Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic

Customer Reviews

• Very funny in places, but weak  Aug 19, 2004 (15 of 16 found this helpful)

  Starship Titanic is an entertaining book, with a wit and humor on par with Douglas Adams' books. That's pretty much where the similarity ends, however - lovers of Adams will notice the lack of good tech jokes, and my favorite Adams technique, the "puzzle-piece-plot-device", which is when odd and insignificant events are later explained as being cataclysmic. There are also numerous sexually explicit situations in the book, which, while quite amusing, are definitely not Adams material.
  Because Starship Titanic is not an Adams book, I believe it should not be judged as such. As a result, the four stars this book deserves are not due to difference in writing styles, but to general lack of anything interesting -- while very funny in places, the plot is predictable and linear. The book also introduces characters that, while frequently discussed, are never really elaborated upon (Nigel and Titania come to mind).
  Read Starship Titanic if you like good Pythonesque humor, but don't expect to find anything in the caliber of the Hitchhiker's Guide.

• Wow, what a disappointment.  Sep 22, 1999 (12 of 13 found this helpful)

  I'm so bummed. I thought that this would be a really great book, well within the spirit and method of Douglas Adams. What a crushing disappointment. The dialog is wooden, the characters shallow, hopeless caricatures of themselves, there's no motivation for their actions, and the writing reads like a parody of Douglas Adams. I'm only halfway through, and I don't find the book engaging, interesting, or even vaguely engaging. I must admit that I've read nothing by Terry Jones in the past, but I am a huge fan of Douglas Adams, and have read all of his books several times. For those that might be interesting in purchasing this, I discourage you from doing so. It is, in my mind, the only flaw in the writings of Douglas Adams. Although he did not write it, he certainly had a hand in it. I'm left wondering: What was he thinking?

• Actually rather bad...  May 14, 1998 (11 of 13 found this helpful)

  After hassling my bookstore for three days (a while ago), I got my hands on the book and read it in one go. Not because is was very good, but because I was waiting for the fun to start, which never really did. I finished the book, tossed it in a corner (far away from my other, loved, DNA stuff) where it'll probably stay for the rest of its sorry life. I felt somewhat had, because I had bought a book which sole purpose was to sell a lot of books (DNA fans will buy anything he puts his name on) and a lot of computergames. It has it's funny moments, but the way in which the very simple story is told is shallow and never makes one wish it was longer. One of the biggest mistakes is the title: It's just extremely tacky and lacks every kind of creativity. Anyone could come up with a title like that. Just not a good book.

  Douglas (if you read this, as you should): Move somewhere really remote, bring your laptop with only a word processor installed and start working!

• wildely creative  Jun 10, 2001 (7 of 8 found this helpful)

  Douglas Adams and Terry Jones are among the most humourous authors out there. From the beginning to the end this book is both funny and it does keep you on the edge of your seat. Turning the page in this book is like turning a corner, you find something new each time.

  Although some parts in the book are rated R, and even X, it is still a good book to read. The language in some parts is a bit more than one could hope for, but if you look over that it is a very funny, and exciting book.

  Leoventus has made a huge technologicular advance, and has created the Starship Titanic. But, when he changed work crews to Blerontonians, the work became very shotty, and the day before launch the ship is not at ALL finished and his Titania is a mess! From there everything gets too crazy and it would be hard to explain. There is a talking Bomb, which is very nice, and some crazed rabbits (Terry Jones for ya), and small men, that strangely enough remind you of lawn gnomes.

  This book is smartely written, and very creatievely written, so when you plunge into this book, be prepared for the unimaginable and unexplainable.

  Mark_Sigel

• sell-out  Jan 26, 2001 (11 of 14 found this helpful)

  1) That you read this in one sitting is no recommendation. You also read the back of your cereal box in one sitting--in which case, at least, you have something to chew on.

  2) So it's unfair to expect Douglas Adams? Then why does his name appear at the very top of the cover in very large letters (in letters significantly larger than those in which Terry Jones's name appears at the very bottom of the cover)? Given "Starship Titanic"'s marketing, it is perfectly fair to judge it by Douglas Adams's standard, but however you judge it it's awful.

  3) On the other hand, some persons actually profess to like it. I can only suggest that not every Douglas Adams reader is capable of actually appreciating Douglas Adams, that some are merely pretending.

  Do NOT pay money for this book. You have been warned.