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Quick answer: If you loved Terry Pratchett, read Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens, then Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, then William Goldman's The Princess Bride, and Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair and The Last Dragonslayer and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Stardust and American Gods. All are funny, clever fantasy and satire.
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) wrote the Discworld series, a long run of comic fantasy novels. His books mix humour, satire and heart. These picks share that wit.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Ages | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good Omens | Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman | Adult | readers who want laughs |
| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Douglas Adams | Adult | readers who like absurd humor |
| Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency | Douglas Adams | Adult | more Adams |
| The Princess Bride | William Goldman | Adult | readers who want laughs |
| The Eyre Affair | Jasper Fforde | Adult | readers who love books |
| Neverwhere | Neil Gaiman | Adult | readers who like urban fantasy |
| Stardust | Neil Gaiman | Adult | readers who want a gentle fairy tale |
| American Gods | Neil Gaiman | Adult | readers who like gods in the modern world |
| The Last Dragonslayer | Jasper Fforde | 10–14 | quirky British fantasy |
| Kill the Farmboy | Kevin Hearne and Delilah S. Dawson | Adult | fantasy parody |
| Mapp and Lucia | E.F. Benson | Adult | readers who like social comedy |
| Cold Comfort Farm | Stella Gibbons | Adult | readers who like satire |
| Rivers of London | Ben Aaronovitch | Adult | readers who like fantasy with humor |
| The Invisible Library | Genevieve Cogman | Adult | readers who love books and magic |
| A Man Called Ove | Fredrik Backman | Adult | readers who like grumpy heroes |
1. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
An angel and a demon who have grown fond of Earth try to stop the Apocalypse after the Antichrist is mixed up at birth. A comic fantasy classic.
Best for: readers who want laughs.
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Arthur Dent escapes Earth's destruction and has a very odd tour of the galaxy. A comic classic.
Best for: readers who like absurd humor.
3. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
A detective who believes everything is connected solves a murder. Funny and clever.
Best for: more Adams.
4. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Westley and Buttercup face Prince Humperdinck, Inigo Montoya and Fezzik in a funny, romantic story. A cult classic.
Best for: readers who want laughs.
5. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Thursday Next, a literary detective, enters books to catch a villain. Clever and witty.
Best for: readers who love books.
6. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Richard Mayhew helps a hurt girl and falls into London Below, a hidden city under the city. Funny and creepy.
Best for: readers who like urban fantasy.
7. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Tristran crosses the wall into the land of Faerie to retrieve a fallen star for the girl he loves. A fairy tale for adults, short and charming.
Best for: readers who want a gentle fairy tale.
8. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Shadow Moon gets caught in a war between old gods brought by immigrants and new gods of media and technology. Strange, dark and big in scope.
Best for: readers who like gods in the modern world.
9. The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
A teenage orphan runs a magical employment agency while the last dragon is dying. Offbeat and very British.
Best for: quirky British fantasy.
10. Kill the Farmboy by Kevin Hearne and Delilah S. Dawson
A farmboy sets out on a quest and constantly runs into fantasy cliches. A silly parody of the genre.
Best for: fantasy parody.
11. Mapp and Lucia by E.F. Benson
Two rivals in an English seaside town battle for social supremacy. Sharp, funny and cozy.
Best for: readers who like social comedy.
12. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Flora Poste goes to live with her relatives and sets about tidying up their lives. A hilarious parody.
Best for: readers who like satire.
13. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
Constable Peter Grant joins a secret unit of the London police that deals with magic and river gods. Funny, quick and procedural. Published in the US as Midnight Riot.
Best for: readers who like fantasy with humor.
14. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Irene, a spy for a library that exists between worlds, steals books from different realities. Fast and full of adventure.
Best for: readers who love books and magic.
15. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Ove, a grumpy widower, plans to end his life, but his new neighbors keep interrupting. Funny and tender.
Best for: readers who like grumpy heroes.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with Terry Pratchett: its tone, its themes, its pace or the kind of characters it puts at the center. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious titles, and we noted who each book suits best so you can match it to the reader. Where a book belongs to a series, we list the first volume so you can start at the beginning.
If you are not sure where to begin, start with the first three picks in the table: they are the closest match to Terry Pratchett. The rest of the list moves further out, so it works well once you know which part of the original you liked most.
How to Choose
For more humour, read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. For fantasy with jokes, try The Eyre Affair or The Princess Bride. For comic mystery, pick Dirk Gently or Good Omens.
Related: Which Terry Pratchett Book Should You Read First? · Printable List of Terry Pratchett Books
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Terry Pratchett?
An English fantasy author (1948–2015).
What is Discworld?
His long series of comic fantasy novels.
Where do I start?
With Guards! Guards! or Mort.
Do I read in order?
No, there are several entry points.