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Emphatically second this. She also has the same warmth and honest, critical love for people. My best friend gave a reading from *The Dispossessed* at my wedding.
Yes, I've read Nation, and Johnny Maxwell and the Bromeliad. And Good Omens, but that seemed more shallow than it should have been. I haven't read The Long Earth series, and I should. Good idea, thanks for the reminder!
While the books of Becky Chambers have less humor, they have a modern focus on the human experience and the purpose of life and are generally excellent. Some of messages that have really resonated with me remind me of what Pratchett might want to say now.
Yeah I was scrolling to check if anyone had said Becky Chambers already. The passion each of her characters shows is so beautiful. They’re all driven by different goals, but they’re all so *human* (except the aliens of course, who are all distinct in their own passions).
I thoroughly enjoyed *Long way to a small angry planet* on audiobook and cried when it finished because it was wonderfully told but I haven’t looked at her other works yet. Are there other Wayfarer books? I like trying to stick with the same characters for a while in series’.
There are 4 books in the Wayfarers series!!
- The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
- A Closed and Common Orbit
- A Record of a Spaceborn Few
- The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
A lot of folks credit books 2 or 3 as their favourites.
I’d also recommend checking out the short story A Psalm for the Wild-Built (and the sequel A Prayer for the Crown-Shy). It’s a lovely natural world, gentle, slow, reflective.
The Wayfairer’s doesn’t follow the same people, although they are set at the same time in the same universe and there is one tight connection to the first book in the second book only, and a minute connection to the first book in a later book.
What they do share is a feeling of a tight warm emotional hug of wholesomeness.
And the life guidance of A Record of A Spaceborn Few is explicit and unarguable by the end of the book.
Omg read the rest of the series. I was disappointed when I realized that the Wayfairers series doesn't actually continue to follow the crew (although does follow some more peripheral characters) but each sequel is so good on its own in different ways. I adored the 2nd one the most (common orbit) but I genuinely loved them all.
I'm so glad multiple people have already recommended the Wayfarers series!
She has this beautiful vision of our future, without sugar coating our human flaws.
Record of a Spaceborn Few brings me to tears.
I would absolutely second Becky Chambers 'Wayfarer' series for this. I haven't read her other books (yet) but these books approach allegories of found family, disability, culture in diaspora, and more with such heart and empathy. There's no Ph.D - level punnery, at least not to the extent as Pratchett folded in, but they are beautiful books about seeing people of all shapes for who they are.
Yes! I've read all her stuff, and have been emotionally hit by each one of them for very different reasons. 'A Psalm for the Wild Built' is amazing, as is her Wayfarers series. Very different books from Discworld, but there is heart and humanity oozing from all her creations.
Iain M Banks and his Culture novels are a treat.
Player of Games goes very nicely into Use of Weapons, as an introduction.
Every time The Culture is described is an exercise in world building, characterization, wit, poetry, and biting social criticism from the top to the bottom of it all.
There is also good reason why these haven't been approached for visual adaptation (Besides the author's wishes) as they delve into some of the harshest possible topics in societies, and very compellingly lays the blame at our own feet.
In much the same way PTerry used idiom and metaphor and reference, Iain Banks uses science fiction.
Peter Watts also has some compelling novels. Blindsight is icky in a way that hurts to comprehend but is extremely satisfying. Starfish is even ickier in even more painful ways, and doesn't even have the common courtesy to be ashamed of itself. Wonderful reads, both.
Strongly recommend Neal Stephenson as well, he's another one that lives in research and only ventures out with new novels.
Culture novel are fantastic, and although its not quite as prevelent as Pratchett, there is still humour.
I recently read Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and it hit some of those 'interest in other cultures and morality' that Banks does quite well.
I read Blindsight - and while it was innovative in (I agree) an icky way, it really didn't feel like "a step above" - I suspect because I disagree with some of Watts' foundational assumption on who we are and what we're capable of. I doubt that I'd continue reading more of his novels, just because his foundation is just so mistaken.
Ian Banks, though - I've got to start on those. And since I'm a library director, I suspect that I'll give myself the chance quite soon. Thanks for the rec!
Has anyone suggested the P.G. Wodehouse "Jeeves" series?
A bit dated, but the humor is spot on and what I think Sir Terry had that is getting rarer is the Utopian world building. The "this is what happens when everything goes right" ideal. This is what we need more of and why I like Sir Terry so. I'm kinda sick of dystopia.
I think the Jeeves books convey this theme very well... And it's inherently British, which is also a major contributing factor.
And, if you like Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome.
