Reddit mentions: The best humorous fiction books

I'm reposting something I posted a couple of years ago:

Well, perhaps the most famous recent post-apocalyptic novel was McCarthy's The Road. Quite a bleak book, and very characteristic of McCarthy's spartan prose, this became a huge international best seller and a successful Hollywood movie. I certainly recommend it, but it's not really an uplifting book and has several confronting scenes. Still, very good.

The other obvious recent "literary" PA novels would be Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake" trilogy. They start with Oryx and Crake, are followed by Year of the Flood and conclude with MaddAddam. These are very good books with strong feminist and ecological themes (a good thing!). Highly recommended.

The Dog Stars is yet another recent PA novel which garnered a fair bit of praise (I picked it up after hearing a segment on the novel on NPR's Fresh Air). I enjoyed it, despite the cliched "Survivalist" aspects and occasional far-fetched coincidences. A good, fun read; especially if you're a dog lover. :)

Other recommended titles (which I won't link to directly for time reasons) include Justin Cronin's The Passage trilogy (kind of a mash up between post apocalypse and horror), Stephen King's The Stand (ditto), A Canticle for Leibowitz, Earth Abides and Alas Babylon (the triptych of classics of the genre).

Good luck. I love these books even though I'm a positive optimistic guy! :)

EDIT: I overlooked Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven (fun, action packed but accused by some of racist undertones), The Postman by David Brin (so so so very much better than the movie it spawned. So much better), The Year of the Plague by someone I forgot (rather original PA novel with nano-technology rearing its head) and even Blood Music by Greg Bear (though most people consider this full on science fiction, it does feature an apocalypse... or a sort. :)





 



 




 



Since then, I've thought of (or read) a few more. Perhaps one of the most famous is Station Eleven. It garnered a fair bit of media attention and mainstream critical acclaim a couple of years ago. It's a bit of a slow burner, and whilst it's not my favourite post-apocalyptic novel, it's certainly worth picking up. The Girl with All the Gifts was a recent hit. Set in the UK, it tells the story of a band of British scientists and soldiers searching for remaining survivors, as they bring along a very strange and very dangerous survivor of the recent plague. It's great fun and was made into a movie recently. I believe the author recently published a sequel (The Boy on the Bridge?), but I haven't read this.

Wastelands is a collection of short-stories. Some really good stuff here, and if you're not feeling up to a full length novel or comptemplating the end of humanity, it's well worth a look.


Let me know if you want more. It's a favourite genre of mine. :)

"Being the best that you can be" is a better goal than "being better than everyone else", because it results in better outcomes.

For the vast majority of people being better than everyone else is simply not going to happen for any one thing. In order to be better than everyone else at a particular task you effectively need to dedicate your entire life to that one task. Most people are not going to be happy doing that, and so they're not going to be as effective at it as the people who are happy doing that. Because of that, having the goal of being better than everyone else leads to the things that you've noticed: an inferiority complex, stealing work (an act which adds no value to the world), giving up because you won't succeed, etc.

For the few people who are going to be world class at something, the goal of "being better than everyone else" may lead to underachieving. If the best in the world simply wants to be the best in the world, then there's no need for them to strive to improve themselves any more than necessary to keep up with their competition.

Having the goal of "being the best that you can be" deals with both of these problems. Doing the best you can is always an achievable goal, so it won't put you in the "my goals are impossible" funk, and if you're going to be the best in the world at something, it encourages you to keep getting better no matter what.

Now, an important thing about this is the value of contribution. Implicit in your view is that contribution has no value unless it's the best contribution. This shows up in your line:

> Why be the best you if there's someone out there who can run laps around your best?

The answer is that your best can still improve the world and your life. For example, I really enjoy the Magic 2.0 book series. It is definitely not the best writing out there. It's not even the best entertainment-focused fantasy fiction out there. But I'm glad that it exists. I find it fun. If the author decided it was unimportant to be their best, because other people write better, then that book series wouldn't exist.

This is a repost of a previous recommendation list I made (with a few updates):

Responses in the order in which I thought of them within each category (don't take it as an order of preference or anything). Lots of fanfic in this list because it's what people tend to write. Assume they're rational unless stated otherwise.

Note that "rationalist" means "rational + demonstrates analytical techniques", so I note where that's applicable (if I remember; a lot of this is fuzzy due to sheer quantity).

Finished:

• The Waves Arisen, rationalist Naruto fanfiction
  
• Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (HPMoR), rationalist Harry Potter fanfiction, possibly the ur-example of the concept of rationalist fanfiction (probably wrong about that however)
  
• Shadows of the Limelight, original story (it's true, I do read original stories) about a world where fame literally grants superpowers (by one of this subreddit's moderators, /u/alexanderwales)
  
• Worm, original story about an alternate Earth where superheroes are forged from "trigger events" (moments of intense emotional or physical trauma) by /u/Wildbow
  
• Pact, original story about modern magic users and creatures where words have power and consequences (also by Wildbow)
  
• The Two Year Emperor (epub), original story (kinda) about an ordinary, albeit clever man transported to a world that runs on Dungeons and Dragons rules as written by /u/eaglejarl; this one was, at one point, only available for purchase on Amazon here but was generously rereleased for free by the author
  
• Team Anko, Naruto fanfiction also by eaglejarl
  
• The Metropolitan Man, Superman/Lex Luthor fanfiction (by alexanderwales again; the next three are all by him)
  
• A Bluer Shade of White, Frozen fanfiction (yes, it is rational)
  
• The Last Christmas, Santa Claus fanfiction (ditto)
  
• Branches on the Tree of Time, Terminator fanfiction
  
• Fine Structure, original story about superheroes that appear yearly, doubling in power (and the damage done in their tumultuous "trigger") each time; the whole thing is so much more than just that, but I don't want to spoil it (by Sam Hughes, who wrote the next two as well)
  
• Ra, original story about magic analysed as science; again, it goes on to be much more but I don't want to spoil it
  
• Sam Hughes' author page at the SCP Foundation wiki, I recommend reading his entries from 2015 (you may want to read the Foundation's about page and some of the top rated pages from the wiki to get a feel for the setting first if you're new to SCP)
  
• Friendship is Optimal, My Little Pony fanfiction about an AI that is definitely not horrifying, no siree, just your average friendly AI over here
  
• Cenotaph, Worm fanfiction with a small deviation from canon
  
• Wake, sequel to Cenotaph
  
• Significant Digits, HPMoR metafic which is very different in character (it has a summary of HPMoR if you don't want to read it, but obviously heavily spoils the plot of that fic)
  
  Updating often:
  
  
• Pokemon: The Origin of Species, rationalist Pokemon fanfiction
  
• r Animorphs: The Reckoning, Animorphs fanfiction by /u/TK17Studios
  
• Mother of Learning, original story about a student mage caught in a time loop by /u/nobody103
  
• Twig, original story about emotionally savvy, enhanced children fighting biopunk monsters in a world where the British defeated the American colonies using biological superweapons (by Wildbow)
  
• UNSONG, the only rational kabbalah story I've ever heard of, with a pleasantly high concentration of biblical whale puns
  
• Glimwarden, yet another original story by alexanderwales featuring three rational protagonists fighting against anthropomorphic EM radiation (or at least that's my guess)
  
• Hermione Granger and the Perfectly Reasonable Explanation, a rational Harry Potter fanfic that I'm really hoping keeps up the updates (it was in a long hiatus until recently) in part because it has the perfect title for a Hermione fic
  
  Updating rarely, possibly abandoned:
  
  
• Harry Potter and the Natural 20, Harry Potter/Dungeons and Dragons crossover fanfiction (protagonist is an original character and a munchkin to his core)
  
• Weaver 9, a Worm metafiction which swaps the role of two important characters (casting a significant villain in the role as, er, "hero")
  
• Juncture, original story about all sorts of time travel tropes by /u/AHatfulOfBomb (currently on hiatus)
  
• Lighting Up the Dark, Naruto fanfiction by /u/Velorien
  
  I can go into more detail about what separates the Naruto/Harry Potter fanfictions on request. They all have their charms but differ quite a lot in theme and characterisation.
  
  I've also probably forgotten a whole bunch of things. Apologies also if I got authors wrong or missed somebody who's active on this subreddit (I don't remember usernames for everyone who is, sadly).
  
  There's also a lot of great one-shots on the subreddit, some in the challenge threads that get posted every two weeks.

Chilespicedmango gave an amazing comment! I have a couple recommendations for audiobooks that you can listen to or read along with. I struggled with reading comprehension as I got older and following along with audiobooks really helped me. Plus some have great voice actors. Make sure you get unabridged!

Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman, read by Lenny Henry
A great adventure story, incorporates mythology and cleverness and tricksters. Also the hero's quest of ordinary man-becomes great hero.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, read by Stephen Fry
I memorized this as a child. I can probably recite it to you now. It's a hilarious story of an Englishman and his alien compatriot who escape the Earth right before it's destroyed and have adventures around the galaxy. Originally written as a radio serial, so it's episodic and might help with comprehension.

The Harry Potter Audiobooks
You may have heard of Harry Potter? Jim Dale does some fabulous voices - though his Hermione always bugged me.

Best of luck! We are here to support you. Sorry you couldn't relate to the Regency female protagonists - they always bored me too, I guess I missed the part of female development where you're supposed to be in love with Mr. Darcy? But you're free of school-assigned books now! Hopefully the fact a book has a female protagonist won't discourage you from reading it. r/books has a lot of suggestions for exciting books (including scifi/adventure) with kickass female leads.

By you don't think you are good enough for Stephen King type stories, do you mean your reading level isn't good enough or your "this is too freaking creepy for me to read anymore so I have to put it down now" level isn't good enough?

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett was one of my favorite books when I was 14. That book led me into the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett and into the Sandman graphic novel series by Neil Gaiman. Then Gaiman released Neverwhere and that's an absolutely amazing story as well!!

The Dresen files series by Jim Butcher is a great series. It starts off a bit shaky in the first book, but it's still enough of a kickass book that you are hooked and want to read the rest of the series.

Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore is a great story with a good sense of humor. He is one of my favorite authors, and most of his books are ones that you can reread and they're still as entertaining.

Also when you are looking for more suggestions, you can refer to this handy dandy flowchart for the top 100 science fiction/fantasy books of all time. There are some amazing authors and amazing books listed, so hopefully you find some more good reads on there too!

One book that i didnt see mentioned in a casual skim of the posts is Off to be the Wizard
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Off-Be-Wizard-Magic-2-0/dp/1612184715

A very silly series where a modern day guy ends up in an alternate dimension where he can do magic/control the world via programming. Super light reads, fun and funny, and pulls in your computer interest. If you enjoy the first one, you can pick up the others.

If you want something a bit meatier, check out some Douglas Hofstadter.

Le Ton Beau de Marot (it's in English) is about the process and problems of translating languages, and makes surprisingly good bathroom reading because the chapters are short. He starts the scope small, talking about whether to focus on literal meaning or the spirit of the words, and then brings in more concepts like artificial constraints (poetry, or even writing without certain letters, for one example). It is philosophical, informative, and amusing. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B012HVQ1R0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_L2sgAbDYFK1XK

He also wrote Godel Escher Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0465026567/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_b3sgAbQ79TTGS better writers than I have written reviews (this one is from Amazon)

>Twenty years after it topped the bestseller charts, Douglas R Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid is still something of a marvel. Besides being a profound and entertaining meditation on human thought and creativity, this book looks at the surprising points of contact between the music of Bach, the artwork of Escher, and the mathematics of Gödel. It also looks at the prospects for computers and artificial intelligence (AI) for mimicking human thought. For the general reader and the computer techie alike, this book still sets a standard for thinking about the future of computers and their relation to the way we think.

The Off To Be The Wizard series is really good and funny. I caught myself smiling most of the time I was listening to it.

You can get it with a whisper sync combo for about $6 per book. $4 for the Kindle version and then $2 more to add audible version.

Also, since you are used to the podcast format, you should look into some long form fiction podcasts.

Take a look at www.podiobooks.com
I'd like to recommend The Rookie by Scott Sigler, which is a cross between star wars, Friday night lights, and the god father. A football story set 500 years in the future.
I am not a sports person, football doesn't really interest me that much, and I didn't think of it as much more than a bunch of guys throwing a ball and running into each other. This series really gave me more of an appreciation of the game and how it all works from the inside.
My brother is big into sports, and he really enjoyed it too.

Also Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell. This is an amazing series. The characters are great, the story is great, and the universe is somewhere I think I'd like to live. It just feels very alive. Definitely worth checking out.

Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of Less Valued Knights by Liam Perrin
Comedic, Clean, Arthurian Fairy Tale

Whimsical and poignant, Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of Less Valued Knights tells the story of Thomas Farmer who dreams of becoming a knight, sets out to save his brother from the hands of an evil Baron, and uncovers a plot that threatens Camelot itself. Along the way, he befriends a series of misfits including an allegedly reformed evil wizard, a shrinking giantess with a latent gift, a veteran knight with a dark secret, and his best friend Philip the Exceptionally Unlucky. In the end, his friends must all join forces and Thomas must come to grips with what it means to be a true hero if they are to outwit the evil Baron.

At its heart, Sir Thomas's tale is the story of a young man growing up and learning what it means to be a hero in a world that doesn't always make sense.

Less Valued Knights Bingo Squares!

• novel that was reviewed on r/fantasy
  
• hopeful fantasy (hard mode)
  
• self-published fantasy novel
  
• subgenre: historical fantasy or alternate history
  
• novel with fewer than 2500 goodreads ratings (hard mode)
  
• novel by an author writing under a pseudonym
  
• stand alone fantasy novel

I just read Changing Faces: New Game Minus, and the MC is a former NPC that becomes a "player", but doesn't know it's a game world. So he's dealing with nonsensical game mechanics (getting exp, getting stronger at a level up, etc.) and fully aware of how ridiculous it would be in a realistic world.

