So any recommendations of good stories featuring a kid whose super smart and/or competent as the MC? Preferably not do-overs?
I already know of https://storiesonline.net/series/1434/omniscience and please don't recommend any AI written stories - trying to get the taste of that garbage out of my head is why I'm posting this request.
That's pretty much the basis of Oyster50's Smart Girls universe.
I used the same basis for Charley and Claire
Black Dog's Smarty Pants and follow up stories may not appeal, but, yeah, she is.
That's pretty much the basis of Oyster50's Smart Girls universe.
And their inspiration, Emergence by David Palmer.
Which is out of print dead tree press ($265 for a second-hand copy on Dread Pirate Bezos' site. I should have kept mine!) or $17 on Kindle. I never finished reading it, so I'm not going to recommend it.
Which is out of print dead tree press ($265 for a second-hand copy on Dread Pirate Bezos' site. I should have kept mine!) or $17 on Kindle. I never finished reading it, so I'm not going to recommend it.
Your mileage may vary of course. It is somewhat aged, but I liked it when it came out. For some reason Amazon shows $10 for the kindle version to me.
The two main characters in Harddaysknight's Lady in Red stories certainly fit, but you may not be able to suspend disbelief; it will require industrial-grade support.
If you have premier service (retired author) and if you can stomach underage stuff (grandfathered), the Trailer Park universe by Wizard fits your bill, but not today's posting rules. You can only see the stories if you deactivate default filters, but the MC is the original smartass.
Russell Hoisington wrote a number of stories in this Universe - https://storiesonline.net/universe/472/wynter-trailer-park (I don't know what "Uncle Randy and the Angry Niece" is doing there), the kids are one year older story for story. The first one - "Wynter" - appals me even now but the rest are a kind of Scooby Doo with sex and they work pretty well.
https://storiesonline.net/series/19/the-chronicles-of-mannsborough
Male MC is very competent.
https://storiesonline.net/s/13412/jaspers-science-project
Young teen genius.
https://storiesonline.net/s/70898/mr-e
Smart and competent but stupid about girls.
NDenyal, Emma Comes in from the Cold. I think that The Vodou Physicist also fits.
A few other NiS stories also have super-genius protagonists, but are not as well written as NDenyal's.
The characters in EzzyB's Chaos universe are also super-competent teens, but no super-genius types.
A few of Ernest Bywater's tales may fit.
Finding Home
Out of Reach, and the sequel Still Out of Reach
Star Performance
many of the Clan Amir stories featuring Gordie/Gerry Mannheim
A few more of Ernest Bywater's tales that may fit:
Interesting Times
Runaway!
Mack
'Tinker' Taylor: Spy & Soldier
Survivor
Kim: Power Play
HM.
https://storiesonline.net/a/Prof_Jack wrote a couple of stories along those lines 20 years ago, although the editing could have been a lot better. He said he was re-editing the stories back in 2014 but never posted the updated versions.
The MC in Prince von Vlox's https://storiesonline.net/n/53328/firestar and https://storiesonline.net/n/56739/setosha-the-beating-heart is not a kid but a young woman and a (space) navy officer in a war, and outrageously good at it. The second of those two stories is currently being posted and there are more to come.
The MC in Argon's https://storiesonline.net/s/22004/suddenly-rich-kid is something of a maths genius.
https://storiesonline.net/a/writer-406 has several stories which fit, basically all except "The Meet Cute" (a lovely story). His society outcasts are mostly highly intelligent - especially Nicholas (is borderline), Jason and Quinn.
BarBar has https://storiesonline.net/universe/380/bec-lost-in-the-maze - Bec is brilliant but her brain tends to overload and shut down for a while.
Kenn Ghannon has a couple of Swarm stories - https://storiesonline.net/s/12909/pretty-capable and https://storiesonline.net/s/22400/fairly-capable but I can't remember how old the MC is, maybe as ancient as 20.
Keeping with the Swarm Cycle stories, also check out Allan Joyal's writings:
Building a CAP Based Future
Living a CAP Based Present
These follow a young man who was in eighth grade at the start of the story and how he envisioned his (and others') future and worked to make it happen.
Stupid Boy series by G. Younger
Discovering Alien Technology by GMet (although a lot of the MC's genius is alien-enhanced)
RLFJ's Grim Reaper is a long saga about a very average kid that grows into a very competent avatar of Death & Justice without ever knowing that's what he is. His self declared preteen girlfriend (Yuck! Cooties!) that grows into his very hot redheaded green eyed wife (Love! LUST!) is a maths genius. Highly enjoyable with a good story arc.
There's a series known as the El Donsaii series on the big river site. 18 books to this point. The MC is female, a genius and also has synapses that make her a great athlete. She's 15 at the start, but grows up over time. Has a son and then twin girls, who are also super geniuses. I think it's a good read (very si-fi'ish), but 18 books make it a long read as well, and given the site, it costs some.
The same author has other series involving genius types, some being older, but also a couple of series where kids and young adults develop special powers: telepathy, telekinesis, ability to stop time, etc. Also one "prehistoric" series involving a young teen who winds up inventing a lot of things we now take for granted.
https://storiesonline.net/s/75804/17th-birthday
Teen finds his niche as a very successful salesman.
https://storiesonline.net/s/57238/the-outsider
From Jay Cantrell. Teen survives false imprisonment, death of his mother, corrupt officials, teen girlfriends, meddling neighbours, rapists, emancipation and moving on to higher education and a career in sports. Highly competent while still feeling the emotions of a teen.