And Another Thing...

Written by Eoin Colfer

Narrated by Simon Jones

An Englishman's continuing search through space and time for a decent cup of tea . . .

Arthur Dent's accidental association with that wholly remarkable book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, has not been entirely without incident.

Arthur has traveled the length, breadth, and depth of known, and unknown, space. He has stumbled forward and backward through time. He has been blown up, reassembled, cruelly imprisoned, horribly released, and colorfully insulted more than is strictly necessary. And of course Arthur Dent has comprehensively failed to grasp the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.

Arthur has finally made it home to Earth, but that does not mean he has escaped his fate.

Arthur's chances of getting his hands on a decent cuppa have evaporated rapidly, along with all the world's oceans. For no sooner has he touched down on the planet Earth than he finds out that it is about to be blown up . . . again.

And Another Thing . . . is the rather unexpected, but very welcome, sixth installment of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. It features a pantheon of unemployed gods, everyone's favorite renegade Galactic President, a lovestruck green alien, an irritating computer, and at least one very large slab of cheese.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Oct 12, 2009
• ISBN: 9781401394240

Eoin Colfer

Eoin Colfer is the author of the internationally bestselling Artemis Fowl series, which has been translated into over forty languages. A Disney film adaptation will be released in 2019, directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Dame Judi Dench. Eoin's books have won numerous awards including The British Children's Book of the Year, The Irish Book Awards Children's Book of the Year and The German Children's Book of the Year. Born in Ireland, Eoin was educated at Dublin University and qualified as a primary teacher, before turning his hand to writing in 2001. Highfire, his first adult fantasy novel, will be published by Jo Fletcher Books in January 2020.

Reviews for And Another Thing...

[artemisa-191823 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is just the sort of book I hoped for, but never dared to expect.
I have read the other HitchHickers Guide books some time ago, so my memories of the books are not that acurate. But this books feels the same to me. It fits. I find that the characters have the same voice, maybe a little diferent but it didn't feel like a totaly diferent book.

As I said the book is just what I hoped it would be. One more nonsense adventure, set in space, protagonized by Arthur Dent, driven by the mad drunken high machinations of Zaphod Beeblebrox, with a pinch of Ford Prefect, Random and Trillian.

And then there were the new characters (nice take on Thor) and all the nice pop culture references (and I'm sure I missed a lot more of these than I spoted).

[ineilc-279646 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Althought this was an enjoyable read, this is not as good as Douglas Adams' own work, which this purports to complete. The humour is repetitive and predictable.

[craiggoodwin-154015 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Mostly harmless.

[tobinelliott · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This one's taking a lot of heat because it's not Douglas Adams.

And believe me, I'm the first monkey to start throwing my shit when something comes along by a fill-in, not-the-original-author that sucks donkey balls. For example, anything by Frank Herbert's son and that goddamn hack Kevin Anderson that has Dune on the cover. Those two should be both shot and pissed on for what they've done to Frank's masterpiece.

But I digress...

I read this after just coming off the five books by Adams. And you know what? I enjoyed the hell out of it. I found it as close to Adams as another author could likely get without completely aping him. Is it Adams? No. Is it close enough that it doesn't matter? I'm going to say yes.

Considering if another author had put out Mostly Harmless as an entry to this series, they would have been vilified by everyone, this one is a much better entry to the series than #5 ever will be.

There, I said it.

I enjoyed this. I think it's a valuable entry to the series. I believe it is worth reading, and should be considered canon.

Fight me.

[andy_dimartino · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

That was delightful to listen too. He really captures the Douglas Adams Spirit in this writing

[markknapp · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Funny, well-written sequel to the Hitchhiker books. Made me think it was Douglas Adams writing it, most of the time. Amusing, silly, fits well in the canon.

[livingtech_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was fun, but ultimately not amazing or anything. A worthy extension of the universe, given the premise that there should be additional extensions of the universe.

[hhornblower_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Slightly entertaining, but completely unnecessary. This definitely has the feel of a book written to cash in on the popularity of the original series. Kind of haphazzard still, jumping around a lot to be sure to cover all the familiar characters.

[ritaer_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Started to listen to this on audio book--but it is a mite too precious. Either the originals are worse than I recall or this author is not good at continuing Adams' work.

[jamski-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am happy to say I finally read through all of the "Hitchhiker's Guide" books, many, many years after I bought them. The first four…no big deal, they were in one collected volume. The fifth I found at a remainder sale, and I finally got around to reading THAT too. And a darker ending to a light-hearted series I could hardly imagine…

The reason I read them all over again—besides the fact that they're entertaining and funny—is that I encountered this, the SIXTH book in the "trilogy". In a dollar store, of all places. Guess maybe the publisher counted on better sales…still, their loss, my gain.

