Terry Pratchett , can't recommend him enough
Thud!, Going Postal, Making money, Snuff, The last continent, Feet of clay...
these are the one I like the most.
andd this except is from the "dedication page of " Guards! Guards!"
Code:
Dedication
They may be called the Palace Guard, the City Guard, or the Patrol.
Whatever the name, their purpose in any work of heroic fantasy is
identical: it is, round about Chapter Three (or ten minutes into the
film) to rush into the room, attack the hero one at a time, and be
slaughtered. No one ever asks them if they wanted to.
This book is dedicated to those fine men.
And also to Mike Harrison, Mary Gentle, Neil Gaiman and al
l the others who assisted with and laughed at the idea of
L-space; too bad we never used Schrödinger’s Paperback…