It's been sixteen years since Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Trillian Astra and Random Dent were vaporized, turned into carbon particles and sent drifting through space for the upteenth and final time. Or so it was thought.
The above fact has a little something to do with the fact that the creator of the aforementioned characters, Douglas Noel Adams, died a death that was slightly less dramatic about nine years ago, without getting the chance to bring them back from oblivion as he had wanted to.
Now, it seems another man, Eoin Colfer, has done the deed for him.
There are a few things that are a tad off in his installment, such as the usage of "frood" as a verb and the capitalization of the word zark, but these things have no baring on the novel's literary merit or how well it fits in with the rest of the Hitchhiker's trilogy--the flamboyantly random and satirical first volume; the even more random and satirical Restaurant at the End of the Universe; the epic Life, The Universe and Everything; the uplifting and humorous So Long, And Thanks For All the Fish; and the darkly humorous and occasionally depressing Mostly Harmless.
First off, it seemed that this volume existed solely to bring our heroes back from the dead, which is probably entirely related to the fact that this volume existed solely to bring our heroes back from the dead. And it does--not by acknowledging, as previous books have done, the existence of the afterlife and reincarnation in this universe, but rather with a deus ex machina that would've made the softest sci-fi writer blush. Apparently, the very machine sent to destroy them obeyed Random's wish for a better life before the Earth goes foom, and after keeping them in an alternate, wish-fulfilment reality for half a century it brings them back to the to the moment of Earth's destruction due to its battery dying. Just as they're about to die again, Zaphod shows up to save them. Unfortunately, he can't do jack squat, and just as it looks like all is lost Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged shows up, and all is saved.
What follows is a romp through space-time to save some backwater human space colony from Vogon distruction, some romance, a bit of angst, the return of Thunder-God Thor, and a little character development. Arthur, Ford and Trillian are written up to standard, although as far as Zaphod and Random go it seems Colfer needed a little time to find his footing. The Guide is still very much a major player, with more entries than we've seen for the past three installments. In fact, Colfer's better at weaving them in than Adams ever was. As time went by, the books became more literary than literate, and in that respect Colfer has definitely succeeded.
So, how does the book overall fall in the pantheon of Hitchhiker's? It's not as bitingly satirical as Resteraunt, although it definitely makes a few points on religion and society Adams would've liked. This volume is a tad more epic than Everything, and the mood is less defined than in Fish or Harmless. Overall, it's not nearly as good as any of them. And yet is still throughs in a few good one-liners, it flows a lot better than the earlier books, and the ending is so ambigious it practically begs for a seventh installment. I guess what says the most about And Another Thing is that a seventh book might not be so bad.
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