I recently finished much of my Christmas books, and have a gift certificate left over to purchase a few more. I’m hoping that the SDMB can help me out in my next choice.
My preference tends to run to either outright humorous, or just lighthearted fantasy/SF. Unsuprisingly, my favorite author is Terry Pratchett, and I’m asking in part because I finally ran out of books written by him to read.
I also recently recieved the first two books of the Bartimieus trilogy by Johnathan Shroud, which I liked a great deal. Predictably, I also throughouly enjoyed the Harry Potter series (thus, Young Adult serieses are just fine as far as I’m concerned).
Does anyone have any reccomendations for books in a similar vein that I might enjoy? While they don’t have to be outright intended as humor, I do appreciate lighthearted/energetic fantasy to the darker, slower moving, bloodier kind. For instance, I kind of gave up on the Sword of Truth book halfway through. And I’ve finished my Piers Anthony phase years ago.
The Dragonlance Saga by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman is pretty good. The first book is call “Dragons of Autumn Twilight” and is sequeled by several others representing the four different seasons. Basically, the books read like a Dungeons & Dragons adventure, with a dwarf, elf, and other characters on a mighty quest. There’s some light humor and nothing too dark. The books aren’t tough to follow and are a little predictable, but are good for a light read. I read through the first four in high school and now that I’m looking on Amazon, I see that the series has grown to 50+ novels. Looks like they’re pretty popular as well.
I’d also reccomend some of Anne McAfferey’s “Pern” stuff. I haven’t read alot, but what I have read is not bad.
Another consideration is the “Hunter’s Blade Trilogy” by R.A. Salvatore. The plot’s not too dense and the characters are colorful. Another series that’s good for a casual read.
There hasn’t been much worthwhile humorous fantasy except for Pratchett in quite a while.
The first Myth books by Robert Aspirin are good, but they quickly go downhill.
Craig Shaw Gardner wrote a series of humorous fantasies with alliterative titles.
A Malady of Magics was the first one, can’t remember the rest. He also wrote a trilogy about a guy who finds a magic decoder ring which allows him to go from paralell universe to paralel universe each based on a type of movie. It’s called the Cineverse Cycle. One of the books is called Revenge of The Fluffy Bunnys, but I can’t remember the first.
Diana Wynne Jones’s Dark Lord of Derkholm is one book that, like some of Pratchett’s, is simultaneously a fantasy in its own right and a parody of fantasy.
I remember liking Robert Asprin’s “Myth” series when I was significantly younger. They’re slight and silly, but fun, though if you’ve outgrown Piers Anthony you may have outgrown these too. (On preview, I see these have just been mentioned!)
I found Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere to be quite funny, albeit dark. (If you’ve read Pratchett, you know him from Good Omens.)
Tom Holt has a number of oddly humorous books that you may enjoy. Expecting Someone Taller, Who’s Afraid of Beowulf, and Flying Dutch.
Esther Friesner has a number of light fantasy books, but they may be hard to find, now. She’s also editing a series of short story collections for Baen Books: The “Chicks in Chainmail” books, which are a good deal of fun.
Oooh, I have that one and the one following it, of which I can’t recall the name of at the moment, I love em. Very funny stuff! (Note- I made myself get up to look thru my books for other recommendations… I have 4 six foot bookshelves that are currently overflowing, mostly with fantasy! It’s Chicks N Chained Males that was the follow-up)
I adore Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern. While it’s not really humorous, it’s not really heavy reading either, and very enjoyable, IMO.
Another of my favorite fantasy authors is Mercedes Lackey. She has several different “worlds” she writes about, but my favorite are the Heralds of Valdemar series.
There’s well over 25+ books set in the world of Valdemar and it’s surrounding countries, and covers the world’s ancient history as well as current time, so if you find you enjoy her writing, reading all of them will certainly keep you busy for a while.
I’ve also been enjoying two of her newer series (both set in different worlds than Valdemar). The first one is started off by Joust, the sequel is Alta. The third is not out yet.
The other series is written by Lackey and James Mallory, The Obsidian Trilogy (The Outstretched Shadow, and To Light a Candle, third one’s not out yet in this series either.)
Oh! I just thought of another funny one you might enjoy. Parke Godwin’s Waiting For the Galactic Bus. It’s not really fantasy, but satire set on earth ala Pratchett’s Good Omens.
You might also look into the works of Steven Brust (Jhereg is the ‘beginning’ of one of his series, The Phoenix Guards is another, and some notable standalones include Agyar and To Reign in Hell). They’re not to everyone’s taste, but I adore them.
I see Lackey’s Valdemar books and McCaffrey’s Pern have already been recommended. I like both series a great deal, but they’re not entirely light-hearted by any means (Last Herald-Mage Trilogy and Brightly Burning, I’m looking at you). They are energetic, though.
So, here’s something from the light and funny side–Barry Hughart’s Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox. These are three novels set in an ancient, fantasy China following the adventures of a larcenous sage and a thoroughly muscle-bound peasant. The omnibus may not be readily available; the individual novels are:
The Bridge of Birds (The first and best of the novels.) The Story of the Stone Eight Skilled Gentlemen
Summon the Keeper, by Tanya Huff. There are others in the series, but I haven’t read them yet.
I’ll second the Jones books.
Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next books aren’t precisely fantasy, but if you like Pratchett you might give them a try.
If you’re willing to read YA, try Lloyd Alexander. He’s written more than the overwhelmingly wonderful Prydain Chronicles (if you haven’t read those, please do!)
There are others, but I’m having major brain failure. I’ll stop back in if I can tug some out of the murk of my memory.
There’s always “The Last Unicorn” and “A Fine and Private” Place by Peter S. Beagle. “Unicorn”, in particular, is often hilarious and is beautifully written.
I don’t even know if it’s in print, but The Thirteen Clocks by Thurber is a classic. It’s very short, but the word play is just amazing. Also by Thurber, “The White Deer” is in pretty much the same vein.
And, of course, if you haven’t * read * The Princess Bride, you should.