Description:
It's safe to say that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
is one of the funniest science fiction novels ever written. Adams
spoofs many core science fiction tropes: space travel, aliens, interstellar
war--stripping away all sense of wonder and repainting them as commonplace,
even silly.
This omnibus edition begins with The Hitchhiker's Guide to
the Galaxy, in which Arthur Dent is introduced to the galaxy
at large when he is rescued by an alien friend seconds before Earth's
destruction. Then in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe,
Arthur and his new friends travel to the end of time and discover
the true reason for Earth's existence. In Life, the Universe,
and Everything, the gang goes on a mission to save the entire
universe. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish recounts how
Arthur finds true love and "God's Final Message to His Creation."
Finally, Mostly Harmless is the story of Arthur's continuing search
for home, in which he instead encounters his estranged daughter,
who is on her own quest. There's also a bonus short story, "Young
Zaphod Plays It Safe," more of a vignette than a full story,
which wraps up this completist's package of the Don't Panic chronicles.
As the series progresses, its wackier elements diminish, but the
satire of human life and foibles is ever present. --Brooks Peck