The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas…

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (edition 2002)

by Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman (Introduction)

Series: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Omnibus 1-5, short story)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
12,014	115	183	(4.44)	20

Add to your library

Add to wishlist

▾Book information

Member:	Carl64
Title:	The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Authors:	Douglas Adams
Other authors:	Neil Gaiman (Introduction)
Info:	Del Rey (2002), Paperback, 832 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	None

Work details

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams (Author)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

mitchthehuman, Mlandis_, PattiReher, GerrysBookshelf, howermj, SheriCee, thegreattim, Jessinikkip, Forgoszel, CarlosMcRey

numbers

show all

▾Tags

20th century (46) 42 (51) aliens (57) anthology (86) British (136) British literature (42) classic (48) collection (78) comedy (204) Douglas Adams (94) English (42) fantasy (273) fiction (1,079) funny (50) hardcover (71) Hitchhiker's Guide (41) humor (1,115) novel (124) omnibus (121) own (80) read (196) satire (114) science fiction (1,945) series (77) sf (120) sff (72) space (87) space travel (47) to-read (55) unread (52)

▾LibraryThing recommendations

The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time by Douglas Adams (1995)
Same series: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy : A Trilogy in Five Parts (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams (1988)
Same series: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency / The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Dirk Gently)
Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic by Terry Jones (1997)
American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2000)
Same series: Anansi Boys (American Gods)
Dune by Frank Herbert (1965)

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1985)
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (1978)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)
The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973)
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1968)

see more recommendations for this work

refresh

▾Member recommendations

30
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett (bluehooloovo)
bluehooloovo: Absurdity in a pure-fantasy world, rather than a soft-sci-fi world.
10
And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer (Anonymous user)
10
Starfighters of Adumar by Aaron Allston (bluehooloovo)
bluehooloovo: Humor in space! They're practically soul-mates, though Starfighters is a Star Wars book, with all that entails. But Aaron Allston really brings the funny, though it's a different kind of funny than most of Adams's.
11
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (GaryPatella)
GaryPatella: Although the plots and writing styles are very distinct, it seemed to me like Douglas Adams and Joseph Heller had a similar sense of humour. I think that those who enjoy the humour in Hitchhiker's Guide will also enjoy the humour of Catch-22.
01
American Gods by Neil Gaiman (bluehooloovo)
bluehooloovo: Neil Gaiman wrote the introduction to this omnibus, and I think that most Adams fans will find a kindred spirit in Gaiman and enjoy his books.

▾Will you like it?

▾Member reviews

English (111) Dutch (1) Danish (1) Slovak (1) All languages (114)

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 111 (next | show all)

The books have lost a little of their impact since I read them back in high school, but the first three are still classics of comedy science-fiction. The last two novels (and the short story Young Zaphod Plays it Safe) have their moments, but I started to get the sense Adams was sort of tired of writing them by this point. I think what sets these apart from those authors (Christopher Moore, Terry Pratchett, Jasper Fforde, etc.) is that beyond the real sense of the absurdity of existence, the foibles of humanity and how most of us are trying to do the best we can in this crazy, mixed-up galaxy. (

)

CarlosMcRey | May 22, 2013 |

You can't pass up a chance for humor and science fiction...done well. This is not an easy task and Adams does it wonderfully. Then, add to this marvelous element, the answer to mankind's ultimate question, "What is the meaning of life?"
How can you pass up on a novel like that? (

)

SAMerk | May 18, 2013 |

Douglas Adams has been a favorite ever since I happened upon HITCHHIKER'S as a teenager. Within these pages lie whimsy and adventure - a mix of quick wit and serious thought. Some of my favorite quotes come from this collection, and my only regret is Adams untimely demise.
Not since, on my journey of hundreds of books, have I ever found one that captured and stayed with me so completely.

Although difficult to synopsize, the tales that await you span a galaxy of imagination. There is a restaurant at the end of the universe for weary travelers; There are doplhins who take leave of Earth with foreboding. A plethora of characters dance around each other on a quest to find the meaning of it all (don't be disappointed with the answer to that by the way).

As science fiction HITCHHIKER'S is no doubt a classic. Space travel, aliens, and futuristic technology bend the mind in a way not common when this was released. I am still hard-pressed to find a series or novel to hold a candle. Happy reading, and don't forget your towel! (

)

hopefully86 | May 1, 2013 |

I liked Mostly Harmless. The others felt really slow-going. (

)

dancingwaves | Apr 16, 2013 |

I enjoyed the first couple of books, but I disliked the way the last book ended -- it made the rest of the series seem really, pretty pointless. The books got less funny as they went along, too. (

)

shanaqui | Apr 9, 2013 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 111 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (4 possible)

▾Work-to-work relationships

Contains

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams

Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams

Young Zaphod Plays It Safe by Douglas Adams

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Series (with order)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1001|Omnibus 1-5, short story)

Canonical title

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Arthur Dent

Ford Prefect

Zaphod Beeblebrox

Tricia "Trillian" McMillan

Marvin, the Paranoid Android

(show all 9 items)

Important places

Betelgeuse

Earth

The Heart of Gold (spaceship)

Important events

The End of the Universe

The Reappearance of Earth

The Disappearance of the Dolphins

The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (1981 ∙ IMDb)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984 ∙ IMDb)

Awards and honors

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

Quotations

Don't panic.

"You'd better be prepared for the jump into hyperspace. It's unpleasantly like being drunk."

"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?"

"You ask a glass of water."

"Well," said Ford, "if we're lucky it's just the Vogons come to throw us into space."

"And if we're unlucky?"

"If we're unlucky," said Ford grimly, "the captain might be serious in his threat that he's going to read us some of his poetry first."

Resistance is useless! (Vogon soldier shouting)

Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.

(show all 11 items)

Last words

Disambiguation notice

Collected Books 1-5, Plus an Additional Short Story

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Publisher series

Barnes and Noble Leatherbound Classics

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (5)

Aldebaran in fiction

Altair in fiction

Betelgeuse in fiction

Rigel in fiction

Stars and planetary systems in fiction

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary

▾Book descriptions

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0345453743, Paperback)

It's safe to say that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of the funniest science fiction novels ever written. Adams spoofs many core science fiction tropes: space travel, aliens, interstellar war--stripping away all sense of wonder and repainting them as commonplace, even silly.

This omnibus edition begins with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which Arthur Dent is introduced to the galaxy at large when he is rescued by an alien friend seconds before Earth's destruction. Then in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Arthur and his new friends travel to the end of time and discover the true reason for Earth's existence. In Life, the Universe, and Everything, the gang goes on a mission to save the entire universe. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish recounts how Arthur finds true love and "God's Final Message to His Creation." Finally, Mostly Harmless is the story of Arthur's continuing search for home, in which he instead encounters his estranged daughter, who is on her own quest. There's also a bonus short story, "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe," more of a vignette than a full story, which wraps up this completist's package of the Don't Panic chronicles. As the series progresses, its wackier elements diminish, but the satire of human life and foibles is ever present. --Brooks Peck

(retrieved from Amazon Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:26:53 -0500)

(see all 6 descriptions)

▾Library descriptions

In this collection of novels, Arthur Dent is introduced to the galaxy at large when he is rescued by an alien friend seconds before Earth's destruction, and embarks on a series of amazing adventures with his new companion.

(summary from another edition)

» see all 5 descriptions