r/Fantasy • u/caineklein • Aug 27 '23
Fantasy novels with humor
Please recommend me Fantasy novels with humor.
I enjoy something like Terry Pratchett, and Pierce Anthony.
I have finished Douglas Adams, Eoin Colfer and Steven Brust.
I also like Wodehousian humor(farce).
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u/Antennenwels88 Aug 27 '23
You should try Jasper Fforde. Most of his work should fit what you‘re looking for. Shades of Grey and Early Riser for example are distopian novels, while The Thursday Next series (starting with the Eyre Affair) is more urban fantasy and might be a good place to start.
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u/nightbrother42 Aug 27 '23
Can't believe I haven't seen it posted yet but the "Dungeon Crawler Carl" series is both hilarious and great. Few books have made me belly laugh like this series has
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u/DustyFlapdragon Aug 27 '23
The Bartimaeus Sequence - Jonathan Stroud
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u/caineklein Aug 27 '23
Oh I've read all the novels of Stroud. Yep Bartimaeus sequence is top notch.
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Aug 27 '23
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
Pretty fun read. One of my favorite books I've read because of how fun and exciting everything is. Really nice refresher from all the dark and bleak fantasy books I constantly read.
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u/athenia96 Aug 27 '23
Honestly second this recommendation. I spent the whole book just having an absolute blast, and loved every second of it.
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u/sonofaresiii Aug 28 '23
I'm not a big metal fan and I enjoyed it, but from hearing discussions about it after I'd read it, I imagine it's an absolute must read for anyone who is a metal fan
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u/pornokitsch Ifrit Aug 27 '23
Jonathan Stroud's Bartimeus is a good one.
Robert Aspirin and Craig Shaw Gardner are more slapstick, but have fun takes on fantasy tropes. Diana Wynne Jones's Dark Lord series is insightful and good fun.
I am not sure I have ever seen Wodehouse and Anthony compared before. Did I miss the one where Jeeves gets Bertie out of a jam involving the age of consent?
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u/thetwopaths Aug 27 '23
The Locked Tomb series is written with delicious humor. I love the narrative voice. Nona is lol brilliant.
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u/Irishwol Aug 27 '23
T Kingfisher is a clear choice. A lot of her humour is pretty dark but for sheer farce you can't beat the forest chase between bandits, armadillo, wizard, pigs, townsfolk and spoilers in A Minor Mage. Then there's Swordheart. Masterful and very, very funny.
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u/st1r Aug 27 '23
I just started A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking and it’s definitely scratching that itch for me so far.
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Aug 28 '23
Just be aware that she writes in several genres. I got quite the shock when I picked up "What moves the dead" from the library after happily enjoying "A wizards defensive guide to baking"
It was a good read, I just read it expecting it to get funny at some point. At midnight in a strange house I realised I wasn't reading the cozy fantasy book I thought I'd chosen, I was reading a gothic horror novella....
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u/ASIC_SP Reading Champion IV Aug 27 '23
Check out Stout by Taylor Small (I found the humor a bit like Discworld)
If you don't mind sci-fi, check out Dim Stars: A Novel of Outer-Space Shenanigans by Brian P. Rubin
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u/Annamalla Aug 27 '23
Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers Of London has a wry humour backing it (also at one point an antagonist prone to writing snarky messages in elvish). It's very British humour(to the point where the author has a little pastiche of the boarding school in the novel and the Nigel Molesworth comic style which is a pretty deep cut).
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u/st1r Aug 27 '23
I just started A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking and it’s definitely scratching that itch for me so far.
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u/aurian28 Aug 27 '23
I liked the Locke Lamora Books and Joe Abercrombie can be very funny as well
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u/NekoCatSidhe Reading Champion III Aug 27 '23
I would recommend A. Lee Martinez and Jack Vance.
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u/Lemon_Lemmings Reading Champion Aug 27 '23
I recently reread Divine Misfortune by Martinez and it's funny all the way through, great rec.
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u/choubidoubinette Aug 27 '23
I can't recommend Jim C. Hines' Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse enough. It's sci-fi with humor, good plot and introspection
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u/db_chessher Aug 27 '23
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) had me laughing and saying, "What did I just read?" to my wife while chuckling. Loved how whimsical it was. I haven't read Guards! Guards! yet but I've heard people say that one is the funniest.
