Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Hey!

I've been reading a lot the past few weeks, and seem to be nearly running out of books. I just finished reading Confessions of a D-List Super-villain, and quite enjoyed it, though I had my issues.
So I'm looking for more books like that, like Hitchhiker's Guide, Lies of Locke Lamora, Among Theives, the Vlad Taltos series, the Tales of Ketty Jay, perhaps even Ranger's Apprentice. Stories with anti-heroes, which capture a bit of humour in them.
The best series which fits the criteria would be the Johannes Cabal series - anything that comes even close to that will be epic.

Any recommendations on these lines are welcome. Thank you!

Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain was weird and funny.

John Dies at the End was very weird and funny.

The Lives of Tao and The Deaths of Tao (3rd book due in Dec I think) are fun also.

Myth series by Robert Lynn Asprin can qualify, I think.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files have an almost cult-like fan base, led by the illustrious Pat Rothfuss. Tad Williams, who's more famous for high fantasy like the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series, is cranking out a new urban fantasy series, the Bobby Dollar novels - these are in the same vein as Butcher's Dresden. The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne are hilarious. And lest I forget, The Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence (the epitome of anti-heroic fantasy).

I've never read the Johannes Cabal series, but the Vlad Taltos series is an old favorite. Here are a few recommendations:

Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman was fun. It's a super hero story told from the villain's point of view. I listened to it & the voice was perfect.

The Amber series by Roger Zelazny doesn't really have an anti-hero, but Corwin is pretty ambitious & doesn't mind killing off some of the family to gain power. Brust (Vlad Taltos) was a friend of & influenced by Zelazny.

Only 2 of the 3 King Killer novels by Patrick Rothfuss are out so far. Kvothe is a pretty interesting character.

The Crown Tower & other books by Michael J. Sullivan follow a couple of thieves who are the heroes.

None of the above, save the first, have a lot of humor in them. They have funny parts, but oerall are serious. Zelazny & Sheckly did the humorous Millenium trilogy starting with Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming.

You might want to look at the Lankhmar series by Fritz Leiber as the to "hero's" of the story are really not cut out for the job while the humor is very Douglas Adams/Terry Pratchett esk. VERY! lol I think (a big one at that as I read this years ago) that the Lankhmar books is what inspired the Discworld books.

I wouldn't call Corwin from Zelazny's Amber books an anti-hero at all. If anything, he's likable and definitely ambitious, but cut from classical cloth as an epic fantasy protagonist - I'd liken him to characters from L.E. Modessit's Recluse or Corean books. He's no "bastard" like Jorg from Prince of Thorns or even a reluctant hero like those featured in Joe Abercrombie's awesomely brutal First Law books. An anti-hero is a likable bastard, or possibly an unwilling party to adventure - Bilbo Baggins was one, although he had none of the disreputable qualities that many modern anti-heroes possess!

I agree, Leo. he's not exactly a pure hero either, though. His motives are pretty self-serving.

Agreed.

I think that I quiet liked Corwin, that is of I am thinking of the right guy, he was the one blinded by a sibling and then thrown into jail yes? And no I would not say he was a true anti-hero at all.

No, Corwin had mild amnesia and was banished to Earth from Amber - although it was his brother who was responsible. There's no mention of jail until several books later, and I think it's his son, who's in a prison.

Oh must be someone else I am thinking of, it has been years since I have read the books!

Leo (Rahien Sorei) wrote: "No, Corwin had mild amnesia and was banished to Earth from Amber - although it was his brother who was responsible. There's no mention of jail until several books later, and I think it's his son, w..."

(view spoiler)[Corwin spends practically all of the second half of the series in a Chaos prison, courtesy of Dara (hide spoiler)]

Althus wrote: "Oh must be someone else I am thinking of, it has been years since I have read the books!"

No, you got the right one & remember it correctly. There is jail & blinding in the first book.

My mistake! You're right - I got mixed up with what happened to Random in Rebma where he was imprisoned and made to marry a blind woman. Corwin gets jailed after his little invasion.... Been too long haha

Ha! lol I am glad my memory hasn't failed me! Well I liked him and thought that blinding him was a little OTT. :P

The Stainless Steel Rat series by Harry Harrison is a good one.

Spoilers!!! Oh well.

Spooky is right about the SS Rat. Slippery Jim is usually on the side of the angels, but he's a bit of a devil. Harry Harrison has a lot of funny books. I never cared much for Bill, the Galactic Hero, but I loved the Deathworld Trilogy which has a similar hero.

Jim wrote: "Spoilers!!! Oh well.

