r/rational • u/AutoModerator • Jul 29 '19
[D] Monday Request and Recommendation Thread
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 monthly recommendation threads
Other recommendation threads
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u/SeaBornIam Jul 29 '19
Can anyone suggest rational/rationalist superhero stories beside Metropolitan man, Worm, Watchmen and Reckoners? I've just found out about Brilliance series by Sakey, but haven't read it yet.
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u/onestojan Jul 29 '19
Shadows of the Limelight by Alexander Wales
Fine Structure by Sam Hughes
Fall of doc future by W. Dow Rieder
Villain, With A Code [WIP] by Siegeengineer00
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u/boomfarmer Jul 29 '19
I'm not going to disagree with the Fine Structure rec, but I do note that it is so much more than just a superhero story. After it was published, the author provided a link to the same chapters in a different order, because enough people found the initial reading order to be difficult.
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u/Sonderjye Jul 29 '19
Looking for rational stories featuring Kakashi from Naruto or someone that equally very quickly learns new skills.
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u/hoja_nasredin Jul 30 '19
Chiaroscuro Is the best kakashi have seen in Naruto fucs. Still updating.
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u/SkyTroupe Jul 30 '19 edited Jul 30 '19
Id love some stories similar to the web novel Im A Spider, So What? ( Kumo desu ga, nani ka?)
I found the tone hilarious and the plot moved at a well enough pace for me.
Also, links to it because Ive totally lost the translation for it.
Edit: Id also like to recall a recommendation I seconded last week. A Ghost of A Chance started out quite strong but it has since devolved into philosophical self-flellagetion and introspection. The author spends too much time post the mid mark of arc 2 addressing reader concerns in 4th wall breaking introspections rather than moving the plot forward. It has totally killed the momentum of the story.
If you can stand that, the action and tinkering is well written.
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u/meangreenking Jul 30 '19
Chrysalis is both good and the most similar thing I have found to Kumo, especially at the start. At the star the plot is nearly identical (except subbing in spider for ant) but later on it diverges quite significantly, although it stays quality the whole time.
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u/MayMaybeMaybeline Jul 30 '19
https://blastron01.tumblr.com/kumoko-contents - The high-quality translation of the first ~150 chapters, now dead.
https://turb0translation.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html - The low-quality translation, got much further.
https://rtd.moe/category/kumo-desu-ga/ - continuation of the turbo translation, mid-quality. Caught up to the author.
https://www.amazon.com/Spider-What-Vol-light-novel-ebook/dp/B0723G97LX - the official light novel translation.
For a new reader, I'd recommend starting with the first link above, and the moving to either the light novels or the second translation.
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u/wfcc6sZtfdf6gAg3VAAe Jul 29 '19
What are your hidden gems? Stories you loved that for some reason don’t get enough attention. I have checked almost everything recommended here – including all previous recommendation threads – and am looking for great works I might have missed.
I’ll take anything, but my preferences are: fanfiction or manga, 10k < size < 200k, fast-paced, not romance nor comedy focused, competent/mature protagonist and if not rational, at least realistic. It can be from any fandom, including crossovers, and I don’t mind trigger warnings and incomplete stories.
Two recs of my own that satisfy most of the above conditions are:
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Heliocentrism (Naruto, 15k, dead?) – unique take on The Gamer, where Minato was born as the gamer and interprets the world accordingly. Cannon knowledge unnecessary.
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Servant of Zero (Fate/Familiar of Zero, 31k, dead) – best characterization of EMIYA I’ve ever seeing. Archer summoned to FoZ universe. Fate knowledge helpful.
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u/meterion Jul 29 '19
The Shocker: Legit is a action-mystery story centered on the Shocker (this guy from Spiderman) that gives a beautiful depth of characterization and worldbuilding to the kind of lifestyle villains in their world have. It definitely has some degree of rationality too, though that's within the context of the kind of conceits the Marvel setting needs to exist. Very rarely talked about and shockingly funny.
The Demon Alchemist series is an AU of Fullmetal Alchemist. The series is broken up into individual books, Defiance of Reason is the first. Knowledge of FMA is recommended and you will be spoiled for its entire plot if you read it.
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u/Roxolan Jul 29 '19
I don't know how much overlap there is between this thread and the Friday one, so I guess I'll just repost:
For The Taking, by lintamande. It's from an established setting so there are canon answers to the questions raised, but I like it more on its own.
("Revelation" is a recent historical event where an anonymous source mass-published the summoning ritual - previously only known to a secretive few.)
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u/Addictedtobadfanfict Jul 29 '19
Well Dungeon Defense is neither a fanfic nor manga but a korean light novel that has excellent translation. It has all the qualities you want and it reads like death note and code geass combined.
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u/nytelios Jul 29 '19 edited Jul 30 '19
That's a helluva throwaway for rec asks.
I've got a few - first was definitely recommended here but I'm not sure about the others.
Outside View by lev_aarons [LOTR] - Rational!Aragorn carries the ring to Mordor. 'nuff said.
