I recommend Harry Potter and the Natural 20. I noticed a recommendation for it in a thread somewhere here, then there was another recommendation at HPMoR. It’s quite good, even if it requires an understanding of D&D.
It does not require an intimate understanding of D&D to enjoy, just in case that put you off. If you’ve never played, but you know the general idea of how the game works, then you should be okay.
Agreed. I think I might’ve appreciated the slobberworm test more if I had ever played D&D, but as it stands it doesn’t require more appreciation than, say, Dresden Codak’s ‘Dungeons & Discourse’ comic.
I have only read the first chapter, but anything that makes me go “Yes! So cool!” is starting off on the right foot :D
EDIT: Okay, a bit in—if you are particularly sensitive to Mary-Litigation, this does tread near that territory—Harry is well-characterized and interesting, but becomes a clearly supporting character, with our D&D planar expatriate winning the Initiative roll on all of the plans. On the other hand, you might simply call it munchkining.
It’s just occurred to me recently to recommend this, but one of my favorite all time works of literature is White Noise by Don DeLillo. It’s a pretty decent satire of modern consumptionism, academia, media, and other aspects of society. But I read it a year and a half ago though, before I had really been exposed to anything from LessWrong—to my recollection, there is nothing in it that would bother me now, although I’m not entirely certain of that. If anyone else has read it, I would appreciate their comment on this.
As a trigger warning, it also explores violence as a theme and there are a couple of moderately graphic scenes, if I recall correctly.
I haven’t read White Noise in a long time, but remember loving it.
I read it a year and a half ago though, before I had really been exposed to anything from LessWrong—to my recollection, there is nothing in it that would bother me now, although I’m not entirely certain of that.
D’you mean that the stuff in the novel that’s satirized doesn’t seem to warrant satirizing? I’d agree that a lot of what the novel mocks or caricatures is basically harmless, although I’d find the clusterfuck around the airborne toxic event outrageous if it happened to me in real life.
As a trigger warning, it also explores violence as a theme and there are a couple of moderately graphic scenes, if I recall correctly.
There’s a chapter that describes one character shooting another in some detail. (There might be other graphic scenes I don’t recall.)
D’you mean that the stuff in the novel that’s satirized doesn’t seem to warrant satirizing? I’d agree that a lot of what the novel mocks or caricatures is basically harmless, although I’d find the clusterfuck around the airborne toxic event outrageous if it happened to me in real life.
I don’t mean anything specifically, I’m just not sure there weren’t some quotes or themes that would induce major eye rolling now.
Fiction Books Thread
I recommend Harry Potter and the Natural 20. I noticed a recommendation for it in a thread somewhere here, then there was another recommendation at HPMoR. It’s quite good, even if it requires an understanding of D&D.
26 chapters: epub mobi compiled by flagfic
It does not require an intimate understanding of D&D to enjoy, just in case that put you off. If you’ve never played, but you know the general idea of how the game works, then you should be okay.
Agreed. I think I might’ve appreciated the slobberworm test more if I had ever played D&D, but as it stands it doesn’t require more appreciation than, say, Dresden Codak’s ‘Dungeons & Discourse’ comic.
I have only read the first chapter, but anything that makes me go “Yes! So cool!” is starting off on the right foot :D
EDIT: Okay, a bit in—if you are particularly sensitive to Mary-Litigation, this does tread near that territory—Harry is well-characterized and interesting, but becomes a clearly supporting character, with our D&D planar expatriate winning the Initiative roll on all of the plans. On the other hand, you might simply call it munchkining.
It’s just occurred to me recently to recommend this, but one of my favorite all time works of literature is White Noise by Don DeLillo. It’s a pretty decent satire of modern consumptionism, academia, media, and other aspects of society. But I read it a year and a half ago though, before I had really been exposed to anything from LessWrong—to my recollection, there is nothing in it that would bother me now, although I’m not entirely certain of that. If anyone else has read it, I would appreciate their comment on this.
As a trigger warning, it also explores violence as a theme and there are a couple of moderately graphic scenes, if I recall correctly.
I haven’t read White Noise in a long time, but remember loving it.
D’you mean that the stuff in the novel that’s satirized doesn’t seem to warrant satirizing? I’d agree that a lot of what the novel mocks or caricatures is basically harmless, although I’d find the clusterfuck around the airborne toxic event outrageous if it happened to me in real life.
There’s a chapter that describes one character shooting another in some detail. (There might be other graphic scenes I don’t recall.)
I don’t mean anything specifically, I’m just not sure there weren’t some quotes or themes that would induce major eye rolling now.