Rating: 
Summary: Douglas Adams' Mostly Harmless is Wonderfully Weird!
Review: I think this book is a fitting end for the Hitchhikers trilogy. What else could have happened
Rating: 
Summary: Humorist Douglas Adams does it again with Mostly Harmless!
Review: In his most recent addition to the Hitchhiker's series, Douglas Adams stays true to form with witty humor and thoughtful, though unlikely, ideas. Though like the other
four Hitchhiker's novels it focuses on the amusingly dull life of Briton-turned-space-traveller Arthur Dent and his streetwise friend Ford Prefect, Mostly Harmless also includes Adams' ideas on such subjects as dimentional
mechanics. Also surprising is the fact that, unlike many
of his other books, Mostly Harmless seems to have a true
ending, raising questions about future novels in the series.
All in all, Mostly Harmless is an excellent showcase of Adams' writing talent. (NOTE: See also Terry Pratchett for fantasy
novels written in a similar style.)
Rating:
Summary: Hillarious closure to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Review: Well it was true that the first Three book in the trilogy could have just been one long
one and Adams was cashing out, they were funny books. When adams came out with
the fourth book, it rather sucked. No Trillian, or Zaphod. This book really ends the
series, and brings back Trillian and a new surprize charater, the best sci fi or comedy book ever, done it great style. When the book ends, your shocked, but happy.
Rating:
Summary: Fun Crazy House Ride
Review: * When I was going through my final fits of academic labor in the
summer of 1981, I was working on a summer-crash-course thermodynamics
class, work that kept me up late and reduced me to peculiar mental
states. As I closed my thermo text one night in such a state, I
turned on the radio only to hear ... THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE
GALAXY. It was appropriate to the moment and my outlook. That wasn't the end of it, either. Now we have a fifth volume in "the
increasingly innaccurately named HitchHiker's Trilogy." In MOSTLY
HARMLESS, we see old friends: Ford Prefect, Trillian, Vogons, and of
course Arthur Dent -- and new faces: an insanely cheeful security
robot named Colin, galactic bar singers, Arthur's daughter Random (who
he had no idea existed), a group of aliens who observe Earth from a
distance but do not know why (having collectively and literally lost
their minds), an Earth where four-leaf-clovers are normal and
three-leaf-clovers are lucky, and, most important of all, a new and
much more sinister Guide. MOSTLY HARMLESS continues the HITCHHIKER's tradition of imaginative
madness, but it differs from earlier parts of the series in two
respects. First, the story has a clever, coherent, and imaginative
underlying plot rationale, something that was largely absent in the
earlier elements of the series. In fact the whole thing resembles an
elaborate puzzle that you have to inspect carefully even when, in the
end, all the pieces have neatly clicked together. Second, and much more important, in the end this is not a funny book
at all; there is the usual humor during the course of the trip, but
the destination is dark and despairing, and the usual sense of
insanity and fatalism that marks the earlier parts of the series seems
to be felt with conviction: events are incoherent; we understand
nothing; we are at the mercy of chance. It is probably well, then, that MOSTLY HARMLESS is the end of
the series. Or is it? In a Universe of infinite improbabilities,
somewhere, someplace, infinite numbers of sequels are being
written. [Minor update of review from 1993.]
Rating:
Summary: Adams shifts the focus to characters
Review: People who read the book "Mostly Harmless" with a focus on the events of the book will probably end up disappointed. Adams continues his shift toward writing character centered novels (as begun in "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish", and continued in the Dirk Gently novels).
The story focuses on three characters: Arthur Dent, the perenially confused Briton; Ford Prefect, the manic Betelgeusian; and Tricia McMillan, a BBC television reporter who, had she decided not to go back to get her purse when she met "Phil" at a party, would have become Trillian.
Adams presents Dent as a wonderfully tragic picture, and mirrors the beginning of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" quite well. Dent is presented as a lost soul, desperately in search of a home and a place to belong. Of course, when he actually finds a place where he belongs and becomes comfortable, outside events tear his world apart. This is a theme that was present in three of the four previous HHGTTG books, but the presentation is probably the best in "Mostly Harmless" (and particularly intriguing is that Arthur's world is torn asunder by a person searching for the exact same thing as Arthur had: a place to belong).
The story of Tricia McMillan offers an interesting counterpoint to Arthur's troubles. Although she is a successful television personality, she is obsessed with the consequences of one of her past choices. Unlike Arthur, who is preoccupied with the process of finding a place to belong, Tricia is preoccupied with thoughts of what might have been.
Unlike his previous books, Adams allows the tragedy to come to a fitting end. The tone is certainly darker than the previous HHGTTG books, and the humor is perhaps less prevalent. Even so, it is a fitting end to a fine series.
