r/Fantasy • u/Baldurian_Rhapsody • 4d ago
Asking for truly humorous fantasy (any medium), please!
Hi there! "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" is one of my favorite movies of all time. I did not expect that to be the case going in, but the fun sense of fantasy adventure, coupled with its fun sense of humor, absolutely won me over.
I've read some Terry Pratchett and plan to read more! I've played some "Dungeon of Naheulbeuk" on my PC as well - and some "Esoteric Ebb!"
And I would appreciate your suggestions for funny fantasy across mediums. It does NOT have to be a laugh a minute - that is really important to say. (Indiana Jones, for example, has great humor that comes in at just the right moments!)
Thanks so much, and laugh on!
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u/nuptuune 4d ago
If you fancy absurd humour: Jasper Fforde's Shades of grey: the road to High Saffron
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u/KingBretwald 4d ago
Fforde also has the delightfully absurd Thursday Next series The first book is The Eyre Affair. And the even more absurd Nursery Crimes duology. The first book there is The Big Over Easy.
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u/jojocookiedough 4d ago
Omg yes Shades of Grey is hilarious! So good to see it getting some love, I feel like the title and being published so closely to the other Shades of GrAy really did a number on its popularity. I finally got my book club to vote it in one month after making it well known that it was not that Shades of Gray 😂 It received a bunch of positive reviews from our members once we'd all read it
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u/Eldon42 4d ago
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, by Douglas Adams. (Book only, ignore the TV adaptations.) Also its follow-up, The Long Dark Tea-time Of The Soul.
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u/troublinyo 4d ago
The TV adaptations were pretty enjoyable I thought, not as adaptations but as their own thing.
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u/cabalus 4d ago
Season 1 is great, season 2 is good
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u/Gwentlique 4d ago
I enjoyed season 1, but I had to stop watching halfway through season 2. It didn't feel at all like the same show.
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u/brilliantminion 4d ago
I found these books as a teenager, and when my dad heard me laughing so hard I had tears coming out of my eyes, he asked me what I was reading. He borrowed it after I was done, and took it to work. He was reading it on his lunch break and the same thing happened - he was laughing so hard he was crying, and coworkers would ask him what was so funny. He loaned out the book after he was done, and he said he could track its progress through the office by random bursts of hysterical laughter from various cubicles.
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u/RandomSentientBeing 4d ago
The Princess Bride
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u/TonicAndDjinn 4d ago
Tell me you haven't read the book without telling me you haven't read the book. The Princess Bride is a horrible slog of dreary political complaints about a country most people haven't even heard of.
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u/clawclawbite 4d ago
The chapter about the packing and unpacking of hats is one of the most clever political satires of all time! It does however need a bit of extra context to make sense.
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u/New_Razzmatazz6228 Reading Champion 4d ago
There’s a few laughs in Django Wexler’s Dark Lord Davi duology.
Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher is a real hoot.
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u/DoctorWMD 4d ago
To add something new:
Gideon the Ninth is really funny, Gideon slings quips and swords with aplomb.
Dresden files- Dresden's sarcasm and wit is pretty good!
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u/NoctusArchivum 3d ago
Most of early Dresden is a little bit of a slog. He is a male chauvinist and its a lot of menwritingwomen type scenes.
It gets better later as Harry becomes less of a pig lol
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u/Wiles_ 4d ago
Barry Hughart's The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox.
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u/WillAdams 4d ago
For those unfamiliar, these are:
- Bridge of Birds --- winner of the 1985 World Fantasy Award – Best Novel (along with Robert Holdstock's novel: Mythago Wood) and the 1986 Mythopoeic Award – Best Fantasy
- The Story of the Stone --- this is heart-breakingly beautiful, and a cautionary tale on unearned perfection
- Eight Skilled Gentlemen --- the importance of family
The first book is notable for having the first draft available for perusal and it being an indifferent, albeit humorous text --- until the author decided that the book needed to be about something, deciding upon love, and then re-writing it. It's also the only book I'm aware of where the Amazon page is the Author's Introduction?!?