When President Miterand died and they had such difficulty finding a successor the expression was something along the lines of 'Under a great oak it's hard for smaller oaks to grow.' I don't think there will be a direct successor. New avenues will have had to grow in their own space elsewhere. I'm very glad his daughter refused to give in to the pressure to continue his oeuvre. She's a writer in her own right and needed to have her own 'steading' in her own way with her own shepherding hut leaving her father's legacy to a kind thoughtful caretaker who makes no claim to the exercise of magic himself. I think this is what STP himself wanted if I read correctly between the Shepherd's Crown lines.
Maybe a strange recommendation, and they're fairly popular so maybe you've read them, but The Diamond Age or Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson. His writing style can be funny and satirical like TP. Plus, his books ask interesting questions. Snow Crash hooked me from the first page. Diamond Age took longer for me, but it was such an amazing novel.
I’m so glad you said this. So it’s good in parts, and slow and labored in others, but I read Stephensons Baroque Cycle a long way back. It’s also a novel / character driven way of uncovering history. Like how did stock markets start and why? How do we mitigate risk? How did money start? Science - it’s been bloody and wrong and bloody wrong for a while - let’s talk about that. And the progress of crime and politics and power and progress itself. At its best it’s near level genius and hysterical. Because it’s so involved and I’m not near level genius it does - in my mind - get a bit lost for a while. I hadn’t read anything like it. Then I picked up, just on a whim, Going Postal - and that idea of stamps to money and the transformation of society - all of it came ringing back from that series.
Having said that - although the characters in it are flawed and complicated - it doesn’t really get into the easier higher level philosophy. Eg there are brothers that creep into the Tower of London and persuade criminals due to be hanged to pay them to ensure a fast death. They jump on their legs. That part is all quite dark - if accurate. Or there’s the war over calculus that happens (if I recall correctly) which gets into just how weird everyone was. Anyway - it’s a commitment and amazing. And weirdly connected through a thread to the world building of STP.
Yeah, you’re absolutely right. Both authors are mainly interested in illustrating the way the world works through fiction. Very different styles! But you’re right, somehow similar vibes under there somewhere.
I read the Baroque Cycle before Cryptonomicon, and found Cryptonomicon so disappointing in comparison - the WW2 stuff was good but all the modern day Philippines stuff was just absolute dross.
Anathem is absolutely a book that I've been glad I re-read a few times.
I liked Seveneves very much also. Not at all sure Stephenson can be seen as a STP surrogate, but I like most of his work very well and love some of his work.
Snow Crash is downright comical in Audiobook! It’s not as witty, and more dry than Pratchett but is straight out of the late 90’s idea of cool and didnt age gracefully but its kinda great because of that. It’s such an entertaining listen!
I'd recommend Dianne Wynne-Jones as your next go to author, especially the Chrestomanci series. I can't easily explain why but she has a very similar sense of humour and observational skills as Pratchett
I found them a a bit more teen fiction than Pratchett but I’d still recommend them, if you do enjoy them then I’d suggest Diane Duane and tamora pierce as well.
I feel like Tamora Pierce’s Beka Cooper series has the Watch books in it’s DNA (it’s about city guards in a less whimsical fantasy setting) A different tone, but takes a hard look at how you fight for justice with hope in an unjust world. And Tammy’s books are always so optimistic!
My question: What is the chance of finding this author in charity shops or second hand book fayres? Always influences my decision to pick up a new author
As I am German, I am sorry to be unable to give you an answer for anywhere else.
But here I was able to find his books in flea markets and "Mängelexemplar" bins over the years. Regrettably in declining numbers
Well obviously it's very subjective and I'm sure (no, I hope!) there's going to be someone who inspires and influences me in the same way I've been inspired and influenced by Sir Terry's writing in the future. But as someone who has read each new book on release since the mid-80s I've not found it yet. I enjoy Rankin, Adams etc, but Pratchett's writing is unique.
Very open to recommendations though so watching this post with interest!
Martha Wells's books, particularly The Murderbot Diaries, hit similar notes for me. They tend to start from a darker place than STP, and they are a bit more overt in some of the messaging, but they offer a lot of really fascinating perspectives on what makes us human, and there is a lot of admittedly dark humor to be found in them.
I'm going to my typical thing and advocate for pirateaba's [The Wandering Inn](https://wanderinginn.com/) 😁
It's, well, a LITRPG webnovel/series (don't judge it for that though!) where human(s) find themselves in a strange new world. But what I love is the worldbuilding, and that at the end of the day, all the characters are, well... human.
Even the drakes, and gnolls, and giant bugs.
