This is the second straight book I've read where a new author has taken over a beloved series (the other being the new Wheel of Time novel) and Eoin Colfer shows as much love for the work of Douglas Adams as Brandon Sanderson did for Robert Jordan.

Dedicated fans will love seeing the return of these famous characters, who were left in an unfortunate position in the last Adams book. (Douglas Adams had always said that he wanted to do a sixth book.) Minor characters from the series make hilarious comebacks here, my favorite being ol' Wowbagger, still busy insulting the universe.

This title was enjoyable but Colfer showed too much reliance on using the "Guide Notes" throughout. Often, he would describe some situation occurring to Arthur and Ford with a metaphor, then go off into a Guide Note describing some planet where that metaphor happened literally. (If that makes any sense.)

Still, I would definitely recommend this book to fans of the series. Anyone picking it up without having read the others will be doing themselves a disservice, you really need to go back to where it all began.

And Another Thing... represents the sixth part of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. Eoin Colfer, as allowed by the estate of Douglas Adams, takes on the task of continuing the story where Adams left off. From all references that I've read regarding Douglas Adams, it would seem these are some pretty big shoes to fill.

Let me start off with my disclaimer: I've read many books recently that advised me if I liked whichever author I was reading, then I would love Douglas Adams. These recommendations came at around the same time that I noticed Colfer's addition to the collection would soon be released. Much to my chagrin, I received both the H2G2 collection and the new book in the same week. This didn't leave me enough time to get the whole original series read to be able to review on a complete author to author comparison. Also, I've been collecting the Artemis Fowl series but only have two of the seven so far, so making a story versus story comparison isn't feasible yet, either. Putting all of the reasons aside, I will do my best with this review.

I think Eoin Colfer does an admirable job of maintaining the original feel of H2G2. I'm sure there are differences in some minor aspects, stylistically speaking, to the story telling as every author does things with their own unique touch. Overall, though, I think both authors have/had an innate talent with the ironic humour that has maintained the success of the series and made it so memorable after all these years.

What would be new to the series are the little digs about such things as computer equipment malfunctions similar to a popular current platform I won't name ("It didn't take much to freeze him. You should have waited for version 2.0") or references to reality TV ("This last was the subject of a reality show broadcast in the Sirius Tau system call Last Behemoth Standing'). These are all relatively new phenomena that Adams himself hadn't the opportunity to poke some fun at, but, again, I'm sure he would have. In fact, nothing is sacred, from Norse Gods to inter-species marriage, Colfer gives us history and life lessons with a twist. He demonstrates the possible future of religion as a God-for-hire type set-up, used to maintain order, by hierarchy, as new planets are discovered and inhabited.

Douglas Adams had admitted that his fifth book didn't sit well with him as a fitting ending but his untimely death did not allow for his own continuation. It takes a brave man to take on a project such as this and Eoin Colfer has received criticism for attempting it, but really, anyone other than the original author would attract the same. In the end, Colfer created a fun book to read, with lots of nonsensical situations arising, making you unsure of what's real or what may be only be a construct created life. Meanwhile, poor Arthur Dent continues his struggle to find a decent cup of tea and the age old question of "Rich Tea or Digestive", which is the better accompaniment?

I fully intend to get through the whole H2G2 in the near future and take it all in context but even if this book is read as a stand-alone novel, it is quirky fun and well worth the effort.

To be perfectly honest, I read this book more out of a sense of duty than out of any sort of expectation. That said, I found this volume much more enjoyable than I had predicted.

I have indeed read Mr. Colfer's previous Artemis Fowl books, and while I enjoyed them, they were definitely YA stories. "And Another Thing" is not a YA story, it is a HHG story.

There are some things that sound strange - I don't think that Mr. Colfer ever really found his stride when dealing with Arthur or Ford - but the bits with Zaphod are magical. It helps that I now imagine Sam Rockwell as Zaphod (he was far and away the best part of the movie) and can hear him speak the lines as if he were right in front of me.

I found the Guide entries to be well placed and enjoyeable. I suspect that Mr. Adams would have formatted them similarly if the he had written them today - the format seems quite natural to this Wikipedia addict.

If there end up being more books to come, I will gladly pre-order them with great anticipation.

Eoin Colfer created a sequel that fans can read with the same dressing-gown comfort as the original series. Arthur, Ford and Trillian find themselves seconds away from death to be saved, yet again, by Zaphod and the Heart of Gold; Only to face certain death a few minutes later.

As a fan of the series, I was as pessimistic as Arthur when I realised that another author was attempting to undo the ending to Mostly Harmless. There are definite differences as is to be expected, 'And Another Thing' has a similar feel to the Movie version at times, especially with the addition of the 'Guide Notes' throughout. I can almost hear Stephen Fry's narration as
I read. However Colfer continues Adam's random comedy which includes a sensitive Vogon, an inter-species relationship, a drunken unemployed god, a typical teenager and many near death moments.

This is a really good book but Colfer had really big shoes to fill. When I first heard that Colfer would be concluding the unfortunately named H2G2 trilogy I was worried that he would not be able to match Adam's unique style. Colfer tries very hard to do so and in some cases succeeds admirably while in others he struggles. I haven't read any of Colfer's other books so I cannot comment on how much of his own style he fused into this book. Despite all of this the story is great and as bizarre as ever.