Sci-fi Comedies

[Hiro Protagonist]

Can anyone recommend any humorous science fiction books? Similar to "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy."

A different post about "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" reminded me just how much I crave a book like it.

 

[dwndrgn]

Well, not really like Hitchhiker's, but Aspirin's Phule's Company is a humorous scifi, as well as Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat.

 

[Taltos]

"Red Dwarf" series should probably qualify

 

[scalem X]

I've never read a full novel from her, but I really like "Esther M Friesner" 's part in Meditations on middle earth and I believe certain of her books must qualify what you ask for here.

 

[Hiro Protagonist]

Thanks for the rec's.
Ive seen the Red Dwarf TV series, but never new there were books! Are the books written after the shows, or were the shows based on the books?

 

[ray gower]

The Red Dwarf books are based on the TV series with all that means in loss of visual humour etc. That said, the Naylor ones are not bad.

Nearest I can think of for the zany humour is the Pratchett Discworld series.

If I hadn't been the writer, I would also suggest the Fleet Lark series- You'll find copies of those in the Star Trek Fan-Fiction board here

 

[jackokent]

What about Heinlein's Space Family Stone, a parody of Swiss Family Robinson?

 

[greyhorse]

While the book isn't a satire like Hitchiker's, Michael Marshall Smith's 'Only Forward' has a similar sense of humour. This guy's writting style is more cool though.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

You're asking in the classics forum, so I assume you're interested in older books. Anything in Keith Laumer's Retief series, about the adventures of a galactic diplomat, might be a good choice. Very broad satire, if I remember them correctly.

Another classical humorous SF novel is The Witches of Karres, by James H. Schmitz. I used to love that one, but it might be a little dated now. The humor might be described as witty and gentle, rather than broad and freewheeling.

For SF with fantasy trappings (Earthman lands on medieval-type planet with witches, wizards, and fairies etc., but it all comes down to psi powers), there's Stasheff's The Warlock in Spite of Himself and King Kobold. After that, I feel the series went downhill, as Stasheff continued to mine the same territory over and over and over. However, the first two books were a lot of fun, and the series, begun in the late sixties, I think, continues to this day, so somebody must still be getting a kick out of it.

 

[Milena]

The Roderick books by John Sladek are comedies but with a serious core (like Hitchhiker). Not 'laugh a minute' but quirky - 'hilarious and... serious' the blurb says on my paperback!

 

[ray gower]

Well if you want to get really serious and classical there is Edwin Abbott's 1884 fantasy, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. The new film is going to be a hoot.

There are any number of follow-ons to it as well:-
# An Episode of Flatland, by Charles Howard Hinton (1907)
# Sphereland: A Fantasy about Curved Spaces and an Expanding Universe, by Dionys Burger (1965)
# The Planiverse: Computer Contact with a Two-dimensional World, by A. K. Dewdney (1984)
# Flatterland: Like Flatland, Only More So, by Ian Stewart (2000)
# Spaceland, by Rudy Rucker (2002)

 

[Taltos]

Just remembered, Ijon Tichy books by Stanislaw Lem

- "Futurological Congress: From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy"
- "Memoirs of a Space Traveler - Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy"

Both classics and good satire

 

[angrybuddhist]

Along with Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series, which was already mentioned, I recommend his book Bill, The Galactic Hero. For classic fantasy humor, I recommend The Compleat Enchanter by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt. If you can find Venus On The Half Shell by Kilgore Trout (Philip Jose Farmer) pick it up. http://www.vonnegutweb.com/vonnegutia/trout/kt_chapman.html

 

[j d worthington]

Nearly all of L. Sprague de Camp's sf work tends toward humor, whether it be irony, satire, or outright slapstick. And, of course, there's Eric Frank Russell, who often specialized in humorous sf; most of his best is in short story form, and his stories have been collected together in large omnibus volumes now that should be available through libraries or by order. As with Pratchett and some of the others, there's an underlying serious point to much of Russell's work, but the stories can be enjoyed just for the humor itself.

 

[Pyan]

And, of course, there's Eric Frank Russell, who often specialized in humorous sf

Yes! try Next of Kin (aka. The Space Willies) Brilliant !

 

[T5.2]

And you have Voyage To The Red Planet, by Terry Bisson.

 

[Briareus Delta]

The Robert Rankin books are worth a look. Very similar writing style to Douglas Adams.

 

[Joel007]

for sci-fi humor, especially if you like red dwarf, look up Rob Grant. He co-wrote red dwarf and has written some other books of a similar vein

 

[The DeadMan]

I recommend "No Time For Heroes", by Sam J. Lundwall. It is by far the funniest Science Fiction book I have ever read! It came out in 1971 as part of an Ace Double which included "Alice's World", also by Sam J. Lundwall. I did a search and several online used book dealers have it for very reasonable prices. Alibris has it and they are very reliable.

 

[Ian Whates]

I concur with much of what's been suggested above, especially the early Stainless Steel Rat books and EFR's Next of Kin -- a great fun tale.

Would also recommend Robert Heinlein's Glory Road -- a real departure for him and, at times, laugh-out-loud funny.

If you can find it, Michael Kurland's Unicorn Girl is also well worth a read: weird, trippy and hilarious.

Book I've laughed at the most in recent years, though, has to be Connie Willis's Bellweather: an astute dig at the extremes that pc attitudes can attain in the workplace and the bizarre accidents that come to be viewed as 'the scientific method'. Heard it described at 2005 Worldcon as "the only novel that really depicts science accurately." (A comment that was later repeated to Connie herself.) And there's no technical jargon in it anywhere.