Iâve dedicated far too much time to reading rationalist fiction. This is a list of stories I think are good enough to recommend.
Hereâs my entire rationalist fiction bookshelf âa mix of works written explicitly within the genre and other works that still seem to belong. (Iâve written reviews for some, but not all.)
Here are subcategories, with stories ranked in rough order from âincredibleâ to âgoodâ. The stories vary widely in scale, tone, etc., and you should probably just read whatever seems most interesting to you.
If you know of a good rational or rational-adjacent story Iâm missing, let me know!
Long stories (rational fiction)
Worm
Worth the Candle
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
Pale
The Steerswoman (series)
The Erogamer (warning: X-rated)
My Little Pony: Friendship is Optimal
The Gods Are Bastards
Dr. Stone
Significant Digits (HPMOR sequel)
A Practical Guide to Evil
Pokemon: The Origin of Species
The Last Ringbearer
Unsong
Fine Structure
Luminosity
Ra
Long stories (not rational fiction, but close)
The Dark Forest (second book of a trilogy, other books are good but not as close to rational fiction)
The Diamond Age
Red Plenty
Strong Female Protagonist
Spinning Silver
Enderâs Shadow
Blindsight
The Great Brain (series, quality is consistent)
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
The Martian
Anathem
Short stories and novellas (rational or close)
Most of Alicornâs work (generally not on Goodreads, so not rated there). Currently the best working rationalist fiction author, IMO.
Friendship is Optimal (spinoff stories)
The Metropolitan Man
The Rules of Wishing
The Dark Wizard of Donkerk
It Looks Like Youâre Trying To Take Over The World
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage
A Wizardâs Guide to Defensive Baking
The Sword of Good
The Dark Lordâs Answer
A Girl Corrupted by the Internet is the Summoned Hero?
If be keen to hear right how youâre defining the genre, especially when the author isnât obviously a member of the community. I loved worm and read it a couple of years ago, at least a year before I was aware rational fiction was a thing, and donât recall thinking âwow this seems really rationalistâ so much as just âthis is fun words go brrrrrrrrâ
I think that âintense, fanatical dedication to worldbuildingâ + âtons of good problem-solving from our characters, which we can see from the insideâ adds up to ratfic for me, or at least âclose to ratficâ. Worm delivers both.
Ah, that makes sense. I absolutely adore Fine Structrue and Ra but never considered it ratfic (though I donât know whether Sam Hughes is hanging in rat circles)
The book poses an interesting and difficult problem that characters try to solve in a variety of ways. The solution that actually works involves a bunch of plausible game theory and feels like it establishes a realistic theory of how a populous universe might work. The solutions that donât work are clever, but fail for realistic reasons.
Aside from the puzzle element of the book, itâs not all that close to ratfic, but the puzzle is what compelled me. Certainly arguable whether it belongs in this category.
I like many books on the list, but I think youâre doing a disservice by trying to recommend too many books at once. If you can cut it down to 2-3 in each category, that gives people a better starting point.
If you want recommendations, just take the first couple of items in each category. They are rated in order of how good I think they are. (Thatâs if you trust my taste â I think most people are better off just skimming the story summaries and picking up whatever sounds interesting to them.)
My ratings and reviews of rationalist fiction
Iâve dedicated far too much time to reading rationalist fiction. This is a list of stories I think are good enough to recommend.
Hereâs my entire rationalist fiction bookshelf âa mix of works written explicitly within the genre and other works that still seem to belong. (Iâve written reviews for some, but not all.)
Here are subcategories, with stories ranked in rough order from âincredibleâ to âgoodâ. The stories vary widely in scale, tone, etc., and you should probably just read whatever seems most interesting to you.
If you know of a good rational or rational-adjacent story Iâm missing, let me know!
Long stories (rational fiction)
Worm
Worth the Candle
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
Pale
The Steerswoman (series)
The Erogamer (warning: X-rated)
My Little Pony: Friendship is Optimal
The Gods Are Bastards
Dr. Stone
Significant Digits (HPMOR sequel)
A Practical Guide to Evil
Pokemon: The Origin of Species
The Last Ringbearer
Unsong
Fine Structure
Luminosity
Ra
Long stories (not rational fiction, but close)
The Dark Forest (second book of a trilogy, other books are good but not as close to rational fiction)
The Diamond Age
Red Plenty
Strong Female Protagonist
Spinning Silver
Enderâs Shadow
Blindsight
The Great Brain (series, quality is consistent)
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
The Martian
Anathem
Short stories and novellas (rational or close)
Most of Alicornâs work (generally not on Goodreads, so not rated there). Currently the best working rationalist fiction author, IMO.
Friendship is Optimal (spinoff stories)
The Metropolitan Man
The Rules of Wishing
The Dark Wizard of Donkerk
It Looks Like Youâre Trying To Take Over The World
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage
A Wizardâs Guide to Defensive Baking
The Sword of Good
The Dark Lordâs Answer
A Girl Corrupted by the Internet is the Summoned Hero?
If be keen to hear right how youâre defining the genre, especially when the author isnât obviously a member of the community. I loved worm and read it a couple of years ago, at least a year before I was aware rational fiction was a thing, and donât recall thinking âwow this seems really rationalistâ so much as just âthis is fun words go brrrrrrrrâ
I think that âintense, fanatical dedication to worldbuildingâ + âtons of good problem-solving from our characters, which we can see from the insideâ adds up to ratfic for me, or at least âclose to ratficâ. Worm delivers both.
Sounds right to me! Iâm reading worth the candle at the moment :)
Ah, that makes sense. I absolutely adore Fine Structrue and Ra but never considered it ratfic (though I donât know whether Sam Hughes is hanging in rat circles)
I also love Alexander Walesâ ongoing This Used To Be About Dungeons
Can you give your view why The Dark Forest is an example of near rationalist work?
I guess it shows societal dysfunction, the (extreme) alienness or hostility of reality, and some intense applications of game theory.
I think I want to understand ârationalityâ as much as the book.
The book poses an interesting and difficult problem that characters try to solve in a variety of ways. The solution that actually works involves a bunch of plausible game theory and feels like it establishes a realistic theory of how a populous universe might work. The solutions that donât work are clever, but fail for realistic reasons.
Aside from the puzzle element of the book, itâs not all that close to ratfic, but the puzzle is what compelled me. Certainly arguable whether it belongs in this category.
I like many books on the list, but I think youâre doing a disservice by trying to recommend too many books at once. If you can cut it down to 2-3 in each category, that gives people a better starting point.
If you want recommendations, just take the first couple of items in each category. They are rated in order of how good I think they are. (Thatâs if you trust my taste â I think most people are better off just skimming the story summaries and picking up whatever sounds interesting to them.)
Cool, thanks!