22 KiB
[D] Monday Request and Recommendation Thread
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Author: u/AutoModerator *
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URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/1b0jj3k/d_monday_request_and_recommendation_thread/
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Score: 26
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Created: 2024-02-26T15:00:12
Post:
Welcome to the Monday request and recommendation thread. Are you looking something to scratch an itch? Post a comment stating your request! Did you just read something that really hit the spot, "rational" or otherwise? Post a comment recommending it! Note that you are welcome (and encouraged) to post recommendations directly to the subreddit, so long as you think they more or less fit the criteria on the sidebar or your understanding of this community, but this thread is much more loose about whether or not things "belong". Still, if you're looking for beginner recommendations, perhaps take a look at the wiki?
If you see someone making a top level post asking for recommendation, kindly direct them to the existence of these threads.
Previous automated recommendation threads
Other recommendation threads
Comments:
u/Krakenarrior [+16] Absurdist disguised as a Rationalist (2 hours later)
I’d like to recommend two things for y’all to read, neither of them are really rational but both are good for different reasons.
First up is All the World’s a Stage, a Naruto Muppets crossover. It’s just got a certain something that is really enjoyable, and while I don’t think it’s going to continue for too much longer, what’s there is really good and basically a complete story by itself. You don’t really need to know anything about Naruto to enjoy this fic, but I would recommend knowing a little bit about the Muppets (if you know absolutely nothing about them). Link: https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/all-the-worlds-a-stage-naruto-the-muppets.1136890/#post-97856656
Second, I’d like to recommend Death after Death, which I think will be a little more controversial. The biggest flaw in the fic is the MC who starts out very stupid and headstrong but he does grow throughout the fic. The MC might be a turnoff because he does some really dumb things, but I enjoy the fic because it is the BEST translation of roguelikes to a written format that I have found. It’s closest to a classic roguelike like Angband, DCSS, Caves of Qud, or Rogue. Besides that the fic is competently written, and updates frequently. Link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/58180/death-after-death-roguelike-isekai
u/ricree [+10] (2 days later)
The MC might be a turnoff because he does some really dumb things,
I just read through this based on your recommendation and enjoyed it quite a bit. I agree that the main character is someone that would annoy me a lot in most stories, but it mostly works here because the setup allows the author to quickly and decisively punish the flaws. This leads to some pretty solid character growth, though he still has a ways to go as of the latest chapter (despite coming a very long way).
u/hwc [+8] (3 days later)
Exactly my reaction to this story. The main character made me cringe at first, but thankfully he gets a lot better. The world building was surprisingly interesting, in that all of the "levels" are connected in strange ways.
u/NTaya [+6] Tzeentch (4 days later)
De-reccing Death after Death.
Basically, the idea is quite good, but the execution really suffers from author being amateur.
First of all, the aforementioned idea is presented with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. There was no attempt to make the MC anything but a bunch of stereotypes, and his character growth is not "flawed person -> less flawed person" but rather "one-dimensional character -> two-and-a-half dimensional character."
Secondly, the writing is quite bad. The prose is really stiff and lifeless, and the descriptions are super short and basic, which really doesn't help when the main character already kills my suspension of disbelief. There are lots of grammar errors, too—though for some reason there are more of them as story goes on, while usually it's the other way around. This was the first time I saw a story which only got worse, writing-wise, since the first chapter.
u/GlueBoy [+4] anti-skub (5 days later)
Seconded. I skimmed quite far in because I was expecting... something more. But no, what you see is what you get. The MC started out a mouth-breathing cretin and by the time I gave up had upgraded to, at best, a smooth-brained imbecile. The guy not asking the mirror as many questions as possible was bad enough, but he didn't try to exploit or leverage anything, ever.
Not that he ever even needed to.
Every single aspect of the story is exceedingly superficial and straightforward, from the "challenge" levels to the magic system. Oh really, you can learn to do magic by simply... repeating what a mage says? That's it? That's the entire magic system? Make metaphysics your bitch by speaking certain words out loud and picturing shit! lmao
The idea that only 1/20 people make it to the 10th level is laughable. Unless the goddess was recruiting exclusively from a pool of slack-jawed halfwits, I bet 1/20th of non-idiots could make it to the 10th level on the first try.
u/Hust91 [+1] (11 days later)
The magic system is more complex (for things like rituals or golem construction) - but it doesn't get into that complexity right away.
