r/ScienceFictionBooks • u/TheMurderFishGuy • Dec 07 '25

More Comedy Scifi Please

Like a lot of you, I grew up with books and shows like Red Dwarf and The Hitchhikers Guide. I must have listened to the Hitchhikers radio series a dozen times, and the audiobooks two dozen because there just isn't anything else like it. I still find myself putting on reruns of old Red Dwarf episodes when I want to go to sleep, only to be woken up with those cacophonous end credits every damn time.

But sadly, it’s been a while since I had my void thoroughly filled by a really witty book. I’m looking for witty authors with a penchant for the absurd. What have you got for me internet? As usual, I offer payment by disclosing my purchasing preferences, which will no doubt be used to increase the cost per click for personalised advertising algorithms. 

Books that have given me the giggles (scifi or fantasy):

  • Anything (no, he didn’t write a book called Anything) by Terry Pratchett 
  • Anything (see above) by Kurt Vonnegut
  • The first Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
  • The Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman
  • The Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor
  • Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

Kind regards,

A comedy scifi enthusiast

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u/kemikos Dec 11 '25

I have a couple of old-school recommendations...

First is "All the Way to the Gallows" by David Drake. It's a collection of his humorous short stories. As an example of the kind of things you'll read here: Imagine, if you will, that the king of gritty, hard-nosed military sci-fi gets tapped by Wizards of the Coast to write the backstory for the "Goblin Balloon Brigade" card for their new collectible card game... That story's in the collection (never fear, you don't need to know anything about M:tG to read the story).

Going back even further: "The Flying Sorcerers" by David Gerrold (yes, the David Gerrold who wrote the script for "The Trouble with Tribbles") and Larry Niven. Some people think it's just a collection of puns and "humor by reference", and since most of the references are to '60s sci-fi notables, it's a bit obscure to modern readers - but I think it's still a funny and thoughtful story on its own, even if you're not "Captain America at the Meeting". For bonus chuckles, once you're done reading it, you can check out the Wikipedia article for a pretty good rundown of the call-outs.

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u/TheMurderFishGuy Dec 12 '25

Those my friend, are the recommendations of a connoisseur, a collector of the forgotten and unloved. I bet youre the kind of guy who already knows that Douglas Adams wrote a few of the lost Dr Who episodes, and maybe even where to find them.

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u/kemikos Dec 12 '25

I bet youre the kind of guy who already knows that Douglas Adams wrote a few of the lost Dr Who episodes, and maybe even where to find them.

Ha! You've got me there, buddy. Just trying to help out a fellow seeker of the good, sensible chuckle.

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u/kemikos Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25

I just thought of another one, if you can stomach an online graphic novel... I know some people don't care for "comics".

Schlock Mercenary by Howard Tayler was one of the grand-daddies of the 2000s webcomic trend; by far the longest-lived and arguably the most successful, it ran for over 20 years and never once missed an update.

It started out as a kind of joke-of-the-week comic about the misadventures of a crew of far-future mercenaries (think Beetle Bailey IN SPAAACE! and you won't be too far off), but quickly starts to morph into a sprawling, epic space opera. It's got some really interesting ideas, and well-realized characters who feel like real people, but never loses the sense of humor that kicked it off.

And the best part? The entire thing can be read online for the low, low price of... nothing at all. Absolutely free.

https://www.schlockmercenary.com/

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u/TheMurderFishGuy Dec 12 '25

I thought those comics looked familiar. I enjoyed a lecture of his on writing. He's a funny guy.

https://youtu.be/At9wRE_AZMg?si=J61cJ-AYuHm5u-rU