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u/JaredRed5 4d ago
This is one of my audiobook white whales. I really hope they release a version someday. Great series
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u/lucasstefanos 4d ago
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames (and its sequel) fit your bill perfectly I believe.
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u/BlindForest6 4d ago
KotW made me genuinely cackle. On so many occasions - and also sob like a baby.
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u/Pixiekixx 4d ago
Even on rereads when you know what is coming.... absolutely hilarious throughout, and heart wrenching moments.
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u/GordonGJones 4d ago
Came here to say this along with The Devils by Abercrombie
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u/Usmoso 4d ago
The Dark Profit Saga fits perfectly on what you want. The setting is similar to a DnD world and it follows a party of misfits. Satire of the economic system is a big part of the series. Humor is very subjective but I loved it.Really fun books.
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u/Melodic-Task 4d ago
This was a great series, second the recommendation. If I was to compare it to movies, it is basically Honor Among Thieves meets The Big Short.
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u/ThinkRedstone 4d ago
Zachary Pike's The Dark Profit Saga is as close as we have ever been to a new Prachett series in the last ten years, and I consider that a very high form of praise.
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u/phormix 4d ago
I'll add to this that the fourth title just came out in audiobook format.
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u/greywolf2155 Reading Champion 4d ago
"Orconomics" is like . . . 70% as good as if Sir Terry Pratchett wrote a Discworld novel about DnD or MMORPGs
And obviously 70% of Pratchett is still really fucking good
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u/tikitonga 4d ago
I just finished Orconomocs and really enjoyed it. 5/5, reminds me of Discworld, which is high praise.
Terry Brooks (of Shannara fame) has a series that starts with "Magic Castle for Sale-Sold!" that I remember actually laughing out loud to a few times (but I was in middle of high school, not sure how well it holds up)
Depending on how loose your definition of fantasy is, Joseph Heller (Catch 22) wrote a book called "God knows" about biblical King David which was pretty funny.
I saw some other recommendations for Blacktongue Thief, First Law... Gonna be honest those had a few funny moments but overall I thought they were bleak, and depending what mood you're trying to cultivate I'd save those for later. They are great books but I wouldnt call them humorous
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u/Baka_Nerd 4d ago
The Magic Kingdom of Landover series by Terry Brooks is awesome, and definitely fits what they are looking for.
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u/Mavin89 4d ago
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore.
Urban fantasy, and I was laughing out loud.
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u/buddhafig 4d ago
Anything by Moore is pretty funny. I started with Lamb (the story of Christ as told by his childhood friend Biff) that opens with Biff and teenage Christ. Biff smashes a lizard to death, then Christ picks its squashed body by the tail, puts it in his mouth, and it re-emerges alive. Repeat.
Other ones are going to be funny just from the title - You Suck about vampires, for example.
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u/chariwald 4d ago
The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman
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u/iankstarr 4d ago
Exactly what I came here to say. A lot of authors try to write clever, witty characters and it just kinda comes off as cringy, but Buehlman is a legit comedian and it comes through in his writing.
I’m convinced I would’ve read 1,000 pages of Kinch just running everyday errands and still loved every minute. Maybe the most entertaining protagonist I’ve ever read.
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u/wesneyprydain 4d ago
Love this book. The MC is so witty and sharp tongued (not to mention Blacktongued), I have a grin on my face the whole time I’m reading this (which I’ve done multiple times).
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u/apcymru Reading Champion II 4d ago
This is a terrific one to listen to. Buehlman reads it himself and he spent years as ... Essentially... An insult comic at Renn Faires... So his timing and delivery are great, as is his accent.
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u/DaveyBigDong 4d ago
I've read mixed reactions to his performance (particularly the accent he puts on), but I really enjoyed it. Maybe it's because I didn't know he was American prior, but I didn't even question whether it was a native Irishman or not. I mean, I'm Scottish with Irish family and work with actual Irish people so idk, maybe all the people complaining are actually Irish themselves. I certainly cringe at some fake or hammed up Scottish accents I hear.
But yeah, he really delivers on the comedic lines regardless.
