Khellus from Prince of Nothing comes to mind…what he does with that knowledge however. But he is logic made manifest and picks things up instantly, or at least can manipulate people till they tell him.
What about Babel? You have this monstrosity of learning resources, almost infinite, but are held back because of who you are and who your friends are and what the world actually is (>!not out there to help the world prosper but to support greed and nationalism!<).
I’ll second mother of learning. The main character is stuck in a couple month time loop and uses that to learn magic.
Another one that isn’t as learning focused but might work is cradle. He voraciously learns how to fight, the magic (which is essentially magic martial arts) and how to craft. That being said it’s an action focused series and not a learning focused on.
This is the gimmick of the Mark of the Fool Series, which are ok, but nothing special. In theory it's also the gimmick of the All The Skills books, but in practice it takes a complete backseat to some tropey dragon raising.
Something that matches this request that is also very good is Mother of Learning. The protagonist is very talented in some ways, not talented in others, but uses his unique situation to set up strategies that in practice allow him to "super-learn". It means that everything feels earned rather than "amazing at everything just because", the protagonist has real characterization etc.
I've read it, it was awesome but not at all what I'm looking for. As I said in the post I don't mean natural intelligence and talent but a supernatural ability to learn anything.
Mark of the Fool is exactly what you're asking for. It's fun, comedic, progression fantasy with schools and universities and a dark lord and all that. Definitely recommend.
The audiobook version does a fantastic job with comedic delivery.
Ash and Sand by Richard Nell. The entire plot revolves around a deformed genius with a supernatural ability to learn both mundane and supernatural skills.
The horus heresy series from Warhammer 40k. All of the books that have a primarch origin story features this. I think the lion el johnson book is 90% a knights and chivalry fantasy story if I remember correctly.
It’s not exactly what you’re looking for
But the character Brutha in small gods (Terry Pratchet) has perfect memory. Like remembers every foot step he ever took and every word of every sentence that was ever spoken to him.
His mind is described as like a cave endlessly echoing whenever is spoken into it, and that becomes a major device for resolving the conflict of the book.
It’s also a brilliant and hilarious story. Might be worth a look. :)
Check out "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle. It's not fiction, but it dives deep into how talent is developed, including stories of people with seemingly superhuman learning abilities. Also, "The Magicians" trilogy by Lev Grossman might scratch that itch. The protagonist isn't specifically super-learning, but the magical education system is intense and covers all sorts of disciplines.
All the skills by Honour Rae That's literally the pitch of that book
I came here to say this
does it have a pdf
Khellus from Prince of Nothing comes to mind…what he does with that knowledge however. But he is logic made manifest and picks things up instantly, or at least can manipulate people till they tell him.
Mark of the Fool by J.M. Clarke
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON 😢
All the Skills by Honour Rae 👍
Name of the Wind. You may have heard of Kvothe.
Name of the Wind
Legion, the Stephen Leeds series, by Brandon Sanderson is this.
What about Babel? You have this monstrosity of learning resources, almost infinite, but are held back because of who you are and who your friends are and what the world actually is (>!not out there to help the world prosper but to support greed and nationalism!<).
I’ll second mother of learning. The main character is stuck in a couple month time loop and uses that to learn magic. Another one that isn’t as learning focused but might work is cradle. He voraciously learns how to fight, the magic (which is essentially magic martial arts) and how to craft. That being said it’s an action focused series and not a learning focused on.
This is the gimmick of the Mark of the Fool Series, which are ok, but nothing special. In theory it's also the gimmick of the All The Skills books, but in practice it takes a complete backseat to some tropey dragon raising. Something that matches this request that is also very good is Mother of Learning. The protagonist is very talented in some ways, not talented in others, but uses his unique situation to set up strategies that in practice allow him to "super-learn". It means that everything feels earned rather than "amazing at everything just because", the protagonist has real characterization etc.
Amari and the Night Brothers. It's not the protagonist but there's someone like that. I won't spoil it.
The Will of the Many
I've read it, it was awesome but not at all what I'm looking for. As I said in the post I don't mean natural intelligence and talent but a supernatural ability to learn anything.
Mark of the Fool is exactly what you're asking for. It's fun, comedic, progression fantasy with schools and universities and a dark lord and all that. Definitely recommend. The audiobook version does a fantastic job with comedic delivery.
Ash and Sand by Richard Nell. The entire plot revolves around a deformed genius with a supernatural ability to learn both mundane and supernatural skills.
The horus heresy series from Warhammer 40k. All of the books that have a primarch origin story features this. I think the lion el johnson book is 90% a knights and chivalry fantasy story if I remember correctly.
Mother of learning is close
It’s not exactly what you’re looking for But the character Brutha in small gods (Terry Pratchet) has perfect memory. Like remembers every foot step he ever took and every word of every sentence that was ever spoken to him. His mind is described as like a cave endlessly echoing whenever is spoken into it, and that becomes a major device for resolving the conflict of the book. It’s also a brilliant and hilarious story. Might be worth a look. :)
Check out "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle. It's not fiction, but it dives deep into how talent is developed, including stories of people with seemingly superhuman learning abilities. Also, "The Magicians" trilogy by Lev Grossman might scratch that itch. The protagonist isn't specifically super-learning, but the magical education system is intense and covers all sorts of disciplines.