And Another Thing...

October 12, 2009
At long last, the motley band from Douglas Adams's renowned five-book Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy have returned, thanks to Artemis Fowl author Colfer. When the Vogons return to finish obliterating Earth in our universe and all alternatives, Arthur Dent and his companions find themselves hitchhiking on the spacefaring Viking longship of Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, an immortal with a death wish who is an expert at mass insults. Readers may find this volume paradoxical. On its own it is a funny novel, but Adams set a legendary, nearly impossible standard. Wacky humor reminiscent of the original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy rings true, as do most of the characters, but newer elements, such as the brief appearance of Cthulhu, feel out of place. Most notably absent is the supreme inventiveness that hit us with the Infinite Improbability Drive, and the comic-sublime moments like Arthur flying with Fenchurch. You can't go home again, but Adams fans will still appreciate the reunion with old friends.

October 15, 2009
Remember the first Star Trek movie, and how it took about half its running time reintroducing the beloved regulars of the TV series, until you were ready to scream, Get on with it? The first 50 pages of this revival of the late Douglas Adams Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series furnish much the same heartwarming, patience-straining experience. Hapless Arthur Dent; his Betegeusean buddy Ford Prefect; two-headed galactic president Zaphod Beeblebrox; the only other survivor of the destruction of Earth, Trillian (n'e Tricia McMillan); her and Arthurs daughter, Random; and even the galactic demolitionist Vogons all seem to emerge from behind heavy red-velvet curtains to ladle out more of his, her, or their shtick. Thereafter, joined by their hitherto lesser colleague Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, stepping into a leading role, and leprechaunish planet-developer Hillman Hunter, each does more of it, and more of it, and more. Plot? The Vogons, realizing theyd destroyed only one among the infinite possible Earths, are now finishing the job. They succeed, but Hillman has induced some 200 wealthy humans to settle on a kind of retirement-community planetoid, to which Arthur, Trillian, and Random have all escaped, too. And so the Vogons . . . Nearly every line of the book is funny. Unfortunately, none is funnier than any of the others. Primarily for hardened H2G2 fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)