Terry Pratchett is quite simply the best and funniest author I know. He has this wonderful talent of inventing characters that seem real even in the wild and wierd situations they get flung into, and you only realise at the end of the book once you have stopped laughing (say, an hour or two after you've put the book down) that he has managed to make a serious point without once preaching or being too obvious about it. I find just about everyone I know has read at least one of his books, and they all like them. So the only problem I have with recommending his books first is, if everyone's already reading them, they probably don't need to buy them here :-)

He is also a nice bloke, doing seemingly endless signing tours and online chats and suchlike. He has an email address (which I'm sure he would prefer didn't get totally swamped with mail, so I won't print it here) and when I wrote to him to thank him for signing the two books I got for my birthday he wrote back to say thanks. So, buy his books because they are good, and also because nice guys should get ahead in the world more often :-)

His main series, and the one I try and own all the books of, is the Discworld series. The basic premise is there's this disc shaped world sat on the back of a turtle, where magic works and if you aren't polite about the gods they are liable to come round and have a little chat with you about it. Or, since subtlety doesn't generally tend to be a godly strong point, chuck a couple of lighting bolts and snigger. The earliest books in the series are a bit of a satire of the usual fantasy writing conventions, with some characters that look rather familiar on first glance but develop in a pretty unique way. However very quickly the style is completely his own and the world builds up into the sort of place you worry you could drop into some day.

I'll probably comment on them all eventually, but books are very hard to summarise, especially ones as complicated and funny as these. The main comments that apply are '10/10, buy it' for every book.

The ones with no direct link Amazon.com reckon are out of print. Search for them through the bookshop box to see what I mean.

• The Color Of Magic
  Rincewind the Wizzard and the Discs first tourist. The first book of the series, it spends quite a lot of time making fun of standard fantasy worlds but does it very well, and the uniquely discworld stuff is great too.
• The Light Fantastic
  Rincewind and Twoflower are back.
• Equal Rites
  The Discs first female wizard needs training, and Granny Wetherwax takes her into Ankh-Morpork to get her into Unseen University. Unfortunately for the Wizards they try and say no. Good book. First appearance of my favorite character Granny Weatherwax. I think this is where Discworld starts to get its own unique flavour, and they just get better from here.
• Mort
  Death needs an apprentice. Mort gets picked for the job. Death is a fan favorite character, and if you read this you'll start to see why.
• Sourcery
• Wyrd Sisters
  Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat, together for the first time. They work really well together, and the plot is great too. Theres a little trouble in Lancre about who's the rightful heir.
• Pyramids
• Guards Guards
• Eric
• Moving Pictures
• Reaper Man
  Death again. This time he gets retired for a while, and has to find a new job. Love this book.
• Witches Abroad
  The only problem with this book is when I try and find a bit of it to quote for my philosophy pages I keep ending up typing out half the book. Granny, Nanny and Magrat again, trying to make sure a poor girl doesn't marry a prince. Narrative causality being what it is that's not as simple as it sounds.
• Small Gods
  A little different and I think a little deeper than the rest of the series, this is probably my favourite Discworld book even though it has none of my favorite characters in it. I give up trying to quote from this book, I just ask people to go read it. Belief, worsip, faith, and the differences between them all explained in the middle of a really funny story.
• Lords and Ladies
  A sequel that starts right where Witches Abroad ends. The three witches get back to Lancre and have a spot of bother with the fair folk.
• Men at Arms
• Soul Music
• Interesting Times
• Masquerade
  More Witches. This time Magrat is busy, so Nanny tries to find a new third witch. Her prime candidate has gone off to Ankh-Morpork to sing in the Opera, so she goes to have a look. Meanwhile Granny is a little annoyed about 'The Joy of Snacks', and heads to the city to have a little word with the publishers. Neither Opera or publishing will be the same again...
• Feet of Clay
• Hogfather
  Death gets a holiday job.
• Jingo

Neil Gaiman I mostly know from Sandman comics (buy them, they are simply superb in every way). This collaboration is darker than the Discworld series but at least as good. Depending on my mood this can be my favorite book.

• Good Omens
  Devils, Angels, the Four Horsemen, the other four horsemen, and all the usual trappings of the apocalypse get given a unique spin. I really love this book. Go, buy it now, you will not regret it.