Life, the Universe and Everything		Rating
			B
	Douglas Adams
	Series	Related Books
	The Hitchhiker's Trilogy	The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish, Mostly Harmless

Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect have found a way back to the present time thanks to a wandering couch. But the universe of Now is threatened by the imminent emergence from millenia of captivity of the people of Krikkit. White robots are showing up everywhere and stealing things to recreate the Key. If they're not stopped, the universe will surely fall under a horde of Krikketmen.

It's another slice of absurdity straight fom the mind of Douglas Adams. As usual, it is very light, very fast reading. And very strange as well, of course. It's a fun little romp, and perhaps the first time that there was a real plot that people would recognize as such so early. This is good, because watching Arthur and the rest stumble about until something happens was becoming a bit tired. This time there's a definite goal.

Unfortunately, it's not really as funny as the previous books. Perhaps that has to do with the plot being developed from a rejected Dr. Who script, a television series that, while sometimes hilarious (intentionally or otherwise) is not actually a comedy. Perhaps Adams isn't used to having to focus everything down so much. Whatever the reason, it was fun but not especially funny.

A bigger problem was Arthur. He does little more in this bok than be astonished or confused when he's not both at once. Admittedly that was most of his role in the other books as well, but by now he needs to get his act together.

This is a good book, but definitely not up to the standards of the first two. The style is no longer new and wacky, it's just strange. Arthur's role as Everyman has become a role as the idiot of the group, the guy who never knows anything at all. Even Everyman should contribute something.

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