What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I guess Lord Tethiel from Brood of Bones could be characterized as one,and maybe Traken from Sleepless

The Smartest Man in Ireland

Try Trickster's Choice and its sequel Trickster's Queen. The Trickster isn't exactly the main character, but he is responsible for all the major events that happen to the main characters, and he makes an appearance off and on. He's a pretty amusing Trickster, in my opinion. Also, the books are just great reads, so win-win! :)

I adore Gen in Megan Whalen Turner's The Queen's Thief series, starting with The Thief

What genre do you enjoy?
How about ?
It's a steampunk adventure with a lot of focus on character development and I'd say Frey's quite the "trickster," but with some good traits that gradually emerge.
You could also try . It's a fantasy, but without a ton of fantastical elements. It's hard to explain, but Mimus is a jester slave to an evil king. Mimus is sharp-tongued and funny, but perhaps he has some redeeming qualities as well?

Terry Pratchett's Moist von Lipwig is a career con man who gets a chance to redeem himself in Going Postal, followed by Making Money and Raising Steam. These novels are set in an alternate universe, Discworld, which contains elements of 17th-century England, Renaissance Florence, and 1990s New York City plus vampires and golems. These three books and the others in the series are very funny but dramatic and thought-provoking as well.

If you're open to older fiction, try George Randolph Chester's classic series about a business/"long con" trickster: Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford: A Cheerful Account of the Rise and Fall of an American Business Buccaneer (1908), Young Wallingford (1910), The New Adventures of Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (1911), Wallingford in His Prime (1913), Wallingford and Blackie Daw (1913), and The Son of Wallingford (1921).

Thanks for the recommendations guys!

I love fantasy/sci-fi, so the Ketty Jay series sounds good for me. Sounds a lot like a few other series that I love, so I'll definitely check it out.

The Mimus book seems to be exactly what I was looking for, but I'm also not a huge fan of YA novels. How YA-y is it?

I've actually read all of Pratchett's books, and I agree Moist is one of my favorite characters. :D

There's a wonderful trickster character, Aiken Drum, in Julian May's SF series The Saga of Pliocene Exile, which begins with The Many-Colored Land. The Many-Colored Land However, although he's one of the most important characters, he is one of a very large cast.

If you don't mind children's books, you might give Diana Wynne Jones Eight Days of Luke a try. (Frankly, a lot of her books might qualify.)

Also lots of Christopher Moore's books would as well.

Another idea is Kage Baker's Sky Coyote.

Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series starts with The Lies of Locke Lamora. Locke and his friends are con men who always have scams going, but they're definitely the heroes in the books. SciFi/Fantasy

Regarding Mimus being young adult, I guess it depends on how you define the genre. There are no love triangles, for one thing. ;) It's written for young adults only in that it doesn't have explicit swearing or violence. Still, a lot of the darker topics are hinted at without being detailed. I still enjoy it, and I'm in my twenties. My mom also read it and enjoyed it a lot. It just depends on your taste I suppose. I own it; it's a keeper.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library has the entire situation set up by a well meaning trickster, but might not have the ill intent. It is a children's book, but many adults have loved it. (view spoiler)[ a game maker builds a town's new library, and kid winners of an essay contest win a lock in and first look, only to discover they need to play their way out to win a prize (hide spoiler)]

Along the same lines The Westing Game would work. (view spoiler)[ a rich paper manufacturer dies, bringing a diverse set of people together for his will, forms them into teams, and the team that discovers who kills him wins his millions (hide spoiler)]

How about Sabriel, Abhorsen, by Garth Nix? Fantasy books with some minor horror.

How about Sabriel, Abhorsen, by Garth Nix? Fantasy books with some minor horror.

Trick of the Light and The Grimrose Path by Rob Thurman. Urban fantasy of the demons and such variety rather than fae.

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books have a great trickster-ish character named Mat Cauthon.

Also, The Lies of Locke Lamora.

If children's books are okay, the title character in the Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald is a great trickster. The Great Brain

Donald Westlake wrote a book called Help, I Am Being Held Prisoner about a man addicted to practical jokes who goes too far and gets sent to jail. He can't make himself stop even there, and between that and his odd fellow prisoners, all sorts of weird stuff ensues. Not Westlake's best, but a fun, easy read.

Westlake's more famous series about down on his luck thief John Dortmunder might kind of qualify, too. Dortmunder is more of an unlucky, cynical thief than a trickster, but he definitely fits the "bad guy with redeeming qualities" role. His best friend Andy Kelp is probably more of a trickster. The first book in the series is The Hot Rock, in which Dortmunder, Kelp and their associates have to steal the same jewel six times. It's a great read.

Avaminn wrote: "Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books have a great trickster-ish character named Mat Cauthon.

Also, The Lies of Locke Lamora."

Indeed, Mat is modeled on a very quintessential trickster of mythology, and by far my favorite character in the series.

Also Simkin from The Darksword Trilogy: Forging the Darksword, Doom of the Darksword and Triumph of the Darksword

Hounded and other books in the series have trickster characters involved. Like many tricksters, they are liminal characters -- sometimes on the good side, and sometimes (often) not. The main character has his tricky traits, but usually he's dealing with others. The books are a good series.

If you're okay with light novels, The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor is really good.

Whiskeyjack (or Wisakedjak) is often portrayed as fairly helpful. Not always in the most direct fashion, and not without his own best interests being a priority, but generally with the protagonists best in mind.

He shows up a few times here and there, not always directly named, in Charles De Lint books, such as The Onion Girl and I want to say in Moonheart too.

Actually, beside Moonheart being one of my all time favourite books, it features another helpful trickster character who calls himself "one of the little mysteries" and plays a very prominent role. So definitely check that one out.

He's in American Gods too, but rather overshadowed by his very much less helpful cousin Loke.

Bartimaus trilogy. Book about a sarcastic demon and the young magician who is his master. Lots of fun to watch them get into all kinds of trouble and then find a way out of it.

Max Daniels (a very obscure author) has 2 books where the MC is kind of a trickster. They are stand alones and the only 2 books the man wrote. Both are sci-fi, so no "god or spirit" type tricksters.

Offworld (he gets banished from Earth and sent to another world for his tricks)

The Space Guardian (she is a shape shifter of sorts, since she's half human.) This one is not quite as much of a trickster character.

Both of the MC's in these 2 books are into practical jokes which cause a good bit of disruption.

Great topic! I am drawing a blank but if I think of anything I'll let you know. Picking up several great suggestions here myself.

I just discovered a great series by M.L. Brennan where one of the characters is a kitsune, a fox-woman trickster. The first book is Generation V.

A Darker Shade of Magic, where there are parallel worlds "Londons" and in 'our world' i.e. Grey London there's the thief and wannabe pirate Delila Bard.

Harry Harrison's "Stainless Steel Rat" series features "Slippery Jim" DiGriz as the main character. Classic SF

Tim Powers "Last Call" is a more bent version featuring Vegas, the Mob and the Tarot.

Stone Junctionis a Pynchon-like experience

I'm going to second Fresno Bob's suggestion of The Stainless Steel Rat series. Humour and a great conman. What more can anyone ask for. Oh yes, and of course, he saves the world (and the universe).

Possibly The Thief (Book 1 in a Series) by Megan Whalen Turner. Definitely a Trickster element; don't want to say more without ruining series. The first book is not my favourite book, but it's vital to understanding the rest of the series. YA, vaguely fantasy or historical, set in a Greco-Persian-Byznatium-like world...but not trying to be historical

Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man: The Early Years

I recommend Contrarywise and the sequel Trickster's Touch by Zohra Greenhalgh.

all of the suggestions are fantastic books. among these are gentlemen bastards, a darker shade of magic, all of the butcher files(the main character is pretty tricky and sarcastic and its amazing), as well as the wheel of time(one of my favorite series of all times, not really trickster oriented but mat cauthen fits that bill nicely.

The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley includes a trickster character called Puck. He's one of the core characters throughout. Middle-grade fiction.

Jack Vance's Cugel the Clever. (Actually, the entire Dying Earth series is full of trickster stories.)

The Eyes of the Overworld
Cugel's saga

The Tin Drum

The protagonist Oskar is a trickster.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - it's a fantasy heist story, when the guy in charge is a trickster type.

I read it 20 years ago, but I can still remember that the Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman had fantastic trickster character in Fizban.