The Etched City isn't by KJ Parker.
The Engineer trilogy (though excellent) is more straw-rationalist than rationalist. That is, I would like to think that nobody I know is anything like Vaatzes.
Yes. :) But I meant rationalist in the sense that it is knowledge and the use of creative thinking and deep planning that drives the plot, rather than physical or political force. Those two things are certainly used, but they are used as tools rather than as plot resolution mechanisms.
A long time ago, in the colder seasons, I asked for suggestions for a Shit Rationalists Say video. Due to other concerns it took me this long to put it together, and the meme has long since passed. However, here it is.
Shit Rationalists Say
It is my first time in front of a camera, so I'm shakey. But I learned, and there it is.