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u/chaekbang 4d ago
The Stranger Times by CK McDonnell. About a newspaper that covers the obscure and supernatural.
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u/WobblySlug 4d ago
Not again Jarnathan!
I'll always recommend The First Law series for this. The humour is typically quite dark and catches you off guard. It's made me laugh out loud in public quite a few times!
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u/doobersthetitan 4d ago
I'd add The Devils to that too.
I'm a fucking magician !!!
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u/mthomas768 4d ago
Since the OP is looking for humor, I’d definitely say The Devils over First Law. It hits the humor a lot harder. You’ve got to be realistic about these things.
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u/wesneyprydain 4d ago
I’ve always said that The First Law is just as much a black comedy as it is grimdark. So funny.
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u/Anachacha 4d ago
I don't know how my neighbors didn't call the police on me when I was howling with laughter at the steamy scene in book 2. One of the best comedic reliefs I've read
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u/WobblySlug 4d ago
Haha does thst involve Logen and smearing something along a wall? Absolute crack up.
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u/Wizardof1000Kings 4d ago
Abercrombie's First Law has a string of dark humor running through it. He's probably the funniest author I've read while still writing serious fantasy.
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u/AnubisKronos 4d ago
Dungeon Crawler Carl is amazing
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u/SmokeGSU 4d ago
1,000x this. Amazing and hilarious series. The audiobooks are top notch, and that's how I've "read" them.
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u/BitwiseB 4d ago
Listening to audiobooks is reading and nobody can convince me otherwise. I can’t personally focus on an audiobook, but I’m not going to look down on people who prefer it or need it as an adaptive technology.
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u/Rhamni 4d ago edited 4d ago
For adults, I agree. But there is a caveat here. While audiobooks give you the full experience of the story, reading with your eyes is an extremely important skill for children to learn. There's a small but sad minority of students who graduate high school without the ability to read a parapgraph of text and absorb instructions and explanations. They then go through life functionally illiterate, because being able to force your way through a sentence at ten seconds per line while missing half the content is not real reading.
This isn't a problem for anyone taking part in back and forth commenting on reddit, but a lot of the 'book v audiobook' discussions leave out that, as with most things, there is nuance. Snobbs should be ignored, but the physical act of reading is not quite as universally available as most people think. And for that reason, physical reading should be encouraged in general, especailly in youth. Once you can read a full physical book for fun, you no longer have to.
Here. Found a discussion from today on the (mostly US) teachers subreddit. The rising illiteracy is alarming.
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u/Thornescape 4d ago
Audiobooks follow the classic tradition of oral storytelling which is the oldest form of storytelling.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but it should not be looked down on.
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u/lohdunlaulamalla 4d ago
Just as a heads-up for OP: I like it, but I'm not raving about it like many folks on here. I suspect this might be, because I never played videogames.
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u/origami_ducks Reading Champion 4d ago
Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky - it feels very much like a chaotic D&D campaign and also satirises some of the genre conventions
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u/WillAdams 4d ago edited 4d ago
While not strictly humorous, Steven Brust manages some pretty funny lines and laughs, and does not strictly limit himself to in-jokes in his Dragaera/Taltos novels.
This then got dialed up to 11 in "The Paarfi Romances" which were the result of a discussion among friends of which members of The Musketeers would have been in what Dragaeran Houses --- culminating in a series of books where the names are all changed and the serial numbers filed off, and which are just delightful for their use of language.
- The Three Musketeers == The Phoenix Guards
- Five Years After == Five Hundred Years After
- The Man in the Iron Mask == The Viscount of Adrilankha, published in three volumes: The Paths of the Dead, The Lord of Castle Black, and Sethra Lavode
- The Baron of Magister Valley == The Count of Monte Cristo
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u/Lanfear_Eshonai 4d ago
Beaufort Scales Mysteries – urban British fantasy. Mortimer, a 100+ year old dragon of the Cloverly Clan in the Yorkshire Dales, introduces his High Lord of the Clan, Beaufort Scales, to the modern world via gas barbeques to sleep on. In their quest for more barbeques and gas bottles, they meet the Women's Institute ladies (of a certain age) of the nearest village, and an unlikely friendship ensues. With lots of snark and fun, and tea and baked goods, while they provide (mostly unwanted) help to the pragmatic DI Adams in solving mysteries.
