Mostly Harmless
Style: Good
Attitude: Unobjectionable
Age Range: Young Teens
Period: Contemporary
Synopsis:
Tricia Macmillan is taken by alien Grebulons to the 10th planet in the solar system, Ford Prefect raids the offices of the Hitch Hiker's Guide in search of a new assignment, discovers it's been taken over by Vogons, and steals the Mk II Guide, Arthur Dent hitchhikes round the galaxy a bit before settling down as The Sandwich Maker on a primitive planet, at which point Trillian turns up with their teenage daughter and leaves, the Mk II guide arrives, closely followed by Ford, whose spaceship is stolen by Arthur's daughter Random. Ford and Arthur ride a herd of interdimensional buffalo, steal Elvis Presley's spaceship, track down Random, the spaceship, the Guide, Tricia, Trillian and Arthur's Nemesis, on Earth just in time for the planet to be destroyed by Grebulons as a result of reading their horoscope in an incredible feat of reverse temporal engineering set up by the captain of the Vogon Destructor Fleet.
Notes:
A poor successor to the earlier books in the series. The laughs are fewer and more shallow, the zany and absurd information from the Guide which punctuates the earlier books and makes up for the lack of credible plot is missing, and the characters have lost their charm. There are entertaining sections, notably the description of Arthur as Sandwich Maker, and Ford's infiltration of his own employer's office. Overall though, it suffers in comparison. The one particularly negative point is that Arthur sells blood, DNA &c. to finance his travels, and it is as result of his selling some of his semen to go first class that his daughter is born. There is nothing graphic involved, just the sad fact, which one is not allowed to forget as the daughter speaks of herself as being a ticket upgrade.
Tuesday 1st January 2002