On the other hand, the first books of his I read, I borrowed from the main public library in Visby. They had already then (this was in the mid-nineties) a large collection of his books. The public library in Piteå also has them. (Though when I studied there, I had already reached the point when I'd already read them, and bought the new ones when they came as softcover.)
I have also seen his books in several book stores. Either in the fantasy section or in the "books in English" section, which is where I look for them. (They lose a lot in translation to Swedish.) I'm pretty sure I've seen his books in both book stores in Visby. I know I've seen them in Akademibokhandeln in Stockholm and the pocket book shop in the central station.
He may be pretty much unknown to most people, as you say, but so is probably any fantasy author besides Rowling and Tolkien. Among fantasy readers he seems well known.
What's good about him is that generally, he improves with time. Most of his later books are better than the earlier ones. The first books seem mostly content by being (good!) parody, but after a while they become more grounded. (Compare this to Douglas Adams who just get weirder.)
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