Order of Book Series
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Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Books in Order

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy contains 10 books, published between 1979 and 2018. The first book is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979) and the newest is Secondary Phase (2018). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
10
Published
1979–2018
Confirmed
9 of 10 titles
Pages on record
1,551 in 6 of 10 books
Reading time
26–39 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,551 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 6 of 10 titles with a page count on record.

See all 10 books in order Printable Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy checklist

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is Douglas Adams's comic science fiction series featuring Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, with 10 catalogued books. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was first published in London on 12 October 1979 and adapted the first four parts of Adams's radio series. The novel sold 250,000 copies in three months. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980), Life, the Universe and Everything (1982), So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984) and Mostly Harmless (1992) followed. Eoin Colfer is credited on 2 books, including And Another Thing... (2009).

How many Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books are there?

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy has 10 books, released between 1979 and 2018.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 10 Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams, book 2 of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series
  2. Cover of Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams, book 3 of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series (1982)
  3. Cover of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams, book 4 of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series (1984)
  4. Cover of Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams, book 6 of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series (1992)
  5. Cover of And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer, book 9 of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series (2009)
  6. Cover of Secondary Phase by Douglas Adams, book 10 of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series (2018)
  1. 1
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy1979 · 285 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1979285
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Restaurant at the End of the Universe1980 · 245 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1980245
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Life, the Universe and Everything1982 · 232 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1982232
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish1984 · 224 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1984224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Young Zaphod Plays It Safe1986 · confirmed 2/4
    1986–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Mostly Harmless1992 · 277 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1992277
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Live in Concert1994 · confirmed 3/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy1996 · confirmed 3/4
    1996–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    And Another Thing...2009 · 288 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2009288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Secondary Phase2018 · confirmed 3/4
    2018–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Do you have to read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books in order?

You should read the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy book also stands alone.

Where to start with Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Start with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy book?

Secondary Phase (2018) is the newest Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy book released so far.

Is there a new Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy book coming?

No next Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy title on record dates from 2018, 8 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books have appeared about one every 4 years on average.
Length
1,551 pages across the 6 of 10 books with a recorded length, a median of 261 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books, 4 of 10, were published in the 1980s.
Attribution
Of the 10 titles, 8 are credited to Douglas Adams and 2 to Eoin Colfer.

What the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books are about

6 of the 10 Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: interplanetary voyages is tagged on 4 of 6. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

Other series by Douglas Adams

The series linked below has its own reading-order page.