So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Book 4

by Douglas Adams

208 pages

English language

Published Nov. 19, 2020 by Pan Macmillan.

ISBN:: 978-1-5290-3455-4

View on OpenLibrary

(17 reviews)

Preceded by: [Life, the Universe and Everything][1]

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is the fourth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy" written by Douglas Adams. Its title is the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, as described in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Followed by: [Mostly Harmless][3]

Also contained in:

[The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts][4]
[The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide][5]
Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[1]: openlibrary.org/works/OL2163716W [2]: www.douglasadams.com/creations/0671745530.html [3]: openlibrary.org/works/OL2163718W [4]: openlibrary.org/works/OL2163692W [5]: openlibrary.org/works/OL2163713W

Preceded by: [Life, the Universe and Everything][1]

Followed by: [Mostly Harmless][3]

Also contained in:

[The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts][4]
[The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide][5]
Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

47 editions

Paul reviewed So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams

Review of 'So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I did feel, with Life, the Universe and Everything, that the series was starting to lose it's way somewhat. With this book, though, Adams gets solidly back on track.

It's very different to what has gone before, and this is very much to the book's advantage. Arthur is more of a character this time around and there's visible plot.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is still very much a Hitchhiker's book, but it also demonstrates the value in a series taking the occasional left turn.

Sean Randall reviewed So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams

Review of 'So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is my absolute favourite of the series, though several strands from the final installment penned by Adams remain clear in my mind. Here, the action is muted and the space travel pretty thin on the ground, and yet Arthur in love, the Earth, the speaking clock and God's final message to creation all fit together so perfectly that despite the detractors I hold this one very close to my heart.

Chapter 2 is delightful. 10, enspired. 11 through 15, superlative. 16 foreshadowing, 17 predictable, 24 and 26 magical, 34 downright funny and 40 a brilliant ending. Ruined a little, yes, I concede, by the epilogue.

The authorial intrusions are a little too invasive and sharp, I grant you, yet Adams being crunched into producing by deadline is bound to have a few consequences. The humour is different, too, but for some reason I can't quite articulate this book simply …