In the first in his ‘trilogy of five’, Douglas Adams introduces us Earthbound readers to Zaphod Beeblebrox, the Babel fish, Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters and Marvin the Paranoid Android.
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‘A wonderful and exhilarating ride’
Terry Jones
The earth is about to be demolished by the Vogons to make way for a new hyperspatial express route. Luckily for Arthur Dent, his friend Ford Prefect turns out to be an alien from Betelgeuse and ‘a roving researcher for that wholly remarkable book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. Seconds before the planet is vaporised, Arthur and Ford escape by hitching a lift on the flagship of Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz ...
Douglas Adams brilliantly combines science fiction with the finest tradition of English humour. In this, the first of his ‘trilogy of five’, he introduces Earthbound readers to Zaphod Beeblebrox, Marvin the Paranoid Android, Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters, the Babel fish and the stolen Heart of Gold starship. Ford knows how to see the Marvels of the Universe for less than 30 Altairian dollars a day, and is overjoyed to be back on the road. Arthur takes a different view. Cut adrift in a strange universe, his planet a smoking ruin, he frequently has to be reminded of the friendly advice inscribed on the cover of his new guidebook: DON’T PANIC.
PRODUCTION DETAILS
Bound in blocked glittered cloth
Set in Sabon
192 pages
Frontispiece and 7 colour illustrations
Plain slipcase
9˝ × 5¾˝
A COMEDIC PAN-GALACTIC ODYSSEY
‘Inspired lunacy that leaves hardly a science-fiction cliché alive.’
Washington Post
An international best-seller and a comedic triumph, this pan-Galactic odyssey reveals its author’s erudition on all topics relating to Life, the Universe and Everything. It has appeared in film, radio and television adaptations all over the world – and possibly beyond. This Folio Society edition is introduced by Terry Jones, a friend of Adams and fellow traveller in the universe of surreal comedy.
Jonathan Burton has worked as an illustrator since 1999, after graduating with an MA from Kingston University, London. He has been awarded two silver medals from the Society of Illustration in New York, two Awards of Excellence from Communication Arts, and has received the Overall Professional Award for 2013 from the Association of Illustrators. For The Folio Society he has also illustrated Cover Her Face by P. D. James, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, the full 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series by George R. R. Martin and the entire Hitchhiker's series along with an extraordinary limited edition of Adams’s comedic space odyssey. Most recently, he illustrated the Folio edition of The Enchanted Wood (2023) and The Magic Faraway Tree (2024). Jonathan lives in Bordeaux, France.
Reviews Powered By
Average Score for 132 Review(s)
Beautiful book
Review by
LAURA CRUM
on 2nd February 2025
Terrific. I wish I could afford the limited edition
Review by
Marcel Berkhout
on 11th August 2024
Was a gift for an avid sci-fi fan who was delighted. High quality book with a few lovely illustrations.
Review by
Daniel Budd
on 6th July 2024
Great colour scheme and sparkles
Review by
Will Jacks
on 23rd March 2024
As written in my overall review, the series of this books differ in appearance, and while each book is fine as a standalone, they look silly as a series since they are differently produced: Cover more or less shiny, slipcases square or curved and different height). No information about this beforehand, and definitely not what I expected. I wouldn't have bought them or at least not at this time if I had known this, and I still don't get it, since it's all about beautiful appearance at Folio Society. Which was also the reason for chosing them. Now it looks like 4+1 books.
In the fourth volume of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, Arthur Dent finds a whole new set of mind-boggling mysteries to deal with when planet Earth appears not to have been destroyed after all.
If aliens were watching us, what would their favourite TV show be? What’s next for that unique publishing phenomenon, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? And how do you make the perfect sandwich? These and other unlikely questions are answered in the final volume of Adams’s universe-spanning odyssey.
Comparing Adams’s work to that of Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Stoppard and even Jonathan Swift, science-fiction writer Adam Roberts describes this novel as ‘that rare thing: a sequel that surpasses its original’.