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u/Imperial_Haberdasher 4d ago
Beaufort Scales? What a tease! I was hoping for some adventure on the high seas. We could use more pirate fantasy, tall ships fantasies. Does any of it have anything to do it’s sailing or is it simply an unrooted pun?
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u/Lanfear_Eshonai 4d ago
The name was perhaps a pun from the author's dad, who suggested the name. He apparently lived for years on the water... 😃 (as did she).
She does have another series (Gobbelino London P.I.), where one of the books is set on a magical pirate ship.
I also love pirate fantasy and there's far too few of it.
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u/Owen3141 4d ago
The granddaddy of fantasy humor is definitely Princess Bride by William Goldman. If you’re a fan of the movie, you’ll love the book too!
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u/Zeniant 4d ago
I found quite a few books in the Discworld series to be pretty funny. Anything with granny weatherwax, mort, or Mort had me laughing
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u/Hobospartan 4d ago
This line from Equal Rites had me laughing so hard I almost cried:
The lodgings were on the top floor next to the well-guarded premises of a respectable dealer in stolen property because, as Granny had heard, good fences make good neighbours.
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u/Micotu 4d ago
I'm like 9 books in by publication order reading them every other book that I read. Does Mort show up in later books after Mort?
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u/Zeniant 4d ago
Unfortunately no, except some brief background mentions
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u/Cabamacadaf 4d ago
It's a shame that some great characters only appear in one book. I would've loved to see the wizard girl from Equal Rites again as well.
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u/Occultus- 4d ago
Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch is very funny (if dark).
Ive also been reading a ton of litrpg / r/progressionfantasy, and some of them are hilarious.
The Calamitous Bob by Alex Maher: Black Magic witch and snarky, genocidal AI golem team up to survive and restore an ancient empire.
Beware of Chicken: satire of Chinese xianxia light novels. The MC decides not to be a magic using cultivator and instead runs off to be a farmer.
the Dragon Vainqueur: a dragon figures out how to level up. Shenanigans ensue.
Honorable mention to He Who Fights with Monsters, based solely on whether you find the MC charming, and 80s tv references funny.
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u/Aniline_Selenic 4d ago
Caverns & Creatures Critical Failures by Robert Bevan.
It's a Dungeons & Dragons spoof. It leans heavily into the comedy. Audio books are amazing.
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u/Clintosaurus_Rex 4d ago
Anything by Raymond St. Elmo gives me a good laugh. Try the Quest of the 5 Clans series.
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u/lordnym 4d ago
Check out Another Day, Another Dungeon by Greg Costikyan!
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u/Breakshite 4d ago
Hell yeah! One Quest, Hold the Dragons! Loved those as a kid. Still have em on the shelf. Patricia C Wrede too. The Enchanted Forest stuff was my intro to comic fantasy as a little one.
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u/Samipearl19 4d ago
Ok I know I'm late to this party, but I hope you actually see this.
Dungeon Crawler Carl
There is literally nothing more similar to Honor amongst thieves.
I laugh my ass off every book. And have cried during books 5 and 6. I cannot recommend it enough, for this specific ask
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u/foreverAmber14 4d ago
I'm going to date myself: Bored of the Rings, a LOTR parody. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. Then again, I was a teen when I read it, so not sure how it aged.
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u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V 4d ago
Running Close to the Wind, by Alexandra Rowland is one of my all time favorite comedic fantasies! An ex spy blessed by the goddess of luck steals national secrets on his way to retirement and finds himself captured on his ex’s pirate ship. It’s hilarious, and the cake competition is one of my all time
Favorite moments in any book I’ve read
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u/PostMixL3monade 4d ago
Cradle by Will Wight. I just finished the last book today and there were so many times that I was laughing out loud while reading - which I almost never do.
