And Another Thing...

And Another Thing..., by Eoin Colfer
 
Grab your towel and stick out your thumb--fans of Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy are sure to enjoy this sixth installment in the series, penned by none other than Eoin Colfer of Artemis Fowl fame. I'm always a bit leery of new authors picking up where an original author left off, but Colfer's writing is at once reminiscient of Adams's without parroting it. Wry humor and bizarre situations abound in this latest intergalactic romp, and Colfer handles it all with wit and style.

The series's protagonist, Arthur Dent, once again finds himself at odds with the repulsive and sadistic alien Vogons when they decide that contractual fullfillment for destroying the Earth (the first time around) to make room for a hyperspace bypass also necessitates eradicating every last remnant of the human race everywhere else in the galaxy (the Vogons are nothing if not obsessively picayune regarding bureaucracy). It's up to Arthur and his comrades-in-craziness to foil the plans of the dastardly Vogons, and along the way they enlist the aid of Thor (yes, that Thor) and Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged (master hurler of insults) to save the last of humanity (who are currently preoccupied with worshipping cheese and toning their abs) from total annhilation. Again.

Here's hoping that Colfer writes a seventh installment, and if he finds a way to bring back Marvin the Paranoid Android (under warranty, I would hazard), well, that would be just froody!
-Will