Looking for Comedic SF/ Fantasy - Page 3

Greg Anos · 01-05-2009, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penforhire

How about Fritz Leiber's "Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser" heroic fantasy books? I recall chuckling quite a bit over those.

"A friend in need is a pest indeed" .... The Grey Mouser...

wayrad · 01-05-2009, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amalthia

I recommend Lois Bujold McMaster's Vorkisagan series. I started with Warrior's Apprentice but honestly the funniest book hands down in the series is A Civil Campaign.

Oh heck yes.

"Mother, Father, let me introduce - she's getting away!"

rixte · 01-06-2009, 05:37 PM

John Moore's The Unhandsome Prince - fairytale/fantasy comedy.

pilotbob · 01-06-2009, 05:39 PM

Not sure anyone recommended this yet. By, Mercedes Lackey's 500 Kingdoms is pretty entertaining. Not as funny as Myth or HHGTHG but amusing. Granted, I have only read the first book so far.

BOb

Andurian · 01-06-2009, 07:44 PM

I thought Gaiman's Anansi boys was both hilarious and brilliant.

And if you haven't read Good Omens and like Pratchet, rush right out!

Donnageddon · 01-06-2009, 10:07 PM

Lots of great recommendations here. One I recently read and enjoyed was The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez.

wayspooled · 01-07-2009, 11:59 AM

I've enjoyed a lot of the books and authors posted in this thread but I don't remember anyone laugh out loud funny except Pratchett (and Pratchett + Gaiman in the case of "Good Omens"). I guess I consider the rest not so much actually "funny" but "amusing". Love Robert Asprin and Douglas Adams and Piers Anthony (Xanth anyway). Couple more names I haven't seen in here yet that I'd consider equal to those would be - Craig Shaw Gardner (A Malady of Magics and A Difficulty with Dwarves) and Lawrence Watt-Evans (The Misenchanted Sword). I also remember a very funny Dragonlance novel by Mary Kirchoff and Douglas Niles called "Flint the King". Mostly I wouldn't call the Dragonlance books amusing but maybe 1/3 of the probably 100 different ones by various authors are excellent. Many have amusing moments and "Flint the King" is a funny story.

slayda · 01-07-2009, 12:19 PM

You might try Darrell Bain's - Bigfoot Crazy. Not exactly a comedy but some very funny parts. I especially liked the "killer" chihuahua.

dcalder · 01-07-2009, 02:31 PM

Christopher Stasheff's fantasy books have a good dose of humour in most of them, particularly his A Wizard in Rhyme series. The Warlock series has some humour as well but I don't recall it being quite as humorous.

Also, there's the hilarious Chicks series of short story fantasy anthologies (Chicks in Chainmail, Chicks 'N Chained Males, Did You Say Chicks?!, Turn the Other Chick, The Chick is in The Mail) edited by Esther Friesner. Friesner has also authored a number of humorous fantasy books, like Wishing Season.

Margaret Ball has a couple of humorous fantasy books as well: Mathemagics and Lost in Translation.

Isaac Asimov's Azazel (a collection of satirical short stories about a guy who carries around a diminutive demon in his pocket) and a lot of his scifi short stories (particularly the mysteries) are loaded with tongue-in-cheek humour and puns. The Norby Chronicles, a juvenile robot series co-written by Isaac and Janet Asimov, is also rather amusing (the earlier books were better than the last ones in the series, if memory serves correctly). A lot of Asimov's writing is more of the groaner than the LOL type of humour but it's still very amusing.

Just a few more fantasy books to wrap this up: Witch and Wombat by Carolyn Cushman and several by Holly Lisle including Sympathy for the Devil, Hell on High, The Devil and Dan Cooley, and - I think - Mall, Mayhem, & Magic.

It's been a while since I've read most of these, so some of them may not be quite as good as nostalgia would lead me to believe, but they all earned permanent places on my shelves (well, permanent until I manage to replace the paper version with electronic, that is).

John Brewster · 01-07-2009, 09:44 PM

Thraxas series of 6 books by Martin Scott, are my favorates. Find them on Baen books in your favorite DRM-free format.

ErwinOtten · 01-08-2009, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wayspooled

I also remember a very funny Dragonlance novel by Mary Kirchoff and Douglas Niles called "Flint the King". Mostly I wouldn't call the Dragonlance books amusing but maybe 1/3 of the probably 100 different ones by various authors are excellent. Many have amusing moments and "Flint the King" is a funny story.

