The process by which Adams un-stranded Ford and Arthur from Earth, two billion years in the past was a little weak. Not unlike the rescuing of Captain Jack Sparrow from the netherworld in Pirates of the Caribbean III. There could have been a lot of better ways to do it.
But after that, the book really improves. Adam’s cleverness is at its best in this book. His description of Somebody Else’s Problem as a phenomenon is a dead on parody of real human nature. I was very happy to see Slartibartfast back again, and this time in a major role. I didn’t feel like we saw enough of him in the first book. Slartiblartfest’s ship operates on Bistromathics, a concept which, as far as literature and humor goes, is almost as good as the Improbability Drive (although according to Slartibartfast it is better as far as ship drives go).
The entire story of Krikket, and the involvement of the Krikket wars in the Heart of Gold actually ties in multiple aspects of the plot, the characters, and the story lines from all the book quite well. Much better plot and subplot cohesiveness than book two.
The mattresses that grow on Sqornshellous Zeta is one of the best bits in the entire series. One that I actually remembered from when I read the books twenty years ago. It is another example of how, in Adam’s twisted world of parody and ludicrous concepts, there is an element of plausibility behind much of it. In an infinite universe with infinite possibilities, it certainly would be reasonable to think that there is a planet somewhere that grows mattresses and screwdrivers. We are talking about infinity, after all, so why not? To say it isn’t so places limits on infinity, which is itself oxymoronic. So while the entire concept is a joke, then again, there is some kernel of logic behind it all.
Life the Universe and Everything is at least as good as the first book, and in some ways even better, because of the nice subplot tie-ins and the further development of certain characters, such as Sartibarfest. The humor is impeccable, deriving from characters, situations, irony, and poking fun at humanity.
There are a couple of points in the book where logic in the plot is sacrificed for the sake of a joke. Okay, I know the entire series is a satire, and it's purpose to poke fun at human dogmas and our own flaws in reason. I'm okay with bizarre events and marathon-lenght stretechs away from reality. In fact, that is part of the funl
But, there are a few stretches that are beyond reasonable maladjusment that become a part of the plot. And that is what bothers me. If it is too bizarre to be acceptable even for me, and my standards are pretty low for accepting the ludicrous, then don't let plot-dependant events rely on these silly abberations.
For this, I take away only 2 points. He made a good recovery in book 3 from his marginal mediocrity in book 2. I'll give L!fe a nearly perfect -- 98
But after that, the book really improves. Adam’s cleverness is at its best in this book. His description of Somebody Else’s Problem as a phenomenon is a dead on parody of real human nature. I was very happy to see Slartibartfast back again, and this time in a major role. I didn’t feel like we saw enough of him in the first book. Slartiblartfest’s ship operates on Bistromathics, a concept which, as far as literature and humor goes, is almost as good as the Improbability Drive (although according to Slartibartfast it is better as far as ship drives go).The entire story of Krikket, and the involvement of the Krikket wars in the Heart of Gold actually ties in multiple aspects of the plot, the characters, and the story lines from all the book quite well. Much better plot and subplot cohesiveness than book two.
The mattresses that grow on Sqornshellous Zeta is one of the best bits in the entire series. One that I actually remembered from when I read the books twenty years ago. It is another example of how, in Adam’s twisted world of parody and ludicrous concepts, there is an element of plausibility behind much of it. In an infinite universe with infinite possibilities, it certainly would be reasonable to think that there is a planet somewhere that grows mattresses and screwdrivers. We are talking about infinity, after all, so why not? To say it isn’t so places limits on infinity, which is itself oxymoronic. So while the entire concept is a joke, then again, there is some kernel of logic behind it all.
Life the Universe and Everything is at least as good as the first book, and in some ways even better, because of the nice subplot tie-ins and the further development of certain characters, such as Sartibarfest. The humor is impeccable, deriving from characters, situations, irony, and poking fun at humanity.
There are a couple of points in the book where logic in the plot is sacrificed for the sake of a joke. Okay, I know the entire series is a satire, and it's purpose to poke fun at human dogmas and our own flaws in reason. I'm okay with bizarre events and marathon-lenght stretechs away from reality. In fact, that is part of the funl
But, there are a few stretches that are beyond reasonable maladjusment that become a part of the plot. And that is what bothers me. If it is too bizarre to be acceptable even for me, and my standards are pretty low for accepting the ludicrous, then don't let plot-dependant events rely on these silly abberations.
For this, I take away only 2 points. He made a good recovery in book 3 from his marginal mediocrity in book 2. I'll give L!fe a nearly perfect -- 98
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