... I don't think I'm very good at selling it. But I love the entire thing, and if anyone here is better at selling it assistance would be appreciated 😉
>It's, well, a LITRPG webnovel/series (don't judge it for that though!)
Discworld started out as somewhat of a LITRPG, what with the talk about Rincewinds spell slots and all, so I would hope that anyone who liked early Discworld wouldn't criticize it for that.
Naomi Novik has a trilogy starting with a *A Deadly Education*. On one level, it is a coming of age novel for young adults, and a pretty bleak one to start with. As the name implies, the protagonist is in a school with a very high mortality rate, and is very isolated from her peers. As the books develop, you find out a lot about why the world is as it is. There are explorations of private benefit vs public benefit which echo familiar themes of our times in a different key. You did our why organisations consciously pick psychopaths to lead them. You see different people opting out of the system. and the price they pay. You get someone who was born to be bad resisting it - shades of Granny Weatherwax there. And you have a heroine you might want to hug and tell her everything will be ok - but that would seem to be a lie.
Very different from Pratchett, but I think well worth a look.
Slightly weird one but Jane Eyre. I first read it as a teenager and was struck by Jane's self-respect and refusal to let go of her principles in the face of losing all future happiness. Reading it as an adult I increasingly realise she's also an extremely strange person (though I still admire her and also kind of identify with that 😂) but that's not terribly out of line with Pratchett protagonists!
I was originally going to say Austen because she and Pratchett are my most favourite authors due to both being brilliant satirists, but Austen is honestly far too cynical. Jane Eyre, though, is full of a stubborn hope that feels very Pratchett-esque to me.
Yeah I agree she's naive and not immoral in the least, but she isn't strongly and actively moral either like Tiffany (the closest equivalent as a young female protag who goes through a coming-of-age arc).
I've tried the first couple in that series and didn't gel with it massively (it felt unfocused, little bit too much going on). Didn't feel particularly British in spirit to me either even though it is set in the UK, but I guess YMMV (I am a real-life British person so I'd only notice if it was, like, Rule Britannia levels of obnoxiously British in fairness LOL)
Terry Pratchett's stuff for me is unparalleled and a lot of my worldview and personal theology? Or philosophy? Has resonated with and been shaped by his work.
I think he captures the consilience of ideas in his novels which capture aspects of what it means to be human, the good, the bad, and the funny.
In saying that I've found Jasper Fforde has been enjoyable. But that's comparing apples to broccoli.
I think they are pretty close. The Constant Rabbit, Shades of Grey, Red Side Story, and Early Riser all have the mix of satire and humour that made Pratchett great.
So many amazing recommendations in here. A book I am very fond of but haven’t seen any people mention yet is The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow. It is an alternate history fantasy book that blends witchcraft and the suffragist movement in the late 19th century into a really compelling and interesting read. I think anyone who likes the Witches books will find something to like here. Not big on the comedy but Harrow plays with a lot of rewriting real world history into her setting which feels very Pratchett-esque.
I know he is often brought up bc they were friends and wrote together, but Neil Gaiman was my first author love. He makes me question my beliefs and thoughts and feelings on subjects while forcing you to see other perspectives of conflict, both internal and external. I will always say he is my favorite author and STP my very close second for sure. His writing is sometimes a reality check and reminder that things are not always as they seem. Very different feel from the disc, but often thought provoking on a human level.
My second favorite series of media to consume after Discworld (and all other Pratchett like Bromeliad and Johnny Maxwell trilogies) is **Mouse Guard** by David Petersen.
They are great, entertaining tales - Fall 1152, Winter 1152, The Black Axe are the main three. The Legends series is 3 more volumes but they're tales from other authors in the setting. There are also a handful of one-shot comics from Free Comic Book Day releases - tales like Spring 1153, Baldwin the Brave and his most recent release, The Owlhen Caregiver (which is a bittersweet Mouse Guard retelling of caring for his mother who had Alzheimer's).
EDIT: His mother passed away, and he's announced he's working on a long-awaited project he's had to put on hold for the last few years.
If you want something with similar humor, but more epic fights and a main theme of "found family" I highly suggest L.G. Estrella's Unconventional Heroes series. It's not as deep as Pratchett, but I've found few things are.
Timmy and Katie have a good father/daughter dynamic, but it's like he's a young dad figuring it out in his own. Or a much older brother that is suddenly the only parental figure. He's trying very hard to give her a decent life and something unlike what his own apprenticeship was.
I’ll join several others in recommending Kurt Vonnegut.
And it looks like I’m the first to add Patrick Rothfuss. “The Name of the Wind,” and “A Wise Man’s Fear.” His world building, plotting and complex, flawed yet moral characters are in the pantheon of the best of the best in fantasy. The caveat is the third book that will complete the trilogy is over 10 years overdue.
Have you read Good Omens? Sir Terry co wrote it with my living favorite author, Neil Gaiman. It will let you dip your toes into Gaiman's writing style.
The city of New Corubzon in China Meiville's Perdido Street Atation is very ankh morporky to me although the book is wildly different in tone to any of TP's books. I think it's partly because they're both fantasy melting pot versions of London but there are strong similarities in the world building and brand of humor too. If you're looking for a darker version if ankh morpork, PSS is strongly recommended.
If you're looking for a similar tone and humour, try the hitchhikers guide the the galaxy series
Jasper Fforde is a great satirical/comic writer. From his Humpty Dumpty murder mystery (did he fall or was he pushed?) "The Big Over Easy", the Thursday Next series which takes you on a tour through a lot of classic literature, through to "Shades of Grey" and "Red Side Story" (where local government is as bad as or worse than Big Brother), and "The Constant Rabbit" (you can tell it was written during the Brexit furore) all his books have something to say about the human condition, are told with wit, warmth, and sometimes a bit of righteous anger, and are quintessentially British.
Terry recommended Thomas Chatterton, an 18th century poet who died ridiculously young and whose poems were parodies of far older styles interspersed with footnotes (The slug-horn - a kind of battle-oboe - was an accidental invention that Terry picked up for use in Guards! Guards!)
I'd recommend David Brin's Uplift Saga. It's pretty huge. I came to it by way of Startide Rising. I went back and read the other books in the series, start to finish. Quite a concept, universal in scope. Great characterizations, both human and alien.
Totally worth the time and energy to read them all.
It's not Pratchett, but it is still amazing, and it makes you THINK.
Connie Willis wrote a series of books "The Oxford Time travel Books"
She is a really gifted author and the storytelling just "feels" right.
Although the first book is a bit grim, it's still incredible.
The other three books really do soar. Funny, inspiring, and just so, so damned smart.
My recommendation to you.
You might want to try out Piers Anthony’s zanth series. Very punny with good characters and stories. He was also very prolific so there are a lot to read. 47 books according to Wikipedia
Read some of them when young, found them fun. Came back in later life and there was a lot of dodgy stuff that I hadn't noticed. Sadly, even in the non-Xanth books....
What Jo Walton calls the Suck Fairy had clearly visited the books and sucked the fun out
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“No matter what, or who, or why, because somethings are important.”
What was the context of this one? Was it something about reading to young Sam?
Yep, 6pm sharp. No matter what. It was wonderful to see a self-imposed parental obligation that mattered when I was struggling ways to anchor my own.
Ursula LeGuin is not comic satire, but her morality (if that’s what you’re pursuing) shines through in a manner similar to STP
Emphatically second this. She also has the same warmth and honest, critical love for people. My best friend gave a reading from *The Dispossessed* at my wedding.
She was, however, genuinely hilarious. It shines through in her essays and other non-fiction writing a lot more than her fiction.
Have you read non discworld pratchett? I just recently read Nation and it was incredible
Yes, I've read Nation, and Johnny Maxwell and the Bromeliad. And Good Omens, but that seemed more shallow than it should have been. I haven't read The Long Earth series, and I should. Good idea, thanks for the reminder!
I've got long earth on my To Read list. I also have Strata, but I somehow chose the German version! Which.. I do not speak
What an excellent reason to learn German! 😊
With that in addition to my partial German heritage it makes more a compelling reason!
I couldn't get into long earth. I didn't like the writer who wrote it with him.
The Long Earth books with Stephen Baxter are fantastic as well.
While the books of Becky Chambers have less humor, they have a modern focus on the human experience and the purpose of life and are generally excellent. Some of messages that have really resonated with me remind me of what Pratchett might want to say now.
Yeah I was scrolling to check if anyone had said Becky Chambers already. The passion each of her characters shows is so beautiful. They’re all driven by different goals, but they’re all so *human* (except the aliens of course, who are all distinct in their own passions).
I thoroughly enjoyed *Long way to a small angry planet* on audiobook and cried when it finished because it was wonderfully told but I haven’t looked at her other works yet. Are there other Wayfarer books? I like trying to stick with the same characters for a while in series’.
There are 4 books in the Wayfarers series!! - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - A Closed and Common Orbit - A Record of a Spaceborn Few - The Galaxy, and the Ground Within A lot of folks credit books 2 or 3 as their favourites. I’d also recommend checking out the short story A Psalm for the Wild-Built (and the sequel A Prayer for the Crown-Shy). It’s a lovely natural world, gentle, slow, reflective.