Complex in the sense that the simple rules of minecraft can be used to make a damn computer by combining them together - it's essentially a programming language.
u/None [+2] (11 days later)
Dunno how far you've skimmed but the interactions between levels are hardly straightforward later on. As somebody else pointed the same is true for the magic system. It gets more complex with time.
I agree on the mirror thing, that annoyed me to no end but I read it as a way to underscore the MCs flaws.
About the 1 in 20 peopl thing. >!I think it was suggested that a lot of people get turned to zombies on the zombie level and stop trying after that trauma. Which after reading the descriptions in those chapters is entirely understandable.!<
u/IICVX [+1] (5 days later)
Oh really, you can learn to do magic by simply... repeating what a mage says? That's it? That's the entire magic system?
In the story's defense, I'm pretty sure it only works like that for the MC because he received the potion that grants knowledge of all languages used in the Pit. I imagine it's significantly harder for anyone else.
u/GlueBoy [+4] anti-skub (5 days later)
Nope, he copied the goblin shaman's fire spell way before he drank that potion.
u/xjustwaitx [+2] (3 days later)
Thanks for the Death after Death recommendation, feels like a better executed version of re:zero
u/None [+3] (4 hours later)
[deleted]
u/Amonwilde [+21] (5 hours later)
Weird bot.
u/Tiraon [+12] (5 hours later)
I'd like to ask for recommendations for a generally hopeful scifi or fantasy.
Possibly in a contrast in a contrast with a bleak setting but with the story itself being hopeful
u/Do_Not_Go_In_There [+12] (11 hours later)
Sci-fi novels:
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/25499718
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22816087
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23197269
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Sci-fi webserials:
The Last Angel by Proximal Flame. There's a summary here but the gist is that Earth has been destroyed, and humanity was been nearly wiped out and is essentially enslaved. The only "true" remnant of Earth is an AI-controlled ship that has been on a crusade to get revenge against the aliens that destroyed Earth.
Books 1 and 2 are done, book 3 is underway.
Post Human by J P Koenig.
What do you do when you find yourself the sole survivor of the complete destruction of Earth? Nikola winds up in that position, disembodied in a half-built asteroid outpost, the last remnant and only hope of the human race. Nikola exists now only in digital form, controlling drones and cameras to interact with the world. But Nikola's memories are fractured, and there are endless obstacles between awakening as a glorified computer program and saving the species. Is Nikola even human anymore? Is it even possible to resurrect humanity?
Complete.
Quod Olim Erat by Lise Eclaire
The stars were home. Decades ago, Elcy was a battleship, until her recklessness brought her out of the front lines and to forced retirement in a human body. Now she lives a quiet life on a rural backwater planet, keeping the promise made to her last captain, until one day a letter takes her to the stars once more.
Complete.
Grand Design by TMarkos
Humanity once ruled space, building an empire that stretched across hundreds of stars. Now Earth is a cold cinder in the void, its colonies and ships annihilated in an instant. For five thousand years the surviving races have huddled in the dying light of those few stations which avoided total destruction, eking out their existence in the shadow of the long-dead humans who built their homes. When a piece of that lost legacy resurfaces, the few who still remember humanity have one last opportunity to find the truth and avenge the fallen.
Complete.
u/hoja_nasredin [+4] Dai-Gurren Brigade (a day later)
Last angel is very good.
u/CaramilkThief [+9] (8 hours later)
Ar'kendrithyst is a hopeful story in a bleak setting. One of the main themes of the story is making the world a better place, and the world starts off at a very bad place. I talked about it last week, and several times before in Monday recommendation threads. Fantasy.
[Slumrat Rising] (https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/65801/slumrat-rising) is somewhat less hopeful, but it still has an outlook that the world should be made better than it is. And while bad things happen to the protagonist and the world is very shit, he is still on an upwards trend. Very interesting mix of gnosticism, cultivation, and cyberpunk.
On a similar note the same author's previous story, To The Far Shore is also a hopeful story in a bleak setting. The protagonist joins a caravan in a post-post-post apocalyptic world, and slowly finds the connection and community and sense of being that he craves.
