3 ms·

Slightly related, since this blog post has inspired me for a while. I would absolutely love to read a whole fantasy-themed "tome" that treats a programming topi

Slightly related, since this blog post has inspired me for a while. I would absolutely love to read a whole fantasy-themed "tome" that treats a programming topic as a school of magic. Maybe VR/AR is like illusion/alteration magic. Maybe robotics is the equivalent of summoning, or beast training, or something; maybe electrical engineering is like smithing or crafting. Computer history is lore. And so on... I wonder if there's anything else out there like this idea? If not, I'll make it happen.

chronolitus 7y ago
Ra - Sam Hughes [https://qntm.org/ra https://qntm.org/ra] (honorable mention: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - Eliezer Yudkowsky)
sideshowb 7y ago
Not a tome but I wrote a short story :) https://omnisplore.wordpress.com/2019/06/21/manifest-logic/ https://omnisplore.wordpress.com/2019/06/21/manifest-logic/ (sorry about the wordpress ads. ebook format avoids them) And then I wrote a list of other stories in this category (Ra, linked from sibling comment, is brilliant, by the way. Less programming oriented by the concepts do underlie the story). https://fiftysevendegreesofrad.github.io/hard-comp-fi-fiction-list/ https://fiftysevendegreesofrad.github.io/hard-comp-fi-fictio... You're welcome to send pull requests to the list with more reviews etc. Though it's drifing from my control - having started to read some Vernor Vinge I'm not sure he belongs on the list.
jameshart 7y ago
Agree - this style is so rich with possibility. I’m reminded also of the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer from Diamond Age, which included fairy stories that taught fundamental computer science. It also imagines a cultural upbringing where algorithms are the solutions to ancient riddles.
acemarke 7y ago
You might be interested in Rick Cook's "Wizardry" fantasy series from around 1990. A Silicon Valley programmer gets pulled into a fantasy world, and ends up writing a compiler for his own Forth variation that treats spells as assembly. https://www.goodreads.com/series/43084-wiz https://www.goodreads.com/series/43084-wiz
EliRivers 7y ago
How about Charlie Stross' "Laundry Files" novels, in which magic is mathematics and software is a way of executing your magic quickly (and automating it). You can also do it inside your own head, but since it attracts the attention of Cthuluesque beings, there's a risk attached.

chronolitus 7y ago

Ra - Sam Hughes [https://qntm.org/ra https://qntm.org/ra] (honorable mention: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - Eliezer Yudkowsky)

sideshowb 7y ago

Not a tome but I wrote a short story :) https://omnisplore.wordpress.com/2019/06/21/manifest-logic/ https://omnisplore.wordpress.com/2019/06/21/manifest-logic/ (sorry about the wordpress ads. ebook format avoids them) And then I wrote a list of other stories in this category (Ra, linked from sibling comment, is brilliant, by the way. Less programming oriented by the concepts do underlie the story). https://fiftysevendegreesofrad.github.io/hard-comp-fi-fiction-list/ https://fiftysevendegreesofrad.github.io/hard-comp-fi-fictio... You're welcome to send pull requests to the list with more reviews etc. Though it's drifing from my control - having started to read some Vernor Vinge I'm not sure he belongs on the list.

jameshart 7y ago

Agree - this style is so rich with possibility. I’m reminded also of the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer from Diamond Age, which included fairy stories that taught fundamental computer science. It also imagines a cultural upbringing where algorithms are the solutions to ancient riddles.

acemarke 7y ago

You might be interested in Rick Cook's "Wizardry" fantasy series from around 1990. A Silicon Valley programmer gets pulled into a fantasy world, and ends up writing a compiler for his own Forth variation that treats spells as assembly. https://www.goodreads.com/series/43084-wiz https://www.goodreads.com/series/43084-wiz

EliRivers 7y ago

How about Charlie Stross' "Laundry Files" novels, in which magic is mathematics and software is a way of executing your magic quickly (and automating it). You can also do it inside your own head, but since it attracts the attention of Cthuluesque beings, there's a risk attached.