Definitely not clueless or stupid/bashful.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Changing-Faces-Game-Minus-Book-ebook/dp/B07KMMT9TX

Some other recs:

Drew Hayes' series: Spells, Swords, & Stealth - "NPCs" in a Dungeons and Dragons-esque world have to become adventurers. The main characters definitely are aware of D&D tropes and aren't stupid. This is a really good series, and it's a good time to get into it as the next book is coming out next month.

https://www.amazon.ca/NPCs-Spells-Swords-Stealth-Book-ebook/dp/B00KB2RLKO

Hero of Thera: The MC gets sucked into a new world with game-like mechanics (leveling up, picking classes, new skills, new gear, etc.). So that I guess is an Isekai book. What sets it apart is the great writing and worldbuilding.

Also a good time to get into this, as book 2 should be coming out next month.

https://www.amazon.ca/Hero-Thera-LitRPG-Eric-Nylund-ebook/dp/B0719CYNCG

Full disclosure - I edited book 4 of Spells, Swords & Stealth and book 2 of Hero of Thera. But I'd recommend them even if I hadn't.

Off to Be the Wizard by Seth Meyer is my favorite comfort food book. It's very light, but engaging, and presents an intriguing premise that's fun to think about.

I listened to the audio versions of the series read by Luke Daniels, who was a great match for the material, I thought.

I want to read print if I'm sitting and relaxing, but if I have to be up and active, doing tasks like laundry or driving that leave my mind free to ruminate, audio books really save me from myself.

• We Are Legion (We Are Bob) is a hilarious trilogy that is a bit cheaper to buy the kindle and then add on audio narration. Ray Porter, the narrator, makes his series amazing.
  
  
  
• Off to Be the Wizard is a great series with good humor and can be less expensive if you buy the kindle and then add on the audio narration. I liked books 1-3, with 4 and 5 being not as great. The first books is well worth the purchase though!
  
  
  
• Super Powereds Year 1. This is one of my favorite series. Kyle McCarley does an amazing job narrating this saga (4 in the main story and 1 side story that could stand alone). Probably the worst covers and really made me not want to read the series, but Drew Hayes has become my favorite author. Every series he does is pure gold.
  
  
  
• Expeditionary Force: Columbus Day. RC Bray, sci-fi and lots of hilarious dialog when Skippy shows up (about halfway through the book). The series is great, and book 6 is coming out next week. Great starter price 0.99+7.49 for the kindle and audiobook.
  
  
  There are so many more options like this, but I don’t want to overwhelm you! These may not all be your cup of tea. But they are some of my favorites for a somewhat reasonable price.

Random thoughts on stuff I've read or listened to in the sale:
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien - It's The Hobbit, and Rob Inglis is the perfect narrator for it. Worth every penny.

Off to Be the Wizard, Scott Meyer - Lighthearted and highly entertaining. The only caveat I'd offer is that independent of the sale, you can get the full Whispersync combo for $6, which includes what appears to be a fancy, multi-media Kindle version as well as the audio.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle - I've been slowly working my way through this one story at a time and loving it. 60 hours of Holmes with an incredible narrator for $5 is just insane.

The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley - I'm super conflicted about this one. I thought the book was phenomenal... and then I looked up MZB on wikipedia. Saying she was a horrific human being would be a gross understatement. It significantly recolored my feelings about the book, but maybe others have an easier time separating the art from the artist.

Farewell My Lovely, Raymond Chandler - Not my favorite of the Philip Marlowe detective novels I've read, but still good. Ray Porter is great. It's the second book in the series, but I've yet to find any reason why you need to read them in order. They're all pretty self-contained.

Iliad & Odyssey box set, Homer & Rouse (translator) - I've seen a lot of "Which translation of Homer should I read?" discussions and Rouse is never anyone's top pick, but Anthony Heald does a fantastic job narrating and it's $5 for the pair.

Beyond that, I've got my eye on Masters of Doom (literally the first thing I ever added to my Audible wishlist, and yet for some reason I've never gotten around to grabbing it before) and the Great Course on the Medieval World (mostly because I thought Dorsey Armstrong did a fantastic job with the King Arthur GC).

Drew Hayes. He is just amazing. He writes his books in a sort of tongue-in-cheek-yet-serious kind of way.

One of his book series is called Super Powereds, and it's better than the title might make it sound. It's set in a world where some people are born with superhuman abilities, and then some are born with superhuman abilities that they can't control. There are also humans. It's a school for those wanting to be a hero. It's full of subplots and twists and the books are quite long as well. They're also cheap in Amazon Kindle. This book is awesome.

He also has another book series called

Spells, Swords, & Stealth. It is set in a Tabletop RPG world and follows some NPCs that are forced to deal with the dead adventurers that had just appeared at their door. Great for people who love TTRPGs and great for people who don't! Seriously, it's amazing and you will love it. You will love either book!

If you are looking for something you can find at a place like Barns and Noble, Urban Fantasy is likely what you will find most fuzzy. Lots of werewolf in the city type books.

[Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Kitty Norville Series) By Carrie Vaughn] (https://www.amazon.com/Kitty-Midnight-Hour-Norville/dp/0446616419/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468453249&sr=8-1) - Urban Fantasy. Liked a lot of the series. It is fun and doesn't take it self too seriously. Spunky Midnight DJ (thats a werewolf) starts taking calls about things that go bump in the night and it leads to fame and adventure.

Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock, Book 1): A Jane Yellowrock Novel - Another Urban Fantasy. Skin walker that prefers the form of a cat takes up the job of head of security for a vampire. Bit gritter then above, and can bit a bit hit or miss.


Both of the above should be available locally for almost everyone. I have a huge pile of books I could sort to find others. But on to actual furry things:

Turning Point (Sholan Alliance) Bit old, and slightly dated mass produced book from the 80s that was vary furry and it is an impressively long series. Young lady from a colony world meets a telepathic cat and bonds with him.

Off Leash (Freelance Familiars Book 1) One of the better feral books I have ever read. Main turns into a 4 pawed feline familiar and bucks the trends.

[WindFall] (https://www.amazon.com/Windfall-Tempe-OKun-ebook/dp/B01DKRP67Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468454404&sr=1-1&keywords=windfall+tempe) Young Husky meets up with old friend in a town a show was made about and discover a little bit of truth exists.

[Exiles Return] (https://www.amazon.com/Exiles-Return-Rebecca-Mickley-ebook/dp/B00K3XSF4W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468454490&sr=8-1) Bunny who retired to a uncolonized rim world is called back to represent Earth.

In Wilder Lands: The Fall of Eldvar Kind of an game/RPG style series. A homeless ringtale (of all things) ends up assisting a fox and eventually falling in love. Did I mention undead are slowly covering the world?

Mindtouch - This book is fairly intresting and one of the few books that I have ever read that features a almost romantic platonic relationship.

Bait and Switch - While I don't think this book is everyones cup of tea, it tackles identity issues in a interesting way.

Portals of Infinity (Series) - While I wouldn't call the series great books. Its fun furry action. Human stumbles in to a portal ends up becoming a champion of a fuzzy god, gets the girl and saves the day.



Some stuff that you can find for free:

[Ted R. Blasingame] (http://trblasingame.com/library.html) Writes a number of books worth checking out. Namely: Sunset of Furmankind and its available for free.

[Fel (James Galloway)] (http://www.weavespinner.net/worlds_of_fel.htm) Has tried vary had not write furry fiction but almost everything he writes has something fuzzy or a lot of fuzzy. Check out: Spirit Walker, Earth Bond and Kit. All 3 are free.

Locke's life does get more crazy but there is a lot more humor later on. I can see how coming from Brandon's books though, how other books might appear darker in concept or tone.

The Shadow Of What Was Lost - This is very influenced by the Wheel Of Time. It only has one book so far, and it is not as slow paced or descriptive as Jordan. However I am very very much enjoying it. I think if you loved WoT you would enjoy this.

Eye Of The moonrat - So far there is 6 Books in this Series. It is a little Y.A and the Hero is a little too good at everything but it is a good pulpy read and more light hearted.

Off To Be The Wizard - A Nerdy IT Programmer discovers that nothing is real and his entire existence and everyone elses is governed by a secret file he finds on the Internet. So of course he sends himself back to Medieval Times to become a powerful wizard, just like every other nerd who found the file to his dismay. Hilarity ensues.

The Iron Druid Chronicles - A 2000 year old Druid, the last of his kind runs a Bookshop. Urban Fantasy. Very enjoayble. Lots of Irish/Celctic/Norse/Greek/Christian Mythology woven in. Has a cool dog sidekick.

Hey guys, I'm getting told that my book isnt available in certain countries. It most likely IS, but you might not be able to access it by the link I posted as it's a link to the United States Amazon site. If you want it from your country's page, just search for "Good Boy Seth" under Kindle and it should pop right up.

Alternatively, since I'm such a sucker for making things easy, I'll post direct links to the book on several popular country's Amazon page. (Hopefully that's allowed)

Good Boy in Canada,


Good Boy in the United Kingdom,

Good Boy in Australia,

Good Boy in Germany,

Good Boy in France,

Good Boy in Italy,

Good Boy in Japan

Hope that helps!

It was actually a light novel that was later adapted into a manga and then an anime, but it obviously draws inspiration from JRPGs and such. Slime enemies are really common in JRPGs, though those usually play the adventurer story straight, with slimes just being minor enemies. The anime you are asking about is unique because it subverts that common trope in a unique way.

[Tales of Symphonia], [Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book], [Recettear: an item shop's tale] and [The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky] are all good starting points for JRPG beginners. Those play the slime enemy straight, but have interesting spins on the fantasy genre in their own rights. Recettear for example is from the perspective of an item shop owner, while Ateier Sophie has you play as an Alchemist crafting items.

As for unusually wobbly protagonists, maybe look at [Snake Pass]. It's a platformer where you play a snake.

And for unusual recommendation, check out this book. It merges fantasy storytelling with RPG-style stats and character levels to form a devilishly delightful romp. Don't be fooled by the weird name and generic description, just trust me.

Oh, and watch KonoSuba.

There was a book that reminds me of this called Off to be the Wizard. I really enjoyed it, there's a few sequels as well which I haven't read yet but the first one at least was great, it's worth a look, seems like you'd enjoy it if you have thoughts like this!

I'm not sure if they're considered alt-comedy, but John Swartzwelder's books are hilarious. He's an old writer for the Simpsons. Most of the books are about a private detective named Frank Burly. I think this is the first one: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Machine-Did-John-Swartzwelder/dp/0975579908/

The new Norm Macdonald book, Based on a True Story, is also very funny.

I haven't heard very good things about Amy Poehler's book, to be honest, but I haven't read it. I've heard Tina Fey's book is great, but I haven't gotten to that one, either.

This one may be a little out there, but you might enjoy [Off to Be the Wizard] (http://www.amazon.com/Off-Wizard-Magic-2-0-Book-ebook/dp/B00EF8Z32I).

It's about a hacker who comes across a file which, when altered, allows reality to be altered correspondingly. I don't necessarily want to give all the details of the premise away but he ends up sending himself to the Middle Ages, where he uses his newfound access to the reality-altering file to pose as a wizard to the locals. That's sort of the "unusual occupation" part, and the book parodies a lot of the tropes of the medieval wizardry fantasy genre. It's a pretty light read, at 276 pages. It's really quite a funny and charming book.

Man, wasn't it so good?! I just found out it's turning into a movie, but idk how well that would work. I got the audiobook for it, and Wil Wheaton narrating it was goddamn perfect! I think that's the best medium for a story like this that's heavy on internal narration.

Also, I'm currently reading/listening to Off to be the Wizard, by Scott Meyers. Somewhat similar, but extremely enjoyable, and the narrator on this audiobook is damn good too! http://www.amazon.com/Off-Be-Wizard-Magic-2-0/dp/1612184715

I can't deny that it's a pleasure to watch Hugh Laurie act like an asshole. Just as an aside, he has also authored a truly excellent and hilarious spy novel called The Gun Seller that you should check out if you enjoy reading.

I am still trying to wrap my brain around the ending. the significance etc... The writing was always good. The further you read and the older the main character gets the cleaning and easier it is to interpret. Chapter 7 where Eiji gets a job in the pizza shoppe and Yakuza's interaction with him are a bit over the top. If you think about it. Why would they spend that much time and energy bothering him and trying to make him pay his debts.
Eiji's relationship with Ai is sweet and they should of let that develop more. My faveroite character is Buntaro his landlord. But he plays such a minor role. On my goodreads I gave it 4 stars.
My next book "Off to be the Wizard" is totally random amazon buy. Hopefully it is good
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1612184715/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have the perfect books for you!!! Penny Reid has a series called Knitting in the City about a group of friends in Chicago—each book focuses on a different woman in the group. The first one is called Neanderthal Meets Human and is a lot like what you’re asking for. The lead is super quirky, and compares herself to a Neanderthal because she’s so bad at holding a conversation. Hope it works for you!

For general fantasy I've enjoyed Gentleman Bastard, The Kingkiller Chronicle, and The Broken Empire. I listen to Kingkiller Chronicle fairly often due to the amount of commuting I do where I live.

For more urban/fantasy maybe try Lives of Tao, Iron Druid Chronicles, or anything by Neil Gaiman. The anniversary edition of American Gods was really excellent on audio-book. Not sure if the others have audio editions or not.

I've also really enjoyed stuff by Drew Hayes (a webnovelist). His banner series is SuperPowereds. But I though NPCs was a great take on an old fantasy trope. Neither come in audio formats unfortunately.

Good luck.

The Magic 2.0 series is definitely in the YA heap, but I thought all of the books were pretty entertaining. First is the best - "Off to Be the Wizard" - and it's on kindle unlimited.

I just read them last year as well, as an middle-aged adult. Being a late comer to D&D, I really enjoyed the setting and fantastical adventure, but seek something more sophisticated and for an older audience. Still searching, but in the meantime have been really enjoying the Spells,Swords and Stealth books.

MoL is a member of the groundhog's day loop subgenre. Check out Re:Zero, ERASED (AKA boku dake ga Inai Mache), and Edge of Tommorrow (also known as "All you need is kill") for non-fanfic examples. Also check out the peggy sue and groundhog peggy sue pages for when the time loop is on a significantly larger scale. For some reason I can't find a whole lot of non-fanfic examples (I've probably just forgotten stuff I read a long time ago) but there are oodles of fanfic with that premise.

Are you willing to read MLP:FiM fanfiction? I have a bunch of excellent completed fics to recommend for groundhog's day loops. If you like naruto, there's Time Braid and Chuunin exam day of the top of my head for loops, though they come with caveats: Time Braid is rather overty sexual, and Chuunin exam day is pure tripe written by an author I hate (so I only mention it because of its popularity.) Naruto also has incredibly amounts of peggy sue fics, but they tend to be either fairly blatant wish fulfilment or incomplete. I know for a fact that harry potter has tons of both peggy sue and time loop fics, but I don't really read that fandom much. Worm has a bunch of peggy sue fics, but they're all (or almost all) incomplete.

___

On the other hand, Hero's War is an "uplift" fic. The only non-fanfic example I can think of off the top of my head is Light on Shattered Water which I'm about halfway through. Aside from that, check spacebattles for ASOIAF SIs: they almost all tend to be of this variety. Again, I also have a bunch of MLP:FiM fics with similar premises.

For sort-of-similar works, check out Erfworld and Two Year Emperor for modern-person-gets-put-in-charge-of-fantasy-land fiction.

Spacebattles really likes both of these kinds of fics, so you may have more luck posting a thread there.

I also thought Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of Less Valued Knights was amazingly cute and clever (nearly up to Pratchett levels of cleverness!)

I'm currently reading Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu (which won the /r/fantasy 2013 stabby for best short fiction) and it seems pretty kick ass thus far.

Sex sells. You know? The books feel like some cross between a Troma film fan fiction.

In fact, Bizarro Central describes Bizarro as:

• Franz Kafka meets John Waters
  
• Dr. Suess of the post-apocalypse
  
• Takashi Miike meets William S. Burroughs
  
• Alice in Wonderland for adults
  
• Japanese animation directed by David Lynch
  
  Other great Bizarro authors include Jeff Burk, Mykle Hansen, and Cameron Pierce.
  
  It's really fun stuff, in the way that art house films and dropping acid are really fun stuff.

I'm mostly into litRPG so that's what my recommendations will focus on.

everybody loves large chests was already a great webnovel but the author also published on amazon. you can still read it for free on royal road if you want. it features a truly evil monster as primary character who was never human to begin with, so it's quite a different take on the litRPG genre.

life reset is a VR based litRPG with the focus on the MC having been turned into a monster character against his will and ending up stuck in the VR world, with emphasis on city building.

Awaken Online is also a VR based litRPG but the main character kinda turns into a big villain. sort of.

Dodge Tank combines an interesting post-apocalytpical but very futuristic 'real' world combined with a VR world.

The Land/Chaos Seeds transportation litRPG with a bit of a contentious author who has a tendency to shove every fun idea he has into the story at the expense of actual story progression, but if you like the idea of city building litRPG I'd certainly still recommend it. there are plenty of other aspects that make up for it.

If you're a Neil Gaiman fan, I'd recommend Good Omens or Night watch. Good omens is a stand-alone book by both Gaiman and Pratchett, and is silly and fun- Night Watch is perhaps the darkest of the discworld novels and matches Gaiman's usual tone more (it's also my personal favorite :) ).

But any of the Discworld novels are worth a read, really. If you want to go chronologically, though, you should start with The Colour of Magic, however the order really isn't important- you won't miss much, if at all.

Sorry about that. I don't have a good way of figuring out whether any price is honored in any other territory. I don't think that there are nearly as many UK Whispersync for Voice deals overall -- 90% of the titles I just checked around on didn't offer it, and some that did the combined price was actually more than the audiobook alone, e.g. Ben Winter's The Last Policeman. Did see one, Andy Weir's The Martian, for £3.49 + £3.99 which is only a little less than the £9.20 audiobook alone price, which is actually more than the £7.99 you guys pay per credit over there. The credit price rules out other titles like The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (£2.99 plus £5.99).

One area where you guys can I think still make out really well is with self-published Kindle/Podium Publishing audiobook titles, e.g.:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Harbinger-Fates-Forsaken-Book-1-ebook/dp/B008RCI29Y/

Another of my usual "go to" deal strategies only offers a small discount, that being Amazon's 47North/Brilliance Audio titles, e.g.:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Off-Wizard-Magic-2-0-Book-ebook/dp/B00EF8Z32I/

The £3.49 plus £3.49 is less than the monthly credit price, but not by too much.

Hope some of that is helpful and takes a bit of the sting of "US only? rageface!!" out of the post!

Your milage may vary in terms of what you find "weird," but off the top of my head here's a few that fall all over the weird spectrum

1)The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. Deals with drugs, conspiracy theories, and the occult blended with a strong sense of wit and cynicism. Imagine Dan Brown but with a much stronger sense of humor.

2) VALIS by Philip K. Dick. Really anything by Dick could deserve a place on here but VALIS is my personal favorite. A group of misfit adults all struggle to piece together a series of odd occurrences that just may be a message from the god of the Gnostics.

3) Spacetime Donuts by Rudy Rucker. If the above are a bit too heady for you, then this might be more up your ally. Weird theoretical math is explored through the travels of an elderly, weed and acid loving guy who lives in a world controlled by a mostly benevolent supercomputer.

Edit: Forgot a couple!

4) John Dies at the End by David Wong. A great story about two slacker guys who stumble upon a "drug" known as Soy Sauce that opens up other words both literally and figuratively. A wonderful combination of dick & fart humor and deep meditations on the horrors of our universe.

5) The Time Machine Did It by John Swartzwelder. I have never laughed so hard, so consistently at a book. John is a writer from the golden age of the Simpsons and his unique sense of humor is on display here. He's got a bunch of books out and I admittedly have only read this one so far, but based on it the rest of his works are definitely on my must-read list.

I haven't read any Sanderson, but based on your summary, perhaps the Jhereg series? Assassins, convoluted plots, lots going on behind the scenes, and as the series goes on it gets deeper and we find out why.

You might also like the Shannara series. Elfstones, the second book, in particular seems like it'd be a good fit.

I'd recommend Sir Thomas and the Table of Less Valued Knights by Liam Perrin and the Epik Trilogy by William Tyler Davis.

Both are about optimistic dudes trying to do their best and add some good to the world.

The first ebook of Dante's Immortality was recently published, and should fit your criteria. Dante basically distrusts everyone all the time, but because he genuinely doesn't know a lot he ends up committing some believably naive mistakes.

You might also like Threadbare - the main character isn't naive so much as innocent, given that he's a newborn golem for most of the novel. The combat system is all about skills and skill synergies, and the dialog is great (even though the main character can't speak).

There's also Everybody Loves Large Chests. Again the main character starts out a little naive, but that's largely because it starts from more or less zero Int. It doesn't become an asshole so much as a completely amoral monster, because that's what it is.

If you're willing to read serials that aren't published as complete books, you can try out the bifecta of combat LitRPGs on Royal Road: The New World and The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound are both great.

Partially. He was one of the strongest writers and has a huge amount of the best episodes under his belt.

Also, he has a bunch of self-published books that are absolutely fantastic. I read the first couple pages on Amazon and was immediately hooked.

Seconding Off to Be the Wizard (by Scott Meyer). Fantastic book, there's two out right now with a third on the way.

Amazon and Goodreads

It's two bucks for the kindle version right now. I'm not affiliated with the author in any way, just seriously love the series and want to spread the love!

Just off the top of my head aside from the genre staples (1984, V for Vendetta, Brave New World, etc.)

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

Shades of Grey: A Novel by Harper Fforde

I am currently reading The Passages by Just in Cronin

Sorry for the formatting, on mobile. I will clean it up later.

Goodreads has a lot of great lists of dystopian books.

The Time Machine did It by John Swartzwelder (writer of 59 episodes of The Simpsons)

The Stench of Honolulu: A Tropical Adventure by Jack Handey (of SNL 'Deep Thoughts' fame)

I'm not one to make personal guarantees but you will at least crack a smile by reading either one, wish you all the best.

"I'm sick of these Motherfucking Polish stealing these Motherfucking jobs!"

^(please don't post to r/nocontext)

-----

Starring (à la Shatner Quake):

• Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu
  
  
• Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
  
  
• Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield
  
  
• Samuel L. Jackson as Agent Neville Flynn
  
  
• Samuel L. Jackson as Major Marquis Warren, "The Bounty Hunter"
  
  
• Samuel L. Jackson as Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard
  
  
• Samuel L. Jackson as Samuel L. Jackson.

Give a lesser known writer a try and see if you like him: Steven Brust. He has a fantasy series that's truly brilliant, for a number of reasons. His characters have a lot of depth and endearing tendencies, he's got a wicked sense of humor and colors his writing with dark moments of self reflection, and his creativity in a field overrun with mediocrity is to be appreciated.

Try Jhereg and see what you think. Another thing that makes this series so good is that he intentionally wrote it out of order to encourage people to read whatever volume they happen to find, but this one as the first really outlines the world richly.

It would be awesome if you could make it possible to have DLC like living through scenarios from "Help! A Bear is Eating Me!" - probably the book with the greatest opening to the second chapter ever.

http://www.amazon.com/HELP-A-Bear-Eating-Me/dp/1933929693

I can't believe no one has said this one yet:

Off to Be the Wizard

Description:

>
Martin Banks is just a normal guy who has made an abnormal discovery: he can manipulate reality, thanks to reality being nothing more than a computer program. With every use of this ability, though, Martin finds his little “tweaks” have not escaped notice. Rather than face prosecution, he decides instead to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and pose as a wizard.

>What could possibly go wrong?

>An American hacker in King Arthur’s court, Martin must now train to become a full-fledged master of his powers, discover the truth behind the ancient wizard Merlin…and not, y’know, die or anything.

It was a great read and there are two more books after (with the next in production now). The sequels are not as good as the first but I still enjoyed them very much. :)

How To Succeed in Evil.

It's a super fun book!

Much too early for your purposes, but kind of interesting- There was an unofficial follow-up to Don Quixote, written by someone called Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda.
Cervantes was not amused, and when the actual second part came out, it featured Avellaneda's work as a plot point- Quixote is outraged that people were publishing slander about him, and actually encounters one of the characters from the spurious work and makes him recant his testimony. A few hundred years later, Borges would take Quixotic metatextuality and authorship questions to another level entirely in his short story "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote".


Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton series, both weave bewildering arrays of fictional works together.

Gregory Maguire's Wicked is fairly well known, but probably more for the musical adaptation than the original novel. Dunno about the public domain status of the Oz works when it was published, though.

There's an entire genre of Sherlock Holmes pastiche, and has been since the thirties or forties at least- and there are related genres devoted to Nero Wolfe and other fictional detectives from the first half of the 20th century.

There's also a book called Shatnerquake, which is exactly what it says on the tin.

I can't help you with regards to the legal status of that sort of work, or what you'd need to go through to get it published.

It is not quite the same as the original radio broadcast but our friend Stephen Fry reads the HHGTG audiobook during which he seems to replicate the radio voices.

Incidentally, this was available for free at the library.

Not really in the same tone but very well written and entertaining (some mild melancholy) is The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie. I loved it.

Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos novels, also To Reign in Hell a marvelous novel about the revolt in heaven.

The novel Atlanta Nights was written as an experiment to expose crappy vanity publishers (I know OP's book is different). It was created by a bunch of professional authors trying to write as bad a novel as possible. It is hilariously awful, but was accepted for publication anyhow.

The story of the novel is interesting and it is available for purchase from Amazon. You can click the "Look Inside" link there. The authors have also made the book freely available (eg http://www.cs.du.edu/~aburt/StingManuscript.pdf) - it's well worth checking out, at least a few pages, just to see how badly it's written.

You might like the Vlad Taltos novels, starting with Jhereg. They focus on a cunning, sarcastic assassin protagonist.

If you're in the mood for a magic school story, I strongly recommend Mother of Learning.

Of the two, Jhereg is grittier, but Mother of Learning is probably closer to most of the other things you liked (magic systems, magic schools, etc).

There are some cool female characters in both.

these are great books, and perfect timing! the third book in the trilogy is coming out in September

Have you ever read Off to Be the Wizard? Magic and programming is awesome! haha

Maybe the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman?

The first book, The Golden Compass, was made into a film.

Also, the Lord of the Rings books?

My favorite fantasy author is Steven Brust, though. Highly recommend reading Jhereg to see if you like the world. It's a relatively quick read, compared to the tomes that more and more fantasy novels seem to be nowadays.

Also, Neal Stephenson.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

I used to listen to a whole lot of Joe Rogan when I was working a temp job several years ago. He talked about simulation theory a lot.

If you're really nerdy about it like I am, there's a great fantasy series called Magic 2.0 that has a hilarious take on it.

"Martin Banks is just a normal guy who has made an abnormal discovery: he can manipulate reality, thanks to reality being nothing more than a computer program. With every use of this ability, though, Martin finds his little “tweaks” have not escaped notice. Rather than face prosecution, he decides instead to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and pose as a wizard.

"What could possibly go wrong?

"An American hacker in King Arthur’s court, Martin must now train to become a full-fledged master of his powers, discover the truth behind the ancient wizard Merlin…and not, y’know, die or anything"

https://www.amazon.com/Off-Wizard-Magic-2-0-Book-ebook/dp/B00EF8Z32I#nav-subnav

I'm enjoying the magic 2.0 series a lot. It's not exactly deep and complex but it's a FUN read and has lots of nerdy references.

I'd like to see the Magic 2.0 series from Scott Meyer or Spellsinger from Alan Dean Foster, but the latter would take a ton of CGI. I've always thought Thieves World would make an interesting translation to TV, a shared world, but each director gets to do their episode from a different viewpoint.

I liked NPCs by Drew Hayes.

A group of NPCs from your usual inn in a village are forced to take on the role of heroic adventurers, which they surely are not.

Geeky hilarity ensues.

NPCs

Mogworld by Yahtzee Crosshaw
I will never stop recommending this. From the bitingly sarcastic game critic of "Zero Punctuation", this story is equal parts funny, and dramatic. It focuses more on MMORPGs than traditional tabletop games, but even as a non-WOW player I understood and loved every minute of it.


NPCs by Drew Hayes This story focuses more on the aspect of traditional tabletop roleplaying, such as Dungeons and Dragons. It's about a group of NPCs - such as a bartender, a reluctant damsel in distress, and a former minion - who have to take up the roles as fake heroes in order to save their town. It starts off a little bit slow, and at first I was rolling my eyes thinking "okay, I know where this is going" but then it went off in a completely different direction. Highly recommended.


Critical Failures by Robert Bevan
I didn't like this one personally as much as the others - it was a bit too vulgar for my tastes. However, it got some really good critical feedback (heh) and it definitely is an interesting concept. It's basically about a group of players who get trapped in a tabletop game by a sadistic GM. If you play a lot of tabletop games, you can probably see a lot of your group members in the characters. It's part of a series too, (I think there's at least 3) so this one should keep you occupied for a while.

Game Night

The Merchant Adventurer


I haven't read either of these two myself, but they are both on my list, and seem somewhat similar to the kind of thing you're looking for.

Thanks! For me it seems that book #1 has the same special:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EF8Z32I/ref=series_rw_dp_sw

How are these books? Is it worth picking up all 3?

Everybody loves large chests
and
The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound are fun reads.

The Time Machine Did It by John Swartzwelder. Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer in Simpsons history and he really does do an amazing job of writing a funny story. You will be cracking up throughout the book.

"Help! A Bear is Eating Me!" was a pretty good book.

I'm obsessed with the Knitting in the City series by Penny Reid (actually most anything she writes). I feel like her characters have a nice balance between sensible and entertaining.

Neanderthal Seeks Human (Knitting in the City #1)

You should check out this book. I listened to it on audible. It's sort of a sci-fi/fantasy comedy book and I really enjoyed it.

>Martin Banks is just a normal guy who has made an abnormal discovery: he can manipulate reality, thanks to reality being nothing more than a computer program.

I like the Inspector Morse series (Colin Dexter) and I'll second matts2 Nero Wolfe mysteries. Also, Hugh Lurie's The Gun Seller was good in a fun with wordplay sort of way.

I assume you mean https://www.amazon.com/NPCs-Spells-Swords-Stealth-Book-ebook/dp/B00KB2RLKO, which I agree is an excellent book (as is nearly everything else by that author).

1. Worth the Candle
   
2. NPCs (Spells, Swords & Stealth)
   
3. The Land
   
   I feel like A Practical Guide to Evil would hands-down be number one on this list if more people agree'd with me that it was a litrpg piece. The main character class development and abilities are straight out of the genre in my opinion, but there is no overt acknowledgement of this in the text. I can't recommend all four of these enough. Worth the Candle and a Practical Guide are both available free via the author's websites, so they have that going for them also.

Here's a really good find that not a lot of people have heard of (I think). Scott Meyer--the comedian behind the web comic Basic Instructions--started a fantasy book series called Magic 2.0 that starts with Off to Be the Wizard.

The premise is that the hero lives in a computer simulation and have found a file that allows them to change the parameters of their world. By editing the file, they can change their location, the money in their bank account, the time that they are living in, etc.

I laughed out loud at many passages. I actually listened to the audio version of the book that you can get on Audible. The narrator Luke Daniels does a tremendous job of reading the book.

Anyways, I cannot recommend this series enough. There's only two books out now, but a new one should be published in early 2015.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/20451/who-says-this-ol-cant-become-a-splendid-slime

Office Lady reincarnated as a slime. A little worried that the author's slowing down is turning into the author stopping this series.

​

https://www.amazon.com/That-Reincarnated-Slime-light-novel-ebook/dp/B076H132D2/ref=pd_cp_351_1/131-0686409-1127854?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B076H132D2&pd_rd_r=1040ec8c-2170-481c-b955-6b04dc76527e&pd_rd_w=glHS3&pd_rd_wg=hzJUj&pf_rd_p=ef4dc990-a9ca-4945-ae0b-f8d549198ed6&pf_rd_r=N3XZPC8B5H02AJQ4705Q&psc=1&refRID=N3XZPC8B5H02AJQ4705Q

Office Worker reincarnated as a slime. Really fun series, Eventually City management/politics with big battles.

​

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/20568/tree-of-aeons-an-isekai-story

Guy reincarnates as a sentient tree. Slow paced skill growth into city building/unit management.

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CQMYQT5/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

Reincarnated as a Lovecraftian horror: Yuri princess edition

​

Oh, just noticed you also said born as a monster....

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/8894/everybody-loves-large-chests

MC is a monster, one of the best litrpg monster series I've read, HOWEVER, it does have lots of raunchy NSFW content mixed in there. The Amazon versions (starting with https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076NSQ6JT/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title ) toned down the sex scenes but it does still have a lot of them.

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NNWZT9M/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i3

A skeleton from an world set up like an RPG gets teleported in space and begins a Sci-Fi adventure on an abandoned spaceport.

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078KGS4V4?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_pwh_calw_&storeType=ebooks

Toy Golem leveling up and fighting to rescue his owner.

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071LHHY85/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

A goblin joins a camp of bandits.

​

So, so many reincarnated as a dungeon core novels, but not sure if that fits in with your "monster" request.

US Amazon for those interested. :)

I highly recommend The Time Machine Did It by Swartzwelder. It's a short book and if you watch the Simpsons you can visualize its inanity (is that a word) even better.

I highly recommend Off to be the Wizard, about a kid who basically discovers life is a computer simulation, and goes back to medieval times to try and pass himself off as a wizard. Much better than it sounds.

Jasper Fforde's Shades of Grey is very amusing and interesting. While there is a romance that develops, it's not what you are trying to avoid, I think, and I like to recommend it. Science-fiction-esque, but not strongly. Science fiction to the same degree that F 451 and 1984 are.

www.amazon.com/Shades-Grey-Jasper-Fforde-ebook/dp/B002UXRF6M/

Off to be the Wizard & Magic 2.0 series might fit the bill for you. It'll be a little different take on medieval wizardry, but it is a real entertaining read.

I have to agree with The End of All Things by Scalzi. Surprisingly good series.

Also, don't judge me, but I have one that is a bit more in the Fantasy side of things. It's admittedly a guilty pleasure, but I'm really excited for An Unwelcome Quest by Scott Meyer. It's the 3rd book in the "Magic 2.0" series that begins with Off to be the Wizard

Hugh Laurie wrote The Gunseller which is about the military industrial complex in the west. It's a fun book and well written.

He also wrote an awesome (and hilarious) spy thriller.

Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0 series) by Scott Meyer is a really quirky story where the MC discovers the world is really a computer program so he decides to go to the middle ages and portray his computer hacking as magic and be a wizard there. I highly recommend the audible version since the narrator Luke Daniels is hilarious with his voices. Not litRPG at all but is fairly geeky so some litRPG readers would like it.

https://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Kindle-Motion-Magic-Book-ebook/dp/B00EF8Z32I/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

There are some audiobooks with graphics "Kindle in motion" like this https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00EF8Z32I/ref=pd_aw_sim_351_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MS57FVNWG0AEPJNWJS28&dpPl=1&dpID=91In9gKXiCL

Would be really cool if they make some VR option to listen/watch the books with graphics, videos, animations in 360.

Just suggested this in another thread about time travel. Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer.

I read this a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It's on the lighter side of things.

