Review of 'And Another Thing...'

And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer
6th book in the 'Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy' series

Well, Douglas Adams has passed on but his story still continues in the hands of Eoin Colfer, better known for his Artemis Fowl books for children. So, what is this new, approved, installment in the quintessentially British humour-filled Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series like? Well, it is not that bad though perhaps Colfer is trying a bit too hard.

The book starts off with a bit of a reset as readers will no doubt remember that the last book in the series saw the Vogons once-and-for-all destroy the earth (all earths that may have existed, as a matter of fact) and Arthur along with it. Yeah, well, as with any fiction death is not necessarily permanent and we see here Arthur, Trillian, Zaphod, Ford and Random (Trillian and Arthur's daughter last seen as president of the galaxy) restored to a somewhat younger state and taking up with Wowbagger (you know, the immortal who has made it his mission to insult everyone in the universe) and Thor (the thunder God who has a bit of a sore spot when it comes to Arthur…). The Vogons are back and some surviving humans have set up a new hidden home away from earth but, perhaps, it is not so out of the way…

It seems in some cases that Colfer is trying to prove to us, the readers, that he knows the material back to front. I feel that if perhaps he ploughed his own path a bit it might not have come across as somewhat forced. The humour throughout is quite good though none of it laugh out loud funny as I often did in the initial books of the series (though, to be honest, towards the end the books were no longer as fresh, exciting and, frankly, bizarre as those at the beginning leaving me somewhat disappointed). The interjections of entries from the guide mid-text was a bit distracting and not nearly as rambling and absurd as those of Adams - They are, perhaps, a bit too short and too much trying to be in keeping with Adams.

On the whole I found the book a bit meandering and certainly easy to walk away from (unlike the first Hichhikker books) then pick up days later. Not bad for a first attempt. Not sure if Colfer will get a second…

Rating: “A bit better than average”

Review Date: 2011-04-09

Genre: Science Fiction

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: 2009