Spooky is right about the SS Rat. Slippery Jim is usually on the side of the angels, but he's a bit of a devil. Harry Harrison has a lot of funny books. I n..."

Not much of a spoiler it isn't that big a thing in the books!

Thank you guys for so many recommendations! I must admit, I've read some already (Kingkiller, Amber, Sullivan's books). I read Emperor Mollusk after the recommendation, and it was great! Will try the others too! Thank you!

(Edit: Fafhard and Grey Mouser also).

James Morrow would be worth checking out. Loads of humor although not sure whether any of his works hit the anti-hero side. The Madonna and the Starship had me laughing a lot. It shares quite a bit in common with hitchhikers.

Hitchikers may well have been significantly influenced by Robert Sheckley - his stories are full of excitement and humor. He is hugely under read for how entertaining and original a writer he is.

Adam Roberts is also an unjustly neglected writer whose writing is full of wit and humor. He never writes sequels and his books jump about quite a bit in theme. All take fairly high concept ideas. I read and absolutely loved Yellow Blue Tibia

The most prolific and popular writer of funny genre works is Terry Pratchett - I am not a huge fan myself but you might well be if you have not tried him.

Within the urban fantasy realms there is quite a bit of humor in the Charlene Harris (Sookie Stakhouse)/ Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson) type stories of which there are hundreds if not thousands. Lots of people have said great things about Hounded and its sequels although it is probably not 100% my cup of tea. If you like your humor very dark then Blood Oranges might be worth a try.

John Scalzi writes fun, light accessible SF with plenty of humor although he does not really hit the anti-hero buttons - well worth trying if you have not already.

I really do not like Charles Stross's writing style but he writes a range of different books with plenty of humour. The Laundry series mixes Lovecraft with humor and fantasy but he has done other series' too.

Year Zero has many fans ( not read it yet) and is humorous SF

Lev Grossman's magician trilogy is a little like a slightly grown up harry potter with humor (not my cup of tea but you might like it).

Empire State might also be worth checking out.

Then there is the likes of Jasper Fforde, Robert Rankin, Rob Grant, (early Ben Elton - avoid mid to late period) etc.

There is plenty of humor in Jack Vance and Philip k Dick and both are great writers with huge back catalogs.

There is loads of genre stuff that will be right up your street it just takes a bit of uncovering.

While not a true anti-hero you might look at the Falco series by Lindsay Davis. They are historical fiction/mystery and are truly one of the most funny series I have read.

Granted, this is the first book in a proposed series, but, I found Mark Lawrence's Prince of Fools (2014) to be hilariously entertaining. The prince of the title is a wonderfully realized and developed character. The book kept me laughing and scratching my head and asking, "What does it mean to be brave?" all the way to the end. Check it out. I loved it.

Thank you guys for all the recommendations!

Kartik, I haven't most of the books you listed in your OP, but there's loads of black humor in the Arthurian fantasies Mordred's Curse and Merlin's Gift.

Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium starts off his comic Cain series.

Though I will admit that the fannish debate about how anti heroic he is is intense and not misplaced.

Mary wrote: "Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium starts off his comic Cain series.

Though I will admit that the fannish debate about how anti heroic he is is inten..."
I cant believe I forgot about that! Cain is one of my favorite Warhammmer 40k characters.

The character of Rincewind from several of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books is one of my favorite funny anti-heroes... everything he does is a shrewdly calculated effort at self-preservation that somehow ends up with positive results.

Peter David's "Sir Appropos of Nothing" books I also remember mostly enjoying, though it seems to me that by the end I found myself with an active dislike for the main character.

I also enjoyed Alan Dean Foster's "Spellsinger" series, in which a stoned ex-garbage-collector gets summoned to save a magical world full of talking animals...

I loved the Laundry files, still looking through the others. Thank you guys, once again!

Villains by Necessity would probably fit the bill. I think the author is Eve Forward, or something along those lines.

Nerva wrote: "I think that I quiet liked Corwin, that is of I am thinking of the right guy, he was the one blinded by a sibling and then thrown into jail yes? And no I would not say he was a true anti-hero at all."

You're right, but thinking later in the series.

For another suggestion, Starship Grifters by Robert Kroese and sequels. The adventures of an interstellar con man and his long suffering robot

The Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga by Jack Vance feature a despicable but charming rogue named Cugel "the Clever". Set in Vance's high fantasy realm "The Dying Earth".

Adventures by Mike Resnick introduces us to con-man/rascal/outlaw Lucifer Jones. Resnick went on to assemble four more volumes of the scoundrel's adventures. For me, only Adventures possessed the magic. The sequels were very much...sequels.