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Coscott comments on Yet more "stupid" questions - Less Wrong
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What fiction should I read first?
I have read pretty much nothing but MoR and books I didn't like for school, so I don't really know what my preferences are. I am a mathematician and a Bayesianist with an emphasis on the more theoretical side of rationality. I like smart characters that win. I looked at some recommendations on other topics, but there are too many options. If you suggest more than one, please describe a decision procedure that uses information that I have and you don't to narrow it down.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. I recommend starting with Mort (the fourth book published). The first two books are straight-up parodies of fantasy cliches that are significantly different from what comes afterward, and the third book, Equal Rites, I didn't care for very much. Pratchett said that Mort was when he discovered plot, and it's the book that I recommend to everyone.
I can second Discworld.
I particularly enjoyed the City Watch series. It also seems to be the most "non-ridiculous" and down to earth, which can help at the start.
It actually took me a while to warm up to the Watch books; when I read Guards Guards, I was expecting more laugh-out-loud moments of the kind that there were in the sillier early books.
/me read Discworld in publication order
Update: I decided on Permutation City, and was unable to put it down until it was done. I am very happy with the book. I am a lot more convinced now that I will eventually read almost all of these, so the order doesn't matter as much.
I liked "Diaspora" more.
Well, if you liked MoR, there are the two other Big Rationalist Fanfics: - http://www.fimfiction.net/story/62074/friendship-is-optimal (don't judge it because it's about ponies - it's really good even if you dont like them) (if yo like it, don't forget to check out the meta-fanfics) - http://luminous.elcenia.com/story.shtml (as good as the thing it's parodying is terrible)
Also in a similar style: http://www.sagaofsoul.com/
Then there's the scifi classics, if you're willing to shell out some money. no links for these. Here are a few good ones to get you started - Permutation City - Accelerando - Diaspora - Fire Upon the Deep
This should be enough to get you started. I can give you MUCH more if you want to and maybe tell me some other things you like. Finding stuff like this to specification is basically what I do.
"smart characters that win"
Miles Vorkosigan saga, Ender's Game, anything by Neal Stephenson.
I started reading Ender's and the world didn't seem to make enough sense to keep me immersed.
Give Neal Stephenson a go. Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon are good starting points.
First is probably Bujold, specifically her Miles Vorkosigan series.
I think of Vinge more in terms of awesome author than awesome characters, but he does have some pretty impressive characters.
Lee Child has an intelligent good guy and intelligent associates vs. intelligent bad guys. (Not sf.)
You may, however, come to strongly dislike the protagonist later in the series.
Miles? He does some douchebaggy things but then he grows up. It's one of my favorite character arcs.
Haha, no, sorry. I was referring to Child's Jack Reacher, who starts off with a strong moral code and seems to lose track of it around book 12.
Re "smart characters that win," I recommend these from my random reading history:
The Pillars of the Earth and A World without Endby Ken Follett
River God by Wilbur Smith
Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
And as for specifically rationalist stories, you might want to check the Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman.
what? no! Dark materials is specifically anti-christian, but the characters are not AT ALL rationalists. They often do stupid things and everything gets saved by random deus ex machina rather than cunning plots. It's an inverse Narnia, which is not rationality.
SF; Go to the amazon kindle store, read the first chapters (free samples) of:
Vernor Vinge, a fire on the deep. Finest example of classical IE; space ships, politics and aliens! SF there is.
Lois Mcmaster Bujold: A large sample of the first book in the Vor saga. http://www.baen.com/chapters/W200307/0743436164.htm?blurb
If you like Harry for being a high-competence chaos magnet, this should scratch that itch in just the right spot.
It's not specifically rationalist, but Dune is what first comes to mind for "smart characters that win", at least in the first book.
I recommend pretty much anything by Jack Vance. If you like fantasy settings, read "Lyonesse", "Cugel's Saga" and "Rhialto the Marvellous". If you like sci-fi settings, try "Araminta Station" , "Night Lamp" and "Alastor". For a quaint mix of the two, try "Emphyrio" or "Languages of Pao". Vance wrote a bunch of great stuff, so if you like his first book, you have heaps more to look forward to.
Also "Name of the Wind" and "Wise Man's Fear" by Patrick Rothfuss are pretty good.
I also second "Ender's Game".
The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. No promises on the characters, most of them are not so rational, but you'll see why I said it by the end. There are more books in the same setting with some of the same characters if you like them. The first book is mostly setup but it is great after that.