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submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by the_radness@lemmy.world to c/books@lemmy.world

I have a decent library filled with authors like Palahniuk, Ryu and Haruki Murakami, Vonnegut, P. K. Dick, and Thompson.

I'm looking for more modern/contemporary authors who share that absurdism, surrealism, and just plain weirdness.

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[-] Davel23@fedia.io 3 points 2 weeks ago

Annihilation along with the other books in the Southern Reach series certainly qualify as surreal and weird.

[-] FrederikNJS@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It's probably a bet more comedic than the authors you listed, but Douglas Adams is quite absurd, surreal and incredibly funny. Particularly the "trilogy in five parts"; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[-] the_radness@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Hitchhikers Guide is a classic!

[-] FrederikNJS@sopuli.xyz 6 points 2 weeks ago

I suspect that also means you've already read it...

In that case I would also recommend Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. It's a fantasy setting, but still with plenty of absurdities, but it isn't very surreal. Like Adams, Pratchett has a lot of humor, and the books are just a lot of fun. There's a very nice graphic on the Wikipedia page which shows how all the books relate.

[-] the_radness@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Admittedly, I have not read Discworld yet. Thank you for the reminder, adding to my list as we speak.

[-] Timecircleline@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks for this thread! It's a little less absurd but my immediate thought was The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. Phenomenal read.

[-] the_radness@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

No, thank you for the recommendation.

[-] Jrockwar@feddit.uk 2 points 2 weeks ago

I'd say for me magical realism has been 2025's "Genre of the year" so I have a few recommendations.

If you like Murakami you might like Sayaka Murata - I particularly liked Earthlings, it's a bit less magical realism but definitely quirky and surreal.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt was another book that stood out to me this year. It's an emotional story with a young man and an older woman which uses a very smart octopus as the main character and anchor for the story (even though I wouldn't consider the story is about the octopus).

Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown is firmly magical realism, and also quite good.

Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson is about a young woman who gets roped into babysitting two kids that spontaneously combust from time to time. It's lighthearted but emotional, and I was laughing out loud about once every 5 pages. I had a blast with this one.

I would also class Jandy Nelson's books as magical realism so I would say you might enjoy that too.

Then there's This Is How You Lose The Time War, which I didn't like at all, but has many good reviews so I won't discredit it. It's... Space fantasy? There's no "science" in the fiction, but it has time travel, and weirdness galore.

This is my list of books I've read in 2025, in case you find anything inspiring:

1000091315

And my storygraph profile in case you want to take a look (or not, I won't be able to know!).

[-] the_radness@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Great recommendations and synopsis, thank you

[-] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Everything Thomas Pynchon!!!

The Dart by Alice Oswald is mindblowing.

László Krasznahorkai.

Lydia Davis

Experimental Fiction by Thalia Fields

Ducks, Newburyport

[-] the_radness@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago
[-] DagwoodIII@piefed.social 1 points 2 weeks ago

A Game In Yellow by Hailey Piper

You can read the blurbs, or just go in with no preconceptions. I suggest the later

[-] the_radness@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks, I shant peek!

[-] Drusas@fedia.io 1 points 2 weeks ago

Death and the Penguin by Andrej Kurkov

[-] the_radness@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago
[-] Corngood@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago
  • Kazuo Ishiguro - The Unconsoled

I've read most of his books, but this was the most magical for me. Knowing nothing about it was important, and it gave me a feeling of unease almost from the beginning.

  • Thomas Pynchon - Mason & Dixon

Someone else mentioned Pynchon, and I absolutely loved this book. It's huge and absurdly ambitious and I learned a lot about astronomy, but it's also an all-time great bromance and there's a talking dog.

[-] pimento64@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

authors like Palahniuk, Ryu and Haruki Murakami, Vonnegut, P. K. Dick, and Thompson. I'm looking for more

I would try fanfiction websites for authors of similar talent

[-] over_clox@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago
[-] the_radness@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago
[-] danglydong75@lemmynsfw.com 1 points 2 weeks ago
[-] the_radness@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

"Tucker (Tuck) Case is a pilot for a cosmetics company, who crashes the company plane while having sex."

Perfection.

[-] Okokimup@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago

Just finished John Scalzi's The Moon Hits Your Eye, and quite liked it.

Others I've loved include:

Air by Geoff Ryman

The Seep by Chana Porter

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejide

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

[-] the_radness@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago
this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2026
17 points (100.0% liked)

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