i didn't like the fifth one much either, though that may just be because it takes the sad but funny acceleration/power creep of stupidly impossible technology like bistromath, time travel, and (AI assisted!) multiverse time travel to its conclusion, it all stops feeling special, or because the only thing all this does to problems of capitalism (the cathedral of chalesm) and other human problems is make it more absurd (for comedic effect). idk i still left out like more than half the reason further books in the series feel more depressing than earlier ones, as I don't know it. Why is it a trilogy?

[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 6 months ago

The fifth one was written while Douglas Adams was super depressed, so yeah, it's a bit more grim than the others.

The initial trilogy were written after the radio show which was itself written on the fly, hence the continuous cliffhangers and deus-ex-machina turns of fate.