Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams
Characters
Arthur Dent: Arthur Dent is an English human from Planet Earth.
Ford Prefect: Ford Prefect is an alien from a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. When he arrived on Earth, he thought that automobiles were the dominant race, so he named himself after one.
Zaphod Beeblebrox: Zaphod Beeblebrox is Ford's semi-half cousin and the President of the Galaxy.
Marvin: Marvin (the Paranoid Android) is Zaphod's personal robot assistant. Marvin suffers from severe depression and boredom, as he has an amazing level of intelligience that he is unable to use.
Plot
Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, on Earth, are at a bar, when Ford tells that the Apocalypse is soon coming. Some question him, however, a race known as the Vogons come along and prepare to demolish Earth. They manage to get on the Vogon ship just before the Earth is demolished. Afterwards, they are jettisoned into space, and end up on Zaphod Beeblebrox's ship, the Heart of Gold. There, they meet Zaphod, his robot Marvin, and Trillian, another former resident of Earth. Together, they embark on a journey to find the legendary planet Magrathea, known for selling luxury planets.
Setting
HG2G takes place at multiple locations. It starts off on Earth, then goes to the Vogon ship, Zaphod's ship Heart of Gold, and eventually the legendary planet of Magrathea.
Recommendation
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the Sci-Fi genre. This book is not only clever and unique, it's also very quirky and silly. Most of the time, it's not at all serious. The jokes in this book are hilarious and original, for the most part. When it does take itself seriously, it does it very convincingly. If you're a fan of Sci-Fi books, but are looking for something more unique and wacky, then this book will not disappoint.
About the Author
Douglas Adams was born on March 11, 1952, in Cambridge, UK. He is known for writing the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books, including the first novel, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe, and Everything, So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish, and Mostly Harmless. The sixth book, And Another Thing..., was written by Eoin Colfer due to Adams' death in 2001. He got the idea for the novel while lying drunk in a field near Innsbruck, Austria, with a copy of Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe.