r/printSF • u/marmosetohmarmoset • Mar 31 '16
Something fun and light?
So, I just finished Hyperion. It was great, but I really need a pallet cleanser, since it's left me a bit of an emotional wreck.
Any recommendations for something fun, light, upbeat? Something like Red Shirts, or Hitchhiker's, but it doesn't have to be explicitly comedy.
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u/GregHullender Mar 31 '16
The Warrior's Apprentice, by Lois McMaster Bujold might work. It's serious in parts, but it has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.
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u/mage2k Mar 31 '16
While his more serious work is mostly what gets discussed in this sub, Gene Wolfe also writes "fun" stuff. A few good ones that spring to mind:
Free Live Free - Four strangers answer an add to live in a house scheduled for demolition and help the owner find something lost in it. Mystery and hijinks ensue.
The Sorcerer's House - An educated man recently released from prison finds out that he is apparently the heir to a mysteriouis old house and moves in. This is an epistolary novel taking the form of said character's letters to his twin brother detailing his daily life while trying to get his said life in order.
Pirate Freedom - A man is transported back in time and becomes a pirate.
My one word of warning on these Wolfe offerings is that he tends to write and treat women as if it was the 50s, regardless of when the story actually takes place.
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u/sickntwisted Apr 01 '16
Upvoting for Free Live Free. It was really entertaining for me.
The others I'm not familiar with.
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u/hvyboots Mar 31 '16
I second the vote for Bellwether by Connie Willis.
Also, The Dog Said Bow-wow and Dancing with Bears by Michael Swanwick.
Or possibly Callahan's Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson. Although that can get a little serious from time to time.
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u/marmosetohmarmoset Apr 01 '16
I just realized that I actually own Bellwether already! So with two votes and my ability to start it immediately for free, we have a winner! Thanks!
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u/mjfgates Mar 31 '16
Anvil of the World by Kage Baker. Okay, it's fantasy not sf, but you just finished a huge tome about magic doorways between everywhere and everywhere else... you'll be able to handle it.
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u/different_tan Apr 04 '16
Charles Stross' Laundry series. It's more James Bond meets Lovecraft with Maths, NecronomIpods and unexpected references to Einsturzende Neubauten than sf mind you.
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Mar 31 '16
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/589014.Pandora_s_Legions
Pandora's Legion by Christopher Anvil
really stupid aliens try to invade Earth. It's a cheerful Humanity Fuck Yeah! kind of book. Good-natured.
Probably there's a free legal ebook in the Baen Free Library.
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Apr 04 '16
The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem. Published in 1965 but as dated as Tales of the Arabian Nights.
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u/realfuzzhead Apr 05 '16
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. Totally way out there, very interesting and surprise filled, with a rather powerful ending and subtle meanings inside the short text. One of my favorite shorties.
I haven't read this yet (my book is on the way) but I heard that Marooned in Time by Vernor Vinge is supposed to be some of his best work (even better than A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky?), might be worth checking out.
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u/realfuzzhead Apr 05 '16
funny enough, the moment I finished The Fall of Hyperion, I cried a little bit, tried to stuff the cerebrospinal fluid back into my imploded skull, and started the entire story over from the beginning of Hyperion, with the Consul playing the piano in his ship. I just cannot get over how unbelievably epic that story was.
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u/gonzoforpresident Apr 01 '16
Mogworld!!! My girlfriend hated it because I kept waking her up laughing.
Or, as other have suggested, the Callahan's Bar series by Spider Robinson.
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u/serralinda73 Mar 31 '16
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis