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Yagharek

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Jun 9, 2010
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Gonna have to disagree about Riftwar. It's good, but if you're not in the mood for Tolkien or similar, I'd leave it until later.

I think you can buy it as one volume though. Not sure about the original, but the re-release, I think you should be able to.
 

Fraught

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Aug 2, 2008
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Clockwork Orange. It isn't heavy, and believe me, it's funny as fuck.

Really. Not kidding.
 

DuplicateValue

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Jun 25, 2009
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Fraught said:
Clockwork Orange. It isn't heavy, and believe me, it's funny as fuck.

Really. Not kidding.
Is the movie based off it? I never knew there was a book.

joemegson94 said:
I read Lord of the Flies last time I went on holiday. I definitely recommend it.
Something I never got around to actually.

I'm sure I have a copy around here somewhere...
 

Shadowfaze

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Jul 15, 2009
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Anything by RA Salvatore, preferably his forgotten realms stories, like the dark elf trilogy. They are fantastic reads, and not too background heavy like LOTR
 

zHellas

Quite Not Right
Feb 7, 2010
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DuplicateValue said:
So, I've got a flight to France to look forward to in the near future, and I find myself short on reading material. So I was hoping you lot could recommend some good books to keep me entertained for a while.

I'm not looking for anything too heavy, something entertaining and possibly funny would do the trick.
I usually read Tolkien books, or similar works, but I'm really not in the mood for that sort of thing at the moment.
If you've read Submarine by Joe Dunthorne, try and think of something along those lines if you can.

My thanks in advance, Escapists!
I suggest: John Dies at the End by David Wong.

It's funny, but after Las Vegas it gets a bit slow but picks up later on.

Not sure if it's light, though.
 

StriderShinryu

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Dec 8, 2009
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If you're looking for something entertaining but on the funny side, you can't go wrong with Tom Holt. I haven't read all of his books, but the ones I did read were quite good.

http://www.tom-holt.co.uk/comic.htm

The two I have read:
Falling Sideways

From the moment the first Homo Sapiens descended from the trees, possibly onto their heads, humanity has striven towards civilisation. Fire. The Wheel. Running Away from furry things with more teeth than one might reasonably expect - all are testament to man's ultimate ascendancy.

It is a noble story, a triumph of intelligence over adversity and so, of course, complete and utter fiction.

For one man has discovered the hideous truth: that humanity's ascent has been ruthlessly guided by a small gang of devious frogs.

---
Nothing But Blue Skies

There are very many reasons why British summers are either non-existent or, alternatively, held on a Thursday. Many of these reasons are either scientific, dull, or both - but all of them are wrong, especially the scientific ones.

The real reason why it rains perpetually from January 1st to December 31st (incl.) is, of course, irritable Chinese Water Dragons. Karen is one such legendary creature. Ancient, noble, near-indestructible and, for a number of wildly improbable reasons, working as an estate-agent, Karen is irritable quite a lot of the time. Hence Wimbledon.

But now things have changed and Karen's no longer irritable. She's FURIOUS.
 

Sonicron

Do the buttwalk!
Mar 11, 2009
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Snake Plissken said:
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
I'll second this one. Great stand-alone piece with quirky characters and lots of laughs.

Also, I recommend Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. Not exactly a comedy novel, but still fairly light and fun reading; the book's basic premise is an alternate timeline World War 1 in a steampunk/biotech setting, with two teenagers on opposing sides of the conflict as the lead characters.

Aside from this I mostly dabble in W40k. Not a lot of light reading going on there, I know, but I still suggest you give the Ciaphas Cain novels a try (basically the only novels set in that universe that qualify as something of a comedy); the first three are collected in a low-priced omnibus.
 

GrimTuesday

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May 21, 2009
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A Game of Thrones by George RR Martian. I loved this book so much that I've read it twice in one year.
 

Fraught

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Aug 2, 2008
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DuplicateValue said:
Fraught said:
Clockwork Orange. It isn't heavy, and believe me, it's funny as fuck.

Really. Not kidding.
Is the movie based off it? I never knew there was a book.
Yup, there was. It came out a few years before the movie. Like, 9 years, I think?

I actually really liked the book, more than the movie. The movie just sort of made the whole...society different than I had pictured it. Still, can't fault a man for not adhering to my exact thoughts (even if I read the book, like, what, 35 years after the movie was made?), and I respect Kubrick for what he did with it.

Still, I recommend you to read the book, even if just out of curiousity. It's a pretty...interesting book.
 

DuplicateValue

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Jun 25, 2009
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StriderShinryu said:
They sound pretty funny - I might have a look for them.

Sonicron said:
Also, I recommend Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. Not exactly a comedy novel, but still fairly light and fun reading; the book's basic premise is an alternate timeline World War 1 in a steampunk/biotech setting, with two teenagers on opposing sides of the conflict as the lead characters.
After researching this one further, I think I'll definitely try read it in the future.
 

octafish

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Apr 23, 2010
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Sorry but if you are on a aeroplane you have to read something by Tom Clancy, Stephen King or Dan Brown. At the very least Matthew Reilly. It's the Law!

OT: Good Omens is well, good. I would reccomend Neal Stephensons "Baroque Cycle" starting with Quicksilver, but it is massive. So unless you are flying to France from Australia with a 7 hour wait in a South-East Asian airport it might be a little too long.
 

EMFCRACKSHOT

Not quite Cthulhu
May 25, 2009
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darkdrgon2136 said:
If you're into fantasy, The Riftwar books by Raymond Feist are great. Magician is the first one, but I think you can only get it in 2 parts now (with the updated content), so I'd go with Magician: Apprentice.
You can get the entire revised edition from waterstones and WH smiths for £8:99. I just replaced my copy today (I left my old one on the bus XD)
Whilst an amazing piece of fantasy, it may be a bit heavier than the OP is looking for.
Why not splash out a fiver for yhatzees book Mogworld. After reading that free chapter here, I think it looks quite funny
Also, I found the Soddit absolutely hilarious. Its a piss take of the hobbit.
 

SeanTheSheep

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Jun 23, 2009
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I agree with the idea of The Guide (If you can, a collection of the Trilogy of Four would be best)
Other than that, I could recommend The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, and the sequel The Ask And The Answer, and anything by Stephen King, but I haven't really read much recently, so I'm at a loss other than things that are well reviewed.
EDIT: Oh, The Black Magician Trilogy (Composed of The Magician's Guild, The Novice and The High Lord) is quite good, though it grates a little at times.
EDIT THE SECOND: Oh, and Adrian Mole. Sue Townsend is an amazing writer.
I'd stick to post Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 and pre Adrian Mole and The Weapons of Mass Destruction.
 

juliett_lima

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May 12, 2009
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terry pratchett is great fun to read - I'd suggest one, but there are so many "sets" of characters, written in different styles (in different books) that appeal to different people. . . very difficult to prescribe.

I started with Guards! Guards!, and went down the Vimes & Co. path first - good natured detective comedy - then you get to philosophical comedy with Death & Co., then you get to more slapstick, pop culture referency Wizards and Co., and then the cultural satire of Rincewind. . . and the fairy tale pisstake of the Witches & Co. . . depends whihc intrigues you most :)
 

hecticpicnic

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Jul 27, 2010
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DuplicateValue said:
Nincompoop said:
Discworld is phun. But honestly, I'm not very much of a reader.
Yeah I've been meaning to try some Terry Pratchet books, but I wasn't sure which one to start with. Any ideas? A lot of them don't seem to be too related to each other as far as I can see.

Oh That Dude said:
Marcus Zusak. Guy writes good stuff. I am the Messenger and The Book Thief.
I read The Book Thief and I loved it, but I wouldn't class it as light or funny really...

What's the other one like?
definnatly the colour of magic it the first if you end up liking it,you know,you'll want it in proper order and its my favourite.the books are easy to read(not as in that there for children by and excuse me for use the most typical review fraise but there "page turners")the have this great dark humour to them aswell
 

Shock and Awe

Winter is Coming
Sep 6, 2008
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Brave New World
1984
Gone With The Wind(Long but good)
Tom Clancy novels
A Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy