Mostly Harmless

And now one of the shoes was gone. He threw his head back and stared at the sky.

It wouldn’t be such a grim tragedy if the planet in question hadn’t been demolished, which meant that he wouldn’t even be able to get another pair.

Yes, given the infinite sideways extension of probability there was, of course, an almost infinite multiplicity of planets Earth, but, when you came down to it, a major pair of shoes wasn’t something you could just replace by mucking about in multi- dimensional space/time.

Waaaay back in the day I read the first three books in the Hitchhikers Guide series but this another book in the Hitchhiker's Guide extended universe. It follows alternate Ford Prefect, Arthur and Trillian (who live in a slightly different reality thanks to the "multiverse"). Arthur and Trillian have a daughter (named "Random") sans sex because Arthur, desperate for cash, is a frequent sperm donor and just happens to be the only, yet anonymous, donor compatible when Trillian decides to have a kid. Some new company has bought the Hitchhiker's Guide and Ford is not happy, runs amok and steals the new much improved, wholly unique Hitchhiker's Guide V2. Arthur is just looking for a place to be and winds up as a sandwich chef (the only sandwich chef) on a backwater planet. A whole series of improbable coincidences leads all of them to a alternative, existent version of Earth. .... and they live happily ever after(?).

Whatever, Mr Adams got a another book published… it’s a living. And I read a short, pleasant but fairly meaningless installment.

• The history of the Galaxy has got a little muddled, for a number of reasons: partly because those who are trying to keep track of it have got a little muddled, but also because some very muddling things have been happening anyway.