readers advisory for all discussion

Some novels I have especially liked in the past are: The Hunger Games series, The Magicians, Hell, The Child Thief, and The Zamonia series.

Suggestions?

I didn't find the first two in your list humorous and I haven't read the rest...have you ever read Pratchett? He may not be dark enough if Collins and Grossman are your kind of hah-hah. Huh. Or do you mean you liked those and now want to read something humorous?

yeah I'm confused I don't think of those as humorous.

as far as humor goes I like terry pratchett, douglas adams and tim scott.

I like humor, and I like Sci/Fi Fantasy. Either/or or a combo is fantastic. :P

This is super obvious, but I'll go ahead and say it. Whenever I think sci-fi and humor, i think Douglas Adams. Also obvious, but Vonnegut can be funny, maybe not in a haha funny way.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke is very funny in an Oscar Wilde/Jane Austen kind of way. And also brilliant fantasy.

Martin Millar might be your thing if you like fantasy with a bit more real-life edge. Lonely Werewolf Girl and The Good Fairies of New York are two good ones with spirit and fighting.

Patrick Rothfuss for more high fantasy (but still darkly funny). The Name of the Wind is out and the second one should be released next month.

Have you tried Robert Rankin?

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files Jim Butcher

Percy and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan Rick Riordan

Anything by Christopher Moore Christopher Moore

Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez A. Lee Martinez

Timothy Zahn's Quadrail seriesTimothy Zahn

In addition to Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, you should try Piers Anthony. He is definitely cheeky and offers a million puns. When I think of funny sci-fi/fantasy, those are my top three.

Warning: I can only take one of their books at a time. Once I made the mistake of reading of three Douglas Adams books in a row. Small doses, please.

And To Say Nothing of the Dog, it's funny and silly and smart, the Victorian self-mocking humor of Jerome K. Jerome meets the time-traveling hijinks of Douglas Adams-style sci/fi humor.

This is great. I've found 5 new authors to read that I hadn't heard of ;)

A Night in the Lonesome October (Lots of Zelazny's other books are also funny, but then many are not).

Do you like witty rejoinders? Try Steve Brust Jhereg

Adventures with some clever dialogue? Martha Wells, especially her Ile-Rien series.

Miriam, I've never read Brust because I don't want to read a book I can't pronounce. They scare me...

The Futurological Congress: From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy is pretty hilarious and wild, also very short.

how to live safely in a science fictional universe

this book has gotten a lot of positive reviews and has been compared to douglas adams.

I second johnathan strange and mr norrell. The goneaway world by nick harkaway is great literary scifi. Tom robbins is very funny but not scifi

In addition to The Futurological Congress above I must also recommend The Cyberiad by Stanisław Lem. It's hilarious and it should be more well-known than it is.

Out of my favorite "oldies" I want to mention The Complete Compleat Enchanter by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt and many short stories by Henry Kuttner

So the books and authors recommended will show up in a list on the right sidebar (which you can click 'more' and see in full), here are the recs so far:

Books:
The Hunger Games
The Magicians
The Child Thief
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Color of Magic
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Lonely Werewolf Girl
The Good Fairies of New York
The Name of the Wind
Storm Front
The Lightning Thief
Gil's All Fright Diner
Night Train to Rigel
To Say Nothing of the Dog
A Night in the Lonesome October
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
The Gone-Away World
The Cyberiad
The Complete Compleat EnchanterThe Futurological Congress: From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy
Spellsinger
Another Fine Myth
Phule's Company
A Night in the Netherhells
The Stainless Steel Rat
Bill, the Galactic Hero
A Spell for Chameleon
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (Callahan's Place Trilogy, #1)

Authors:
Stanisław Lem
Suzanne Collins
Lev Grossman
Kilgore Trout
Douglas Adams
Tim Scott
Kurt Vonnegut
Martin Millar
Patrick Rothfuss
Tom Robbins
Henry Kuttner
Connie Willis
Jerome K. Jerome
Roger Zelazny
Nick Harkaway
Piers Anthony
Robert Rankin
Jim Butcher
Timothy Zahn
A. Lee Martinez
Christopher Moore
Rick Riordan
Terry Pratchett
Esther Friesner

I think I got most of it (well, hopefully all) but feel free to relink anything in your replies!

You missed Rick Riordan's Percy and the Olympians :)

I put The Lightning Thief down because I thought the first book in the series would be the rec? I did the same for Storm Front?

Flannery wrote: "I put The Lightning Thief down because I thought the first book in the series would be the rec? I did the same for Storm Front?"

Ah :) cool, sorry!

I think Snow Crash is pretty funny, although seriously info-dumpy in the last act. The opening sequence though - hilarious.

Yellow Blue Tibia is also funny, but in a way that winks.

I also add my vote to Strange & Norrell. Comedy of Manners + Napoleanic Wars + magic = great book.

Here are some series to look for:

Spellsinger series, Alan Dean Foster.

The M.Y.T.Hing imperfections and Phule's series by Robert Asprin.

A Night in the Netherhells by Craig Shaw Gardner.

Anything Esther Friesner, or Terry Pratchett does.

The Stainless Steel Rat and Bill the Galactic Hero series by Harry Harrison.

The Xanth series by Piers Anthony, but your tolerance varies based on how you like puns.

The Callahan's Crosstime Saloon Series by Spider Robinson

You might also want to check out anthologies like Chicks in Chainmail as the short story tends to be more humorous.

H. Beam Piper for Little Fuzzy and sequels
John Scalzi for Fuzzy Nation
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

Choupette wrote: "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke is very funny in an Oscar Wilde/Jane Austen kind of way. And also brilliant fantasy."

Loved this book! Thank you!!! :)

Have you ever tried Lois M Bujold's Miles series? There is usually a lot of humor although they're not primarily comic like Discworld. She kind of alternates humor and darkness.

did you end up reading/liking any of the suggestions?