Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #3)

Title: Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #3)

Author: Douglas Adams

Published in: 1982

Date read: 28th February 2006

Score: 4/5

Genre: Fantasy, Science fiction

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"Life, the Universe and Everything" by Douglas Adams, published in 1982, is the third instalment in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" "trilogy of five" (as Adams famously put it). It picks up directly after the events of "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe," with our hapless hero Arthur Dent in a rather bleak situation.

The story begins with Arthur Dent stranded on a prehistoric Earth, millions of years before his own time, after being teleported there at the end of the previous book. He's living a rather miserable existence in a cave, trying to make sense of his life without his friends.

Suddenly, his old friend Ford Prefect reappears, having found a "space-time eddy" disguised as an old sofa. This improbable discovery transports them both through time and space to Lord's Cricket Ground in London, just two days before the original (and now, for Arthur, second) destruction of Earth by the Vogons.

Their arrival at the cricket match is quickly interrupted by a most unexpected event: a spaceship lands on the pitch, and a group of highly advanced, seemingly peaceful robots emerge and steal the Ashes (the iconic cricket trophy). This bizarre heist sets off a chain of events that plunges Arthur and Ford into a new, galactic crisis.

They are soon reunited with Slartibartfast, the eccentric planet designer from Magrathea. Slartibartfast enlists their help to prevent a new, devastating galactic war, known as the Krikkit Wars, from restarting. He reveals the history of the planet Krikkit, a world that was once completely isolated by a dust cloud, making its inhabitants blissfully unaware of the rest of the universe. When a spaceship crash-landed on Krikkit, the shock of discovering an entire universe beyond their own drove the Krikkiters to xenophobic madness, leading them to decide that the only way to restore their peaceful isolation was to destroy all other life in the universe.

The Krikkit Wars were eventually put on hold by trapping Krikkit in a "Slo-Time" envelope. However, a rogue Krikkit robot ship escaped and has been systematically collecting the components needed to assemble the Wikkit Gate, a device that will release Krikkit from its prison and allow them to restart their genocidal mission. The stolen Ashes from Lord's Cricket Ground are one such crucial component.

Arthur, Ford, and Slartibartfast, joined later by Zaphod Beeblebrox and Trillian (who were also reunited by improbable circumstance), embark on a convoluted quest to retrieve the stolen components of the Wikkit Gate and prevent the Krikkiters from annihilating the universe. Their journey takes them to various absurd and dangerous locations, encountering bizarre characters such as Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, an immortal being whose sole purpose in life is to insult everyone in the universe alphabetically.

A significant subplot involves Agrajag, a being who repeatedly suffers death at Arthur Dent's hands throughout various reincarnations and is now seeking revenge on Arthur, leading to a hilarious yet strangely profound encounter in a "Cathedral of Hate."

The novel is a quintessential Adamsian mix of philosophical musings, existential dread, and pure comedic genius, with a generous dose of absurdity, non-sequiturs, and witty dialogue. It explores themes of war, peace, the nature of evil, and the ongoing quest for meaning (or lack thereof) in a bewildering universe. The climax involves a final confrontation on Krikkit itself, where the true nature of the Krikkiters' motivation is revealed, and the fate of the universe hangs in the balance, ultimately resolved in a uniquely Adamsian fashion.

Comments:
Wonderful book that does not show its age. I do feel that I should have added "classic" to the genre list but it just isn't old enough.

Books that we've read by Douglas Adams (4):
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1) (1979), The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #2) (1980), Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #3) (1982), So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #4) (1984)