8 books to read if you love Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Indian Express

2 days ago

Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a masterpiece of absurdist sci-fi, blending cosmic existentialism with sheer, unbridled silliness. Originally conceived as a radio series for BBC Radio 4, it was later published as a series of novels. The book follows the adventures and misadventures of the last surviving Earth man, Arthur Dent, following the demolition of the Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is the first in the series and has a huge following across the globe. Besides the original radio series and the novels, the sci-fi series has been adapted for TV, theatre cinema, and even a comic book.
If you've finished the series and crave more, here are eight books that will scratch that itch:
Imagine Hitchhiker's Guide meets Eurovision (an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union), if losing meant the annihilation of Earth. This novel follows Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes, a washed-up glam-rock band, as they compete in an intergalactic singing contest to prove humanity's sentience. Valente's prose is flamboyant, hilarious, and surprisingly poignant, packed with bizarre alien cultures and biting satire. The book's central thesis— life is beautiful and life is stupid'—could easily be Adams' own. If you love cosmic absurdity with heart, this is a must-read.
Based on the cult British sci-fi series, this novel follows the last human in existence (a slob named Lister), his hologram roommate (the endlessly sarcastic Rimmer), a neurotic android, and a creature evolved from Lister's cat. Stranded on the mining ship Red Dwarf, they bumble through time paradoxes, sentient vending machines, and petty arguments about curry. The humour is quintessentially British: dry, absurd, and packed with existential dread. If you love Hitchhiker's blend of sci-fi, this is your next read.
This book is Hitchhiker's meets Lovecraftian horror, if Arthur Dent stumbled into a dimension-hopping drug trip. The story follows Dave and John, two slackers who gain the ability to perceive alternate realities after taking a mysterious substance called Soy Sauce. What follows is a chaotic mix of time loops, meat monsters, and existential horror, all delivered with deadpan humour. Wong's writing is as unpredictable as Adams', blending the ridiculous with the profound. If you enjoyed the weirder, darker corners of Hitchhiker's, this is a wild ride.
It isn't fiction, but Munroe's book matches Hitchhiker's energy. The creator of xkcd, a serial webcomic created in 2005, applies rigorous science to questions such as: what if you tried to hit a baseball at near-light speed or could you build a jetpack using machine guns. The answers are hilarious, hyper-literal, and often terrifying. If you loved the Guide's footnotes and pseudo-scientific tangents, this is the perfect nonfiction companion.
If you haven't read Adams' other great series, you're missing out. Dirk Gently swaps space for time travel, ghosts, and a detective who believes in the 'fundamental interconnectedness of all things.' The plot involves an electric monk (a device resembling a human being and created for the purpose of believing things), a time-traveling professor, and a sofa stuck in a staircase. It is just as witty and bizarre as Hitchhiker's. Essential reading for Adams fans.
This genre-bending novel is set in a post-apocalyptic world where reality itself has been warped by 'Go Away Bombs', weapons that erase things from existence. The narrator, a martial artist and former government operative, recounts his life in a world where unwritten things can suddenly manifest. Harkaway's writing is dense, philosophical, and laugh-out-loud funny, with Adams-esque tangents and a deeply weird sense of humor. If you like sci-fi that's both smart and ridiculous, this is a gem.
If you've only read Hitchhiker's Guide (Book 1), stop everything and read this sequel. The novel doubles down on the absurdity, featuring a five-star eatery at the literal end of time, the worst poet in the universe, and the revelation that Earth was actually a supercomputer designed to find the Ultimate Question. Marvin the Paranoid Android gets even more hilariously depressed, and Zaphod's ego reaches new heights. It's peak Adams, irreverent, clever, and endlessly quotable.
Other books you could check out include, The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, All Systems Red by Martha Wells and Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor.