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Bedtime Stories: The Universe of Douglas Adams

hitchhikers guidePost by Mark T. Locker.

When I was a nerdy 12-year-old boy, my single greatest discovery was the four books that comprised the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. By the time I was fourteen, that trilogy had grown to five books, arguably the longest trilogy ever written. I have been revisiting the series for the first time in many years; so long, in fact, that I had forgotten the entire plots of the final two novels.

If you are unfamiliar with the series, the quick and dirty summary is this: Arthur Dent, earthling, awakes one day to discover bulldozers in his yard, preparing to raze his home to make space for a new highway. But before they can get going on demolishing his home, the planet is suddenly surrounded by a fleet of alien ships, Vogons, to be precise, who are preparing to demolish the planet to make space for a new hyperspatial express route. Luckily for but unbeknownst to Arthur, his best friend Ford Prefect happens to be an alien from Betelgeuse researching the Earth for the reference guide The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  He hitches a ride for himself and Arthur on one of the Vogon ships and into relative safety.

The five books follow Ford, Arthur, Ford’s friend Zaphod Beeblebrox, two-headed ex-president of the galaxy, earthling Trillion, and the hopelessly depressed Marvin the android. We learn who really first populated the Earth, what the true purpose of the planet was, and who our secret overlords were all along.

If you or a loved one love absurd yet engaging stories, I cannot recommend this enough. Even if science fiction isn’t your bag, you are likely to enjoy these stories. They are much more than a space drama. Recommended for nerdy adolescents.

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