After the initial success of the BBC Radio Series of Douglas Adams'
Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy, BBC Books rejected the option of releasing a novel of the series. Adams got a publishing deal with Pan instead, and a highly successful, if inaccurately named, five-book trilogy ensued. There are a number of different editions available- paperbacks, hardbacks, collectors' editions, commemorative editions and so forth. Also, the BBC recently re-released all five audio books as read by Adams himself on cassette and CD. So what of these books, what are they about? I'm glad you asked...

The Story: This first book in the series largely followed the plot of the first four episodes of the radio series ¹, which I presume one of my kind-hearted Post colleagues has written about elsewhere. The general gist is that Arthuer Dent wakes up one morning to find his house about to be
demolished and is then informed by his friend Ford Prefect² that his planet (Earth) is also to be demolished. Ford and Arthur then leave the planet only to be subjected to some torture and poetry from the Vogons, the alien race destroying the planet, and are thrown into deep space and rescued by Trillian, an attractive Earth woman, and Zaphod Beeblebrox, a two-headed semi-cousin of Ford and President of the galaxy. The four then all set off for Magrathea, a planet that makes planets, in Zaphod's stolen ship, the Heart of Gold, with an irritatingly cheery computer, Eddie, and a suicidal robot, Marvin the Paranoid Android. On Magrathea, Arthur finds out from a planet designer named Slartibartfast that the Earth was originally commissioned by mice as a computer. They knew that the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything was 42, but needed a computer to find out the question. The main point at which this book varies from the radio series is in the method by which the central characters leave Magrathea, although if you want to know how it differs, you'll have to go and read the book- I'm not here to give away the whole story, you know.

The Title: The Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy is a device used by Douglas Adams to explain bits of plot or at times just to insert random bits of fictional information. Like an encyclopaedia, only cooler, the Guide was the inspiration for this site, hence the big thing the h2g2 post is making about the 25th anniversary.

How good is it?: Obviously any answer to this question will be highly subjective, as it depends on one's opinion of Douglas Adams' writing style, and many other things. However, I am going to give my utterly biased views on the quality of each of these books - and bearing in mind I'm a big fan, don't expect anything too critical. So, my view of the first book: Good adaptation of the radio series - aspects of the radio series are fleshed out or altered, so that the same story is told in a subtly different way. Also, this book contains the first mention of towels in an incarnation of Hitchhikers - the simple bathroom accessory which Douglas Adams turned into an icon for some of his more eccentric fans.

The Story: Based around a freeform adaptation of the last two episodes of the first radio series (towards the end) and the second radio series (the rest of it), with extra bits. The Vogons who destroyed the earth are now intent on destroying the Heart of Gold, but with a little help from Zaphod's dead Great Grandad. Zaphod and Marvin end up at the Hitchhikers Guide offices on Ursa Minor Beta while Ford, Arthur and Trillian are stuck on the Heart of Gold in the middle of nowhere, with the controls locked. Having been through the TotalPerspective Vortex, Zaphod is then reunited with his shipmates, and they head to Milliways, the Restaurant at the End Of The Universe. Once they've eaten dinner and seen the end of the universe, they steal a black spaceship, but have to escape, a faulty teleport operated by
Marvin sending Arthur and Ford to prehistoric earth, where they find out that humans aren't descended from cavemen, and Zaphod and Trillian learn a stunning revelation from the man who runs the universe.

The Title: Like all the other books in the series, this was named after a phrase from the original radio show. The restaurant at the end of the universe being Milliways, which the characters visit in Fit The Fifth of the Radio Serries, an event which is also featured in this book.

How good is it?: Well, better than the first book, which as I said, I thought was quite good. The fact that this a much freer adaptation of the radio series, re-ordering some events, moving others between locations, and inserting further bits which weren't even in it, while also dropping large chunks, allows Adams more freedom for his occasional flights of fancy.

The Story: Ford and Arthur escape from prehistoric earth and wind up at Lord's cricket ground, where they encounter Slartibartfast (from the first book) and a lot of killer Robots. Ford, Arthur and Slartibartfast then pursue the robots, known as Krikkitmen, to their planet, Krikkit, encountering Marvin, Zaphod, Marvin, Trillian and Thor, the norse god of thunder, along the way. The book follows their attempts to prevent the krikkitmen from destroying the universe, and at the end a madman tells Arthur where to find God's final message to his creation.

