h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

They wouldn't be my first choice, no: they are never the most comfortable of buildings. Then again you can get used to a lot if the circumstances demand it. A lot of people live in worse conditions!

well not really airports, only the one (unless there are others the book - which I finished yesterday - doesn't mention)

What I thought was interesting was what she left out, rather than what she put in. (unless it's going to turn into yet another flippin' series where everything gets explained). I liked how we never really found out what happened in that year. And the totally banal death of the brother.

And the fact that in the airport there wasn't - magically - someone who could get the emergency generator working using only the peanuts from the grounded planes and a solar panel built from an old tray or two

I'm the opposite of KB - I think it has very little bloat, the reader is allowed to fill in a lot of details for themselves.

I felt the amount of rambling about Arthur's life detracted from it - while some was necessary and some was used to bring up interesting ideas, not all of it was. Too much of it.

I also found the characters cardboard to the extent that I sometimes had trouble remembering which was which.

...although I liked the matter-of-fact treatment of Clark being gay. It's still a whole song and dance in soooo many novels and dramas, where gay characters have no other aspects to their identity than just being The Gay Character.

it was really quite refreshing. Also that the mostly main character was a woman. I would have liked a bit more of a coming together of the characters towards the end, though.

I also liked how there was some hope for the future at the end, the city having electricity threw up some interesting scenarios.

I found it interesting that entertainment given by touring theater and orchestra ensembles replaced the canned stuff that we now get from movies and TV and music recordings. Also, that Shakespeare and orchestral pieces were what the ensembles specialized in.