This is part five of a five-part review spanning “The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide,” by Douglas Adams.

Mostly Harmless is not only the name of the final book of the Hitchhiker’s Series; it’s also the Guide’s two-word entry about the planet Earth. While we humans think that we are the most advanced creatures in the universe, in reality, there are other species out there far more intelligent than ourselves. In fact, Earth is so ignorant of other life forms in the galaxy that the destruction of our planet could have been prevented if we had lodged a complaint on Alpha Centauri (our planning department is only four light-years away). But alas, for we humans are simple creatures, too involved with our digital watches.

My favorite newly-introduced character in this book is Colin, an infinitely happy melon-sized security robot. Ford returns to the Guide headquarters, and has to break into the building of his own job. This is because if he entered through the main lobby, patrolling robots would ask him about his expense accounts. Ford doesn’t exactly have the cleanest buying records, and instead enters via the ventilation system to avoid questioning. Upon meeting a security robot, Ford captures it with his towel and reconnects a chip so that the robot is always happy. Now Colin, Ford’s name for the overjoyed robot, finds joy in everything: ‘“I like everything,” moaned the robot. “Especially when you shout at me like that. Do it again, please.”’ Colin is constantly bobbing, quivering, and swooning with delight. He actually ends up being a great help to Ford when he makes the security droids in the surrounding area content so that Ford can pass by unnoticed.

Arthur plays an interesting role in Mostly Harmless. After his love interest, Fenchurch, disappeared during hyperspace travel, Arthur begins searching the galaxy for meaning, going from planet to planet. He finally finds the remote, non-technological planet called Lamuella, and makes himself a sandwich. The natives view him as a celebrity for his sandwich-making prowess. This is an excerpt from the chapter about the Sandwich Maker:

“The chief among the knives, of course, was the carving knife. This was the knife that would not nearly impose its will on the medium through which it moved, as did the bread knife. It must work with it, be guided by the grain of the meat, to achieve slices of the most exquisite consistency and translucency, that would slide away in filmy folds from the main hunk of meat.”

This goes on for more than a page afterwards, and shows how Adams can find humor and imagination in the most simplest of actions.

The ending for Mostly Harmless was a bit of a disappointment for me. In the end, the Earth is again blown to bits – for good, this time – and all other versions of the Earth are destroyed as well. The Vogons end up successful in their attempts to clear Earth to make way for a hyperpass route. I think that Adams could have finished the book in a much more enjoyable way. Instead of having the world blown up, Arthur and his friends could continue on their journeys. Obviously it wouldn’t be right to describe the real answer to the Ultimate Question, but Adams could give some more hints. By having an ending where things don’t really end, readers can be satisfied knowing that the main characters live on longer.