The novel “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe” by Douglas Adams was published for the first time in 1980. It’s the second novel of a so-called trilogy of five books and follows “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy“.

Zaphod Beeblebrox is carrying Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect and Trillian at the restaurant at the end of the universe when the starship Heart of Gold is attacked by a Vogon starship. Unfortunately, Arthur’s attempt to have a cup of tea is using with all the onboard computer’s power so they can’t use the infinite improbability drive.

Zaphod can only summon his dead ancestors and Zaphod Beeblebrox the Fourth saves them. Zaphod finds himself in the offices of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” on Ursa Minor Beta, where he finds the android Marvin. Together, they look for Zarniwoop and thanks to him they can finally meet the other travelers and go to dinner at the restaurant at the end of the universe.

“The Restaurant at the End of the Universe” is the second adaptation of the radio series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”: the first novel covers the first four episodes, the second covers the other eight and starts where the previous one ended. The radio play was adapted in literary format having since the beginning the intention of creating a series so to enjoy it the best way you need to read them in the correct order.

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe” are nearly the same length and this suggests how much the second part of the story has been summarized. Some episodes were heavily cut and some of the characters from the radio drama were left out from the novel.

Normally, such a restructuring affects a plot with the risk to make the book unreadable but we’re talking about a novel definitely out of the ordinary. The story told in “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe” is surreal and often demented so the sudden jumps from one event to another and a few plot holes pose no significant damage. Of course, if you want to know the full story you need to get its radio version.

In “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe”, Douglas Adams continues the adventures of the characters introduced in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” also by developing the elements of its backstory. In one of the introductions, the author reminds us that the Earth was a computer that was designed to find the Question to the Ultimate Answer of Life, the Universe and Everything. Unfortunately, the Vogon had demolished the planet before the question could be found and only two humans survived.

Between the various exhilarating sketches, in “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe” there are more philosophical elements. When Zaphod is subjected to the terrible torture of the Total Perspective Vortex, Douglas Adams speaks of the Oglaroonians, “intelligent” beings living on a single nut tree explaining that those who leave the tree were expelled because they dared to wonder if some other trees could harbor life or if the other trees were more than hallucinations.

If for some readers the metaphor shouldn’t be clear, Douglas Adams explains that all life forms in the Galaxy have been guilty of the same error in one way or another. The Total Perspective Vortex gives for an instant an overview of the whole of creation with a very small sign that says “You are here”. This is the reason why the Vortex is unbearable.

This piece of “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe” is particularly significant because it includes the core of the philosophy of the Guide series. The universe is immense, occasionally on a planet life forms are born that can reach a certain level of intelligence, but that’s an accident.

Zaphod is also involved in the Zarniwoop’s mission to find out who really rules the universe. It’s another element of the novel that mixes craziness, wit and philosophy in Douglas Adams style.

The plot of “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe” is quite chaotic but perhaps also for this reason someone consider it even better than the first Guide novel. I struggle to separate the two novels because they form one extraordinary story whose fame extends well beyond science fiction. For this reason, this is one of those cases where you really need to read both novels though the best thing is to read the entire series.