused state, Eoin chose to follow Zaphod for 90% of the novel. The books were always about Arthur the everyman, he represented us. When we saw the universe through his eyes, we were seeing it with our own. Zaphod may be cool you could store meat in him for a month, but he isn't central character material. Douglas didn't even use Zaphod in So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.

Why didn't they ask Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett or Terry Jones to write it? They would have made so much more sense and I can only guess at how much better the book would have been. Maybe someday...



*I think someone got there hands on an unfinished copy and told Eoin there were to many entries. If you notice 3/4 of the way through the book they get worked into the narrative rather than being traditional Guide entries.

I saw this book a few months ago in a bargain bin at a store, and thought, "huh, why not?" I picked it up and gave it a whirl.

God, do I wish I hadn't.

After an extended, incomprehensible beginning (Adams never left us wondering what the hell was going on that long), there's a flash of genius: Zaphod! He's still around somewhere, and he still has the Heart of Gold! It was the simplest, most brilliant way to salvage the situation we were left with at the end of Mostly Harmless. Zaphod swoops in under the influence of the artificial Improbability Field and saves the day. I loved the idea, and couldn't wait to read on at that point.

Sadly, this was the end of any form of genuinely satisfying storyline in the book. (I get the feeling, in retrospect, that this was all the author actually had when he approached the Adams estate with the idea to write the book; a plot device for saving the gang from Adams' ultimate multi-dimensional destruction of Earth.)

The author sets up multiple plotlines after this point all at the same time, and I wound up caring about none of them. We had the following parallel stories taking place:

1. A random Vogon on Jeltz's ship "becoming aware of his feelings." (This plotline is mostly pointless and never resolves.)

2. A colony of Earthlings established on a small world far from Earth. (This is one of the book's main stories. The people on this world get waaay too much focus in the dialogue, almost like the author wishes they could have been his main characters instead of our beloved heroes. Also, they are bizarrely like other denizens of the Galaxy, and not much like Earthlings at all. In the grand scheme of things, this whole storyline is a shambles. There's a lot of rubbish about internal ideological differences and the difficulties of the colony's leader pretending to be Irish and just too much time spent here in general. Oh, and somehow Zaphod was in contact with these people. He brought them to the planet, knowing the Earth was going to be destroyed again. How? Never resolved.)

3. Jeltz's continuing mission to destroy all things Earthly. (This was going to have to be addressed, of course. Arthur and Trillian had to escape the Guide Mk. II's plan for this book to even occur. Why the author decides to then add the complications of points 1. and 2. above, then, is beyond me.)

4. Thor's desire to become a popular god again/Zaphod acting as some kind of "agent of the gods." (This is the other half of the book's main thread. Why have we never heard about Zaphod's "god agent" career before? Thor has even been in the real HHG books already. Makes no sense.)

5. Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged/Trillian. (Pointless. Wowbagger was a recurring joke in Adams' work. Now he's suddenly no longer interested in insulting people, and likes Trillian. Oh, and is involved with the major struggle towards the end of the book, but his part in that is largely irrelevant.)

6. Random Frequent Flyer Dent being annoying. (This is the only plot point that really involves Arthur in any way. Random was just barely a character in Mostly Harmless, but she was at least described enough to understand that she had a confused upbringing due to an unthinking Trillian, an inadvertently-absent Arthur, and some temporal issues. In this book, she's just a spoiled brat)

Arthur and Ford, who were, early in the series, the primary two characters, are mostly spectators throughout the book. And to be honest, I'm having trouble remembering how many of the plot elements fit together, due to the author's insistence on ridiculously frequent "Guide Entries" that had no bearing on the story whatsoever. In fact, if you removed the "Guide Entries," you could probably fit the entire novel into a Little Golden Book.

One thing I was hoping for from this book, and indeed, the only reason I continued reading it to the end, was closure. And in the end, *spoiler alert* most of the characters just sort of melted away again, and we're left with an incomprehensible ending for Arthur. I honestly don't know what happened in the ending. I could go reread it right now, and I still wouldn't understand what was supposed to have happened to Arthur.

I feel like tossing the book in the fire, and pretending it never happened.