Raiyan Siddiqui
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams isn’t actually a guide to the galaxy, though it mentions and glorifies the original fictitious book of the same name (published in Ursa Minor) more times than needed. No, in fact, it’s a story, a story about how one fine morning Arthur Dent woke up to find both his house and the Earth get demolished to build way for an intercity and a hyperspace bypass respectively. With a little help from a close friend and his copy of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, an incredibly confused Arthur begins his journey in a vast and unfamiliar galaxy. Douglas Adams’ reader-friendly writing style and a truly interesting take on what a unified galactic nation would look like (of which an ape-descendant mankind is oblivious to), is one of the most satisfying reads I have had in a while. Filled with robots with human-like personalities (minus the misconception of them being humans), small fishes whose function is to translate every galactic tongue into a language legible to you, and alien poetry which almost literally blows your mind, this book is bound to keep you engaged till the end. Just the prologue is enough to get you hooked. Oh, and it’s the first in a series of six books, too. So, strap in if you are hungry for more, because the next stop is The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.