The front cover of the US first hardcover edition of Mostly Harmless.

Mostly Harmless (1992, ISBN 0345418778) is a novel by Douglas Adams, the fifth and final book of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. It is described on the cover of the first editions as the "Fifth book in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhikers trilogy". Image File history File links Scan of the front cover of the US first hardcover edition of Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams. ... Image File history File links Scan of the front cover of the US first hardcover edition of Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe; title page of 1719 newspaper edition A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... Douglas Noël Adams (March 11, 1952 – May 11, 2001) was a cult British comic radio dramatist, amateur musician and author, most notably of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series (HHGG or H2G2). ... The cover of the first novel in the Hitchhikers series, from a late 1990s printing. ...

Title

The title comes from a joke early in the series, when Arthur Dent discovers that the entry for Earth in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy consists, in its entirety, of the single word "Harmless". His friend Ford Prefect, a contributor to the Guide, assures him that the next edition will contain the article on Earth that Ford has spent the last few years researching—somewhat cut due to space restrictions, but still an improvement. The revised article, he eventually admits, will read "Mostly harmless." Simon Jones as an upset Arthur Dent, watching his home being demolished in the first episode of the BBC TV series. ... Earth (often referred to as The Earth) is the third planet in the solar system in terms of distance from the Sun, and the fifth in order of size. ... Ford Prefect is a fictional character in the radio series (and subsequent books, television series, and so on) The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. ...

(The above scene was filmed for the 2005 motion picture adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but was cut before the movie's release, rendering Mostly Harmless the only novel in the Hitchhiker's series not referenced by name in the film. The scene is available under "Deleted Scenes" on the film's DVD.) The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a science-fiction comedy film based on the book of the same name by Douglas Adams. ...

Plot

Mostly Harmless picks up the story of Arthur Dent some time after the events in So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish. Fenchurch, Arthur's love interest in the previous book, does not appear since she has completely disappeared from the face of the universe, a hyperspace travel casualty. Zaphod Beeblebrox, already absent from the last book, does not appear either. So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish (1984, ISBN 0345391837) is the fourth book of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series written by Douglas Adams. ... Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, from the TV adaptation. ...

The plot revolves around the concept of parallel universes (though according to the novel, they're not really parallel universes at all but only a model to capture the continuity of space, time and probability) and the introduction of a new, sentient version of the Hitchhiker's Guide which can perceive, and act upon, all possible universes at once. Ford steals The Guide from his old office, which is in turn stolen from Ford by Arthur's newly-introduced, schizophrenic biological daughter Random, and brought to a doomed Earth — to which Arthur and Ford go in pursuit. Parallel universe (fiction) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

The book ends as the first book began, with the Earth being blown to bits. "For good", this time — in addition, all other possible versions of Earth are destroyed, and The Guide dies. As Arthur, Ford and most of the principal characters were on Earth, they all die as well. The book finally fulfils the promise made at the very start of the series that the fates of Arthur and the Guide are intertwined.

Adams on Mostly Harmless

In an interview reprinted in The Salmon of Doubt, Adams expressed dissatisfaction with the "rather bleak" tone of this book, and said that he "would love to end Hitchhiker on a slightly more upbeat note" by writing a sixth installment in the series. He blames personal problems, saying "for all sorts of personal reasons I don't want to go into, I just had a thoroughly miserable year, and I was trying to write a book against that background. And, guess what, it was a rather bleak book!" Nonetheless, the story does a good job of tying together most of the plot elements introduced in the previous novels, in a typically quirky fashion. The front cover of the UK first hardcover edition of The Salmon of Doubt. ...

Being the fifth book in a trilogy, and Adams wanting to write a sixth one, it wasn't entirely granite that this was the concluding book in the series, until his death (due to a heart attack) on May 11, 2001 made it so. A trilogy is a set of three works of art, usually literature or film, that develop a single theme over three works. ... May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (132nd in leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Although the complete destruction of every version of the Earth in every possible timeline, along with the death of nearly all the regular characters would seem to make a continuation extremely unlikely, Adams had remarked that the afterlife-enhanced state of the regulars merely meant he would not have to waste time at the beginning of the next book gathering them together or explaining what they'd been up to in the intervening period.

Radio

Dirk Maggs adapted the book as the "Quintessential Phase" of the radio series, and it was broadcast in June 2005. The radio version has an entirely new, upbeat ending, appended to the existing story. Dirk Maggs is a freelance writer and director working across all media. ... The terms Tertiary Phase, Quandary Phase and Quintessential Phase describe the radio adaptations of the books Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish and Mostly Harmless recorded in 2003 and 2004 by Above the Title Productions for BBC Radio 4. ...

In the alternate ending, after the destruction of Earth, the description of the Babel fish from the earlier series is replayed with an additional section, which states that dolphins and Babel fish are related, and that the dolphins' ability to travel through possibility space (first mentioned in So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish) is shared by the Babel fish as well. All the major characters are carrying Babel fish in their ears, which rescue them at the moment of Earth's destruction by transporting them to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. The characters are reunited with Marvin, and it is revealed that beyond the Restaurant (and beyond the car park in which Marvin works) lies an endless series of blue lagoons - the final destination of the dolphins. The series ends with Arthur asking, "Fly with me, Fenchurch?", and her reply, "Always." Earth (often referred to as The Earth) is the third planet in the solar system in terms of distance from the Sun, and the fifth in order of size. ... Anatomy of a babel fish as explained in the BBC TV series. ... Genera See article below. ... Anatomy of a babel fish as explained in the BBC TV series. ... Genera See article below. ... So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish (1984, ISBN 0345391837) is the fourth book of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series written by Douglas Adams. ... Anatomy of a babel fish as explained in the BBC TV series. ... Anatomy of a babel fish as explained in the BBC TV series. ... Genera See article below. ...

The version released on CD contains an even longer set of alternate endings, including one set after the events of the twelfth radio episode (with Arthur Dent and Lintilla), and on an alternate Earth where Arthur Dent and Fenchurch engage in a stand-off against Mr Prosser, together.

	The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy By Douglas Adams
Books:	The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | The Restaurant at the End of the Universe | Life, the Universe and Everything | So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish | Mostly Harmless | Young Zaphod Plays it Safe | The Original Radio Scripts
Media:	Radio series (Phases 1 & 2, Phases 3, 4 & 5) | TV series | Movie | Computer game
Characters:	Arthur Dent | Ford Prefect | Zaphod Beeblebrox | Marvin | Trillian | Minor characters
Miscellanea:	Races and species | Places | The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything | Babel fish | Bistromathic drive | Cultural references | Heart of Gold | Infinidim Enterprises | Infinite Improbability Drive | International Phenomenon | Notable phrases | Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster | Point-of-view gun | Somebody Else's Problem field | Sirius Cybernetics Corporation | Starship Titanic | Total Perspective Vortex | Vogon poetry | Wikkit Gate | Other miscellanea