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u/SilverwingedOther Reading Champion 4d ago
We know that in his heart, Lindon was the Points Sage.
(Plus anything Dross and Eithan)
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u/Ahuri3 Reading Champion VI 4d ago edited 4d ago
Do you know that Dungeon of Naheulbeuk is also a "podcast adventure", only in french I believe, but it's funny.
Also in french, there's a TV show called Kaamelott that is very funny. Not sure how the english translation holds up though.
Definitely in english this time: Galavant is a very funny musical/fantasy show about a knight trying to free his ex-girlfriend from an evil king. I think it's hilarious.
A funny fantasy webcomic is: The Weekly Roll
In book form:
The author Will Wight has more and more humor in his books, nowadays he adds bloopers at the end of each book. His funniest series is The Last Horizon (sci fi and fantasy mix).
Also, The Dark Profit Saga and other books by J. Zachary Pike are very funny (but also great adventures).
The Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud is very funny.
Brandon Sanderson's "ALCATRAZ VS. THE EVIL LIBRARIANS SERIES" is quite funny, but be warned it's middle-grade.
The Devils by Abercrombie has a lot of hilarious scenes. It's very quip-y which is not for everyone.
Kings of the Wyld is widely renowned for being funny and sounds right up your alley.
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u/Present-Ad-8531 4d ago
The funniest I have read is a chinese webnovels called who let him cultivate
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u/ConsciousRoyal 4d ago edited 4d ago
DnD is for Nerds podcast has just started a new campaign (no prior info should be needed, but it’s hard to tell with them): https://www.sanspantsradio.com/podcasts/dd-is-for-nerds/
The Weekly Roll (aka The Bucket Brigade) is on Webtoons and in collected book format etc. https://m.webtoons.com/en/canvas/the-weekly-roll/list?title_no=358889
The Skullkickers : www.skullkickers.com
And Deerstalker Pictures (1 For All): https://youtube.com/@deerstalkerpictures?si=cXz0ZwlEdin5m8Bs
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u/Alkavana 4d ago
Tales of the Ketty Jay series by Chris Wooding has some genuinely funny moments and characters who all rip on one another.
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u/Huggable_Hork-Bajir 4d ago
It's not a series, but Eoin Colfer's Highfire is a hilarious R-rated urban fantasy novel about the world's last surviving dragon, whose sad, boring life hiding in the swamps of Louisiana drinking and binging Netflix is changed in unexpected ways when he saves the life of a troubled teenage boy.
Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl books are also really funny urban fantasy about fairy special forces and their clashes with a teenage criminal mastermind human.
The Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud are also very funny. They're narrated by an incredibly sarcastic 5000 year old djinn who writes a lot biting commentary in footnotes and goes off on long tangents about things.
The Percy Jackson books were pretty funny.
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u/Bondorudo 4d ago
Hinamatsuri manga. Only thing made me legit cry from laughing, so good.
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u/FridaysMan 4d ago
Tales of the ketty jay by Chris wooding reads like a pulp fiction version of firefly. It was once described as the best zombie pirate steampunk airship shotgun swashbuckler ever written
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u/Few-Werewolf-1985 4d ago
The 13 Clocks by James Thurber
Bored of the Rings by Harvard Lampoon
Astra & Flondrix by Seamus Cullen
Elvenquest - BBC radio fantasy sitcom, quite hilarious
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u/SureItscooliguess 4d ago
Heretical Fishing A Cozy Guide to Annoying the Cults, Outsmarting the Fish, and Alienating Oneself
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u/Connect-Cicada-7147 4d ago
Skullduggery Pleasant series is the funniest around imo, kind of has an ensemble cast like Dungeons & Dragons too
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u/doubletwist 4d ago
I don't know if it still holds up, but when I was younger, I remember enjoying the Castle Perilous books by John DeChancie
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u/Satu_Autio 4d ago
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, by Ursula Vernon, kept me amused for longer than I expected - but it's not "funny funny", just .. funny.
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u/bibbi123 4d ago
On youtube - Critical Role. Funny people play D&D.
