SOMETHING LIKE DISCWORLD

So you’re looking for some humorous science fiction and fantasy but you’ve already read Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams (if you haven’t, go read them now!) and you are wondering what to read now? Well, I have a few suggestions.

First, make sure you’ve read Pratchett's and Adams’ “other” books – Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman and Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency & Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams.

After you’ve caught up with the “classics” check out these authors and titles:

Christopher Moore writes wild and wacky satire about contemporary demons, sea monsters, vampires, and crazy and lovable “ordinary” people.

Yellow Blue Tibia by Adams Roberts is intoxicating mix of Soviet absurdity, UFO weirdness, and dry wit.

Tom Holt wrote over a dozen humorous SF/Fantasy novels, often twisting traditional myths and fables. His latest, Blonde Bombshell, concerns a planet-killing bomb turned tourist.

Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi tells the story of enlightened aliens who come to earth to share their wisdom and fabulous technology. Unfortunately, humanity finds them extremely ugly and very stinky. So they hire a Hollywood agent. Good, B-movie fun.

Robert Rankin is the very British author of a blimp-full of far-fetched satirical adventures combining occultism, steampunk, and running gags. Some of his best are Knees Up Mother Earth, Retromancer, and Toyminator.

Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and published by those monster-lovers at Quirk Books is a zombie/Star Trek fandom mashup. “It’s a zombie book, captain, but not as we know it.”

And speaking of zombies, Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen presents the story of a couple on the edge of divorce who find their love rekindled by the burning cinders of civilization. To be published on August 31, this little book delivers not just laughs and gore but helpful advice for lovers who find the magic gone from their relationship (and replaced by hoards of hungry undead).

A. Lee Martinez is the author of eight humorous novels including Gil’s All Fright Diner (a werewolf and a vampire team up to defend a very strange restaurant from zombies); The Automatic Detective (a doomsday robot turned private investigator battles mutants, green gangsters, and talking gorillas to save Empire City); and Divine Misfortune (shopping for a personal god goes very wrong).