Rating: 
Summary: With Love To DNA, This Book Is Mostly Unnecessary
Review: Don't let my 2-star rating for "Mostly Harmless" fool you---I miss Douglas Adams very much. He was a brilliantly funny author, and I'm a huge fan of his first four "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" books, his pair of "Dirk Gently" books, and his writing for the "Doctor Who" TV series. But sadly, I must confess, I'm not a fan of Adams' final "Hitchhiker's" book, "Mostly Harmless." The reason is simple: the fifth book, in my opinion, is totally unnecessary. Adams originally intended for the fourth book, "So Long And Thanks For All The Fish," to be the definitive final book in the "Hitchhiker's" saga. There's a *reason* why the fourth book has a farewell title to it, folks! And, like the three books that came before it, I totally loved it---I read the entire "So Long And Thanks..." book in a single day, and I thought that it was a marvelous "conclusion" to the adventures of Arthur Dent & company.Then along came "Mostly Harmless," which, by Adams' own admission, he only wrote on a whim---just for fun, in other words. He came up with a way to extend the series for one more book, which I'm sure delighted some "Hitchhiker's" fans, but I, personally, was so disappointed with the direction of it. Arthur's ladylove, Fenchurch, is gone, and now it turns out that he & Trillian had a daughter (though not by natural means), and that's just for starters. Oh, Adams' writing is still sharp, but despite a very humourous adventure with Ford Prefect & a companion robot toward the beginning, the fifth book, to my dismay, turns surprisingly serious. What can I say---this is simply not how I wanted the "Hitchhiker's" saga to end.I have on my bookshelf a "complete" hardcover edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" that only goes up through "So Long And Thanks For All The Fish." That's fine with me. To me, "So Long" IS the definitive ending of the series. I just don't feel it was necessary for Douglas Adams to extend the story any further. Don't get me wrong, I greatly mourn the man, and I will always treasure his other works of genius, but "Mostly Harmless," for me, came up short. My advice: read the "Hitchhiker's" series through book four ONLY, and you will get a much more satisfying conclusion. But the misstep that is "Mostly Harmless" takes nothing away from the man's great literary gifts---and great laughs---that he gave us throughout his incredible writing career. So long, Douglas, and thanks for all the fish.
Rating:
Summary: Adams scores again!
Review: Adams aptly named "hitchhiker's trilogy" continues on in this all too short book. The author's focus is on three and a half characters, Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Tricia McMillan....and Arthur and Tricia's daughter Random.
We learn that Arthur is welcomed as a master sandwich maker on a planet similar in make up to Earth. He has also sold his DNA for quick cash to what appears to be the future of sperm banks!
Tricia is Trillian is Tricia.
Ford becomes completely disillusioned due to his employeer selling out to a large corporation. It would appear that even space and time are not safe from capitalism.
Random wants to fit in--and finds solace in Arthur's watch, before she broke it that is...er was.
Everthing, from an Adamsian perspective, is completely normal, as is exemplified by the appearance of the "perfectly normal beasts" that migrate through time and space allowing Arthur to make sandwiches of them after a successful hunt.
As the story shapes and is molded by the storyteller, the one character that is most missed is Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed cosmic leader and pirate. Also, Martin, the manic depressant robot is sorely missed.
It is a shame that Adams is no longer of this Earth to share more about the trials and tribulations of our favorite characters! However, I will re-read this series occassionally as I do my other favorite reads.
Rating:
Summary: The way not to end a terrific series..
Review: "Mostly Harmless" is the last of the "Hitchhiker" books, and I do wish that it wasn't. The ending did tie off a lot of loose ends, but it did the readers a terrible disservice. Frankly, I hope this was a dream concocted by the dolphins of "So Long...". Anyway, Arthur Dent, the Everyman, and Ford Perfect, the flaky Alien, are at it again. Not a lot of humour in this one. Trillian having a daughter by artifical insemination didn't work at all, and this really set up one of the wrost endings I've ever read. Thanks for nothing, Douglas Adams. You are missed, however.
Rating:
Summary: good
Review: *WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!!* I loved all of the books,thought the ending to mostly harmless certainly hurt (when I read books, I imagine them to be alive. In addition, I seem to have developed some sort of curse that makes certain that each and every favourite character I ever decide on will die by the end of the book/series/whatever. So Ford dying in the end certainly didn't help my opinion of this book). A lot of people have brought up questions regarding continuity and loopholes with regards to the ending, and I think that this was intentional - My GUESS, is the Douglas Adams purposely ended the book the way he did to be finished and done with it, but to also give people who couldn't deal with the death a simple way out of having to. I cannot deal with the death ( ;) ) so I am pretending in my mind that Ford and the others simply hitch-hiked their way out of the situation, and continued on their way, while sorting out Fenchurch, Zaphod, Trillian/Tricia, and Random along the way, and, everyone did indeed live happily ever after. It could happen.
Rating:
Summary: 4 Stars - Qualified...
Review: I've had <u>Mostly Harmless</u> on my shelf for many years. I can't remember when I got it, nor could I remember reading it. A couple of weeks ago, I started with <u>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"</u> and read through the series. <U>Mostly Harmless</u> ostensibly the 5th book in the trilogy (this <i>is</i> Douglas Adams, RIP). The book is fast paced...leading you to an ending that closes the series for good (although you could argue that there's certainly an opening after the <u>So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish</u> shenanigans. Anyway, if you've read the other four books in the trilogy, you'll enjoy this last one, until the very end, much like Mr. Adams' life.
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