Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Meets Discworld in a New Comedy Releasing Today
A comic science-fiction release
Everything Happens So Much, by Andrew H. Murray, arrives November 10. The novel brings together absurdity and philosophical observations, drawing comparisons to Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.
The book pairs imaginative world-building and unconventional humor with emotional stakes. Murray’s work shares an irreverent quality with those authors while developing its own approach to comedy and science fiction.
Esme seeks another life
The story follows Esme Good, a young woman whose ordinary life feels marked by a lack of excitement. She works a dead-end job in an unremarkable city and longs to escape her routine.
Esme turns to The Elsewheres, potions that let her vanish from her life and enter alternate versions of herself for 15-minute intervals. The temporary visits offer excitement, but also make her wonder whether she is living her worst possible life.
Consequences across realities
As Esme balances her everyday life with visits to other realities, an incident makes her far more important in her own universe. Its effects also reach her alternate lives.
Her journey eventually leads her into uncharted territory and toward fulfilling a prophecy. Murray’s ironic tone keeps the unfolding events unpredictable, as Esme’s choices meet consequences across realities.
Adams and Pratchett’s influence
Murray’s novel shares a cosmic journey and absurdist humor with Adams’ work, though its comedy takes a different form. Murray has said Adams influenced him, and the book combines that inspiration with his own style.
Pratchett’s Discworld also helped shape the novel’s comic elements, including slapstick woven into Esme’s journey. The result combines alternate-reality fiction with humor that stands apart from more serious contemporary science fiction.
Key points
- Everything Happens So Much by Andrew H. Murray debuts November 10.
- Esme Good uses potions to visit alternate versions of herself for 15 minutes.
- An incident makes Esme more important in her universe and affects her alternate realities.
- The novel blends absurdist humor associated with Adams and Pratchett with its own style.