The Title: Remember I mentioned, back in the first book, that the Earth was a computer to find out the question to the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything? Well, the return of Slartibartfast sees the phrase resurrected as a title.

How good is it?: The fact that this book was adapted from an unused Doctor Who story has a negative effect, as Adams shoehorns characters into the traditional Doctor Who roles. Although the book is an exciting, original read, it doesn't sit properly as a Hitchhikers' book.

The Story: Arthur discovers that, against all expectations, the Earth is still where it should be. He returns to it and falls in love with Fenchurch, a character who, in an unnamed role, had appeared in the first book, receiving a cursory mention as 'a girl in a cafe in Rickmansworth'. However, both Arthur and Fenchurch realise that their planet is not what it should be, not home, and it appears that the earth they are on was somehow saved by the Dolphins, who had left before the planet was blown up. They visit a man called Wonko the Sane, who informs them that the entire planet is an asylum. Meanwhile, Ford has been gradually making his way back towards earth, and generally causing havoc in the galaxy, having discovered his research from Earth has finally made it into the Guide. Ford arrives on earth with a large robot, and enables Fenchurch and Arthur to leave the planet, as it is no longer home. There is then a brief cameo by Marvin in the final chapter.

The Title: Back in the first novel and the first radio series, it is revealed that the second most intelligent life form on the planet earth (behind mice) were the dolphins, who left the planet shortly before it's destruction and made an attempt to make contact with the humans, in order to say 'So long and thanks for all the fish'. So, as Arthur returns to Earth, and the Dolphins are still gone, and these fishbowls resurrect the phrase, it is used as the title of the fourth instalment.

How good is it?: The shortest of the three books, featuring neither Zaphod nor Trillian, and only a fleeting cameo from Marvin the Paranoid Android at the end, this book is regarded by many as the weak link of the Hitchhikers series. I am, however, really quite fond of it - a homecoming for Arthur which is disrupted by the fact that he knows it shouldn't be there, an utterly superfluous side-plot featuring Ford, and a reference back to the first book in the part of Fenchurch, a throw-away part resurrected as a central character. The least action-packed of the books nevertheless features some good development of Arthur's character and a bittersweet return to the planet, which Arthur realises is no longer his home. Wonderful stuff.

The Story: Having lost Fenchurch, Arthur sets off around the universe to find somewhere to call home, and settles down as a sandwich maker, living happily until Trillian, now a galactic TV reporter, turns up with a daughter, Random - conceived by artificial insemination from semen traded by Arthur for air miles. Arthur is left living in a hut with Random. Meanwhile, Ford Prefect has been made restaurant critic for the Hitchhiker's Guide. He finds out about a sinister, multi-dimensional Guide Mk II, which he mails to Arthur for safekeeping. When Ford visits Arthur to pick the guide up, he discovers it is guiding Random, who steals Ford's spaceship to return to Earth to see where she comes from. Meanwhile, on the Earth Random is heading for, an alternative version of Trillian, Tricia McMillan, a TV anchor person who never left the planet, is visited by aliens from the newly discovered tenth planet of the solar system, Rupert. Ford and Arthur escape Arthur's new planet by riding animals through dimensional tears, and they acquire a spacecraft in which to return to Earth. The book is concluded in a nightclub, with Arthur, Ford, Random, Trillian and Tricia McMillan, but I won't go further so as not to spoil the story for those who haven't read it yet.

The Title: In the first book and the first radio series, Arthur discovers that the Guide's entry on Earth is 'Mostly Harmless'. So it is only apt that a new Hitchhiker's Guide, a new human (Random) and several new Earths feature in a book bearing that name.

How good is it?: The darkest of the oversized trilogy, written eight years after "SLATFATF", Mostly Harmless reflects the attitude Douglas Adams felt towards his characters, and while there was still the humour of the earlier books, it is not so cheerful. However, it picks up from SLATFATF in Arthur's search for somewhere he belongs, and brings in a new slant on science-fiction staples, and offers a nice closure to the series. I won't go into details so as not to spoil it for those who have not read the book, but the very final ending wraps up the series for good, and has a strong ending, although some claim the book is rather heavy going.

Egon

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