The author, Eoin Colfer, is the creator of the hugely successful Artemis Fowl series, and Douglas Adams' widow Jane approved the choice. I can't say I can disagree. While at least one of my friends rolled his eyes at seeing me with a copy, I liked it. A lot. Like the original books, there's a lot of digression and explanation of events and phraseology, and the humor is typically dry as the Sahara, but if you like this sort of thing, you'll dig it. I was raised on Python, so I get it.

I will grant you, it's uneven and at times choppy, but ultimately it's quite satisfying, and a worthy conclusion to one of the most beloved sci-fi series of all time. Chances are if you enjoyed the first five books and were wondering what happened to Arthur, Trillian, Ford, Zaphod and the lot, you'll have a good time and a good laugh or two (or more) along the way. Heck, just the notion of someone auditioning Gods is worthy of note. I think Douglas would've approved.

Recommended.

[hopeevey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had very mixed feelings about this book before I read it. On the one hand, I felt downright insulted that someone would try to squeeze more cash out of the Adam's legacy like this. On the other hand, I have a whole lot of faith in Eoin Colfer's writing. Because of that faith, and understanding that even Douglas Adams felt that book 5 was a terribly place to leave the series, I was willing to give this book a read.

I have coworkers who weren't born when I first read the earlier books in this series. I make HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy references often, and re-read the books periodically. I knew it would be impossible to read this latest installment with anything close to objectivity; I didn't even try. I reminded myself that I read for the pleasure of it, and dove in.

I very much enjoyed this book! It was so fun to visit this universe and spend time with these characters. The characterization was excellent. I could tell who spoke without having to check dialogue tags, the voices were so very clear and true to the cannon. This volume placed itself firmly in the same universe as the previous ones without smacking you over the head with continuity porn.

That being said, I hesitate to encourage fans of Douglas Adams to read this one. As I mentioned, I am far from objective about this book. I cannot tease out how much I enjoyed this book for itself, and how much I enjoyed this book because it let me have a new story in a universe I love. I have a vague feeling that the plot was more shallow than other installments of the series, but that could be me over-compensating for how much I love the universe. This book is certainly better than "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe" but that's a pretty low bar.

I would love to discuss this book with someone who's read this, but none of the previous books in the series. I can often get a feel for how a book in a series would read as a stand-alone - I can't in this case. If this is your first foray into HHGG, give me a holler. I'd love to talk :)

[lindoula-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was skeptical of this, because let's face it, sequels by a new author don't usually work out. But I wanted to give it a shot in case it was one of those rare exceptions. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Colfer's funny, but the whole time I was reading, something seemed off. I felt like I was reading a copy of Douglas Adams’ work that had been through many rounds of a telephone game. A nice effort, but the result isn't anything to write home about.

[galadan-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found it surprisingly similar in style to the original (first) book, especially in the early parts; not at all like _Mostly Harmless_, which in my opinion really ought never to have been written. The single thing I dislike is the fact that so many of the new names are puns, and rather bad (or pointless) ones at that. Other than that it deserves its place in the trilogy.

[brakketh-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An admirable attempt to keep the Hitchhiking magic alive but didn't do it for me. Worth a try if you are a fan of the original.

[sasham-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Captures the essence of hitchhiker's perfectly

[kewaynco · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

the book had the correct Douglas Adams characters but lacked any of the character of his writing. Not worth the purchase or time spent reading it.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm always a little leery of someone continuing a dead author's series. But I got it at the dollar store. So I went in with low expectations and enjoyed the silly nonsense.

[rosa.mill · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really liked this addition to the Hitchhiker's Guide. It was just as funny as the other books in the series and I feel like Colfer managed to capture Adams' writing style. Except that I really hated the ending. Even though it wouldn't be entirely true to the series, I wish that Arthur would have been allowed to have a happy ending. I was really disappointed about him ending up on the beach by himself, so disappointed I ended up deducting a star from the rating.

[labrujulaverde-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read it with little hopes, but it finally conquered me. Delicious and honest, but a bit sad at the end

[grandpahobo_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thought he did a very good job of retaining the wit and flavor of the original without trying to be a carbon copy of Douglas Adams.

[martensgirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think that Colfer managed to capture Adams' style of humour in the book. Sadly, I thought the series was a wearing thin after the first couple of books. This book carries in a similar vein.

[telaara_dunwin · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Dank einer längeren Bahnverspätung am Freitag Abend habe ich es schon früher als gedacht geschafft, das Buch zu Ende zu lesen. Letztendlich war es nicht so schlimm wie befürchtet, aber auch nicht so gut, dass ich es noch mal lesen müsste oder gar empfehlen könnte. Es gibt kaum Zitate, die erwähnenswert sind, und diese kann man außerhalb des Kontextes nicht verwenden. Es war einfach nur okay, nicht herausragend, nicht besonders, an keiner Stelle so spannend, dass ich es nicht mehr aus der Hand legen wollte.