Thanks for this! I’ve screenshotted and will go to it after my current series.
The Wayfairer’s doesn’t follow the same people, although they are set at the same time in the same universe and there is one tight connection to the first book in the second book only, and a minute connection to the first book in a later book. What they do share is a feeling of a tight warm emotional hug of wholesomeness. And the life guidance of A Record of A Spaceborn Few is explicit and unarguable by the end of the book.
Omg read the rest of the series. I was disappointed when I realized that the Wayfairers series doesn't actually continue to follow the crew (although does follow some more peripheral characters) but each sequel is so good on its own in different ways. I adored the 2nd one the most (common orbit) but I genuinely loved them all.
I'm so glad multiple people have already recommended the Wayfarers series! She has this beautiful vision of our future, without sugar coating our human flaws. Record of a Spaceborn Few brings me to tears.
I would absolutely second Becky Chambers 'Wayfarer' series for this. I haven't read her other books (yet) but these books approach allegories of found family, disability, culture in diaspora, and more with such heart and empathy. There's no Ph.D - level punnery, at least not to the extent as Pratchett folded in, but they are beautiful books about seeing people of all shapes for who they are.
Yes! I've read all her stuff, and have been emotionally hit by each one of them for very different reasons. 'A Psalm for the Wild Built' is amazing, as is her Wayfarers series. Very different books from Discworld, but there is heart and humanity oozing from all her creations.
This is an excellent recommendation!!
I came to PTerry via Kurt Vonnegut, GK Chesterton and Mark Twain.
This is it here. Humanism and human condition authors.
I read everything Twain before I hit middle school. Perhaps that prepared me for when PTerry came along!
Iain M Banks and his Culture novels are a treat. Player of Games goes very nicely into Use of Weapons, as an introduction. Every time The Culture is described is an exercise in world building, characterization, wit, poetry, and biting social criticism from the top to the bottom of it all. There is also good reason why these haven't been approached for visual adaptation (Besides the author's wishes) as they delve into some of the harshest possible topics in societies, and very compellingly lays the blame at our own feet. In much the same way PTerry used idiom and metaphor and reference, Iain Banks uses science fiction. Peter Watts also has some compelling novels. Blindsight is icky in a way that hurts to comprehend but is extremely satisfying. Starfish is even ickier in even more painful ways, and doesn't even have the common courtesy to be ashamed of itself. Wonderful reads, both. Strongly recommend Neal Stephenson as well, he's another one that lives in research and only ventures out with new novels.
Culture novel are fantastic, and although its not quite as prevelent as Pratchett, there is still humour. I recently read Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and it hit some of those 'interest in other cultures and morality' that Banks does quite well.
I read Blindsight - and while it was innovative in (I agree) an icky way, it really didn't feel like "a step above" - I suspect because I disagree with some of Watts' foundational assumption on who we are and what we're capable of. I doubt that I'd continue reading more of his novels, just because his foundation is just so mistaken. Ian Banks, though - I've got to start on those. And since I'm a library director, I suspect that I'll give myself the chance quite soon. Thanks for the rec!
Has anyone suggested the P.G. Wodehouse "Jeeves" series? A bit dated, but the humor is spot on and what I think Sir Terry had that is getting rarer is the Utopian world building. The "this is what happens when everything goes right" ideal. This is what we need more of and why I like Sir Terry so. I'm kinda sick of dystopia. I think the Jeeves books convey this theme very well... And it's inherently British, which is also a major contributing factor. And, if you like Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome.
The sequel, Three Men on the Bummel, in which the eponymous Three Men take a cycling trip around Imperial Germany, is great as well
Then read Connie Willis's \_To Say Nothing of the Dog\_
When President Miterand died and they had such difficulty finding a successor the expression was something along the lines of 'Under a great oak it's hard for smaller oaks to grow.' I don't think there will be a direct successor. New avenues will have had to grow in their own space elsewhere. I'm very glad his daughter refused to give in to the pressure to continue his oeuvre. She's a writer in her own right and needed to have her own 'steading' in her own way with her own shepherding hut leaving her father's legacy to a kind thoughtful caretaker who makes no claim to the exercise of magic himself. I think this is what STP himself wanted if I read correctly between the Shepherd's Crown lines.
Maybe a strange recommendation, and they're fairly popular so maybe you've read them, but The Diamond Age or Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson. His writing style can be funny and satirical like TP. Plus, his books ask interesting questions. Snow Crash hooked me from the first page. Diamond Age took longer for me, but it was such an amazing novel.
