Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1984

Yeah, Hitchhiker's Guide was pressed on me by a friend, and I read it out of loyalty.

Voted for Munif, by the way.

So Long ... is a much, much better book than HHGTG imo and demonstrates he really could write

So Long is the worst book is worst book of the 5-book trilogy, or at least the one that fans of the series like the least. It's mostly a romcom, with one sci-fi-y thing in the final chapter.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

re-read neuromancer a few years ago, and while i did not and would never vote for it, it holds up much better than a 40yo book of its type has any right to

The sky above the port was the colour of ilx, tuned to a dead thread

Camaraderie, I am heartened to find out you actually consider Life, The Universe & Everything to be the best Douglas Adams, as I had taken yr previous declaration that the 4th book is the best to be referring to Mostly Harmless, which I really couldn't justify on any level.

My impression (mostly second-hand, since I've read so little of him) is that Adams wasn't really a writer, rather an inventor of whimsical notions. Alasdair Beckett-King is a current example. It must be an English thing. I don't feel strongly about any of this, just a kind of puzzled wonder at Adams's recurring appearance on these lists.

Well, I also include stuff like, say, Jackie Collins or Ian Fleming in these - Adams is a more constant presence than those two were purely because he always gets votes. While the area he influenced - comedy sci-fi- may be somewhat niche, I think his influence on it is enormous (and mostly bad, you could say); like there's a whole cottage industry of Adams rip-offs that you can purchase. Stephen King is an example of someone whose shtick is pretty easy to dismiss too and I make sure to include his stuff every year.

No, I really did mean that Mostly Harmless is the best book.

hold on sorry no

So Long ... is the best, Mostly Harmless is awful

So Long is the worst book is worst book of the 5-book trilogy, or at least the one that fans of the series like the least. It's mostly a romcom, with one sci-fi-y thing in the final chapter

SLATFATF is a rom-com only in that it concerns a romantic relationship, and is sometimes funny. typical that a certain kind of fan would turn their noses up at that.

Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1985

daniel_rf, feel heartened that i often do think that life, the universe, and everything is the best adams

The Boys on the Rock is sad and beautiful (and hot)

Seconded. I read it years ago, and the final pages haunt me still.