I'll agree with most of what you said. Excellent read, for sure. Colfer's great, as always.
Except that I enjoyed reading Hillman Hunter more than Mown. (I mentioned on another thread that Mown was almost an Expy of Colfer's No1 from the Artemis Fowl series.) Hillman Hunter was brilliantly eccentric, in my opinion.
Have to agree also. It's not side-splitting funny as the first two books, but it's well written, clever and quite funny. It also gives us a much more upbeat ending, at least when compared to Mostly Harmless. It's certainly worth the read.
I loved the book except for the last three or four pages. For god's sake, couldn't he have just given Arthur a break? I'm more angry about the end of this book than I was about Mostly Harmless. You give everyone else the happiest ending they can hope for, then have Arthur get a Hope Spot before being kicked in the nuts by the universe again? Argh!
Personally, I disagree. When I set out to read this book, I was in pretty high spirits."It won't be as good as Douglas", I thought, "but I like Colfer, and I think this will be good." But by the time I'd finished the book, I desperately hated it- and, for that matter, Eoin Colfer. The jokes were unfunny and clichéd, the Continuity Nod s were forced and obnoxious, and the "Guide Notes" were intrusive and broke up the flow immensely. And, as a final kick in the gut, Mr Death is right: Arthur's final fate is cruel, unfair, and, most importantly, a total subversion of what Adams had planned for The Salmon of Doubt.
All in all, I'd be happy if Mr. Colfer decided he'd rather not write anymore.
Personally, I disagree. When I set out to read this book, I was in pretty high spirits."It won't be as good as Douglas", I thought, "but I like Colfer, and I think this will be good." But by the time I'd finished the book, I desperately hated it- and, for that matter, Eoin Colfer. The jokes were unfunny and clichéd, the Continuity Nod s were forced and obnoxious, and the "Guide Notes" were intrusive and broke up the flow immensely. And, as a final kick in the gut, Mr Death is right: Arthur's final fate is cruel, unfair, and, most importantly, a total subversion of what Adams had planned for The Salmon of Doubt.
All in all, I'd be happy if Mr. Colfer decided he'd rather not write anymore.
You do realize that the original HHGTTG books broke the flow with asides all the time, right? I can almost understand the rest of it, but that makes me think you're just hating the book to hate it; saying that you hate asides that break the flow of the narrative while following a series that used asides so much there was at least one (and possibly more) chapters that were entirely comprised of asides just seems contradictory.
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It's Good. Really.
When the sixth The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy book was first announced, to be written by Mr. Eoin Colfer, the fandom gathered their torches and pitchforks and proceeded to explode. To an enormous amount of readers, the fact that there would be a sequel to such a great and classic work, written by someone other than its great and classic author, was something akin to high blasphemy. Not to me. When I read the news, the author, and the title, I felt pretty good. The way I see it, more of something great is better than less of it, and though there was certainly a cause for concern, I had faith that they'd picked the right man for the job. The job itself I never had a problem with.
Now, after having finished it all the way through, I feel pretty confident in declaring And Another Thing a rousing success. Adams it isn't, that's for sure, but in saying that I'm referring to the style in which the book is written. This is a lot more structured than it used to be, with each plotline neatly tying up in the end and each of the Guide's asides marked for your convenience. If we're talking about quality, Adams it is. The book is endlessly inventive and just as funny as any of its predecessors (well, except for maybe the second one; you can't beat that), and most of the characters' personalities are written perfectly. The lone exception is Random, who became actively rude and vindictive, a stereotypical teenager, rather than a troubled and bipolar girl who nevertheless meant well. This one minor hiccup aside, when Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, Trillian, and even old Wowbagger enter the scene, their familiar charm shines through at once. You know it's them.
Colfer also introduces two new characters. Constant Mown, the free-spirited offspring of Vogon Jeltz, is quite a laugh to read about, but the second, a sleazy, millionaire cultist named Hillman Hunter, is a bit more of a drag. He'll make you laugh here and there, sure, and as a character he's not so bad. But altogether too much time is spent following his efforts to run a cheese-worshiping cult off his Magrathean-commissioned, human-inhabited planet. After the first couple dozen pages, you'll start to wonder where Arthur Dent went to.
Overall, a fitting conclusion to the planet's finest comedy sci-fi. Four stars.