I was going to recommend Robots Have no Tails, but, as you say, not space opera.
That’s what I was going to recommend as well. Really interesting, a lot of humor, and a lot of nerd in-jokes. Plus a new book(“Heaven’s River”) was published last year, making it a total of four books, and more than likely at least one more, based on the ending of Heaven’s River.
“Miles Vorkosigan Spiceweasel, for the last time, clean your room!”
I found many of the Gallegher stories in a more obscure Kuttner collection, so I’ll use that. What the heck.
Anyhow it migrates a few more books from my library to her library…
IMHO, Phule’s Company was trying to hard. It had funny moments, but felt quite formulaic. My and my friend’s complaints at the time it came out was that like the later Myth books, the author kept trying to force it along and it didn’t please anyone. Much like (as another example of a comedy series that was chuckleworthy → stale → tiresome) most of the Xanth books past the first 2-3.
As for it’s dated nature, an extremely wealthy protagonist who looks down (benevolently, but still) on everyone and breaks the rules all the time because he knows better … doesn’t feel like such a hot idea anymore. Especially when he’s always Always skirting, manipulating, or breaking the law to do so (always claiming it’s for a good cause).
For something completely different, and I would generally recommend 18+ for frequent sexual situations (almost all off camera, but it’s quite clear what’s going on), there’s the Japanese Light Novel “Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship!”
It’s a light fluffy isekai style story with a male protagonist in a traditional scifi setting with supernaturally bad ‘luck’ and an endless stream of young (mostly) women/girls falling in love with him. Since it’s an isekai, the protagonist is always attempting to understand the world using current gaming / pop-culture references as most of us would. For all that it’s excessively trope-tastic, it is still a lot of fun, and fan translated versions are out there if you want to have a look at the story.
The first two Red Dwarf books, the ones credited to Grant Naylor.
Alan Dean Foster has some humorous stories.
You could maybe try Toby Frost: the first is Space Captain Smith from 2008, or going back a bit, Galactic Odyssey by Keith Laumer. A young man shelters from the weather in a barn, but it turns out it’s actually a spaceship, which takes off while he’s sleeping!
Or Who Goes Here? by Bob Shaw. People join the Space Legion in order to forget and the Legion co-operate by erasing their umwanted memories, but the hero has had to have his entire memory wiped, which gains him a fearsome reputation!
A little pricey, but a thoroughly engaging and entertaining story.
Who Goes Here by Bob Shaw
The Starcrossed by Ben Bova is not only funny, but it’s also one of the few examples of a science fictional roman a clef.
The Sheriff of Yrnameer is the most Douglas-Adamsy thing I’ve ever read that wasn’t written by Douglas Adams.
Somebody recommended this to me here on the boards some time back, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Ok, that’s funny.
I’ve heard A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is very funny, but I’m not sure if it’s space opera. It’s certainly science fiction.
Space opera - definitely ! Humorous - pretty much, kinda. The Witches of Karres.
Although if she grew up in a house with thousands of S.F. titles it’s hard to imagine she hasn’t already read this one.
The Expeditionary Force books by Craig Alanson may be more corny than humorous but they’re good fun and Alanson seems to turn out a couple new ones per year.
I was going to recommend Glory Lane too. That was a fun read, hopefully it hasn’t become dated for young readers.
I picked up the first at a library sale, right after finally watching Red Dwarf. Not impressed, though the backstory was good. And I loved Red Dwarf.
Have that, but I think it helps if you saw the series. Someone should run it, then we can measure the seismic waves from Harlan rolling in his grave.
Hmm. I’ll add that. I have the Ace Science Fiction Special edition. Appropriate in a way. Though Telzey is not in Witches, she’s in a bunch of other books by him that I have. In the MIT Science Fiction Society there was the post of Telzey Amberdon, President’s Mistress. My girlfriend, now my wife, was the first occupant of that post ever. (We were very feeble at MIT in the '60s and early '70s.) I’m not telling this to my daughter!
No worries. She’s hardly young.
I think I’ve got enough. Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I’d read more new books if it wasn’t for this 2,000 book and magazine backlog I have.
The Ciaphas Cain novels might be of interest if Blackadder-style British wit is up her alley.
I’ll third this one. Valente isn’t to everyone’s tastes. She loves language and glories in playing with it, and this book is downright rococo in its word-glory. It’s very funny, but not an easy read.