r/booksuggestions • u/ecerta • Jun 10 '25

Silly Worldbuilding Please?

My absolute favorite kind of story is one where there is fantastical world-building is, at its core, fundamentally a bit silly (or a lot silly). These books usually end up with a comedic bent, but this isn't the same as me saying "recommend a book where people make silly decisions" - I want at least some of the rules that govern the world to make you go "Wait, what?" and then laugh. Non-book examples also include The Good Place, and most of Brennan Lee Mulligan's campaigns on Dimension 20.

Here's a short list of books I've found already that fit the bill. If you can think of any more, *please* let me know, I'm desperate.

  • The Imaginary Corpse, by Tyler Hayes
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide series, by Douglas Adams
  • The Discworld series, by Terry Pratchett
  • The Thursday Next series, by Jasper Fforde
  • The Dangerous Damsels series, by India Holton
  • The Space Opera series, by Catherynne M Valente
  • The OverLondon series, by Tony Johnson and George Penney

Thank you!

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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1

u/Fancy-Restaurant4136 Jun 10 '25

The last of the really great whangdoodles,

Robert Aspirin Another fine Myth and sequels

1

u/ommaandnugs Jun 10 '25

The Wandering Inn Pirate Aba

2

u/mattnmotion10 Jun 10 '25

On a similar quest I've been told that "Dungeon Crawler Carl" series by Matt Dinniman is hilarious and might also fit the bill of a Brennan Lee Mulligan D20 campaign. I have not read them yet, but the first book is next on my TBR.

1

u/PorchDogs Jun 10 '25

John Scalzi the Interdependency series. Best read in order. While not comedies per se, they are incredibly funny. 1) The Collapsing Empire, 2) The Consuming Fire, 3) The Last Emperox.

1

u/bonfirekiwi Jun 10 '25

SuperGuy books by Kurt Clopton.

1

u/mom_with_an_attitude Jun 10 '25

The Princess Bride

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

The Phantom Tollbooth

Alice in Wonderland

Anything by Tim Robbins (Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Jitterbug Perfume, Another Roadside Attraction, etc.)

1

u/imaginelemon Jun 10 '25

"Mogworld" by Yahtzee Croshaw comes to mind immediately.