Humorous Science Fiction for Teens ---------------------------------- compiled by Cindy McGee (cindy_mcgee@fis.edu), February 2000 from contributions by the Stilyagi Air Corps (stilyagi@stilyagi.org) As to stories, Spider Robinson's "Callahan's Crosstime Saloon" (just back in print) has some. If you can find a copy of Randall Garret's "Take Off" or "Take Off Too", there is quite a bit of funny stuff, though they have been out of print for years. Mike Resnick's Shaggy BEM Stories may still be available from NESFA press, though it was printed in 88. There was a collection of Ferdinand Fegoot (the hero, not the author, who I believe was Reginald Briarton, who also did the humorous Papa Schimmelhorn stories), out many years ago. They are very short stories building up to a pun. Henry Kutner did a collection Gallager stories. Galleger was a normal guy, except he would invent wondrous things when he was drunk, and then have to humorously cope with them when sober. * * * * * * * * * * * * Published in this past year for ages 7-12 "Nose Pickers from Outer Space!" by Gordon Korman. * * * * * * * * * * * * For younger readers, I'd recommend Robert Asprin's "Myth" series. They're funny and accessible. For the slightly older kids who can deal with British humor, Terry Prachett's Disc World books are very funny, especially anything with Rincewind the Wizard. * * * * * * * * * * * * Those are both good choices, but they're also both of the fantasy that Robert Asprin's "Phule's Company" series is pretty funny SF (although I haven't had the time to read it). Again, this would be for the younger grades. * * * * * * * * * * * * On the subject of humorous science fiction, the two names that leap immediately to mind are Eric Frank Russell and Douglas Adams. * * * * * * * * * * * * I haven't seen anyone mention Bill, the Galactic Hero (the name of the author escapes me at the moment), or Harry Harrisons' Stainless Steel Rat series. For humerous filk, there's Tom Smith (http://www.izzy.net/~tomsmith). More fantasy based humor- the Xanth series by Piers Anthony (remember Mundanes?) Phule's Company is good- the Stainless Steel Rat is probably better, you don't have to dig very deep- Harrison goes for cheap laughs... :) Oh, and don't forget Retief, by Keith Laumer... :) Hope this helps! * * * * * * * * * * * * For short, humorous fiction, I'd say look at any of the Fred Brown collections. Honeymoon in Hell, and Nothing Sirius are a couple of my favorites. Brown also wrote a lot of short-short horror stories, so watch your step. Arthur C. Clarkes Tales of the White Hart are also fun. For older readers, Niven's "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" is a cute piece. Donald Westlake wrote SF before he moved to mysteries and thrillers. There was a collection of his shorts re-published a few years back, and I think some of those were funny. For novel length funny, there's "Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers", by Harry Harrison, The Hoka books by Anderson & Dickson, the Dilber (sp?) stories by Gordon Dickson ("Pint Size Postman" comes to mind). An unknown favorite of mine is _The_Man_in_the_Dark_Suit_, by Dennis Caro. Pushing towards fantasy, anything by Pratchet or Tom Holt is a royal hoot. One of my favorite unknown stories is "Where Were You Last Pluterday", (originaly "Sam der Plutertag"), translated to english and published by DAW in the early '70s. Some of Daniel Pinkwater's books count as SF, and certainly count as weird humor. * * * * * * * * * * * * Almost anything by Terry Practectt (sp?), the "Myth" series by Robert Asprin (fantasy), _The Cold Cash War_ (author?), _Bored of the Rings_ (National Lampoon (sp?)), _The Screwtape Letters_ by C.S. Lewis, and, of course, _Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_ by Douglas Adams. _Good Omens_ by Practett (sp? :) I really found funny, however it does deal with the anti-christ coming, so it might not be suitable for a school enviorment. * * * * * * * * * * * * Darkstar (late 1970s movie) is the first thing that comes to mind. (Let me know if you find a copy.) Dr. Who with Colin Baker as The Doctor. * * * * * * * * * * * * If your .sig is accurate, you must have in your collection several of Judith Merill edited _Best_SF_of_F&SF:_19(XX)_. Every volume has excellent short fiction, and some of it is quite funny. The books also include humourous poetry, and the occasional Thurberesque line drawing. Other authors I recommend: Fredrick Brown, one of the best short fiction authors ever. Jack Vance's short fiction has some humourous pieces. Manly Wade Wellman, while mostly Appalacian witchcraft/fantasy has some humour. If you don't want to be restricted to SF, a good amount of humour can be found in P.G. Wodehouse. A single chapter from Wodehouse is usually pretty self-contained and funny. There is a famous, although rarely used now, funny story called _The_Night_The_Bed_Fell_On_Father_, I think it was written by James Thurber, but I could be wrong, and I don't have a copy of it. H.L. Menkin is very funny in a satirical fashion. Selections from _Heathen_Days_, or a short essay called _The_Great_ Experiment_ are both funny. _Heathen_Days_ includes Menkin's coverage of the Scope's Trial, while _The_Great_ Experiment_ deals with Menkin's trials and tribulations during Prohibition. This also brings to mind the essay _Gore_in_the_ Caribees_, a hysterical story about Menkin's coverage of a Cuban Revolution. Historically accurate, but very funny. * * * * * * * * * * * * I must also recommend Connie Willis for really funny SF. Not all of her work (_Doomsday_ and _Lincoln's Dreams_ definitely don't qualify!) But _Bellwhether_ and _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ along with some of her short work definitely is brilliant, witty and lots of fun!! * * * * * * * * * * * * Also for older teens the is the Craig Gardner Shaw series Cineverse Trilogy would be good for high school students with an understanding of movies. My son reads at a 6 - 7th grade level and he found the Myth series so captivating that he read the entire series in a year. Also the Craig Shaw Gardner's Malady of Magiks series is a wonderful set that parody the D & D gamers. These books are Fantasy Based in the future or alternate realities. Also in the Teen Humor there is the Robert Aspirin, Phule Series. It does not hurt that all the major characters in the book are parodies of people who regularly attend the Michigan conventions. It is a very good read and SCI FI Based. As well as Christopher Stasheff's Starship Trouper series. Both sets currently have 3 books out in paperback. For stand alone books I enjoyed - Aspirin's Cold Cash War and Nick O'Donohue's Gnome in the Dwarf Works. Nick did a wonderful story of how the wee folk could have helped in WW2. * * * * * * * * * * * * Terry Pratchett also did a trilogy about gnomes that was set for younger readers than the discworld series. They were called "Diggers", "Truckers" and "Wings" in the original English. They were also translated into American; the title may have been "Gnomes". Absolutely hilarious, they also had a little bite and moral value slipped in. My kids and I liked the English version better, but you need an audience that doesn't get put off by "lorry" instead of "truck". * * * * * * * * * * * * Might I suggest "Illegal Aliens", by two people, one of whom is Phil Faglio... It has the best bit about a Dyson Sphere that I've ever read. I don't have access to my book collection at the moment, but it's the part where they describe the seat of the galactic gov't, called "Big", and that it wasn't the first one built... It ends with a line something like: "They decided that there were enough amateur lunatics in the universe already; they didn't want to bring in the professionals."