# Which modern author should a Douglas Adams fan read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332 "2020-08-17T16:47:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/21 "2020-08-17T21:55:02Z")
If Terry Pratchett isn’t modern, this guy won’t be either … but John Sladek is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/22 "2020-08-17T22:04:39Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > If you’re interested in modern quality comedy sci-fi, I’ve got an odd recommendation: [The City We Became](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42074525-the-city-we-became). It’s a very odd book in which the eldritch forces of extradimensional horrors manifest in our world in the avatar of gentrification in New York City, and each borough is embodies in an avatar to fight off (or help, or both) the horrors. It’s mad punk genius by one of the most decorated modern SF/F authors, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Not a laugh-a-page like Adams is (or tries to be), but still pretty hilarious if that sort of thing is your bag. This sounds something like the [Laundry Files](https://www.goodreads.com/series/50764-laundry-files) series (Charles Stross). Eldritch extradimensional horrors - check. Held at bay by a bizarre combination of high tech and medieval magic run out of “The Laundry” - a secret agency so secret that if you ever find out it exists you get … well, a permanent job with a nice salary, an NDA to make your hair curl, and the prospect of having your brains sucked out with a straw if you fail to pay appropriate attention. Somewhat darker than Pratchett, but full of sardonic humour ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/23 "2020-08-17T22:10:00Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I have recommended this a few times here: Tuf Voyaging by GRR Martin. Yes, THAT George R. R. Martin. It is Sci-Fi and on the lighter side. I enjoyed it. Oh my yes, I love this book and have read it to shreds–Haviland Tuf is one of the all time best deadpan hilarious characters ever written. Most of Martin’s SF work is much more grim but this foray into the lighter side of things is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/24 "2020-08-17T22:15:00Z")
Martinez: _Gil’s All-Fright Diner_, _A Nameless Witch, The Last Adventure of Constance Verity_ Holt:. _Expecting Someone Taller_ and _Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages_ - ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/25 "2020-08-17T23:16:32Z")
> [@"Aspidistra](#): > > This sounds something like the [Laundry Files](https://www.goodreads.com/series/50764-laundry-files) series (Charles Stross). Eldritch extradimensional horrors - check. Held at bay by a bizarre combination of high tech and medieval magic run out of “The Laundry” - a secret agency so secret that if you ever find out it exists you get … well, a permanent job with a nice salary, an NDA to make your hair curl, and the prospect of having your brains sucked out with a straw if you fail to pay appropriate attention. Somewhat darker than Pratchett, but full of sardonic humour All of this, but the tone is much, much darker than Adams. Gives Gaiman a run for his money. A _lot_ of IT in-jokes, and sly references to other subject matter. Stross is an old D&D maven (Liked the Githyanki or Slaads? They’re his creations.) So there’s a bit of gamer and RPG humor too. Less appealing now that the End Times are approaching, and his characters are running the bureaucracy rather than hapless minions of it, but still a solid recommend. Usually a lot of ideas to play with in Stross’s work. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/26 "2020-08-18T05:29:36Z")
_Portuguese Irregular Verbs_ was funny. And British. I have not read any of the sequels yet, so do not know how well they hold up. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/27 "2020-08-18T13:39:07Z")
I had thoroughly enjoyed [Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L Howard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Cabal_the_Necromancer). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/28 "2020-08-18T16:08:16Z")
Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about one of the funniest modern SF books around: [The Rook](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10836728-the-rook), by Daniel O’Malley. The protagonist is an amnesiac who works for Britain’s top-secret anti-eldritch-horrors agency, so, similar in some ways to the Laundry Files (of which I’ve only read one–somehow it didn’t click for me). The secret agency–well, it won’t renew your faith in governmental competence. It’s funny throughout, but the Duck of Prophecy is one of my all-time favorite moments in modern fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/29 "2020-08-18T18:54:22Z")
I came in here to say Christopher Moore! But I’ve been beaten to it, multiple times. ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/30 "2020-08-18T23:55:26Z")
As a fan of DA, some great food for thought here. @Dark_Sponge - You beat me to it. _Loved_ the “John Dies” series. @Dead_Cat - Beat to that one too. I just read a few in the spring. I loved the humour and style, but I thought plot-wise they were a little too simplistic. Basically the TV shows as a book. I guess I was expecting more from a novel or novella. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/31 "2020-08-19T02:55:05Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I came in here to say Christopher Moore! But I’ve been beaten to it, multiple times. I’ve had the opportunity to meet Christopher Moore a couple of times, and I’m happy to say he’s a nice man who cares about his fans. Last time I met him, I was a volunteer at a book festival where he was presenting. Afterwards, there was a line of about 150 for a book signing. The whole process took longer than his reading - about two hours. I commented at the end that it was nice of him to stay until he’d signed everyone’s books, and he said, “Well, it’s my job.” So I’m a fan of him as a person. As a writer, though, he’s hit or miss. Loved _The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove_, but was terribly disappointed by _Island of the Sequined Love Nun_. He’s capable of digging deep into a subject, and producing a well-researched, informative, and interesting story that can still produce belly laughs - e.g., _Lamb_, one of the best tellings of the Gospel story I know. But he can turn out a stinker, too - I was an advanced reader for _The Stupidest Angel_, and it turned me off him for a couple of years. The last thing of his I read all the way through was _Sacre Bleu_. Started the second Pocket book, but I just couldn’t make it. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/32 "2020-08-19T07:23:03Z")
