Funny Fantasy

Relevance to Patterns? Absolute none. -- Dr. Bronner

Relevance to funny fantasy? None either. These are all remarkably good parodies, but one wonders what the author would have done without an original to parody. FF is just that - funny, and fantasy. Not satire. --PhlIp

One set of nominees for Funniest Fantasy Novels of All Time:

Bored of the Rings, by the Harvard Lampoon gang, ISBN 0451456215 . I read it before I read The Lord of the Rings; don't make the same mistake.

"This ring, no other, is made by the elves/Who'd pawn their own mother to grab it themselves. ... If broken or busted, it cannot be remade/If found, send to Sorhed (the postage is prepaid.)"

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones. ISBN 0575062576 Only available in Britain, damnit. A simultaneous parody of the "Rough Guide" travel series and of every third-generation fantasy novel you've ever read. Will destroy your ability to read Yet Another Joseph Campbell Quest Novel straight-faced. Jones, an accomplished fantasist herself (try "Fire and Hemlock" or "Howl's Moving Castle" for starters), knows where all the bodies are buried. Her dissections of typical sloppy fantasy-world economics and biology are not to be missed.

"HORSES are of a breed unique to Fantasyland. They are capable of galloping full-tilt all day without a rest. Sometimes they do not require food or water. They never cast shoes, go lame or put their hooves down holes, except when the Management deems it necessary, as when the forces of the DARK LORD are only half an hour behind. They never otherwise stumble. Nor do they ever make life difficult for Tourists by biting or kicking their riders or one another. They never resist being mounted or blow out so that their girths slip, or do any of the other things that make horses so chancy in this world. For instance, they never shy and seldom whinny or demand sugar at inopportune moments. But for some reason you cannot hold a conversation while riding them. If you want to say anything to another Tourist (or vice versa), both of you will have to rein to a stop and stand staring out over a VALLEY while you talk. Apart from this inexplicable quirk, Horses can be used just like bicycles, and usually are. Much research into how these exemplary animals come to exist has resulted in the following: no mare ever comes into season on the Tour and no STALLION ever shows an interest in a mare; and few Horses are described as geldings. It therefore seems probable that they breed by pollination. This theory seems to account for everything, since it is clear that the creatures do behave more like vegetables than mammals...."

''when racing away from danger always seem to fast enough and never, ever stop for a dump, ever.'' -- s

Mort, by TerryPratchett. ISBN 0451451139 Death Takes an Apprentice. Death, one of Pratchett's most interesting continuing characters, gets sick of it all and takes up work as a short-order cook. His human apprentice is left to carry on, with the aid of Death's great white steed Binky. "The Colour of Magic", the first in the series, is more broadly funny; "Mort" is both funny and has great characterization.

Do please nominate others. -- BetsyHanesPerry

All of TerryPratchett's works in the DiscWorld series are FunnyFantasy. Some of them contain serious issues (such as Small Gods and Men At Arms, which deal with religion and gun control), some lean more towards parody (such as Maskerade, his spoof of Phantom of the Opera; Hogfather, which is about Christmas; and Carpe Jugulum, which deals with vampires), while others are more straight comedies (Lords and Ladies, Interesting Times, and almost all of the books starring Rincewind the hapless wizard).

Do they have to be books? If not, I nominate The Dying of Ember. See http://www.black-knight.org/penn/amber/dying.html

"I parried his lunge, and he parried my parry. I tried a riposte, but just then, he came in with a feint in quarte. After a sixte riposte and a repositioning, I held the edge. I lunged. He backed off, however, and I failed to make contact. Erik struck for my arm. I had to pull back, and I almost lost balance. It was too late to pursue the feint-lunge-riposte I had planned just seconds ago, so I held my ground.

"You seem to remember many technical terms of fencing," Erik said, sweat pouring down his face."

-- AnonymousDonor