Amazon description: Martin Banks is just a normal guy who has made an abnormal discovery: he can manipulate reality, thanks to reality being nothing more than a computer program. With every use of this ability, though, Martin finds his little “tweaks” have not escaped notice. Rather than face prosecution, he decides instead to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and pose as a wizard.

I think the age/gender span is kind of awesome so far! Will be interesting to get such varied perspectives, and see what a ragtag band of book readers have to say to each other haha.

I didn't know Hugh Laurie was a writer, but that book sounds great.

I'm reading Stench of Honolulu, and it's great!

If you like it, I'd suggest you check out John Swartzwelder's books. Both Handey and Swartzwelder have a very dry-yet-silly wit. They both contributed to George Meyer's Army Man magazine from its inception. And his books are a lot like Honolulu: first person, stupid protagonist, and sentences packed with insane jokes.

This one's the first and the best although they're all hilarious.

Help! A bear is eating me!

It's short, cheap, has a few spelling errors, but man is it funny.

It reminds me of a Jeff Burk novel called "Shatnerquake", where all the characters played by William Shatner are out to get the real William Shatner.

Link

Shades of grey is kind of quirky. Not heavy into the science, but there's some real interesting concepts. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UXRF6M/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Hugh Laurie-The Gun Seller

Excellent novel.

Check it out on Amazon. He is releasing an editted version on there.

It fixes some plot holes and edits out some of the more extreme rapey stuff, and I think the story is better for it.

https://www.amazon.com/Morningwood-Everybody-Loves-Large-Chests-ebook/dp/B076NSQ6JT

NPCs by Drew Hayes - it's here and fun!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Off-Be-Wizard-Magic-2-0/dp/1612184715

I really enjoyed it - I wont spoil it

I really enjoyed Scott Meyer's Magic 2.0 books.

Kind of like this book.

For kumo https://www.novelupdates.com/series/kumo-desu-ga-nani-ka/?pg=2
Start with the blastron translations and then switch over when they stop. Sorry it is not more straight forward but there were a number of different translations of various qualities who worked on this one.



For ELLC there is the e-book here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076NSQ6JT/ref=series_dp_rw_ca_1 which is a more polished version of the content with a few new additions and less nsfw content but you have to pay for it or here https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/8894/everybody-loves-large-chests which is less polished but free. Only somewhere between 1/10 to 1/5 has been published though so you will have to switch over anyway if you want to keep reading.

George RR Martin: A Game of Thrones

http://www.amazon.com/Game-Thrones-Song-Fire-Book/dp/0553573403

Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman: Good Omens

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Omens-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0441003257

Both fantastic books, but very different.

YES! He's so freakin' amazing!! He's written a total of 59 episodes and somehow his constant disregard for social interactions and refusal to make audio commentary's makes him so much better.

You should check out his series of novels too, The Time Machine Did It

Grunts

Confessions of a D list Supervillian

How to succeed in evil

Secret Six

How to Succeed in Evil

Try this next time^

read this, it's wonderful and my favorite book of all:

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Omens-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0441003257

Honestly, I'd purchase that movie (if it existed) just for the novelty, similar to Atlanta Nights.

I just started "Off to be a Wizard" by Scott Meyer and am really liking it. It's about a modern day programmer discovering magic (essentially) and traveling back to the Middle Ages to be a wizard. Only $2 on a kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00EF8Z32I/

NPCs by Drew Hayes is more like Pencil and Paper LitRPG (LitPnPRPG?)

Orcanomics: A Satire is, as advertised, a parody of P&P RPG tropes. Not LitRPG, though. Hilarious!

Um.... I honestly don't know? I have to confess I read them out of my dad's books and he has physical copies. I'm actually several books behind at this point too ^^;

Clicking the link from Goodreads to Amazon got me the German Language paperback, which had a link on it to this: https://www.amazon.com/Jhereg-Steven-Brust/dp/0441385540

If you're looking for Ebooks sorry I have no idea. If you're fine with physical books and just don't want to store them you could check your local library.

It is actually a book! It's called Good Boy. I read it after the author talked about it on an r/askreddit answer late last year. I'd recommend reading it if you like this idea.

The actual answer I saw (here) was removed (and I can't seem to get ceddit working RN), but there's another post here about it with links.

(Paging u/serhm)

Possibly the Sandman Slim novels, kind of a noir LA gumshoe that escaped from Hell, also authors like Charles De Lint or Joe Hill would be worth checking out.

*edit accidentaly posted Help a Bear is Eating Me in this thread instead of another, hahaha

His co-authorship w/Neil Gaiman, Good Omens, is phenomenal and hilarious.

Anyone else notice the book is Shatner Quake? by active redditor Jeff Burk /u/jeffburk https://imgur.com/a/SmVsXCJ

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shatnerquake-Jeff-Burk/dp/1933929820

Yes, of course

Then you might be interested in this series.

https://www.amazon.com/Off-Leash-Freelance-Familiars-Book-ebook/dp/B011J9L5JA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436843535&sr=8-1&keywords=dan+potter+off+leash

Atlanta Nights was written to see if there existed a potential book so terrible that Publish America would turn it down. The book is truly terrible and PA accepted it. They rescinded the offer when they realized they were being made fun of, but you can buy the book POD through Lulu.

I like the Kindle in Motion version of Off to be the Wizard

This looks exactly like something out of the Magic 2.0 series by Scott Meyer.

If you like this concept check out the Off to Be the Wizard book and series.

You'd probably like this book based on that shower thought.

something like this: Everybody Loves Large Chests

How to Succeed in Evil is about a Lex Luther-type super villain who snaps and takes out the superhuman order by creating an insurance agency. So, if you're willing to be kind of awful about it surprisingly affordable.

Has anyone read the novel Shatnerquake?

Removed for submitting https://www.amazon.com/Good-Boy-Seth-McDuffee-ebook/dp/B07726Y7X3/ref=zg_bs_668010011_f_43?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=TWXHBFSCDCMEZWKAPRMA; please resubmit without referral content https://www.amazon.com/Good-Boy-Seth-McDuffee-ebook/dp/B07726Y7X3

Reading. Obviously, if you get too high, you won't be able to read well. The secret is staying low dose, getting just high enough. Check out the Amazon "Look Inside" previews to see if any of these is right for you.

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Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.

Tuf Voyaging by George RR Martin.

Into the Storm by Taylor Anderson.

Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer.

The Remaining by DJ Molles.

Sounds like the book Off to be the Wizard by Scott Meyer of Basic Instructions fame.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18616975-off-to-be-the-wizard

> Martin Banks is just a normal guy who has made an abnormal discovery: he can manipulate reality, thanks to reality being nothing more than a computer program. With every use of this ability, though, Martin finds his little “tweaks” have not escaped notice. Rather than face prosecution, he decides instead to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and pose as a wizard.

> What could possibly go wrong?

> An American hacker in King Arthur’s court, Martin must now train to become a full-fledged master of his powers, discover the truth behind the ancient wizard Merlin…and not, y’know, die or anything.

Oh, yeah. Forgot to mention. These guys also didn't make a page quota, so they copied and pasted random pages throughout the book. Just... you know, whole pages, to bring the page count up.

Oh, and it's on Amazon.

Read this book as it may help you through the tough times ahead.