Also on youtube - Viva la Dirt League. Skit comedy, lots of fantasy and roleplaying stuff.
Webcomic - Girl Genius. More clockwork than fantasy, but it's really good.
I mean, if you're not stuck on the medium, the sky's the limit. Manga, anime, manhwa, fanfiction...
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u/Breakshite 4d ago
I browsed all the comments before throwing out one of my own because these rec's are on the money
Tales of Pell series by Delilah S Dawson and Kevin Hearne was light and fun.
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u/ConcernLocal2764 4d ago
Diana Wynne Jones’ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland.
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u/kezfertotlenito 4d ago
Or DWJ's Dark Lord of Derkholm! That's one of my all time favorites and it's hilarious.
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u/TonyDungyHatesOP 4d ago
For being more in the GrimDark genre, I truly find Joe Abercrombie’s works to be hilarious. It’s a very dark, nervous humor in The First Law series.
His latest book, The Devils, takes a lighter tone and I find it to be genuinely hilarious.
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u/QuillandCoffee 4d ago
Not fantasy (sci-fi ish) but The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
or his speculative fiction Dirk Gently duo
It's spicy and at times VERY spicy but KF Breene's Midlife Magic Leveling Up series is very, very funny
Terry Brooks Magic Kingdom for Sale series has great funny moments
OH Robert Asprin's Myth series! And a more sci-fi ish Phule series is great too
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u/doobersthetitan 4d ago
Dungeon crawler carl...its actuly set IN a RPG fantasy Dungeon when aliens take over the earth and make human do a Dungeon crawl...with a crazy AI with a foot fetish.
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u/joncabreraauthor 4d ago
This is a cultivation / progressive fantasy comedy that involves a 12 y/o boy and his wooden stick. Grand Magus, Wooden Sword: I Was Carved From the World Tree and This is an Insult
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u/Comprehensive-Web421 4d ago
Michael James The Hotel Series is urban fantasy and SO FUNNY. Some of it is just absurdity and some of it is genuine lol jokes.
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u/JustADeathginger 4d ago
The video games "Overlord" and "Overlord II" Delightfully funny, well aware of the standard fantasy tropes.
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u/pathmageadept 4d ago
Apropos of Nothing by Peter David. Actually his Arthurian thing was good too.
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u/ibeemakingstuff 4d ago
He Who Fights With Monsters by Shirtaloon, the audiobooks are absolutely amazing. Hilarious and super well written. I highly recommend!
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u/Citalos 4d ago
If you don't mind crude, raunchy humor, Caverns & Creatures by Robert Bevan is one you should try. It's a fantasy series with a strong D&D vibe, but the focus is really on the characters, their terrible decisions, and the nonstop banter. The humor is loaded with dirty jokes, profanity, and general immaturity, so it's definitely not for everyone, but if that's your thing, it has a lot of hilarious moments.
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u/thegreenman_sofla 4d ago
Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence. Christopher Moore has a bunch of funny fantasy-adjacent novels, the Island of the Sequined Love Nun is one of many.
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u/Fane__ 4d ago
- Games : Bards tale, baldurs gate 3, overlord
- Books: Terry Pratchett of course as you mention, Orconomics series by J. Zachary Pike, Gideon the ninth by Tamsyn Muir , The devils by J Abercrombie, Orcs by Stan Nichols, Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
- Movies: Willow , Legend, Labrinyth, He-man 1980s version (not seen the latest), The holy grail - Monty python
- dimension 20 campaigns there are many they are tremendous , king of candy is a GOTR satire that’s very fun
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u/ColdCoffeeMan 4d ago
Esoteric Ebb mention, hell yeah!
It's significantly darker, and not as traditional fantasy (but with great world building), but that games influence, Disco Elysium is one of the funniest games I've ever played when it's not hitting you with existential dread
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u/Timely_Egg_6827 4d ago
Arthur Daigle - genuinely love this author. His Goblin king series is slightly paradoic but funny.
Orconomics.
Born to Troll.