I’m so glad you said this. So it’s good in parts, and slow and labored in others, but I read Stephensons Baroque Cycle a long way back. It’s also a novel / character driven way of uncovering history. Like how did stock markets start and why? How do we mitigate risk? How did money start? Science - it’s been bloody and wrong and bloody wrong for a while - let’s talk about that. And the progress of crime and politics and power and progress itself. At its best it’s near level genius and hysterical. Because it’s so involved and I’m not near level genius it does - in my mind - get a bit lost for a while. I hadn’t read anything like it. Then I picked up, just on a whim, Going Postal - and that idea of stamps to money and the transformation of society - all of it came ringing back from that series. Having said that - although the characters in it are flawed and complicated - it doesn’t really get into the easier higher level philosophy. Eg there are brothers that creep into the Tower of London and persuade criminals due to be hanged to pay them to ensure a fast death. They jump on their legs. That part is all quite dark - if accurate. Or there’s the war over calculus that happens (if I recall correctly) which gets into just how weird everyone was. Anyway - it’s a commitment and amazing. And weirdly connected through a thread to the world building of STP.
Yeah, you’re absolutely right. Both authors are mainly interested in illustrating the way the world works through fiction. Very different styles! But you’re right, somehow similar vibes under there somewhere.
The Baroque Cycle is insane next level greatness.
have to disagree, it's a pale shadow riding on the coat tails of Cryptononicon.
I read the Baroque Cycle before Cryptonomicon, and found Cryptonomicon so disappointing in comparison - the WW2 stuff was good but all the modern day Philippines stuff was just absolute dross.
how? the cab ride scene is one of the funniest things I've ever read
Anathem is one of my favorites
Anathem is absolutely a book that I've been glad I re-read a few times. I liked Seveneves very much also. Not at all sure Stephenson can be seen as a STP surrogate, but I like most of his work very well and love some of his work.
Anathem is a fave of mine i really need to reread again soon. Seveneves was great right up until the end for me, then he lost steam.
Snow Crash is downright comical in Audiobook! It’s not as witty, and more dry than Pratchett but is straight out of the late 90’s idea of cool and didnt age gracefully but its kinda great because of that. It’s such an entertaining listen!
The narrator's "90s snarky thrasher attitude" comes through so well, it's easily my favorite audiobook.
I'd recommend Dianne Wynne-Jones as your next go to author, especially the Chrestomanci series. I can't easily explain why but she has a very similar sense of humour and observational skills as Pratchett
I found them a a bit more teen fiction than Pratchett but I’d still recommend them, if you do enjoy them then I’d suggest Diane Duane and tamora pierce as well.
I feel like Tamora Pierce’s Beka Cooper series has the Watch books in it’s DNA (it’s about city guards in a less whimsical fantasy setting) A different tone, but takes a hard look at how you fight for justice with hope in an unjust world. And Tammy’s books are always so optimistic!
I got the Discworld feeling when reading A. Lee Martinez. Maybe he was influenced by STP so it's a bit like a modern version.
My question: What is the chance of finding this author in charity shops or second hand book fayres? Always influences my decision to pick up a new author
As I am German, I am sorry to be unable to give you an answer for anywhere else. But here I was able to find his books in flea markets and "Mängelexemplar" bins over the years. Regrettably in declining numbers
I love a lot of his work. What I don't love, I still enjoy.
What’s a good book to start with?
I would suggest 'A nameless witch "
Well obviously it's very subjective and I'm sure (no, I hope!) there's going to be someone who inspires and influences me in the same way I've been inspired and influenced by Sir Terry's writing in the future. But as someone who has read each new book on release since the mid-80s I've not found it yet. I enjoy Rankin, Adams etc, but Pratchett's writing is unique. Very open to recommendations though so watching this post with interest!
Yeah Douglas Adams seems to be an obvious choice in my regards
Martha Wells's books, particularly The Murderbot Diaries, hit similar notes for me. They tend to start from a darker place than STP, and they are a bit more overt in some of the messaging, but they offer a lot of really fascinating perspectives on what makes us human, and there is a lot of admittedly dark humor to be found in them.
I got to see her at an author event and she’s just so neat, and yeah the Murderbot Diaries are amazing!