Yeah, the TV shows came first so that’s fair comment - a 6x28min series is bound to make a pretty thin book. What I liked about them was they were able to do more in terms of both scene-setting and exploring the mindset of each of the characters, while retaining the humour (and adding some humorous asides). It’s worth remembering that the HHGG evolved in a similar way - started with short radio series (which, to my shame, I have still not listened through properly), the books came after. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/33 "2020-08-23T21:25:02Z")
Thank you to all who recommended Christopher Moore. I’ve just finished _Shakespeare for Squirrels_ and loved it, and look forward to reading the rest of his works! ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/34 "2020-08-25T00:13:53Z")
I would have put in a vote for Christopher Moore. Since we are looking for more ‘modern’ authors than some have mentioned, I’ll throw an odd one - Yahtzee Crenshaw. He’s semi infamous for his hilarious column on gaming for Escapist Magazine, by the name of Extra Punctuation. He has written several novels however, including Mogworld, which actually has a lot to say about gaming culture while sending it up. I don’t honestly put him on the same level as Moore or Adams, but if you want modern and absurdist, he does it well. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/35 "2020-08-26T16:25:11Z")
Connie Willis has written some funny books, for example “To Say Nothing of the Dog” > **[To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis book review - Fantasy Book Review](https://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/Connie-Willis/To-Say-Nothing-of-the-Dog.html)** > > A tangled web of Victorian romance, near misses, séances, “the butler did it”, and animal jokes somehow \[...\] ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/36 "2020-08-29T06:15:30Z")
Alexander McCall Smith is enjoyable in a mundane, lighthearted way … but I would not put his work in a category anywhere near Douglas Adams, and also his writing is a completely different genre. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/37 "2020-08-29T07:28:53Z")
I would definitely recommend the Red Dwarf novels. Comedy science fiction that was surely influenced by Adams. And also made into a cult BBC sitcom. The books have some wonderful ideas in them - especially the early ones written under the authors name of Doug Naylor. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/38 "2020-08-30T00:58:10Z")
Looking back over some much older humorous science fiction, I strongly recommend the following (just be advised that they turned out serious stuff, as well, and some downright scary things): **Fredric Brown** – the master of the short short. He also wrote great mysteries and fantasies. But he had a weird streak of humor that shows up in stories like **Martian Go Home** (ignore the really bad movie of the same name it inspired), _The Angelic Angleworm_, _Too Far_ (a story about a were-buck filled with atrocious puns), _Nothing Sirius_ (That’s what they decide to name a planet found orbiting within the orbital radius of Sirius 1. ), and others. **Theodore Coggswell** – writer of short, pinchy sf stories in the 1950s. Some of them have wonderfully bizarre humor. Others are twist-ending Teilight Zone-type stories. **Henry Kuttner and Catherine L. Moore** – They wrote a lot of serious stuff and scary stuff. Adaptations of their stories that get turned into movies invariably have the endings changed to be more upbeat. But they wrote some funny fantasy and science fiction. Especially notable is the collection **Robots Have no Tails** (published under their pen name Lewis Padgett), which involves an inventor named Gallegher (although his name changes sometimes) who only invents and creates when he’s drunk, and when he sobers up he can’t remember exactly what he did. In the first story of the series, The Proud Robot, his robot creation refuses to do any mundane tasks, and claims he both smarter and more capable than his creator, who desperately needs him to somehow perform the task he created the robot for so he can complete his contract and get paid. When the robot admires his own gear trains, Gallegher counters with “You’ve got worms.” \*\*John M. Ford’\*\*s Star Trek novel **How Much for Just the Planet** was pretty good; I’m not familiar enough with his work to know if he had other comedic entries. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/39 "2020-08-30T01:18:04Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > John Sladek is amazing. Agreed… Start with “The Reproductive System” which is, I think, his most approachable book. Then, if that appeals, go on to “The Mueller-Fokker Effect.” The two mysteries, “Black Aura” and “Invisible Green” are also fun, with lovely social satire (although terribly dated. Still debunking mystics never wholly goes out of fashion.) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332/40 "2020-08-30T02:11:21Z")
Nitpick: It’s Cogswell, not Coggswell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-modern-author-should-a-douglas-adams-fan-read/918332.md?page=3)