In need of recommendations

[Phoul]

Hopefully this is the right place for this post. If not I apologize, not trying to cause issues. That being said heres the question:

Recently I have been reading mostly Terry Pratchett's Disc-world books because i find a lot of books i pickup are to dark or depressing in some fashion to be enjoyable. I'm one of those people that prefers a lighter approach to serious matters (daily show not cnn).

I was wondering if anyone would have any recommendations for me. Either authors or titles of some perhaps lighter mood books like disc-world (not in theme or story, but the mood).

[gmw]

I'm a Terry Pratchett fan and I also like much of Tom Holt - some of his are very funny. Okay, so Holt's not quite "up there" with Pratchett in my list of favourites, but he's pretty good. Try his first ,"Expecting Someone Taller", if you can get it as an ebook. (His historical fiction I find very dry.)

I should also add that I love pretty much everything Pratchett's done, even the stuff supposedly for younger readers. The Bromeliad trilogy (Truckers, Diggers, Wings), the Johnny books, The Tiffany books (also discworld). The Carpet People, Nation. I really wouldn't be put off by age designations, his stuff is still worth reading.

[ATDrake]

Huh. I just realized how much of the stuff I read and buy is basically really depressing for the most part of the story.

But a few lighter recs in the sf/fantasy genres, since you're partial to Pratchett already:

Connie Willis, To Say Nothing of the Dog. A marvelous comedy of errors involving Oxford historians time-traveling to the Victorian era in search of the bishop's bird stump, which their funding-provider insists on tracking down. I'll warn you that the other stories in the same universe, Fire Watch, Doomsday Book, Blackout, and All Clear, are overall rather bleak until the end.

Freebie at the Baen Free Library: the first two books of Rick Cook's Wiz Biz series. It's got a computer programmer kidnapped to a magical world to help defeat evil, and while the first book, Wizard's Bane is a bit on the serious side because of the defeating evil bit, the rest of the books in the series are almost pure comedy. NB: You'll have to pick up the 2nd book, The Wizardry Compiled, at the old Free Library page directly on the Baen.com site, since the Webscriptions omnibus version seems to only contain the 1st book.

John Moore writes fun light fantasy that satirizes fantasy tropes. Pity it only seems like Slay and Rescue is available as e-book, but it's fun if you've ever wondered how Prince Charming coped with being fixed up with all those princesses.

And Lawrence Watt-Evans' Ethshar series is definitely mostly light-hearted. A few serious themes, but overall upbeat and often subtly comedic. Available in DRM-free MultiFormat from Fictionwise, which has a 50% off coupon currently in the Deals forum.

Another couple of Fictionwise MultiFormats are:

Anne Logston's Shadow series (only the first two books available), which is about the adventures of an elven thief in a mixed human-elven city with mildly interesting interspecies politics. They're nothing really special fantasy-wise, but pleasantly-written mind candy reads. Pity about the unfortunate Poser-looking cover art.

In the same vein is Don Callander's Dragon Companion (only the 1st book available), about the adventures of a human librarian from our world dropped into a standard elves and dragons fantasy world where humans are legendary creatures, and making a place for himself with his awesome powers of RESEARCH!

For humorous supernatural, Nick Pollotta also has a few titles up. The Bureau 13 books tie in to some role-playing game, but they're fun light reads about a team of secret government agents saving the world from unspeakable horrors. He's also got comedies with Civil War zombies and Lovecraftian expeditions.

John Dechancie's Castle Perilous series seems to have been very popular back in the day, and it's now available in e-book. I've only read a couple of them which I got from the used bookshop, but the basic premise is of an extra-dimensional magical castle which leads to many other places, and the wacky hijinx its inhabitants have as they get lost amidst or invaded by said many other places.

And of course there's always the silly scrapes of upper class twit Bertie Wooster which his loyal manservant has to extract him from in P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves books, some of which are available here on MobileRead. I've also generally found Evelyn Waugh's books to be, well… maybe not "light" in mood, but definitely with a non-weighty and satirical air for the most part.

I should note that if you want your reading to be simply light-hearted, but not so much light-minded, I'd boost up the recs for Willis, Watt-Evans, and Waugh, who incorporate "serious" stuff in a mostly non-downbeat manner, like Pratchett does.

The others are basically pure escape reading and while entertaining, may be a little more shallow than you're looking for.

[doreenjoy]

Maybe Jim Butcher's Dresden Files books?

[JeremyR]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

And Lawrence Watt-Evans' Ethshar series is definitely mostly light-hearted. A few serious themes, but overall upbeat and often subtly comedic. Available in DRM-free MultiFormat from Fictionwise, which has a 50% off coupon currently in the Deals forum

While they are excellent books, some of them are a bit dark. The Spell of the Black Dagger, Night of Madness, even Taking Flight. And while pretty upbeat, The Unwilling Warlord (my favorite of the bunch) is about a war. Come to think of it, so is The Misenchanted Sword for probably half the book.

Ithanalin's Restoration is quite light hearted though.

[Phoul]

Thanks for all the recommendations! its gona take me a while to sort through the ones people already suggested but if anyone has any others please feel free!

