SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I have read too many long and/or dark books recently and really need something light and humorous.

I've read all the usuals, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, etc. Anyone have any suggestions for some good new or lesser known books that have a humorous bent? I could really use something downright silly.

Have you read Asprin's MYTH books? Quite silly.

Jasper Fforde, Thursday Next series where the protagonist can jump into books and polices the book world. She also has a dodo she made from a home DNA kit.

Connie Willis' Belleweather was hilarious. Ludicrous fads, taken to the extreme.

Scalzi's Agent to the Stars. Aliens are ready to reveal themselves to earthlings, but realise they have an image problem. What to do? Hire a Hollywood agent, of course.

Anything by Christopher Moore.
And Simon R. Green's Secret Histories series is full of madness and mayhem.

Oh, and Fforde's The Big Over Easy. Who killed Humpty Dumpty?

Hmn. And A. Lee Martinez. Gil's All Fright Diner...what will a hick vamp and a truck-driver Were do about zombie cows, a lolita sorceress, and the evil under the fridge?

As you can tell, "zany" is my genre of choice.

One last one...Walter Moers' The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear. Whimsical, with illustrations.

John Morressy's books about Kedrigern the wizard are very funny. Also try Tom Holt. Coming soon from Echelon Press is a very silly book called Fang Face. Dan McGirt's Jason Cosmo series is very silly but ultimately collapses under its own weight. John Moore's Heroics for Beginners is also very good.

For fun and punning, one cannot beat Piers Anthony's Xanth series (34 books and counting... )

SF - R. M. Meluch's series, beginning with The Myriad. Quick, fun, provocatively amusing. I laughed my head off.

http://www.ebooksjustpublished.com/20...

free, and well reviewed

"Combining relentless action with non-stop laughs, Hal Spacejock explodes onto the science fiction scene with the subtlety of a meteor strike and the hushed reverence of a used car salesman.

If you enjoy TV shows like the Young Ones, Firefly, Blackadder, Red Dwarf and Dr Who, or books by Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt or Jasper Fforde, then the Hal Spacejock series is for you."

I laughed with Wasp and The Space Willies (The Space Willies/Six Worlds Yonder) by Eric Frank Russell.
It's old science fiction, but it's two light and funny space adventures.

Also Connie Willis' To Say Nothing Of The Dog. Very funny.

Knight Life is light and somewhat humorous. It's not Peter David's best work or his funniest, but it shouldn't get you down.

Terry Brooks' Landover series is very light and funny. The first book is Magic Kingdom for Sale--Sold.

I also second the Connie Willis suggestions and John Scalzi. The Android's Dream by Scalzi is laugh-out-loud funny.

A. Lee Martinez has a fun quick read--The Automatic Detective. Lots of fun ideas and a satisfying retro romp of old sci/fi mixed with film noir.

In the Company of Ogres was good too. I found a lot of similarities to Pratchett in that one.

A Nameless Witch had a lot of fun moments courtesy of a demon duck, but seemed a little darker than his other stuff.

Michelle M. wrote: "Have you read Asprin's MYTH books? Quite silly.

I love the MYTH books

All my usual suggestions have already been covered but I did just start P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves books - while not comic Fantasy they are solid British humor. If you enjoy Pratchett, Fforde, Adams etc. you’ll likely enjoy these if you’re just looking for a fun, light read.

Jeeves in the Morning
Jeeves and Wooster Omnibus

I definitely second Jeeves by Wodehouse. Hilarious.

The Masterpiece Theater productions with Frye and Laurie are also phenomenal.

If you like urban/paranormal fantasy:
Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson
Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner

Both are tongue-in-cheek series about supernatural beings. Queen Betsy, in 'Undead', will do most anything for a pair of designer shoes.

Good call, Jim. The Undead series has given me lots of laugh out loud moments! MaryJanice Davidson is hilarious. Her Fred the mermaid series is also good fun.

Forgive me if this sounds a bit self-promoting but you might enjoy my first novel, Been Blued. It's about an advanced group of people who return to Earth because a space virus wiped out their women. (They walk among us and they're after our females!) Here's a link to Jim Cherry's review: http://www.sonar4ezine.com/ch10.html

"Terry Brooks' Landover series is very light and funny. The first book is Magic Kingdom for Sale--Sold.

I also second the Connie Willis suggestions and John Scalzi. The Android's Dream by Scalzi is laugh-out-loud funny."

I totally agree with the Terry Brooks recommendation. My first all time favorite series is Magic Kingdom for Sale -Sold. I've wanted to be green like Willow ever since :)

The Android's dream is going to the top of my to-read list for certain.

If you like Christopher Moore you should read Tom Robbins as well. My top three from Tom are Jitterbug Perfume, Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates and Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas.

-Small self plug at the end.- The Adventures of Marcy and Sara is fun, quick to read with loads of humor.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I've tried a few from Christopher Moore. Fluke was ok. A Dirty Job had me laughing out loud. You Suck made me want to make a sign saying "I am poor and have a huge cat". (I have a huge cat).

I've tried a few Connie Willis books, but they just don't seem to hit the spot for me. To Say Nothing of the Dog had some amusing bits but I found it too annoying overall. (Though that may be because I just really dislike the Victorian era. Part of me always dreams of running around with a baseball bat, bashing people over the head and yelling, "Grow some brains and common sense!")

I despise the Xanth books. For some reason they just rub me the wrong way.

I've read Carpe Demon and the other books in the series. One of those where I'm driven to read them but honestly can't say why. :) Doesn't really fall into humor for me though.

As for the rest, I'll be browsing through them all.

Thanks again.

Random, have you read Belleweather? It's hilarious that you said "Grow some brains and common sense" because that's what the whole of Belleweather seems to be about!

You're right that Dirty Job was hilarious and Fluke was okay. But Lamb. Lamb is hysterical. And oddly, not nearly as irreverent as I thought it would be.

I didn't find Carpe Demon all that funny either. I didn't bother continuing. I think though that if she ever did a prequel of her being trained by the Vatican, I'd read it. That was an interesting concept.

If you don't mind an occasional youth book, I'm enjoying the audible version of The Order of Odd-Fish. It's pretty silly so far, but in a fun way. Too silly can get annoying but I haven't found this one annoying yet.
I also like the Portable Door series by Tom Holt.

Check out the Hal Spacejock series, Smallworld and Littlestar. Or any book by Robert Rankin. John Scalzi has some good ones too.

Just realized I'm necroposting, sorry. Ill leave the suggestions for others though.