Agreed, though personally I preferred "Jam", and would definitely recommend that to HG fans.DoPo said:
Does anyone have any book recommendations for a fan of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?
- Thread starter Poppy JR.
- Start date
Try anything by Robert Rankin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Rankin . They are entertaining parodies but not as sharp as Admas
Not quite humoristic books (though many of them contain humor), but you could try to get into Jack Vance's material. Vance died a few weeks back at the venerable age of 96 and he remained one of the greatest SciFi writers during even his later years imo (even though he's not as recognised as some others, because he never sought to be).
The "Planet of Adventure" series or the "Dying earth" series might be the best ways to start off with his work (the latter is Fantasy, not scifi).
The "Planet of Adventure" series or the "Dying earth" series might be the best ways to start off with his work (the latter is Fantasy, not scifi).
Can't speak to what of his is easier to start with, I've only ever read Cat's Cradle, but I enjoyed it. Very Dr. Strangelove.RaNDM G said:If you're getting into Vonnegut, I'd recommend Breakfast of Champions or Slaughterhouse-Five first. They're a bit easier to start with.Dangit2019 said:Since everyone else is giving the obligatory Discworld recommendation, I might as well throw something different in:
This book. This is a good book.
Sirens of Titan was also cool, if a bit out there.
What can I recommend? Hm... I don't read a whole lot of comedy, I like comedy as a secondary element, not primary, otherwise it doesn't feel like it's going anywhere. The only comedic books I can think of that I have some awareness of are Robert Ludlum's Road to Gandolfo, wherein he departs from spy thrillers and does spy comedy (a charismatic general shanghais a JAG lawyer to help him kidnap the Pope. And that's just how it starts.) It was entertaining to me, but then I've read a fair bit of Ludlum/Clancy/whatnot.
I've also heard good things about The Gun Seller, by Hugh Laurie, but I haven't had the opportunity to examine it for myself.
I can't add much that hasn't been covered already. While not really a comedy, the Dresden Files has a helluva sense of humour.
Lots of good suggestions here (Stanislav Lem is simply amazing). But going slightly sideways, try PG Wodehouse. He's one of the greatest humorous writers in English and Adams owed a lot to him. And if you like the 'innocent abroad' aspect of H2G2 there's Scoop by Evelyn Waugh. Or try Catch-22, the greatest novel ever written in my opinion.
Otherwise, if it's specifically humorous SF/Fantasy you like but you don't care so much about the writing style, you could try Robert Asprin's Myth series. He can't write for shit but the stories are good fun.
And for great SF in general, if you haven't read the late great Iain M Banks yet, why the hell not?
Otherwise, if it's specifically humorous SF/Fantasy you like but you don't care so much about the writing style, you could try Robert Asprin's Myth series. He can't write for shit but the stories are good fun.
And for great SF in general, if you haven't read the late great Iain M Banks yet, why the hell not?
I just can't bear him. I really tried - I mean, I slogged my way through all four of the first Brentford books, but by God it's so laboured. You can feel the effort to be funny in every paragraph. Whereas with Adams (or Pratchett, for the most part) it just flows like liquid gold from start to finish.albino boo said:
*de-lurks* Seconded on Iain M Banks, his stuff was/is still legendary and there's a lot of deep novels to chose from which were wrote by him. "Look to Windward" was really enjoyable - There's "Consider Phlebas" if you want something darker...
If you want something smaller, "Tuf Voyaging" by George RR Martin of Game of Thrones fame is also quite good.
If you want something smaller, "Tuf Voyaging" by George RR Martin of Game of Thrones fame is also quite good.
Ooh, ooh, one more. It may possibly be the weirdest SF book I've ever read, and I've read some crazy shit. 'The Muller-Fokker effect' by John Sladek. It's not to everyone's taste (2 stars on Amazon!) and it's somewhat of its time but if you're in the right mood it's a great piece of slightly trippy social satire. If you've seen 'The Party' and liked it, you'll probably enjoy this.
I'm also going to say Iain M. Banks. The stories he wrote are so totally unlike what the average person thinks of as 'science fiction.' There are AIs that are millions of times more intelligent than humans, sentient ships that are major characters in some of the books, handguns that level cities, beautiful descriptions of human-machine relations, and an alien race that genetically engineered it's own females to make sex painful for them.
Also, Culture ships have the best names ever.
Also, Culture ships have the best names ever.
Neuromancer.Poppy JR. said:
It's going to be a more accurate future prediction of the world than whatever Orwell cooked up.
I think the first few replies pretty much nailed the closest thing to Douglas Adams in imagination & witty brittish humour, Terry Pratchet. Particularly his Discworld series.
My personal favourite I would have to recomend is Neil Gaiman. His works are usually dark & noir but his books, besides American gods, has its own witty brittish humour & clever imagination. Neverwhere & Anansi boys would be the closest in that respect but his short stories are just as gold.
My personal favourite I would have to recomend is Neil Gaiman. His works are usually dark & noir but his books, besides American gods, has its own witty brittish humour & clever imagination. Neverwhere & Anansi boys would be the closest in that respect but his short stories are just as gold.