AND ANOTHER THING... (Eoin Colfer) Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, book 6 of 3
When sci-fi writer extraordinaire Douglas Adams died in 2001, fans across the world were shocked. He had planned to write a final sequel to the very bleakly ended Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Mostly Harmless. We were left hanging with Ford, Trillian, their teenage daughter Random, Ford Prefect and an alternate version of Trillian about to be blown up on an alternate Earth by the Grebulons. Needless to say, all your characters about to die is a pretty frustrating ending, so Doug's wife asked Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl) to write the last book. And here it is. The title is an in-joke line from HG2TG: So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish:
The storm had now definitely abated, and what thunder there was now grumbled over more distant hills, like a man saying And another thing…" twenty minutes after admitting he's lost the argument.
Funny to those of us who have read the series. Anyway, here's the review:
Well, technically, because Eoin wrote this and not Adams, And Another Thing... is fan fiction. But it is an exquisitely done fan fiction. The story flows well and is gripping, with believable, complex characters that fit the story perfectly. Colfer has written in Adam's style to the letter. It actually sounds more Hitchhiker's-esque than the other books (though Guide Notes replace the random, narrative comments). The story ticks along in the same backwards, insane way that Adams wrote for all the books past Restaurant at the End of the Universe. You never see any of the events coming until they actually happen; Wowbagger's re-appearance, the room made of sky, and even some Norse Gods (the piece de resistance) thrown in. The ending, which I won't spoil for those of you, is very Adamsian in its ridiculosity (is that a word?) and kind of fits in a weird way. Because this one's written in postmodern times, there are a lot of references and subtle plot devices that reflect the time it is written. Wowbagger's uber fast Sub-Etha connection leaves our superfast broadband in its wake. Throw in some multiple universes, alternate selves, a virtual world and previous events that haven't happened yet (with who else but the ONE-headed, three-armed Zaphod), this is Colfer at his finest. Douglas would be pround of you. "You have done well Lord Vader."
VERDICT: An exquisitely executed end to the best sci-fi series in the world. I'm proud to own it. Rated 10 out of 10.
Shaun Tan has created a universe in this book. Everything from the landscape to the letters on billboards and maps, and even new, alien-like animals that help the immigrant along the way. New technology is seen (flying tugboats and balloon-lifted cupboards to name a few). The concept is nothing we haven't seen before, but Shaun Tan has taken it and turned it on its head, then pulled it inside out and dissected it. He has created a poignant, heart-warming and some-what eerie tale of sorrow, separation and confusion. This may be a picture book, but it is not for little kiddies. The Arrival, as with all Shaun's books, leaves you thinking deeply about all you have seen within the book. This book challenges you to wonder about it.