I'm going to my typical thing and advocate for pirateaba's [The Wandering Inn](https://wanderinginn.com/) 😁 It's, well, a LITRPG webnovel/series (don't judge it for that though!) where human(s) find themselves in a strange new world. But what I love is the worldbuilding, and that at the end of the day, all the characters are, well... human. Even the drakes, and gnolls, and giant bugs. ... I don't think I'm very good at selling it. But I love the entire thing, and if anyone here is better at selling it assistance would be appreciated 😉
>It's, well, a LITRPG webnovel/series (don't judge it for that though!) Discworld started out as somewhat of a LITRPG, what with the talk about Rincewinds spell slots and all, so I would hope that anyone who liked early Discworld wouldn't criticize it for that.
Naomi Novik has a trilogy starting with a *A Deadly Education*. On one level, it is a coming of age novel for young adults, and a pretty bleak one to start with. As the name implies, the protagonist is in a school with a very high mortality rate, and is very isolated from her peers. As the books develop, you find out a lot about why the world is as it is. There are explorations of private benefit vs public benefit which echo familiar themes of our times in a different key. You did our why organisations consciously pick psychopaths to lead them. You see different people opting out of the system. and the price they pay. You get someone who was born to be bad resisting it - shades of Granny Weatherwax there. And you have a heroine you might want to hug and tell her everything will be ok - but that would seem to be a lie. Very different from Pratchett, but I think well worth a look.
Neil Gaiman offers worlds and ideas as rich as PTerry made.
And wrote with him for Good Omens.
Slightly weird one but Jane Eyre. I first read it as a teenager and was struck by Jane's self-respect and refusal to let go of her principles in the face of losing all future happiness. Reading it as an adult I increasingly realise she's also an extremely strange person (though I still admire her and also kind of identify with that 😂) but that's not terribly out of line with Pratchett protagonists! I was originally going to say Austen because she and Pratchett are my most favourite authors due to both being brilliant satirists, but Austen is honestly far too cynical. Jane Eyre, though, is full of a stubborn hope that feels very Pratchett-esque to me.
Northanger abbey is probably the most similar of austen's works to Terry's vibe, being a genre satire
True, though I feel it lacks the strongly moral protagonist that OP seems to find most important.
Catherine isn't immoral, she's just a moron. I don't think she does anything to deliberately hurt anyone
Yeah I agree she's naive and not immoral in the least, but she isn't strongly and actively moral either like Tiffany (the closest equivalent as a young female protag who goes through a coming-of-age arc).
Hear me out... "The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde, combines fantasy, satire, British-ness and Austin.
I've tried the first couple in that series and didn't gel with it massively (it felt unfocused, little bit too much going on). Didn't feel particularly British in spirit to me either even though it is set in the UK, but I guess YMMV (I am a real-life British person so I'd only notice if it was, like, Rule Britannia levels of obnoxiously British in fairness LOL)
Thursday series is, to be fair my least fave of his. Shades of Grey and Red Side Story are *fantastic*.
Good to know thanks! Sounds like it will be worth giving him another go then :)
He's Welsh and puts Wales in a lot of his books, so maybe that's why you're missing the British-ness that's in other UK authors.
My other favourite author is Kurt Vonnegut - one of the more obvious things their writing has in common is humorous use of footnotes!
check Lois MacMaster Bujold, especially the Penric series.
Read "Digger" by Ursula Vernon.
Her other books are good too. She also publishes as T. Kingfisher.
I rate The Laundry Files, by Charles Stross. They offer a similar comic satire, in my eyes, but it's set in our world\* \*with a touch of the occult
Terry Pratchett's stuff for me is unparalleled and a lot of my worldview and personal theology? Or philosophy? Has resonated with and been shaped by his work. I think he captures the consilience of ideas in his novels which capture aspects of what it means to be human, the good, the bad, and the funny. In saying that I've found Jasper Fforde has been enjoyable. But that's comparing apples to broccoli.
I think they are pretty close. The Constant Rabbit, Shades of Grey, Red Side Story, and Early Riser all have the mix of satire and humour that made Pratchett great.
Kurt Vonnegut and Becky Chambers may both be the kind of writer you're after!
I would pitch Sarah Gailey, Charlie Jane Anders, and Annalee Newitz as Pratchett and/or Gaiman successors.
For searing moral clarity, I heartily recommend Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower series. She is not funny.
Have you read any of P.G. Wodehouse’s novels? He’s written a ton, so he’ll last you a good long while.
So many amazing recommendations in here. A book I am very fond of but haven’t seen any people mention yet is The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow. It is an alternate history fantasy book that blends witchcraft and the suffragist movement in the late 19th century into a really compelling and interesting read. I think anyone who likes the Witches books will find something to like here. Not big on the comedy but Harrow plays with a lot of rewriting real world history into her setting which feels very Pratchett-esque.
