* A Guide to the Good Life: The Anicent Art of Stoic Joy
* Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
About the last, I typically abhor fanfic, and I admit, I started reading this one in a fit of ironic pique. However, it's actually quite damned good. Reimagine the world of Harry Potter if Harry grew up in a happy, rationalist houehold and was an exceptionally bright young scientist. When inducted into Hogwarts, he swears he will use his scientific training to learn the Rules Of Magic in a fashion that no wizard before has ever done, because no wizard before has HAD the scientific background he's had.
The author is well-versed on physics, math, psychology, philosophy, and many other scientific pursuits, and manages to wrap them all up in an entertaining-as-hell story that is on chapter 56 and still going strong.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for that Harry Potter fanfic. I am neither a Harry Potter fan nor a fanfic fan, but the premise piqued my nerdy interests just the same. Perhaps it's coincidental that I'm writing a story (not a fanfic; original IP) that is sort of like Harry Potter but involves an alternate future in which the combination of nanomachines and quantum physics allows people to wield "magic"-like control over the physical world. It's magic from a theoretically plausible standpoint, even if I'd still consider it highly sci-fi and less spec-fi. Dorky? Ooooh, boy. Well, I'll put it this way: not exactly the project I'd bring up on a date!
I have actually toyed with this idea quite a few times, most recently after finishing The Alera Codex - a series of fantasy books by Jim Butcher that I highly recommend.
Thanks for the rec. I'm sure there's already a burgeoning microgenre for what I guess I'd call PhysPunk (physics punk). I'm torn between wanting to delve into it and wanting to keep it at arm's length, lest it influence me too much in my own work.
* A Guide to the Good Life: The Anicent Art of Stoic Joy
* Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
About the last, I typically abhor fanfic, and I admit, I started reading this one in a fit of ironic pique. However, it's actually quite damned good. Reimagine the world of Harry Potter if Harry grew up in a happy, rationalist houehold and was an exceptionally bright young scientist. When inducted into Hogwarts, he swears he will use his scientific training to learn the Rules Of Magic in a fashion that no wizard before has ever done, because no wizard before has HAD the scientific background he's had.
The author is well-versed on physics, math, psychology, philosophy, and many other scientific pursuits, and manages to wrap them all up in an entertaining-as-hell story that is on chapter 56 and still going strong.
Here, let me save you a Google search:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_M...