Millions of years ago, the answer to life, the universe, and everything was discovered. It was forty-two. The trouble was, no one quite knew the question.
Now, Arthur Dent is a completely normal denizen of Planet Earth—that is to say, a stubborn, inconsequential human. That is, until Earth is destroyed to make way for a galactic freeway and his best friend Ford Prefect turns out to be an alien from a planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. Arthur and Ford end up hitching a ride with the President of the Galaxy on a ship that functions by bending probability to its will.
From Marvin, a depressed robot, to Zaphod Beetlebrox, the insane President of the Galaxy who does whatever seems like the best idea to him at the time (including stealing the Heart of Gold), the iconic characters are incredibly fun to read about. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy excels at placing the characters in improbable and hilarious situations, such as listening to Vogon poetry as a punishment. Although I found the plot a little slow at first, once I got into it, this story was engaging and full of interesting new ideas.