Now that you mention the Dragonlance books.... The starters of the Dragonlance-series, Weiss & Hickman produced a very funny series called 'The Death Gate Cycle'. There are 7 books and especially the dwarves (called kegs in this series) and the magician Zifnab (yes he is the alter ego of Fizban....) are hilarious.

Sweetpea · 01-08-2009, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompe

Most of Jack Vance's books are sf and often very humorous. I like the demon prince series a lot (Star King, The Killing Machine, The Palace of Love, The Face and The Book of Dreams).

Are these books out in ebook format? I've read them way back when, and would love to read them again...

Oh, and I just thought of an author, no idea if it's available in ebook though...

Roger Zelazny and his Amber series.

RobertH · 01-08-2009, 04:29 AM

Hi, first post so I thought I'd start off with something useful as an introduction.

Has anyone read the old Thorne Smith books? More fantasy than Sci-fi but let's not get into that argument.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorne_Smith

James Thorne Smith Jr. (March 27, 1892–June 21, 1934), was an American writer of humorous supernaturnal fantasy fiction.

Best known today for his creation of Topper, Smith's comic fantasy fiction (most of it involving sex, lots of drinking, and supernatural transformations, and aided by racy illustrations) sold millions of copies in the early 1930s. Smith drank as steadily as his characters; his appearance in James Thurber's The Years With Ross involves an unexplained week-long disappearance.

<snip>

I can remember laughing semi-continuously at long stretches of "The Night Life of the Gods". And then I liked his "Bishop's Jaegers" which didn't have any Supernatural elements.

From that same page:

The Bishop's Jaegers (1932). Depressed and indifferent heir of a vast coffee import fortune, Peter Van Dyke finds his life and high society engagement turn upside down when his secretary, Josephine Duval determines that she will rescue him from his horrible fate by ruining him morally.

<snip>

Robert

tompe · 01-08-2009, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobertH

Has anyone read the old Thorne Smith books? More fantasy than Sci-fi but let's not get into that argument.

Yes, I like him a lot. And some of the books are available here at MobileRead.

igorsk · 01-08-2009, 12:30 PM

Keith Laumer's Retief! (free!) has already been recommended, but I'd like to add that Baen also has more humorous books from him, The Universe Twister and The Lighter Side (free!). There is also Retief's Peace by William H. Keith Jr. which is very much in the Laumer's style and extremely funny.
Another Baen book that geeks will probably enjoy is Wizard's Bane.

01-07-2009, 11:59 AM	#37
wayspooled Crab In The Dark Posts: 486 Karma: 2328180 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Virginia Device: Tablet PC until a 10" comes out that I like	I've enjoyed a lot of the books and authors posted in this thread but I don't remember anyone laugh out loud funny except Pratchett (and Pratchett + Gaiman in the case of "Good Omens"). I guess I consider the rest not so much actually "funny" but "amusing". Love Robert Asprin and Douglas Adams and Piers Anthony (Xanth anyway). Couple more names I haven't seen in here yet that I'd consider equal to those would be - Craig Shaw Gardner (A Malady of Magics and A Difficulty with Dwarves) and Lawrence Watt-Evans (The Misenchanted Sword). I also remember a very funny Dragonlance novel by Mary Kirchoff and Douglas Niles called "Flint the King". Mostly I wouldn't call the Dragonlance books amusing but maybe 1/3 of the probably 100 different ones by various authors are excellent. Many have amusing moments and "Flint the King" is a funny story. Last edited by wayspooled; 01-07-2009 at 12:20 PM.

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01-06-2009, 05:37 PM	#33
rixte Addict Posts: 300 Karma: 396757 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: new oasis, paperwhite, ipad, kobo	John Moore's The Unhandsome Prince - fairytale/fantasy comedy.

01-06-2009, 05:39 PM	#34
pilotbob Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,832 Karma: 11844413 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tampa, FL USA Device: Kindle Touch	Not sure anyone recommended this yet. By, Mercedes Lackey's 500 Kingdoms is pretty entertaining. Not as funny as Myth or HHGTHG but amusing. Granted, I have only read the first book so far. BOb

01-06-2009, 07:44 PM	#35
Andurian You really should try it! Posts: 57 Karma: 137 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: PRS-500	I thought Gaiman's Anansi boys was both hilarious and brilliant. And if you haven't read Good Omens and like Pratchet, rush right out!