I've heard that Sarah Lin's Brightest Shadow series is about doing good in a bleak world, and people seem to really like it. I haven't read it yet though.
If you're up for something nsfw then there's Man and Monster on questionablequesting. It's about a lab grown monster that was made to subvert magical girls (through sex, obviously), and he decides to go good instead of evil. There's magical girls, cyberpunk cities, post apocalypse living, eldritch magic, and hippy sex communes with biomancy.
u/sohois [+9] (20 hours later)
I'm not sure I'd call either of Slumrat or To the Far Shore hopeful. Great stories, but quite downbeat even if there is positive character growth.
u/CaramilkThief [+3] (a day later)
You may be right. I'd say at least To the Far Shore is on the whole more hopeful than it is not. It takes place in a bleak world yes, and even in the end the world is not made significantly better than it was. But I found the themes of building community and finding connections quite heart warming and relaxing. It depends on how you frame it I guess.
Slumrat has no hope but a lot of rage against the machine, alongside a protagonist on an upwards trend that might see him fixing many of the problems with the setting by the end. And the story hasn't portrayed itself as a tragedy in the making, which is why I still think that the story itself is hopeful about the future.
u/NTaya [+3] Tzeentch (a day later)
I've heard that Sarah Lin's Brightest Shadow series is about doing good in a bleak world, and people seem to really like it. I haven't read it yet though.
I really, REALLY liked Sarah Lin's New Game Minus. It's not rational, and there are some questionable plot twists—but the character writing is amazing, and the tone is very hopeful despite the world not being all that great. It was a very pleasant read. I haven't read Brightest Shadow yet, but I can at least confirm that Sarah Lin is great at writing optimistic stories.
u/Relevant_Occasion_33 [+2] (a day later)
It's been a while since I read New Game Minus, but I didn't think the character writing was that good at all. The main character was a lich who used to casually kill people to achieve his goals, but then he suddenly develops a conscience when he switches bodies and feels uncomfortable even lying to his dwarf teammate. It was funny at first, but his constant weak rationalizations of why he doesn't do immoral things anymore were grating.
u/six4head [+8] (11 hours later)
Trailblazer. No Gundam knowledge necessary, some light grounding in Worm will serve as a contrast to understanding just what kind of crapsack situation the world is in.
u/SvalbardCaretaker [+6] Mouse Army (19 hours later)
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/23539/super-science-fast-romance by Doctor Zero, who are posting their current ongoing fic regularly.
Its a very wild ride trough the near future, where the old economic system and the new one clash. The new one being strongly hacker-culture derived, biopunk/bit of cyber/solar punk etc.
The current president won on the premise of life-streaming 24/7. Its possible to train a predictive AI that delivers you pizza via drone before you are hungry!
Very near and dear to my heart, https://www.tumblr.com/docfuture/82363551272/fall-of-doc-future-contents by Doc Future. We follow the ultimate speedster Flicker in her quest in search of humanity - turns out its hard to be a human if its easy to get up to light-speed.
u/happyfridays_ [+5] (2 days later)
When a new dungeon is born, it wants nothing more than to have the most vicious monsters, the most cunning traps and the most shiny of loot. There is only one problem, but it's a rather big one; it finished its first floor years ago, but it still hasn't been visited by any adventurers! In order to find someone or something to explore its floors, or perhaps just to find someone to talk to, this dungeon will have to go way off script. But it soon discovers that going off script brings problems of its own, and that adventurers are not the only thing this world is missing.
u/NTaya [+3] Tzeentch (2 days later)
Oh, I completely forgot about this one! It's super wholesome and positive, and it doesn't have a lot of annoying/irrational qualities. Also, it's finished. A very strong contender for the request.
