A few good books?

Question

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman are two of my favorite authors, but i think I've read just about everything they have wrote. Any suggestions on similar works? Thanks..:)

Answer 1

Try Christopher Moore - I'm trying to think of other sci fi/fantasy/funny authors - I like Jim Butcher (Dresden Files), Charlaine Harris (southern vampires - kind of girly), C. E. Murphy (urban shaman), anything by PC Cast (pure female godess fantasy), Rachel Caine (or Gaine, can't remember) (hasn't written anything lately, I don't think - has a series about weather wardens), and Sharon Shinn (angel series, older, but really good). Of course, Gaiman is the absolute best - I'd read his grocery list if he published it.

Answer 2

Neil Gaiman is great. If you're younger, try David Eddings series that starts with "Pawn of Prophecy". Terrific series! Older, try I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb, The Thirteenth Tale by Setterfield, or The Pillars of the Earth by Follet. All excellent reads! They are not like Stardust but they still have that cool feeling to them, that sense of prose within a story.

Answer 3

Down River by John Hart
Too Late to Say Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
Almost Graceland by Steve Carlson

Answer 4

The Turner Diaries is a good read. By William Pierce.

Answer 5

Peter Beagle -- The Last Unicorn

Answer 6

I dont know who those authors are but, I know that The Twisted Window is a really good book.

Answer 7

The shadows of the wind is just amazing. It is not very well known, but it should be. The story takes place in Spain, it is magical, scary, warm, and you will love it

Answer 8

I don't know what you are in to but I just read a book called "My sister's keeper" and it was awsome!! I couldn't put it down!

Answer 9

try some books by nicholas sparks there amazing!

Answer 10

TERRY PRATCHETT
Read-alikes:

Fans who enjoy Pratchett's humor and social satire will probably also enjoy the Science Fiction of Douglas Adams. The Hitchhiker series follows the adventures and exploits of Arthur Dent as he travels through the universe with a variety of unusual companions, human and alien. Like Pratchett, Adams makes creative use of the English language, and his satire spares no sacred cows. Start with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979).

Another Science Fiction/Fantasy humorist that Pratchett fans might enjoy is Paul Di Filippo. Working primarily in the short story vein, Di Filippo writes humorous pieces, often set in alternative universes. His characters are wonderfully off-beat, and his stories are full of allusions to contemporary culture, especially to pop music and literature. A good place to start is his story collection Fractal Paisleys (1997).

Pratchett readers who particularly enjoy the City Watch sub-series will be delighted to discover Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next titles. Beginning with The Eyre Affair (2002) Fforde's heroine Thursday Next works for the Literary Detective unit of Special Operations in an alternative England in the 1980s. The book is filled with word play and literary allusions, and Fforde's heroine would be at home in Sam Vimes' City Watch. Those who are fond of Pratchett's cultural critiques and barbs towards contemporary society will find much to enjoy in Fforde's novel.

Eric Flint's The Philosophical Strangler (2001) has a similar appeal to much of Pratchett's work. Flint's story of a thoughtful assassin and his sidekick satirizes every thing from Dante's Inferno to role-playing games. Adventures befall the heroes at every turn, and they encounter wizards and witches, dwarves and trolls, and thieves and swordsmen (and women). Flint draws on various mythologies -- Greek, Norse, etc. -- for his inspiration, though like Pratchett he twists the stories as needed. Flint's Fantasy also contains more direct sexual references than does Pratchett's.

Another writer who mixes humor, Fantasy, and satire in a way that might appeal to Pratchett fans is Tom Holt. In works such as Who's Afraid of Beowulf (1988) and Snow White and the Seven Samurai (1999), Holt uses fairy tales and mythology as the starting-off point for his tales. Like Pratchett's, Holt's stories move quickly with lots of shifting between characters and locations. The novels are full of puns and other word-play, and Holt uses the fantastical settings to comment on elements of contemporary society.

Finally, in his review of Pratchett's 2002 Discworld novel Night Watch, Washington Post critic Michael Dirda says that "In his range of invented characters, his adroit storytelling, and his clear-eyed acceptance of humankind's foibles, [Pratchett] reminds me of no one in English literature so much as Geoffrey Chaucer." So a trip back to The Canterbury Tales may be just the thing for Pratchett fans.

NEIL GAIMAN
Read-alikes
Gaiman's British friend Alan Moore is a good choice for readers who enjoy graphic novels; in fact, Gaiman took over after Moore finished his run on the comic series Miracleman. Like Gaiman, Moore has earned critical and popular success for his sequential art. The two volumes of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen are recommended not only for graphic novel aficionados but for those who like literary, artistic, and cultural references to play a significant role in a story.

Fantasy writer Robin McKinley is perhaps best known for Beauty, a novel-length retelling of Beauty and the Beast. This and Spindle’s End, based on Sleeping Beauty, call to mind Gaiman's fairy tale novel Stardust and his short story "Snow, Glass, Apples," based on Snow White and collected in Smoke and Mirrors. For a magical Urban Fantasy with a sophisticated writing style, try McKinley's Sunshine. Two main characters drive the story, which is dark in places but ultimately upbeat; Gaiman himself called it "pretty much perfect."

Kurt Vonnegut, like Gaiman, loves to blend — and defy — genres. Adored by critics, his settings are often surreal and his prose is always clean, readable, and poetic. Vonnegut is a master satirist, and any of his novels will resonate with readers who enjoyed the religious satire in Good Omens. Also try the imaginative and irreverent genre-hopping stories collected in Welcome to the Monkey House.

Stephen King is a fellow Fantasy and Horror writer who excels at the can't-put-it-down story. The typical King novel places likeable characters in thoroughly nasty situations, but liberal doses of humor and optimism prevent his books from being bleak; always there is a positive slant at the end. Fans of the Sandman series should look to King's Dark Tower books for another deliciously-long Dark Fantasy series starring an enigmatic, tight-lipped loner. Another good bet is The Eyes of the Dragon, a suspenseful fairy tale with unexpected plot twists and an engaging, readable style.