This article, reprinted here with the permission of its author, orginally appeared in Completely Different on November 4, 1992

Well, "The Fifth Book in the Increasingly Innacurately Named Hitchhiker's Trilogy" (I got that from the cover) is out, and it's apparently a month early! Still, that's not important, and this part of my review will almost certainly get cut, so I don't know why I bothered to write it [hah! I left it in anyway! You can't outthink The Editor! -- ed.]

And now, the review: Did I like it? Yes. Was it as good as the others? No, with the possible exception of So Long and Thanks for All the Fish. Still, there are plenty of funny parts (check out the description of a lava lamp) and quite a few quotes from the Guide, not to mention a little more about towels.

What? You want a plot synopsis? Oh, very well: After Fenchurch disappears into thin air during an interstellar spaceflight, Arthur Dent tries to find a place to settle down, eventually choosing a primitive planet where he is revered as the Grand Sandwich Maker. Meanwhile, Ford Prefect discovers something amiss with the Guide, and, in a rare display of heroics, actually tries to do something about it. We also see an alternate universe Trillian, who didn't go off with Zaphod, and "our" Trillian, who is now a time-travelling Galactic news reporter. Oh yeah, we also meet Arthur's daughter (I'm not telling!). There is, unfortunately, nothing more about Zaphod or Marvin, and the ending, like that of most of the other books, tries to "end it all so I won't have to write another of these damn things!"

It's too bad *d*ms went for a storyline, as opposed to his old stream of conciousness approach, but he still has a bit of it, and he's still one of the best writers I know of. Still, $20 is pretty steep for a fairly small book (it ain't very thick), so you may wish to wait for the paperback.