Review: Not quite "Hitchhiker," but very close!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 6, 2011
NOTE: This review was originally posted on Red Adept Reviews on May 12, 2011.Overall:  4 3/4 starsPlot/Storyline:  4 3/4 starsThe Twiller followed the misadventures of Ian Harebungler (an ordinary American and a very unlikely hero) and his marshmallow-like companion, the Twiller, on a comic romp around the galaxy. If this storyline sounds a bit familiar, it should, and I'll give the author an "A" for honesty. He said upfront that this was a blatant rip-off of Douglas Adams' classic Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It was, but it didn't matter. It's funny, really funny. Ian was reminiscent of Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker, except instead of hitchhiking a ride on a spaceship, Ian was abducted. Once he was aboard the spaceship, he met his new companion, the Twiller, and they proceeded to travel throughout the galaxy to strange and exotic places.Coincidentally, many of the places that Ian visited during his long journey were remarkably Earth-like except for the bizarre aliens who inhabited these places. The Twiller lampooned cities like El Leigh, Bez Erkeley, and Wosh Mington Deecee. The climactic scene occurred on an island named Westerly Key in a state where many sports fans cheered on the Fleur Ida Gate Tors. Even the U.S. Constitution got a bit of ribbing - and I'll bet you never knew there were four branches of government, not just the three that you learned in school!There were no sacred cows in The Twiller, with just about anything and everything we're familiar with being fair game. I even noticed a rip-off of one of the late Senator Everett Dirksen's quotations.This was a fun book to read.Characters:  4 3/4 starsThe main characters were Ian Harebungler, just an average American fellow (although on the short side) and his trusty companion, the Twiller. The Twiller was basically a pocket-sized marshmallow with two eyes whose vocabulary consisted of one word - "twill." Granted the Twiller wasn't as loquacious as Marvin, the manic-depressive robot in Hitchhiker, but he did save Ian's life a few times with his prescience and his warning "twill.".In the Epilogue, it turned out that the Twiller was not at all what he appeared to be, but that's for the reader to find out.Writing style:  4 3/4 starsAuthor David Derrico came very close to matching Douglas Adams' farcical, achingly funny style of writing that fit the story so perfectly. I hate to keep comparing The Twiller to the epic Hitchhiker, but the author made no bones about trying to emulate Hitchhiker, so that's the standard I expected this story to meet.Editing:  4 3/4 starsThere were very few grammatical or spelling errors, and the Kindle formatting was very good.