One morning, Arthur Dent wakes to find that his house is at risk for being demolished. But that turns out to be the least of his worries when his friend, Ford Prefect, comes along and tells him the Earth is going to be destroyed by aliens. Luckily, Ford, who is also an alien, is an expert hitchhiker and is able to stow them away on one of the alien spacecrafts. Thus begins the series of adventures of Ford and Arthur that takes them to different worlds light-years away.

If you’re interested in reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy I recommend purchasing the complete collection, which includes The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe and Everything; Mostly Harmless; and So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish. The reason I say this is because I do not think the stories would be as good standing alone. In fact, for me, the trickiest part about Adams’s writing was it never seemed like he was going to complete a story before it ended. Several events throughout the story would be left open only to be resolved within the last few pages of the book. While that may be frustrating to some, it made me like each book even more because some of the events would be mentioned in the beginning, dropped completely and then brought up again and help make other events in the book make more sense. Each book builds off one another, addressing situations that may have been quickly touched on in the previous book and giving it its own story.

Adams’s writing is straightforward and easy to read. He doesn’t make the reader work for the story, which to me makes it more entertaining and a good book to relax with. Although the complete collection is well over 800 pages, it should not take long to read through and leave you wanting more.