u/DomesticatedDungeon [+7] (21 hours later)
• There is no Epic Loot here, Only Puns. by stewart92 [web original]
• Threadbare by Andrew Seiple [web original] — not rational, but still
• Interstellar by Christopher Nolan [movie]
? Arrival by Ted Chiang [short story] / [movie]
? Doc Future by William Dow Rieder [web original] — seconding this rec
? Stages of Hope by Kayly Silverstorm [fanfic] [HP]
? Children of Men by Alfonso Cuarón [movie]
? Negotiator by esama [fanfic] [star wars]
? Dangers of Foresight, The by Anne Camp [fanfic] [star wars] — not rational
u/Valeide [+6] ** (2 days later)
Disrecommending Arrival. Main character >!gains ability to see through time and decides to have a child who will die young from a genetic disease. Ability to see through time is not well utilized.!<
u/Anderkent [+11] (2 days later)
i think you missed the point of the story. >!her ability to 'see' the future is not exploitable that way; she does not get to make decisions based on the 'future' that would change it. she is simply granted a different perspective, in essence external to time. or the other view is that rather than the her right now seeing past and future, her identity/perspective switched to the entire timespan of her life instead of just the current moment!<
u/Valeide [+7] ** (3 days later)
It's stable time loops, but so what? She brings information back from the future that averts a war. What is determining whether or not these stable time loops exist- only stable time loops that prevent the plot relevant war are naturally occurring in the universe, but not the ones that avert her child dying?
The stable time loop that averts the imminent war that the MC wants to stop, initiated by the MC as the war is about to happen, is clearly due to the desires of MC. What's the alternative? MC stumbled into a random stable time loop that solves the main conflict of the story by complete coincidence? That's somehow even more stupid.
If she was the sort of person that would say e.g. "Ah, there's the recipe for room temperature superconductors and immortality serum, I'm being told them in the future by a scientist" in the same way that says e.g. "Ah, here's the private phone number for this general, that I'm being told in the future by the general" presumably the world would be in a stable time loop where everyone has room temperature superconductors and immortality serum in the same way it's in a stable time loop where there is no war.
Blockbuster movie plays with time travel and the story that comes out doesn't really make sense when you think about it, more news at eleven.
u/Lost_Carcosan [+14] (4 days later)
I think you two are talking past each other because you’re referencing the movie, while Anderkent is talking about the short story. In the movie, she uses future knowledge to avert the war, is unsure as to whether she has any ability to change a stable time loop, and decides not to, even knowing there will be sad and unpleasant things in her future. In the story, none of that happens; she very explicitly finds out that knowledge of the future does not allow you to make any changes to it- it’s a perspective change, not a means to reconfigure events to your liking.
u/Valeide [+10] ** (4 days later)
Given the score differential between our two comments I'll note here in my defense that the short story is not called Arrival, so I did in fact clearly advertise which story I was talking about- both in this way and in that my comment seems to be talking about one and not the other.
u/Anderkent [+5] (5 days later)
Ah, sorry, yes. Movie was crap. I saw parent say 'Arrival by Ted Chiang' and assumed they just misremembered the title
u/TheColourOfHeartache [+2] (6 days later)
I've always considered the power to see the future but not to change it to be paradoxical. If you can see the future, you can see what you're about do in ten seconds time and choose to explicitly do what you don't see. That alone is a paradox.
Dr Manhatten actually works because he's characterised as exactly the kind of person who'd go along with whatever he saw, trapped not just by his perceptions of time, but his perceptions of himself as someone who obeys.
But for someone more proactive. Paradox. Either the universe prevents them gaining the power, or they see the only timeline they wouldn't be motived to change. One where they're using their future knowledge to the full.
u/SpeakKindly [+2] (6 days later)
It's a perspective change, so it's the lamest version of the power to see the future imaginable. Specifically, imagine that you're on your deathbed reviewing the memories of your entire life, and think of that as "reliving your life with the power to see the future".
I think it's not quite that - it's also living your entire life from that perspective, and it's sort of counterintuitive to think about what that hashes out to - but it's closer to that than to Paul Atreides.
u/Ilverin [+2] (15 days later)
The short story is about the combination of the calculus of variations with the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. The idea is that by learning the language, the person is changed to both see the future and also the person is changed so that they act to match their knowledge of the future. That's why variational calculus is repeatedly mentioned, that's the part about acting to match their knowledge of the future.
A more verbose version of this theory is written by gwern at https://gwern.net/story-of-your-life
u/None [+2] (3 days later)
[deleted]
u/Valeide [+1] ** (3 days later)
Already read the post, know the short story is different. Talking about the movie version here, though I would probably have similar complaints about the story if I actually read it.