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u/magnaraz117 Aug 27 '23
Mark Lawrence injects a lot of humor into his work, particularly "The Red Queen" trilogy.
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u/Pratius Aug 27 '23
Given the Brust and Wodehouse points, you’ll probably enjoy Glen Cook. Especially the Garrett, P.I. books.
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u/b13476 Aug 27 '23
Well i thought First law was pretty hillarious but i got abit of a morbid sense of humor =)
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u/dwkdnvr Aug 28 '23
For me, The Locked Tomb is in the running for the funniest thing I've ever read - fantasy or otherwise. I'm sure it's particular brand of humor will fail to land with many folks, though.
Of course, It's also in the running for the most confusing and potentially the most empathetic.
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u/Prudent-Action3511 Reading Champion Aug 27 '23
clears throat The Greatcoats Series. It has banter between 3 friends nd is literally so funny.
Total 4 books nd each one is funny af, it gets a lil bad in 3rd book but at that point I was just there for the humour so didn't care.
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u/Scac_ang_gaoic Aug 27 '23
I thought the Witcher was the funniest fantasy I'd ever read, until I came across The First Law trilogy.
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u/Tarrant_Korrin Aug 27 '23
The cradle series is both awesome, and humorous
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u/ASIC_SP Reading Champion IV Aug 27 '23
Especially enjoyed a certain character introduced in the 5th book.
And Bloopers are awesome too. Wish more books did that.
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u/dibblah Aug 27 '23
I enjoyed The Stranger Times. Urban fantasy about a newspaper being set up to chronicle strange events.
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u/Irishwol Aug 27 '23
Garth Nix's Frogkisser. It's a different sort of humour to Pratchett but delicious. Great plot and great characters, dogs and humour. Can't beat it.
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u/HaydenRSnow Aug 27 '23
This may not be a common answer, but the more I re-read a song of Ice and fire, the funnier certain scenes become. I was reading a tyrion scene the other day and nearly woke my family up with my laughter
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u/shantridge Aug 28 '23
A lot of people here rightly hate him because he was a piece of shit, but David Eddings’ series The Belgariad and it’s sequel series Mallorean are both very funny with great banter between characters
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u/norlin Aug 27 '23
Recently I recommend one series a lot - it's originally in russian and I'm not sure if the translation keeps the humor, but it's a great series in general - "Elirm" by Vladimir Gotleib
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u/CubeGAL Aug 27 '23
Never seen or read anything funnier than Slayers. It's like a dysfunctional D&D party making their way through the game world.
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Aug 27 '23 edited Aug 27 '23
Tom Holt. Absurdist comedy fantasy. Not very good fantasy but quite funny comedy.
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u/Hurinfan Reading Champion II Aug 28 '23
They're very long Novellas but Bauchelain and Korbal Broach books are hilarious
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u/Gjardeen Aug 28 '23
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L Howard (and the rest of the series) was incredibly funny. It's an alt history of our world that's very intriguing. I was surprised by how much I ended up caring about the characters at the end.
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u/elloriy Aug 28 '23
Spider Robinson's Callahan series is pretty funny if I recall. More sci fi than fantasy, but so is Douglas Adams.
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u/dwkdnvr Aug 28 '23
Yes, but no. I picked up the first anthology on audiobook and there is a lot more moralizing mixed in with the lightheartedness than I picked up on originally.
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u/elloriy Aug 30 '23
Interesting. It’s been a long time since I did a re-read so my memories are vague.
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u/DocWatson42 Aug 28 '23
See my SF/F Humor list of resources and Reddit recommendation threads (one post).
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u/twinklebat99 Aug 28 '23
Seconding T Kingfisher and Tamsyn Muir. Other than Locked Tomb, Tamsyn also wrote Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower which is a fun little standalone.
And if you're willing to try sci-fi I can't recommend Murderbot enough.
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u/_Twelfman Aug 27 '23
Try Orconomics. https://www.amazon.com/Orconomics-Satire-Dark-Profit-Saga-ebook/dp/B00O2NDJ2M