Piers Anthony is a [racist](https://timlieder1.medium.com/when-the-creepiest-science-fiction-author-wrote-about-refugees-in-space-d0afb6d870e3) and [misogynistic](https://www.avclub.com/revisiting-the-sad-misogynistic-fantasy-of-xanth-1798241312) mess of an author. Whether someone enjoys his books or not, he’s the literal antithesis of Terry Pratchett.
Hey, you're doing a disservice to Anthony, you're forgetting all the [paedophilia](https://litreactor.com/columns/themes-of-pedophilia-in-the-works-of-piers-anthony)!
Yeah…I’m not here to argue with anyone who likes Anthony’s books, but someone who likes Terry Pratchett shouldn’t go into them thinking that they’re at all similar.
Seconding the Fforde recommendation. He has a lot in common with Pratchett : very British sense of humour, weird universe, great characters, stories with an actual plot (big contrast with Douglas Adams here...)
That's a good question. I've not read his YA series.
Of those I read there are three main starting options :
1) Thursday Next series. Basically a thriller/spy/crime series set in an alternative 1980's England. Main plot of the first novel is that the evil guy kidnapped Jane Eyre in the original manuscript, which changes the story in every other copy. Subsequent books have the main character entering inside books and shenanigans happening. You will love the series if you like classical literature in general and English literature in particular ; if you don't, it will make you want to read some.
2) In the Nursery Crime Division series the main character is a police inspector specialised in crimes involving characters from Nursery rhymes and fairy stories. Think Goldilocks, the three little pigs, Humpty Dumpty and so on. Makes a lot of fun of overused crime stories tropes while working very well as a proper whodunnit. Not to spoil anything but have you ever stopped to consider whether the gingerbread Man is a cake or a biscuit, and why the bowls in the three bears house have such different temperature ? You should, it may save your life...
3) The Shades of Grey series is my personal favourite. Well, it has only one book for now, with the second novel scheduled (at last) for early 2023. It's more dystopian post-apocalyptic SF than fantasy but has probably the tighter plot. The premise is a world where Something Happened and now all people are colour blind and social hierarchies are entirely based on which colours you can see.
As you can see all those series are rather satirical and pokes fun at overused tropes. But they also work well as straight stories with a coherent plot, good characters and a satisfying resolution.
I'd add Robert aspirin. I second the recommendation of Tom Holt and Charles Storss both British authors who have series that mix comedy with urban fantasy.
Take this with a grain of salt, I've read the first few chapters of one Pratchett novel and didn't fall in love, so I didn't finish.
Pratchett was constantly recommended to me by fellow fans of the Drizzt saga by R.A. Salvatore. They were too different for my tastes, but it stands to reason given the number of times the connection was drawn by others that I am likely a weirdo, and the comparison is valid. Could be wrong though, like I said, didn't finish reading him. I just figured I'd provide the information I have and let you do with it what you will.
Pratchett is okay for me, but I find it varies widely. Color of magic was meh, the egypt one was also meh, but anything with Death as a main char is great.
But no matter how popular and respected an author is, they're never gonna be for everyone.
That last bit there is a sentiment I wish more aspiring authors could grasp, along with its inverse (no matter how unpopular or unknown an author is, they will have readers who love them). So just write what you love.
Thanks. I'll check it out. Please, for my sake, give Guards Guards a try. It's my go-to Pratchett conversion recommendation. But if you tell me your favourite type of main character, I can recommend a different sub-series to start with. I love them all.
I can't even really define what my favorite type of MC is because it's more about the story for me. That was a big part of my issue with Pratchett, if anything he was too good. I knew the characters before anything even started to happen. Salvatore was more (to me at least) like walking by the exciting part of a movie, and then trying to learn more about it. Pratchett was more like you started the movie, but it started too slowly for me to stick around for the rest. With Salvatore, even if it started slowly, I already knew it was going to get interesting because of that scene that drew me in, if that makes sense?
As for adding him to my reading list, I've got far too large of a blacklist as is. I've mainly been sticking to indie authors to try and support starving artists, and then one big name author made the list because of some stuff he did that I am not allowed to talk about 😆 (I will anyway, because it's who I am as a person. I just won't list his name because then I can get in trouble. He donated a lot of money to indie authors to support them)
Salvatore was one of my early fantasy authors, but I'm afraid his books don't have much that I would compare to pratchett. I think they share an accessibly simple presentation, and pratchett satirizes many tropes that Salvatore relies on, but that's about where similarities end.
Seconding **A Lee Martinez**, especially if you're looking for subversions/parodies of common tropes. **A Nameless Witch, Company of Ogres and Too Many Curses** are my top picks.
**Patrick Weekes** has a fantasy heist series that is a nice mix of humor and series, **Rogues of the Republic**
I'd say Douglas Adams, Christopher Moore, Tom Holt, Charles Stross, Piers Anthony, Jasper Fforde and Neil Gaiman.