However i feel like i may have come across a bit wrong, I dont have a problem reading about serious themes, stories of war and overcoming some kind of hardship are often the ones that stay with you, The thing i dont like is when authors take it upon themselves to make dark material even darker. There are some of these books that i enjoy, so one i can give as an example is World War Z, While being a great book. It is incredibly graphic, and theres no real happiness to be found anywhere at all. Its just bad, all the time. Books like that are great for certain people, but i find if thats all i read it doesnt do much for my mood.

[ATDrake]

In which case, I'll alter my Willis recommendation to include her excellent and award-winning Doomsday Book. While it is kind of dark and despairing at times, what with the plague and all, its basic themes are about humanity and hope and the care we take for each other. Wonderful stuff.

I'll also add in Steven Brust's somewhat irreverent Vlad Taltos series, about a human assassin succeeding in a world dominated by the non-human Dragaerans. Up until about Teckla, it's pretty light in mood, despite the protagonist's profession. However, it's done in first-person narration from a fairly sarcastic point of view, so the style might not quite mesh with you. And of course, killing people for a living.

Robert J. Sawyer does some very hopeful science fiction novels. He's a fellow Canadian and has a fairly positive view of humanity and technology overall, despite any bumpy bits we may encounter in the road towards PROGRESS. If you like social-consequences sf that's a bit on the hard science side and especially stuff with dinosaurs and neanderthals (Sawyer studied to be a paleontologist, once upon a time), try some of his short stories, available free on his website. But probably avoid starting with Just Like Old Times, Iterations, or even the award-winning The Hand You're Dealt, which are a bit on the bleaker side for him.

For well-written mysteries that are overall positive despite the murders and such, and emphasize things like finding happiness amidst sorrow, both Barbara Hambly and Sharyn McCrumb do fairly good jobs.

Hambly is a well-established fantasy author who now also writes historical amateur sleuth mysteries. She's got two series: Benjamin January, an ex-slave trained as a surgeon and musician who tries to practice both his professions amidst the rigidly stratified racial/social conditions of antebellum New Orleans, in between solving murders. This one is very good and very popular, to the point where after the first publisher dropped it, another one picked it back up.

And using the pseudonym surname Hamilton, she also writes a new series with First Lady Abigail Adams as the amateur detective in pre-Revolutionary colonial US times. This one's a little lighter than the January series, due to Adams being more privileged and not having to deal so much with prejudice. But the January books are broader and richer and overall better, in my opinion, though they're both good reads.

Sharyn McCrumb is best known for her acclaimed Ballad novels exploring Appalachian myths and heritage, which are taught in several universities. She also has two mystery series which she doesn't seem to write any more, but have been released in e-book: The Elizabeth MacPherson mysteries, starring a forensic anthropologist, which I'm just beginning to read, having splurged on the lot during a recent Kobo promotion, and the Jay Omega mysteries, which are a tremendous amount of fun and explore science fiction fandom. Sadly, only Bimbos of the Death Sun is available from that.

Oh, and if you like fairly upbeat adventure mysteries (not so much with the careful deductive sleuthing as just following the breadcrumb trail of clues), you might like Suzanne Arruda's Jade del Cameron mysteries, set in colonial Kenya back in the 1920s back when it was still just British East Africa. A bit of a retro-pulpy Indiana Jones-type feel, but doesn't shy away from the more serious surrounding issues of the times while not dragging you down into it. Author puts up helpful historical notes on her blog, too, if that's something that might interest you.

[Phoul]

Always good to hear from a fellow canadian

[fantasyISbetter]

Dear Phoul,
I love Pratchett, also Connie Willis and Steven Brust, who were recommended already- do give them a try. Willis is really uplifting, and a fine writer. Brust is just a lot of fun, with sly characters and some very strange expressions that are hilarious. For lighthearted reads, I also recommend Christopher Moore (Practical Demonkeeping, the Stupidest Angel, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove), or for turn of century Egyptology with a bit of romance, Elizabeth Peters, Crocodile on the Sandbank. For slapstick humor, try to find Selina Rosen's Queen of Denial. If you want light vamps, Mary Janice Davidson's Undead and Unwed is very funny. Evelyn Smith had a series starting with Miss Melville Regrets- which shows how a formerly rich girl down on her luck accidentally starts a new career. Cassandra French's Finishing School by Eric Garcia is a scream. Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair is a literary treat- where you REALLY get lost in a good book. If you like good mysteries, Laurie King has a Sherlock Holmes-Mary Russell series starting with The Beekeeper's Apprentice- which is very good. Kage Baker has an SF series about The Company- which transforms children into immortal cyborgs to send them back into time to collect artifacts or preserve something that might be lost. Just like Connie Willis, can be depressing at some times, but overall uplifting. Sorry to go on so long, but I love books and hope others will enjoy some of the ones I found engrossing.

[MickeyC]

How about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

Also, to find books similar to one you've read visit the Literary Map here http://www.literature-map.com/

You enter an author's name, hit return and a window opens with that author's name in the middle and similar authors arrayed around him. The closer to your author they are, the more like him they are.

[mediax]

I love Terry Pratchett's Discworld series - but then I discovered Robert Rankin's Brentford trilogy, which is even more off the wall!