I picked up a copy of And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer in the hopes that the old Douglas Adams magic would strike again. I am happy to report that it does… and it doesn’t.
The book, the sixth in the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy is a fine read. Colfer does a terrific job of bottling that Adams absurdist voice. The adventure is fun, and he has the reader guessing throughout. Ford and Arthur are back again, as well as Zaphod, Triillian, and Random (Arthur and Trillian’s goth daughter). The Vogons are also back to try to destroy Arthur yet again, but Colfer finds a very nice explanation as to why Arthur seems to attract planetary destruction wherever he goes.
Rounding out the cast of characters are Bowerick Wowbagger (a formerly minor character — an immortal who spent his time going around the galaxy insulting people in alphabetical order), Hillman Hunter (an Earth-destruction escapee from the current parallel universe who has purchased a planet for the diaspora), and Thor (yes, the Norse Thunder God.) I won’t go into details about how these all tie together, but needless to say, they make a fun jaunt of a book, with the obligatory philosophical questions of existence thrown in as the red herrings they are.
Colfer’s voice is unique, even though he does manage to capture the Adams magic. One especially notable difference is that there are some expletives-not-deleted in the text. Adams had a habit of using “zarking” and other in-context nonsense words to stand in for the characters’ cursing. With And Another Thing… some of the “zarking” is back, but some very Third Millennium English euphemisms are peppered in the dialogue. This is curious to me since Colfer’s previous work (the Artemis Fowl series) are books essentially for young adults.
Another area where Colfer drifts from the Adams format is the manner of his guide entries. They are written a bit more tongue-in cheek, and pepper the book more thoroughly than in the past. Even the format of the entries is different. This is alright in the context of this book, however, as the HHGG in And Another Thing… is actually the Second Edition, something expounded on very early. In fact, the very nature of the Second Edition plays a large part in explaining why the events in the novel transpire as they do. I won’t say any more on this, since I don’t want to spoil it for everyone.
Even though we have lost Adams, and there will be no more books attributed to him, this sixth book delivers the fun, escapism, and absurdity of the previous five. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and neither should we. Although Colfer’s not Adams, And Another Thing… is a good read, and will resurrect some favorite characters, and impart a few chuckles along the way.
