Review: Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams

Title: Life, the Universe and Everything
Author: Douglas Adams
Publisher/Publication Date: Del Rey Books, April 30, 2002 (First published in 1982)
Genre: Science Fiction
Source/Format: Purchased, Paperback Omnibus Edition

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky above their heads–so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals stand between the killer robots of Krikkit and their goal of total annihilation. They are Arthur Dent, a mild-mannered space and time traveler who tries to learn how to fly by throwing himself at the ground and missing; Ford Prefect, his best friend, who decides to go insane to see if he likes it; Slartibartfast, the indomitable vice president of the Campaign for Real Time, who travels in a ship powered by irrational behavior; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed, three-armed ex-president of the galazy; and Trillian, the sexy space cadet who is torn between a persistent Thunder God and a very depressed Beeblebrox. How will it all end? Will it end? Only this stalwart crew knows as they try to avert “universal” Armageddon and save life as we know it–and don’t know it!

My Thoughts:

I’m steadily working my way through the omnibus edition of this series, and so far, I really like it. Adam Douglas’ style is interesting—classic science fiction elements mixed with humor and outrageous methods of going about life in the universe.

Life, the Universe and Everything picks up where The Restaurant at the End of the Universe left off. Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect are still living under the forced confines of their latest predicament. But they, of course, manage to get out of it in the most hilarious and random way possible. From there, the story delves into new issues that involved messing around with time—and the potential consequences—the impending destruction of the entire universe and the usual variety of problems that always seem to plague Arthur.

Life, the Universe and Everything was a fantastic book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The settings were fantastic as always and fit perfectly with the world already established by the previous books. All the old characters were back. Many of them dealing with the events that happened in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe in their own ways. But trouble was afoot, and it was interesting to see how the characters dealt with it. A lot of unexpected things happened in this book, which made it interesting.

I will read on, because I’m curious to know what the next books have in-store for Arthur Dent, Trillion, Ford Prefect, Marvin, and Zaphod Beeblebox. 

Rating 5/5