Title: Mostly Harmless
Author: Douglas Adams
Genre: Science Fiction and Comedy
Series: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy #5
Pages: 170 pages
Synopsis:
Arthur Dent hadn’t had a day as bad as this since the Earth had been blown up.
After years of galactic wanderings, Arthur finally settles on the small planet Lamuella and becomes a sandwich maker. Looking forward to a quiet life, his plans are thrown awry by the unexpected arrival of his daughter.
There’s nothing worse than a frustrated teenager with a copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in their hands. When she runs away, Arthur goes after her determined to save her from the horrors of the universe.
After all – he’s encountered most of them before . . .
(from Goodreads)
My Thoughts:
Well, we finally made it to the last book in this weird Trilogy of Five. And if I am being honest, I think this is the worst one in this series. This book actually makes book three and four better!
Now there were still some moments in this book that definitely gave me a laugh or a smile. But I just found them few and far between in this book. I also do like that they tried bringing back the dynamic between Ford and Arthur in this book as they do share more screen time together in this book compared to the last one.
For one thing, this book just completely ignores the fourth book by completely writing out Fenchurch, Arthur Dent’s girlfriend in the previous book. She only gets mentioned once! Which makes me wonder: What was the point of the fourth book then?
Secondly, we learn that Arthur Dent has a daughter and we learn this more than halfway through the book! And to make things worse we don’t even see him spend that much time with his daughter! We barely spend any time with the daughter at all! Why should I care about a character when you spend zero time with them?
Thirdly, there was no Zaphod and Marvin in this book! I don’t understand why Douglas Adams kept the cast split. The cast being together was one of the best things about this series. Where were you Zaphod? You haven’t shown up since book three!
Lastly, the ending completely sucked! It ends abruptly and ends on a very bad note. Honestly, I prefer the ending in So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish. At least in that ending, Arthur was with somebody he loves and was happy. I’m considering that to be the true ending for this series.
Bleh! This really was the worst in this series! After this, I am very happy that I am done reading this series.
Rating:
My other Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reviews:
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Spencer's Bookcase 