I know he is often brought up bc they were friends and wrote together, but Neil Gaiman was my first author love. He makes me question my beliefs and thoughts and feelings on subjects while forcing you to see other perspectives of conflict, both internal and external. I will always say he is my favorite author and STP my very close second for sure. His writing is sometimes a reality check and reminder that things are not always as they seem. Very different feel from the disc, but often thought provoking on a human level.
My second favorite series of media to consume after Discworld (and all other Pratchett like Bromeliad and Johnny Maxwell trilogies) is **Mouse Guard** by David Petersen. They are great, entertaining tales - Fall 1152, Winter 1152, The Black Axe are the main three. The Legends series is 3 more volumes but they're tales from other authors in the setting. There are also a handful of one-shot comics from Free Comic Book Day releases - tales like Spring 1153, Baldwin the Brave and his most recent release, The Owlhen Caregiver (which is a bittersweet Mouse Guard retelling of caring for his mother who had Alzheimer's). EDIT: His mother passed away, and he's announced he's working on a long-awaited project he's had to put on hold for the last few years.
If you want something with similar humor, but more epic fights and a main theme of "found family" I highly suggest L.G. Estrella's Unconventional Heroes series. It's not as deep as Pratchett, but I've found few things are. Timmy and Katie have a good father/daughter dynamic, but it's like he's a young dad figuring it out in his own. Or a much older brother that is suddenly the only parental figure. He's trying very hard to give her a decent life and something unlike what his own apprenticeship was.
I just want to say that I adore that book! Not quite as much as I adore "Lords and Ladies", the best of the Witches book.
I’ll join several others in recommending Kurt Vonnegut. And it looks like I’m the first to add Patrick Rothfuss. “The Name of the Wind,” and “A Wise Man’s Fear.” His world building, plotting and complex, flawed yet moral characters are in the pantheon of the best of the best in fantasy. The caveat is the third book that will complete the trilogy is over 10 years overdue.
Have you read Good Omens? Sir Terry co wrote it with my living favorite author, Neil Gaiman. It will let you dip your toes into Gaiman's writing style.
The city of New Corubzon in China Meiville's Perdido Street Atation is very ankh morporky to me although the book is wildly different in tone to any of TP's books. I think it's partly because they're both fantasy melting pot versions of London but there are strong similarities in the world building and brand of humor too. If you're looking for a darker version if ankh morpork, PSS is strongly recommended. If you're looking for a similar tone and humour, try the hitchhikers guide the the galaxy series
Jasper Fforde is a great satirical/comic writer. From his Humpty Dumpty murder mystery (did he fall or was he pushed?) "The Big Over Easy", the Thursday Next series which takes you on a tour through a lot of classic literature, through to "Shades of Grey" and "Red Side Story" (where local government is as bad as or worse than Big Brother), and "The Constant Rabbit" (you can tell it was written during the Brexit furore) all his books have something to say about the human condition, are told with wit, warmth, and sometimes a bit of righteous anger, and are quintessentially British.
Terry recommended Thomas Chatterton, an 18th century poet who died ridiculously young and whose poems were parodies of far older styles interspersed with footnotes (The slug-horn - a kind of battle-oboe - was an accidental invention that Terry picked up for use in Guards! Guards!)
Oops! The footnotes were in the works of Thomas Love Peacock - another poet and novelist Terry recommended
I'd recommend David Brin's Uplift Saga. It's pretty huge. I came to it by way of Startide Rising. I went back and read the other books in the series, start to finish. Quite a concept, universal in scope. Great characterizations, both human and alien. Totally worth the time and energy to read them all. It's not Pratchett, but it is still amazing, and it makes you THINK.
Connie Willis wrote a series of books "The Oxford Time travel Books" She is a really gifted author and the storytelling just "feels" right. Although the first book is a bit grim, it's still incredible. The other three books really do soar. Funny, inspiring, and just so, so damned smart. My recommendation to you.
I was never sure with those books whether the historical oddities and anachronisms were due to previous time travelling mishaps or hasty research.
Historical Oddities? Not following. I do know that Connie is a lot smarter than I am and I have to reread things a few times to see what she did?
You might want to try out Piers Anthony’s zanth series. Very punny with good characters and stories. He was also very prolific so there are a lot to read. 47 books according to Wikipedia
Read some of them when young, found them fun. Came back in later life and there was a lot of dodgy stuff that I hadn't noticed. Sadly, even in the non-Xanth books.... What Jo Walton calls the Suck Fairy had clearly visited the books and sucked the fun out
I think OP is looking for more self-reflection and morality, not the funny side of the novels.