Thirty years after the original publication of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Eoin Colfer – the author of the phenomenally popular Artemis Fowl series – has penned the sixth installment of the trilogy, entitled And Another Thing…, a fitting middle (there are no endings in the H2G2 universe) to the delightfully outlandish science fiction series.
What began as an absurdist BBC radio series in 1978 turned into a bestselling novel – and instant cult classic – just a year later. The unforgettable first line of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.” – went on to spur an internationally beloved saga which has been called a cultural phenomenon as well as a part of modern folklore. The antics of Earthling Arthur Dent have indeed become science fiction mythos. After Earth is destroyed to make way for an intergalactic bypass, Dent – who was saved by his alien friend Ford Prefect – meets up with the crew of a starship captained by the two-headed Zaphod Beeblebrox and begins a quest to understand the meaning of life, the universe and everything. The answer: 42.
The release of And Another Thing… is intriguing for a number of reasons. First and foremost is its very existence. After Douglas Adams passed away in 2001 at the age of 49, most H2G2 fans assumed that they would never read anything new featuring Arthur Dent and company again. But after being approached by the agent for Douglas Adams with the idea for a sixth book in the trilogy, Eoin Colfer agreed. In a recent interview he said “the reason I’m doing this is not really to be the new Hitchhiker guy, it’s kind of to point to the old Hitchhiker guy and say look, this is there, you guys… you’ve got to read these five funniest books ever written…”
Colfer picks up right where Adams left off in And Another Thing… It’s classic H2G2. The Vogons are back and this time they’re determined to destroy every single Earth – and every single Earthling – in all dimensions of the galaxy. So, with the end looming, Arthur is reunited with his estranged daughter Random, Trillian Astra falls in love, and former Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox does something truly heroic (it was an accident)…Throw in a killer laser lightshow of deathbeams, hallucinogenic marsh worms, a stolen longship, brain-crushing shots of dragon soul, godlike cheese, and mad (highly irate) cows, and you’ve got yourself a story that is not only simultaneously hilarious, entertaining and endearing but also one that includes dozens of great one-liners. Here are a few of my favorites:
• “Appease the Cheese.”
• “Enjoy your product… and if you have any complaints, please feel free to write them on a bumpy log then hammer said log into your auditory canal.”
• “And he (Ford Prefect) fled the bridge, deciding that there were times in a man’s life that it was better to be alone rather than discuss the view, which he had a sneaking suspicion originated in the recesses of his own mind, particularly the recess that had been conceived one winter afternoon during the meat festival of Carni-val when he’d been dressed as a pollo-bear and had become entangled in a tower of stacked chairs, only to be rescued by a gaggle of three-legged student liposuckers who demanded a very curious reward.”
Longtime fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (as well as the Artemis Fowl saga) should also visit BarnesandNoble.com’s Fantasy/Science Fiction forum this week (November 9 – November 13): Eoin Colfer will be our online guest throughout the week so please feel free to share any comments or post any questions you may have for Mr. Colfer! (He’s froody.) 
