An ancient and terrible menace has returned... will Cricket end all life as we know it? (Life, the Universe and Everything - Douglas Adams)

Member Name: Midrange

Product:	Life, the Universe and Everything - Douglas Adams
Date:	06/08/08 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Intelligent, insightful, imaginitive and man, is this book funny!

Disadvantages: Cricket fans may be displeased.

Life, The Universe and Everything. An ambitious title, you may think!

In this, the third enthralling installment of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series, Douglas Adams writes, what I feel is, one of the most cohesive and entertaining books of the series. Adams' is fond of a complex plot and fans of his tangential narrative style will not be disappointed in this book. But there's a deeper purpose behind it all. Arthur's diversion to the inside of a mountain, where he comes face to face with the man he has been systematically (and unknowingly) killing for the past 30 years or so, suddenly explains why the bowl of petunias from book 1 was heard to say "Oh no, not again".

If you are reading this review and already feel lost, I apologise.
Douglas Adams has a way with story-telling. It's all interconnected. There are so many parallels running through his books (the building of the bypasses for instance) that it makes you wonder how he keeps track of it all.

The primary storyline in "Life..." deals with the impending obliteration of the entire Galaxy by a race of people so fundamentally evil and terrifyingly motivated that they will go to any lengths to achieve their goal. The hapless Arthur Dent, the rather disinterested Ford Prefect and the awkward, but brave, Slarty Bartfast are on the front line to stop them. Zaphod also makes an appearance but claims his doctor told him "a severe deficiency in moral fibre" makes him unsafe for saving Universes.

It's easy to get lost in the timeline of these books (especially with the group's last excursion to the End of Time to visit a rather fancy Restaurant) so I would advise that the reader just sit back and accept it all. You are in good hands. Douglas Adams has written an intelligent, engaging and very re-readable novel here and won't let you get too overwhelmed by it all.

Summary: Third book in the science fiction series, well thought out and funny.