Funny, but well below Douglas Adams's level

It was a good read. A story taken straight out of a footnote in one of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books, the demise of the Starship Titanic.

The book is very tongue in cheek and had its good bits, just don't expect it to be of the same caliber as even the worst of the Hitchhiker's books. I'm not sorry I read it, but if you're not a huge fan of Douglas Adams and his work, you'll probably be very underwhelmed.

(2.5) Fun concept, not Terry-bly well written

Terry Jones is no novelist, but the storyline plane that is one of the pillars of great Adams writing is still present (others being satire and witty wording/dialogue), and delights despite the nonstop narrative in place of dialogue/inner monologue. Maybe the game makes more sense now? (I never made any headway whatsoever—must’ve needed to work on that second class upgrade first...)

[pre-reading:] Played the computer game based on this (or I guess the other way around) a long, long time ago. As I recall, I failed to make any appreciable progress whatsoever. Was that the joke? Maybe this novel will shed some light on what we were supposed to do... :)

In his introduction, Douglas Adams explains how‘Starship Titanic’ came about as a result of a throwaway line in the HHGG. Much later, when writing a videogame around the premise of a titanic starship that disappeared, his publishers wanted a novel to coincide with the game’s release. Adams didn’t have the time so ex-Python Terry Jones was asked to do it instead. Okay, I’ll be charitable and assume some of the plot holes were due to the novel’s structure having to run parallel to a videogame, but that still doesn’t excuse the embarrassingly childish SF, the irritating characters, or the juvenile humour. Worse still, open the book at a random page and you’ll see lines of dialogue ending in exclamation marks. It’s like everyone is shrieking all the time. Maybe it’s just me but ye gods those exclamation marks were annoying, especially when they were married to the previously mentioned weaknesses. If the book had been a physical copy rather than an ebook I’d have drop-kicked it into the nearest bin.

I didn't have a particularly good memory of Starship Titanic. I'd originally read it back at the height of my Douglas Adams obsession as a late teenager; I was fastidious about grabbing everything I could with Adams's name on it. I was leery that this wasn't written by Adams himself, even though I loved Monty Python as much as DA--Terry Jones being a part of a brilliant sketch comedy troupe didn't mean he could write a novel.

That said, I also didn't have much memory of Starship Titanic at all. I mostly confused it with the Futurama spin on the Titanic. Which is to say, coming into this reread, I was mostly expecting a not-funny, predictable Titanic-in-space, Futurama-did-it-better novel.

That's not what Starship Titanic is.

Back in 1998 the Starship Titanic video game released. A point-and-click adventure that Douglas Adams scripted (which means it's funny and, not coincidentally, utterly impossible). They (the publishers) wanted a book to release at the same time but, unsurprisingly, Adams decided he was much too busy to be able to. Enter, Terry Jones.

The best part of Starship Titanic is the introduction, which Adams did write. He gives the wholly optimistic opinion that Jones does a much better job than he himself could have. On the one hand, this is utter bollocks. On the other hand, Adams's inability to meet deadlines likely meant that he would have never been able to finish Starship Titanic, even had he agreed. So because Adams pawned the job off on someone else, we have a book that otherwise would not exist.

Even knowing that comparing Starship Titanic to a book Adams never wrote is a fool's game doesn't make it not an easy comparison to make. Many of Jones' high points feel like echoes of jokes or ideas Adams already did better in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Even the core idea of Earthmen somehow getting whisked into space--albeit under different circumstances--is a close kindred spirit to Adams's classic.

On its own terms, Starship Titanic is amusing (if ridiculously messy). Moreso than I was expecting. The characters are endearing (although shallow). Aside from a few dragging opening chapters, once our main characters are on the ship, the plot advances at a brisk pace. It's utterly disposable, yet maintains enough "oomph" to be pleasing enough.

And as much as it feels like Jones is trying to ape Adams's writing style (no one can match it), the fact that he doesn't totally embarrass himself is kind of impressive. It feels like he put working into giving Douglas Adams fans something they could enjoy. That (another fool's errand) was impossible, of course, and I doubt many people were too happy upon release (Adams fans--especially back then--were hardcore and fervent). But the reality of their reaction is moot; it feels like Jones put a lot of care into the words he used.

Of course, a surprisingly capable Jones is still pretty iffy. But it's better than expected iffy. It's endearing in its iffiness. It's a novel just strong enough that, reading it now without the towering, fanatical Douglas Adams fandom ready to pounce, it feels like a novel that has been treated a bit unfairly. Seems like the kind of thing that one-time Adams devotees could return to now and find value in.

Hittade den i en bokbytarhylla.. den höll ju inte Liftarens-guideklass alls, men skulle kunnat vara refuserade delar ur serien slarvigt ihopbundet till en berättelse. Kul med absurda grejer, kul med Liftarens guide-känslan men inte en bok jag skulle rekommendera någon annan.

Love the humor and it's amazing how everything just feels it could be nowadays. Love the characters and the crazy thoughts that sound so logic!

A funny spinoff from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Similar in style to Hitchhiker but different enough to be it's own thing. Douglas Adams may be associated with this book (based on a game he created) but this was written by Terry Jones. I actually think he does a pretty good job.

Is it the funniest book I've ever read? No. But I did chuckle a few times and never found my mind wandering. I'm a fan of Adams but sometimes he had a tendency to try and be as absurd as possible, which was sometimes funny but sometimes less so. Jones' style is more coherent - it just tries to tell a story and be funny without trying to be "clever" all time. And to be fair, it succeeds.

If you are after a Hitchhiker clone, you may be disappointed but if you are after a simple read, a sci fi, a light hearted comedy - then give it a go.

Based on a Douglas Adams book, written / directed by the great Terry Jones and narrated by the silver tones of Bill Nighey. Alexa please bring all my favourite things together.
A funny and entertaining listen

Significantly better than it’s been made out to be. It has a charm that’s it’s own - I’m glad I came around and read this one.

(Spoilers) An intriguing storyline with good characters

Overall, I really liked this book and may read it again. I would also absolutely watch the movie if one ever came about. The characters were decently developed and the storyline was both interesting and fit the style of A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy rather well. I loved the description of the different planets and how the ship basically turned into a character itself. My only complaint is that the ending seemed rather rushed. Maybe the digital version is missing a page but at one point the characters were standing on Earth and then in the next sentence they were suddenly back on the ship and had fixed everything. There was absolutely no transition between the two situations. Keep in mind, I'm very stingy with my star ratings. 5 stars are reserved for my absolute favorite books that I have read dozens of times, 4 stars is for books that leave me with some sort of strong emotion and make you have to take a break after, and 3 stars is for books that are great reads and ones I would recommend to people but I may just not read them again.

3.5 stars rounded down, just don’t like it as much as other books I have given 4 stars to. Weird book but was entertaining, made me laugh a few times. By the end of the book I got more into the writing style which made the book go a bit faster.