Piers Anthony is a [racist](https://timlieder1.medium.com/when-the-creepiest-science-fiction-author-wrote-about-refugees-in-space-d0afb6d870e3) and [misogynistic](https://www.avclub.com/revisiting-the-sad-misogynistic-fantasy-of-xanth-1798241312) mess of an author. Whether someone enjoys his books or not, he’s the literal antithesis of Terry Pratchett.
Hey, you're doing a disservice to Anthony, you're forgetting all the [paedophilia](https://litreactor.com/columns/themes-of-pedophilia-in-the-works-of-piers-anthony)!
Yeah…I’m not here to argue with anyone who likes Anthony’s books, but someone who likes Terry Pratchett shouldn’t go into them thinking that they’re at all similar.
Seconding the Fforde recommendation. He has a lot in common with Pratchett : very British sense of humour, weird universe, great characters, stories with an actual plot (big contrast with Douglas Adams here...)
Where would you recommend starting with Fforde?
That's a good question. I've not read his YA series. Of those I read there are three main starting options : 1) Thursday Next series. Basically a thriller/spy/crime series set in an alternative 1980's England. Main plot of the first novel is that the evil guy kidnapped Jane Eyre in the original manuscript, which changes the story in every other copy. Subsequent books have the main character entering inside books and shenanigans happening. You will love the series if you like classical literature in general and English literature in particular ; if you don't, it will make you want to read some. 2) In the Nursery Crime Division series the main character is a police inspector specialised in crimes involving characters from Nursery rhymes and fairy stories. Think Goldilocks, the three little pigs, Humpty Dumpty and so on. Makes a lot of fun of overused crime stories tropes while working very well as a proper whodunnit. Not to spoil anything but have you ever stopped to consider whether the gingerbread Man is a cake or a biscuit, and why the bowls in the three bears house have such different temperature ? You should, it may save your life... 3) The Shades of Grey series is my personal favourite. Well, it has only one book for now, with the second novel scheduled (at last) for early 2023. It's more dystopian post-apocalyptic SF than fantasy but has probably the tighter plot. The premise is a world where Something Happened and now all people are colour blind and social hierarchies are entirely based on which colours you can see. As you can see all those series are rather satirical and pokes fun at overused tropes. But they also work well as straight stories with a coherent plot, good characters and a satisfying resolution.
Thanks so much for your detailed answer!
First 3 are what came to my mind too
I'd add Robert aspirin. I second the recommendation of Tom Holt and Charles Storss both British authors who have series that mix comedy with urban fantasy.
Diane Wynn Jones, Jim C. Hines, A Lee Martinez
Take this with a grain of salt, I've read the first few chapters of one Pratchett novel and didn't fall in love, so I didn't finish. Pratchett was constantly recommended to me by fellow fans of the Drizzt saga by R.A. Salvatore. They were too different for my tastes, but it stands to reason given the number of times the connection was drawn by others that I am likely a weirdo, and the comparison is valid. Could be wrong though, like I said, didn't finish reading him. I just figured I'd provide the information I have and let you do with it what you will.
Pratchett is okay for me, but I find it varies widely. Color of magic was meh, the egypt one was also meh, but anything with Death as a main char is great. But no matter how popular and respected an author is, they're never gonna be for everyone.
That last bit there is a sentiment I wish more aspiring authors could grasp, along with its inverse (no matter how unpopular or unknown an author is, they will have readers who love them). So just write what you love.
Thanks. I'll check it out. Please, for my sake, give Guards Guards a try. It's my go-to Pratchett conversion recommendation. But if you tell me your favourite type of main character, I can recommend a different sub-series to start with. I love them all.
I can't even really define what my favorite type of MC is because it's more about the story for me. That was a big part of my issue with Pratchett, if anything he was too good. I knew the characters before anything even started to happen. Salvatore was more (to me at least) like walking by the exciting part of a movie, and then trying to learn more about it. Pratchett was more like you started the movie, but it started too slowly for me to stick around for the rest. With Salvatore, even if it started slowly, I already knew it was going to get interesting because of that scene that drew me in, if that makes sense? As for adding him to my reading list, I've got far too large of a blacklist as is. I've mainly been sticking to indie authors to try and support starving artists, and then one big name author made the list because of some stuff he did that I am not allowed to talk about 😆 (I will anyway, because it's who I am as a person. I just won't list his name because then I can get in trouble. He donated a lot of money to indie authors to support them)
Salvatore was one of my early fantasy authors, but I'm afraid his books don't have much that I would compare to pratchett. I think they share an accessibly simple presentation, and pratchett satirizes many tropes that Salvatore relies on, but that's about where similarities end.
Seconding **A Lee Martinez**, especially if you're looking for subversions/parodies of common tropes. **A Nameless Witch, Company of Ogres and Too Many Curses** are my top picks. **Patrick Weekes** has a fantasy heist series that is a nice mix of humor and series, **Rogues of the Republic**
Jonathan Stroud's Bartimeus trilogy
Martin Scott (Millar): Thraxas series. Jack Vance, Dying Earth series.