So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

by Douglas Adams

Paperback

English language

Published Nov. 19, 2009 by Del Rey.

ISBN:: 978-0-345-47996-9

(17 reviews)

Back on Earth with nothing more to show for his long, strange trip through time and space than a ratty towel and a plastic shopping bag, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription, the mysterious disappearance of Earth’s dolphins, and the discovery of his battered copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy all conspire to give Arthur the sneaking suspicion that something otherworldly is indeed going on.

God only knows what it all means. Fortunately, He left behind a Final Message of explanation. But since it’s light-years away from Earth, on a star surrounded by souvenir booths, finding out what it is will mean hitching a ride to the far reaches of space aboard a UFO with a giant robot. But what else is new? Source: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/667/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish-by-douglas-adams/9780345479969/

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 …