The rest of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books by Douglas Adams

I enjoyed the first book so much that I decided to just read all the rest all at once because they're so short and fun. Unfortunately, there are very few series that can actually sustain their quality, and this is definitely not one of them. None of the books were as good as the first, but the first three (The Hitchhiker's Guide, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and Life, the Universe and Everything) were all pretty good. The last two books (So Long and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless) were really bad, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish was a complete disaster. It features possibly the worst love story I have ever read (a young girl falls in love with an almost 40-year-old man who won't stop hitting on her after seeing her unconscious in her brother's car while hitchhiking, sounds like a really healthy relationship). Mostly Harmless at least has Ford Prefect's hilarious interactions with his employers, which involve him hacking their computer systems, entering his office building through the ventilation shafts to avoid discussing his expenses, and dodging gunfire in his boss's office. I really enjoyed Adams' humour for the most part, what I really love is his unabashed use of deus ex machina to propel the plot forwards if it shows any sign of getting stuck. This is part of the reason I didn't like the last two books, they seemed to actually have a plot and take themselves too seriously. The thing I really enjoy about these books is the sheer chaos of everything just happening in a bewildering rush of outrageous and ridiculous events. I didn't really get a sense of any of the characters, but characters in comedy usually aren't memorable, and as long as the madcap momentum of the plot is sustained, it's a great ride. But once things slow down, these books tend to really drag. Basically, this should just have been left as a trilogy, rather than extended to a further two pointless books.