The Discworld novels are comfort books for him. He listens to them as he falls asleep, reads them on his kindle, owns them all on paperback. I can tell he sometimes feels bad about not reading much else (I personally think he simply has great, albeit narrow, taste) despite his attempts to do so. I know he has enjoyed Vonnegut, Palahniuk, and Gaiman as well. Any suggestions on what else he can try?
by ccw_writes
3 Comments
I was exactly the same. Got hooked on Discworld and couldn’t read a lot else until my brother introduced me to Robert Rankin and Tom Holt who I enjoyed from the first read (Armageddon: The Musical is one of my all time favourites)
Other series I read around that time were Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality (On a Pale Horse being the best) and Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat books. Both series highly recommended as well.
For overlap in style and humour, Douglas Adams (especially for the first few Discworlds) or Jasper Fforde, maybe the Red Dwarf novelisations? DA and RD are sci-fi, but they hit a lot of the same beats. A lot of people move onto Rivers of London for similarities with the Watch books
Some of Pterry’s influences were Wodehouse and Chesterton, could try those too
Presumably he’s read the first three Hitchhiker’s Guide books? If not, that’s the place I’d start.
Next up is P.G. Wodehouse. Anything with Jeeves and/or Wooster in the title. My personal favorite is *The Code of the Woosters*, but there are half a dozen others I like almost as much. These were my comfort books in the early 80s, when Sir Terry was still just a press officer for the CEGB, albeit one with a published book to his name.
*Three Men in a Boat* by Jerome K. Jerome might also tickle him.
Finally, try the humorous fantasy of Tom Holt. Start with *Expecting Someone Taller* and go from there.