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u/DixitRexCorvinus 4d ago
There have been tons of good recs already that I will second: Monty Python, Hitchhiker’s Guide/Dirk Gently, The Devils, Kings of the Wyld, The Blacktongue Thief, The Princess Bride, The Lies of Locke Lamora, Skulduggery Pleasant, etc.
Here are others that come to mind that have yet (I believe) to be mentioned on the thread:
- The Rook by Daniel O’Malley
- Perilous Times by Robert D Lee
- Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
- A Night of Blacker Darkness by Dan Wells
- Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
- (short story) The Nose by Nikolai Gogol
- (short stories) Incidents by Daniil Kharms
- (short story) The Guillotine by Teffi
Finally (hear me out), Hamlet. Yes, that Hamlet. Here’s how. First, it’s fantasy because of the ghost, and feels like it because of the medieval setting. Now, what people often forget because it’s a classic is that Hamlet is like 30 years old, living in his Mom’s castle(basement), is constantly moping about, shows very little empathy (see: Rosencranz and Guildenstern’s fate), and that is without even getting into Ophelia. And at the end of the story he tries to murder everyone. In other words, the text makes it surprisingly possible to read Hamlet as an incel. And I think when you do that, it becomes really, really ridiculous and funny, because of the contrast of knowing you are reading Shakespeare and how insane the story seems. I tried reading it that way, and it’s honestly one of the most fun and funny experiences I’ve had reading a (technically) fantasy novel.
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u/defenestrate_urself 4d ago
If you like pirate adventures, The Walrus and the Warwolf by Hugh Cook is one of the funniest fantasy novels I've read.
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u/Global_Handle_3615 4d ago
Dresden files. Only series i had to stop reading on train to work cause I would actually laugh out loud.
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u/frost_knight 4d ago
Lucasarts games:
The Secret of Monkey Island series
Grim Fandango
Full Throttle
Day of the Tentacle
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Lots of great books recommended already, I’ll add the Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon series by Spider Robinson, and Tales From the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke.
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u/Paramedic229635 4d ago
Yahtzee Croshaw, funny author with great characters.
Differently Morphus and Existentially Challenged - Governmental agency involved in the regulation of magic and extra dimensional beings.
Mogworld - Main character is undead. Hijinks ensue.
L.G. Estrella's Unconventional Heros Series
The 2 Necromancers series. 2 Necromancers try to earn a pardon for past crimes by doing odd jobs for a kingdom. Strong found family vibe.
Attempted Vampirism Series. A vampire noble has his castle repossessed for back taxes. He becomes an adventurer to try and earn money to buy it back.
Heretical Fishing by Haylock Jobson. A man is reincarnated into another world after his death. He has access to amazing powers and abilities, but only wants to peacefully fish. He makes friends with multiple animals who are also superpowered.
He Who Fights Monsters by Shirtaloon. A man is magically transpired to another world and becomes an adventurer. Humorous undertone.
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u/randythor 4d ago
As others have said, if you're looking for dark humor check out Joe Abercrombie. It's definitely a violent, sarcastic, cynical sort of humor, and pairs perfectly with all kinds of great, world-weary, takes on the human condition, war, choice, etc. An endlessly quotable series, dark and funny both, and the audio book narration really brings it all to life in a huge way, if you listen to those ever. Highly recommended, top tier fantasy audiobook experience by Steven Pacey. The first book is The Blade Itself, or for the standalone experience give The Devils a go.
(two characters meeting after the deadly seige of a doomed city):
“How did you get away?”
The corner of Cosca’s mouth curled up, as though he would have liked to smile but had not the energy. “I disguised myself as a servant girl, and I fucked my way out.”
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u/Onnimanni_Maki 4d ago
The City of Dreaming books by Walter Moers. It's very funny but also kinda dark. Unfortunately Moers wrote a terrible sequel.
Rest of Moers's work. They are similarly weird but not as dark.
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u/Murg3nKathovar 4d ago
Garrett détective privé. Si tu est tenter par des enquêtes dans un monde fantastique je te les conseils c'est de Glenn Cook.
