Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect are back, having narrowly escaped the planet Magrathea and a fate worse than death. Of course, in another twist of fate, they find themselves aboard a stolen Improbability Drive ship with Zaphod Beeblebrox, Trillian McMillian, and Marvin the Paranoid Android.

Hilarious and thought-provoking. ( )

My favorite book in the "trilogy." Laugh out loud hilarious. I couldn't put it down. ( )

Another wonderfully funny, meandering book, tripping hapazardly around the galaxy yet somehow managing to tie up most of the plot points. While still a lovely book, I did feel that is dragged more them a little by the end, though there were still nice bits, you can't help but feeling the book could end about 30 pages earlier and use very little. ( )

Clever and funny but does not stand alone successfully. ( )

The sequel to the famed _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_, in some respects I loved _Restaurant at the End of the Universe_ even more than it's predecessor, although both make the list of my all-time favourite books. Adam's hilarious narration makes these books a pure delight to read, they are full of comparisons, non-sequiturs and dialogue that will make you laugh. The plot is fast-paced, full of zany action and completely unpredictable turns. There's no telling where anyone (or anything!) will end up, but you're sure to laugh a lot on the way.

_Restaurant_ opens with an interstellar chase as the Vogons attempt to destroy the last of planet Earth - namely the last two human beings, Arthur Dent and Trillian. Arthur escaped the destruction of Earth via his friend Ford Prefect, an alien hitchhiker conducting field research for the _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_, and Trillian had left the planet six months before that with the charismatic Zaphod Beeblebrox, the then President of the Galaxy.

Arthur, your typical Englishman, manages to freeze up all their ship's computers by requesting it to make tea for him, just before the Vogons launch their attack. This is bad (for Arthur, not the Vogons) and leads to an impromptu seance. ("Possibly the horror that Zaphod experienced at the prospect of being reunited with his deceased relatives led on to the thought that they might just feel the same way about him and, what's more, be able to do something about helping to postpone this reunion." - p.13)

The first half of the book focuses on Zaphod, and as he is an entertainingly charismatic, ego-filled hipster this is by no means a bad thing. Zaphod finally learns why he mutilated parts of his own brains (as was revealed in the previous book) and ends up on a quest, of sorts, though not because he wants to be. Marvin the Paranoid Android tags along with him and his hilariously depressing (yes, you read that correctly.)

In the second half of the book Arthur and Ford find themselves on a starship that appears to have a lot of dead hairdressers and telephone sanitizers stuffed in the cargo holds. When they get captured by the starship's security personnel it leads to some of the most hilarious dialogue between an overzealous guard, a very laid back captain (who in fact never even gets out of the bath) and a very confused Arthur Dent.

There's so much more I could say about this book, there are so many funny bits I would love to describe - from the restaurant of the title, to the ruler of the universe - but I don't want to give it all away, so I will wrap this up now by simply telling you to read this book. If you have any sense of humour at all you will love it. 5/5 ( )