The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/And Another Thing: Difference between revisions

'''''And Another Thing...''''' is the sixth book in the [[Trilogy Creep|increasingly inaccurately-named]] ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy (Franchise)|The Hitchhikers Guide to Thethe Galaxy]]'' trilogy. It's notable for being the first installment of the series not written by its creator, [[Douglas Adams]], but by [[Eoin Colfer]]<ref>although it's very difficult to tell at times and painfully easy at others</ref>, author of the ''[[Artemis Fowl (Literature)|Artemis Fowl]]'' series (not counting ''[[Starship Titanic]]'', a tie-in novel written by Terry Jones of [[Monty Python]] fame). The book was released on October 12, 2009, to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the first book's original publication. Its storyline follows directly from where the fifth book, ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to Thethe Galaxy (Franchise)/Mostly Harmless|Mostly Harmless]]'', left off.

Seconds before the Grebulons (the clueless, would-be [[Alien Invasion|alien invaders]] from ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to Thethe Galaxy (Franchise)/Mostly Harmless|Mostly Harmless]]'') demolish the [[Alternate Universe|alternate-universe Earth]] as part of a [[Xanatos Gambit|crafty gambit]] set up by the Vogons over the course of the previous books, our protagonists (Arthur Dent, his daughter Random, her mother Trillian Astra, and their friend Ford Prefect) are given one last shot at self-preservation by the Guide Mk. II, who abandoned Vogon Jeltz's side to fulfill Random's dying wish.

Almost at once, the gang is rescued by Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox, who, apparently, had been up to some ''very'' funny business since his last appearance. Now endebtedindebted to Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, an aeons-old immortal, the President embarks on a quest to meet with the [[Norse Mythology|Nordic thunder-god Thor]] to fulfill his part of a very odd bargain. Meanwhile, Arthur Dent is elated, and the Vogons are very displeased, to find that the human species may yet live on, in the depths of a faraway dark nebula... (''[[Scare Chord|bohm bohm bohhhhm]]!!'')

*** He first appeared in a brief cameo at ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to Thethe Galaxy (Franchise)/The Restaurant At The End of The Universe|The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'', but Adams had already written an entire Dirk Gently novel about Thor, so was it really necessary for Colfer to feature Thor again?

*** Clearly, these are two different Thors. In ''[[The Long Dark Tea -Time of the Soul (Literature)|The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul]]'', Thor is physically intimidating, but his personality is failyfairly mild and non-confrontational; he even forms a childlike friendship with Kate. The Thor featured in the ''Hitchhiker'' book is an arrogant, boisterous braggart who never passes up a chance to demonstrate his machismo. Really, as a god, he could be interpreted in many different ways, even in the same world as in ''[[American Gods (Literature)|American Gods]]'' (assuming the [[Wild Mass Guessing|theory]] about Ford in ''[[The Salmon of Doubt]]'' is correct). Just look at [[God|our guy.]]

* [[Did We Just Have Tea Withwith Cthulhu?|Did You Just Turn Down A Job Application From Cthulhu?]]

* [[Dropped a Bridge Onon Him]]: {{spoiler|Tricia and the ''Guide'' Mk. II.}}

** The second one may count as a [[Continuity Nod]] as {{spoiler|the Guide Mk. II spontaneously disappeared from existence at the end of Mostly Harmless, meaning that it was [[Doomed Byby Canon]] in a sense.}}

* [[Dub -Induced Plot Hole]]: The American printing of ''And Another Thing...'' retains the original text that says Wowbagger had previously called Arthur a jerk and a complete arsehole, even though the American edition of ''Life, the Universe and Everything'' had [[Bowdlerise|replaced]] "arsehole" with "kneebiter". Later American releases of the book seem to be unedited in this regard, so it depends on how recent the copy they read was.

* [[Leaning Onon the Fourth Wall]]: In the prologue, Colfer says that if you type "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" into The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, an icon will tell you that there are three results, which is confusing because there are clearly five listed below it. Get it? The ''five'' books of the Hitchhiker's Guide ''trilogy!'' [[Fridge Brilliance]]-tastic!

** It gets better: "Each of these five results is [[The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy (Literaturenovel)|a lengthy article]] accompanied by many hours of [[The HitchhikersHitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy (TV series)|vid]][[The HitchhikersHitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy (Filmfilm)|eo]] and [[The HitchhikersHitchhiker's Guide to Thethe Galaxy (Radioradio series)|audio]] files and some dramatic reconstructions featuring quite well-known actors."

* [[Lotus Eater Machine]]: The state of virtual reality the ''Guide'' Mk II keeps Arthur, Ford, Trillian, and Random in, as a compromise between the conflicting orders it received from Random and Jeltz. All four of them are given chances to live out long, pleasant lives within a virtual universe, while virtually no time passes in the real world, to compensate for their real lives coming to such an unsatisfying and premature end. This serves as a handy excuse for any personality [[Rescued Fromfrom the Scrappy Heap|changes]] the characters undergo due to the new author.

** Almost played straight - but averted at the last moment when {{spoiler|Mown manages to talk Jeltz out of destroying Nano. Thor was seconds away from smiting the bureaucruiser (and making it like debris from the earlier attack did it) when they jumped to hyperspace.}}

* [[Sequel Hook]]: {{spoiler|Colfer marks the end of the book as "[[In Medias Res|The end of one of the middles.]]"}}

* [[Throw the Dog Aa Bone]]: A Mr. {{spoiler|A. Grajag}} is mentioned at the end of the book as having won the lottery, marrying his childhood sweetheart, and having two well-adjusted children.

[[Category:TheBritish Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy (Franchise)Literature]]

[[Category:AndLiterature Anotherof Thingthe 2000s]]