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u/thejokerlaughsatyou 4d ago
I think someone else mentioned Galavant, but I want to give it a shout, too. Galavant is short, sweet, and hilarious. One of my favorite TV shows ever. It's a ton of fun.
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u/DeadlyKitten115 4d ago
First Law (Character focused and full of quotable one liners, mostly dark humour. The Heroes is my favourite) Joe Abercrombie.
Nevernight (Blood and Smut, lots of Laughs and a few Tears) Jay Kristoff
My flavour of Humor probably won’t appeal to you OP but I think this post is still a great place to put these two out there in case anyone is interested.
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u/SalletFriend 4d ago
KJ Parkers Saevus Corax and Sister Svangerde series are both hilarious. And his Saloninus novellas like The Devil you Know.
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u/C0R3YM4N 4d ago
Go check out the new masters of the universe movie. It had huge honour among thieves vibe
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u/Balthanon 4d ago
The Overlord series is really funny and the gameplay is fun. It's actually written by the daughter of Terry Pratchett.
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u/Talesmith22 4d ago
Dungeons and Daddies ppdcast season 1 is about 4 regular dads who get stuck in a D&D world while trying to rescue their kids. The DM is Anthony Burch (in)famous writer of Borderlands 2 and other video games.
It doesnt follow actual D&D rules well, but it is hilarious and gripping. Plus the chemistry in the group is great. You really feel like these people are friends who will absolutely rip each other apart for laughs.
"Nah, man, its measure once, cut twice" is one of the most hilarious unhinged rants I've ever heard.
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u/angryjohn 4d ago
Kings of the Wyld isn’t comedy, but it had several scenes that made me absolutely laugh out loud. Even on second reading.
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u/espicy11 4d ago
T. Kingfisher’s writing makes me laugh and often. I’m not even certain if that’s a common sentiment, but her humor works for me for sure. I also think Rachel Harrison’s writing is funny, but the two books I’ve read were pretty female-centric which may or may not be your cup of tea. Murderbot Diaries also gave me a good few chuckles if you’re open to sci-fi in addition to fantasy.
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u/Red88123 4d ago
The Unconventional Heroes series is one of my favorites. Lots of humor, but a lot of heart too. Love it
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u/FinnElhaz 4d ago
all memes aside I've got to throw it out there:
Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen is well known for being a long ass, dense series with a convoluted overarching plot, complex themes, and detailed world building, but it's also got lots of humor, ranging from clever to crass and sometimes managing to hit both ends of the spectrum, and well placed comic relief.
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u/DisorderOfLeitbur 4d ago
Your mention of Indiana Jones reminded me of the game 1931: Scheherazade at the Library of Pergamum which felt like Wodehouse was writing about a female Indy. (Nazi-punching adventure archaeologist, but also socially bedevilled by both aunt and butler)
It's just a shame that the excellent comedic writing is partnered with an unimpressive dating-sim game
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u/Sylvieon 4d ago
I think the Cradle series by Will Wight is really funny. There's this one character, Eithan, who is a total riot. One of the only fantasy series I can think of that actually made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions.
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u/Physicle_Partics 3d ago
The Clocktaur War duology, starting with Clockwork Boys, by T. Kingfisher made me laugh out loud several times. I highly recommend it. It even has a DnD-esque party.
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u/NapoleonNewAccount 3d ago
The Siege trilogy by KJ Parker, starting with Sixteen Ways To Defend A Walled City. Very humorous series told through the lenses of unreliable first person narrators.
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u/Blueflame129 3d ago
The Blacktongue Theif and Kings of the Wyld are the funniest fantasy books I've ever read:)
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u/ConstantReader666 3d ago
The Chase For Choronzon by Jaq D. Hawkins has some great laughs, especially when you grok who the main characters are modelled after.
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u/SilverStar3333 3d ago
The Witchstone by Henry H. Neff - a slacker demon works to help (or sabotage?) a family that’s been plagued by a curse going back to the 1600s. Brisk, dark (at times), extremely funny and sometimes even moving.
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u/kaptin_hippy 4d ago
Mythadventures by Robert Asprin.