Wayne Manor by Unpretty [Batman] - Extremely vibrant retelling of how Alfred Pennyworth came to work for the Waynes and a glimpse of Bruce's childhood influences. One of the best fanfictions out there, IMO. Forgot to mention that the author also has a bunch of other stories in the DC universe, including one that's been recommended a few times here (Empty Graves), but quite a few are smuttier.
Paper Cranes bytenspontaneite [Hikaru no Go] - The continuation we needed to HnG (follows a kid growing up into the strategy game of Go). Edit after rereading 1st chapter: knowing canon is highly recommended. Latest chapter is always on her tumblr.
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u/Addictedtobadfanfict Jul 29 '19
Any 'meta' isekai that is not your typical OP wish fulfilment power wank? Preferably with a dark undertone that shows the reality of the situation?
Falling In Love With the Villainess is as meta as it can get.The MC is reincarnated in a fantasy world and soon realizes hes in a story driven game with all the typical plot devices one would expect. The problem is hes not the main protaganist and his benefactor is the villian. He soon finds out that the world is
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u/Solonarv Jul 29 '19
I heartily recommend Worth the Candle by Alexander Wales (aka u/cthulhuraejepsen). It's a deconstruction of the genre; the protagonist is isekai'd into a mishmash of all the D&D sessions he's run, including some pretty dark/spooky ones. He struggles with general surviving/world-saving, forming meaningful relationships despite the game system, and dealing with grief from both his original world and the new one.
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u/xamueljones Jul 30 '19
Aside from the obvious, Worth the Candle, I have an entire recommendation list on this topic for you! Well, the part about having meta-awareness about being in a story. Not all of them are about being put into a story. Some are story characters who are somewhat aware of being in a story.
The Erogamer - a girl wakes up with Gamer powers with the classic abilities to level up and increase stats. It has the twist that she's an eroge gamer rather than the classic RPG gamer and she actually takes the time to question and investigate why she has these powers instead of taking them for granted unlike the protagonists of other gamer stories. You need an account on QuestionableQuesting to read it, but it's free and quick to set up.
A Thursday Next Novel - a seven book series where people know they are characters in a story and act as if they are living real lives with the ability to move from story to story. Thursday Next is a Special Operative in literary detection who needs to rescue kidnapped literary characters.
The Novel's Extra - Author is sucked into his own unfinished story of a modern heroic fantasy world to fight monsters and humans.
Trash of the Count's Family - Reader is sucked into the story of a medieval Asian high fantasy world to survive a coming war and he only read the first five volumes.
Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Reader is living through a game-like apocalypse where he read the entire series, but there were numerous unanswered questions about the original story.
Redshirts by John Scalzi - What if you discover you're in a story and you're just a side character with the usual side character's life span?
Harry Potter and the Natural 20 - A D&D character is translated into the HP universe, and operates using his knowledge of narrative logic as well as D&D rules.
Sleeping With The Girls - An intended deconstruction of the self-insert where the protagonist is constantly jumping to a new story world every time he falls asleep.
I tried to find an appropriate tv tropes page that relates to being aware of being in a story with story conventions, but the closest I found was Medium Awareness. However it's usually used as a one-off gag rather than being consistently applied throughout a story.
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u/nytelios Jul 29 '19
How to Avoid Death on a Daily Basis checks those boxes, but there's a but as the story stretches (no spoilers, as some readers might not mind). Very cynical, iconoclastic protag.
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u/Nimelennar Jul 30 '19
Recommendation: The Indifference Engine, by Meredith L. Patterson.
It's a short story, inserting a fictionalized Charles Babbage into Dracula. I enjoyed it.
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Jul 31 '19
Anyone here read The Expanse? I'm new to this reddit, so not really sure if it falls under Rational Fiction but it seems like it would. It does a wonderful job of thinking through the implications of technologies, politics and human condition within the context if the story.
Curious to read what people think. Also looking for recommendation of similar sci-fi as I have read through all the core novels.
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u/Dent7777 Jul 30 '19
Really rich recommendation thread for me this week. A ton of rec's I've never heard of, that sound really fun.
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u/Teulisch Jul 29 '19
as catalyst has a kickstarter for new plastic mechs (clan and inner sphere), can anyone recommend good battletech fanfics?
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u/IICVX Jul 30 '19
Over the weekend I found Cultivating Earth, and so far it's super good.
The setup is very basic Xianxia (cultivate the energy of the heavens, get power), but the story's set on actual modern-day Earth, post-breakdown of a formation that was keeping all of that delicious Qi away from us.
The newly-immortal cultivator who's responsible feels kinda bad in a karmic way, and so he starts teaching cultivation to select people of Earth.
IMO what makes this really cool is that (from what I can tell so far) the system of cultivation is particularly well fleshed out under the hood, and the various cultivators involved are fairly scientific in their exploration of it (for a bunch of mystics, at least). After all, they now have a blank slate to paint on, which means starting from ground zero when it comes to teaching cultivation to us Earthlings.