[akswede · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was skeptical of this, because let's face it, sequels by a new author don't usually work out. But I wanted to give it a shot in case it was one of those rare exceptions. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Colfer's funny, but the whole time I was reading, something seemed off. I felt like I was reading a copy of Douglas Adams’ work that had been through many rounds of a telephone game. A nice effort, but the result isn't anything to write home about.

[robert.zimmermann · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For being a book finishing off a series started by a legendary writer such as Douglas Adams, "And Another Thing..." by Eoin Colfer was an entertaining finish to the Hitchhiker's Guide series. Some of the styling Adams has used in the first five books was adopted by Colfer, while at the same time some of it seems to have been a bit overused. In the end, it was a welcomed ending to the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy series. After reading Colfer's work wit these characters, I feel that I will have to pick up one of his own creations soon.

[melydia_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a longtime fan of the series, I approached this book with some trepidation. After all, I had pretty lukewarm feelings about Colfer's Artemis Fowl books. I am pleased to report that I was not disappointed. This book is hilarious. And, in a lot of ways, it makes up for the rather disappointing end to Mostly Harmless. All your favorite characters are here: Trillian, Zaphod, Arthur, and assorted other characters. No Marvin, but I'm pretty sure something final happened to him in a previous book. The Guide notes are marvelous and I did quite a lot of laughing throughout the story. The ending wraps up more or less satisfactorily while still left wide open for any future installments. To be honest, I did not expect to recommend this book to fans of the series, but I definitely do. It's a pile of fun.

[scribble1orca · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Am I becoming old?
Definitely.
Am I losing my sense of humour?
Most likely.
Am I disappointed that Eoin Colfer can't carry a candle to the late great departed Mr Adams?
Yes. The bugger.

I was conned. I was ripped off. I dreamed of dolphins and instead I got sardines.

And Arther wasn't even wearing his dressing gown.

And that reminds me, wasn't Zaphod a brunette?

And another thing...a seventh book would be killing the overkill, Mr Colfer. Please don't.

[princess0starr · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A satisfying conclusion- maybe?- to a beloved series. Colfer really captures a lot of Adams’s humor but makes the characters seem fresh. There were some issues that I had with the book- namely, the progression of Random’s characterization and the ongoing subplot of Trillian and Wowbagger- but a lot better than I had been expecting. A must for any fan of Douglas Adams.

[thecrow2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I started to read this book with mixed feelings. And after finishing it, the mixed feelings remain... Good to see the good old characters, Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod, Trillian, etc. The story not bad either with the vogons and Thor (!). But it's simply not Douglas Adams. A had a premonition that nobody can imitate DNA's unique gularious style and I was right.....

[bragan_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was so prepared to hate this book. A sequel to Douglas Adams' classic Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series seemed to me like an ill-advised idea to begin with, a clear attempt to cash in on a dead man's legacy. And the choice of Eoin Colfer to write it only cemented that opinion, as I'd read the first two of Colfer's Artemis Fowl novels, and they utterly failed to impress me. In fact, not only was I prepared to hate this thing, I actually got all stupidly self-righteous about my refusal to read it. And then a well-meaning friend bought me a copy for my birthday, thus giving me the opportunity to keep my stupid self-righteousness -- hey, I didn't choose to read the thing, I had to in order to be polite! -- while also being able to satisfy my undeniable curiosity about it.

Well, surprise, surprise. It's not awful! It islittle too hard to capture Adams' style and instead ends up with something that feels derivative or forced. Also, he seems to think that goofy made-up alien words and bad-pun names are intrinsically hilarious and automatically make everything funnier. Not only is he wrong about that, but he just doesn't have anywhere near the facility with that kind of thing that Adams did.

The plot is very, very silly, which is as it should be. I have slightly mixed feelings about the characters, though. Colfer does a really fun Zaphod, and his Ford is pretty good, too, but Arthur tends to fade into the background a little too much. And I find what he does with Trillian mildly annoying, although it's been long enough since I read the last couple of Hitchhiker's books that I couldn't say for sure whether her characterization is consistent or not.

Bottom line: Once I got over the "They let who write what?!" factor and tried to just take it on its own merits, it was a reasonably entertaining story. Definitely not Douglas Adams. But not awful, either.

[tsangal_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I hated this book. One of the worst books I've read in a long time. The dialogue and humor felt very juvenile. The characters as portrayed in this book are shallow, not particularly likeable, and nearly indistinguishable from one another. And the numerous "guide notes" came off as completely artificial and arbitrary, lacking any of the wit or charm that we've come to expect from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker entries. Terrible.