01-06-2009, 10:07 PM	#36
Donnageddon Now you lishen here... Posts: 2,494 Karma: 479498 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Seattle-ish Device: Sony PRS-650. Kobo Touch, Kindle Fire	Lots of great recommendations here. One I recently read and enjoyed was The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez.

01-07-2009, 12:19 PM	#38
slayda Retired & reading more! Posts: 2,764 Karma: 1884247 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Alabama, USA Device: Kindle 1, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6S+, Kobo Aura One	You might try Darrell Bain's - Bigfoot Crazy. Not exactly a comedy but some very funny parts. I especially liked the "killer" chihuahua.

01-07-2009, 02:31 PM	#39
dcalder Zealot Posts: 127 Karma: 9856 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: Sony PRS-300/Kindle Keyboard/iPad Mini	Christopher Stasheff's fantasy books have a good dose of humour in most of them, particularly his A Wizard in Rhyme series. The Warlock series has some humour as well but I don't recall it being quite as humorous. Also, there's the hilarious Chicks series of short story fantasy anthologies (Chicks in Chainmail, Chicks 'N Chained Males, Did You Say Chicks?!, Turn the Other Chick, The Chick is in The Mail) edited by Esther Friesner. Friesner has also authored a number of humorous fantasy books, like Wishing Season. Margaret Ball has a couple of humorous fantasy books as well: Mathemagics and Lost in Translation. Isaac Asimov's Azazel (a collection of satirical short stories about a guy who carries around a diminutive demon in his pocket) and a lot of his scifi short stories (particularly the mysteries) are loaded with tongue-in-cheek humour and puns. The Norby Chronicles, a juvenile robot series co-written by Isaac and Janet Asimov, is also rather amusing (the earlier books were better than the last ones in the series, if memory serves correctly). A lot of Asimov's writing is more of the groaner than the LOL type of humour but it's still very amusing. Just a few more fantasy books to wrap this up: Witch and Wombat by Carolyn Cushman and several by Holly Lisle including Sympathy for the Devil, Hell on High, The Devil and Dan Cooley, and - I think - Mall, Mayhem, & Magic. It's been a while since I've read most of these, so some of them may not be quite as good as nostalgia would lead me to believe, but they all earned permanent places on my shelves (well, permanent until I manage to replace the paper version with electronic, that is).

01-07-2009, 09:44 PM	#40
John Brewster Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2007 Device: Sony PRS-500	Thraxas series of 6 books by Martin Scott, are my favorates. Find them on Baen books in your favorite DRM-free format.

01-08-2009, 04:29 AM	#43
RobertH Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Sony 505	Hi, first post so I thought I'd start off with something useful as an introduction. Has anyone read the old Thorne Smith books? More fantasy than Sci-fi but let's not get into that argument. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorne_Smith James Thorne Smith Jr. (March 27, 1892–June 21, 1934), was an American writer of humorous supernaturnal fantasy fiction. Best known today for his creation of Topper, Smith's comic fantasy fiction (most of it involving sex, lots of drinking, and supernatural transformations, and aided by racy illustrations) sold millions of copies in the early 1930s. Smith drank as steadily as his characters; his appearance in James Thurber's The Years With Ross involves an unexplained week-long disappearance. <snip> I can remember laughing semi-continuously at long stretches of "The Night Life of the Gods". And then I liked his "Bishop's Jaegers" which didn't have any Supernatural elements. From that same page: The Bishop's Jaegers (1932). Depressed and indifferent heir of a vast coffee import fortune, Peter Van Dyke finds his life and high society engagement turn upside down when his secretary, Josephine Duval determines that she will rescue him from his horrible fate by ruining him morally. <snip> Robert

01-08-2009, 12:30 PM	#45
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	Keith Laumer's Retief! (free!) has already been recommended, but I'd like to add that Baen also has more humorous books from him, The Universe Twister and The Lighter Side (free!). There is also Retief's Peace by William H. Keith Jr. which is very much in the Laumer's style and extremely funny. Another Baen book that geeks will probably enjoy is Wizard's Bane.

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