scrape_r_rational/data/cache2/2pm7sf.md

[Please No Spoilers] Why should I read Ra?

• Author: u/None *

• URL:

• Score: 17

• Created: 2014-12-17T21:38:33

Post:

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Comments:

u/alexanderwales [+14] Time flies like an arrow (13 minutes later)

If you were bored for the first few chapters, don't read it.

(Though she's not inexplicably good at her specialty - she has a combination of hard work, intelligence, and mentorship from a young age.)

u/mcgruntman [+4] (52 minutes later)

Anthropic principle...

u/TimTravel [+1] (2 days later)

Good to know. I dropped it after a few but I've been debating whether to go back.

u/Pluvialis [+16] Second Age Sauron (6 minutes later)

If you want to get a headache.

Personally, I found it insanely confusing for most of the time. I couldn't figure out what layer of reality I was supposed to believe in, and when it got to the level of tech it did, I was just left thinking "well how the hell am I supposed to believe in anything at this point?"

u/scruiser [+10] CYOA (40 minutes later)

I couldn't figure out what layer of reality I was supposed to believe in, and when it got to the level of tech it did, I was just left thinking "well how the hell am I supposed to believe in anything at this point?"

Yeah this is actually may biggest problem with it. A major character blames Laura for not seeing it as a setup/trick, but really, there are so many levels of virtual realities and hyper intelligences and conspiracies I don't see how Laura was supposed to figure it out.

u/Imosa1 [+3] (9 days later)

Solid start: Characters should stop trusting anyone when the text is justified to the right.

u/VorpalAuroch [+4] Life before Death (6 hours later)

And Fine Structure is even worse!

u/Sysice [+2] (15 hours later)

It's interesting that you put it that way- Fine Structure to me fell into the category of stories that are interesting and fun solely for the amount of cognitive work required for the reader to fully understand what's going on in a given scene.

By contrast, Ra was not fun to puzzle through. I'm not sure what the important difference between the two is, and 2 minutes of thought hasn't given me any insight.

u/scruiser [+3] CYOA (17 hours later)

I think Fine Structure was obviously a mystery from the beginning, whereas Ra pulled a kind of genre shift from a conventional conspiracy in a world in which modern magic existed, to something similar to Fine Structure.

u/None [+1] (11 hours later)

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u/Pluvialis [+1] Second Age Sauron (19 hours later)

I think on a reread it will be substantially better, since you know what the context of it all is. Whether it's better enough to be actually good or not? I imagine it would be, I think.

u/rthomas2 [+15] (an hour later)

Generally, the reasons I've heard for reading it and the reasons I have myself all boil down to:

1. Intelligence in characters, plot, and world-building

2. A magic system which is throughly explored and logical, and

3. An intriguing and continually expanding, exceedingly rational mystery that the characters attempt to solve.

Sub-reasons include feminism, realism, high-level science and math language used well--yet in a manner that makes understanding them not essential for story comprehension/enjoyment--and what many find to be an immersive writing style and structure.

One thing that greatly increased my enjoyment of Ra was skimming for plot/character developments on my first read-through of each chapter, then trying to wrap my head around the technical aspects on subsequent ones. Taking it a bite at a time really made it fun, and the wait in between chapters made re-reading especially desirable.

u/None [+2] (2 hours later)

So it's a bit like Clockwork Rocket but a mystery?

u/rthomas2 [+2] (3 hours later)

I have no idea what that is and it sounds awesome :) Would you mind posting a link to it on the main page of the /r/ ?

u/Chronophilia [+2] sci-fi ≠ futurology (18 hours later)

Not really, The Clockwork Rocket has major plot points hinging on concepts in relativity (aka "rotational science"). It's harder than hard, more fictional science than science fiction. Ra does not take the story in that direction.

But they do share a theme of showing something "impossible" and then gradually giving us the puzzle pieces to reverse-engineer it. If you enjoyed it for that reason, then I think you'll enjoy Ra.

u/MoralRelativity [+2] (2 hours later)

This summary is a better outline of the reasons I enjoyed it than I would have written myself.

But overall I agree with /u/AlexanderWales view that if you've tried it and you're bored then don't read it.

u/Eryemil [+2] (12 hours later)

How big of a component is feminism to the story? Will I enjoy it if I'm not a feminist/don't sympathise with feminism?

u/None [+5] (12 hours later)

By "feminism" we mean "there are competent, intelligent and interesting female characters who are central to the story." That's all.

u/Eryemil [+1] (15 hours later)

OK. Thanks.

u/thakil [+2] (10 hours later)

I don't think so, no. I think the initial chapters are better than the later one's (I, having read the whole of Fine Structure and got frustrated towards the end, decided to give up on Ra when I could see that it shared structural similarities. To explain what those are I'd have to spoil both of them).

u/None [+1] (12 hours later)

I found Ra to be bizarrely interesting. As in, I read the whole thing up to date (a few chapters before the finale) and was bored most of the time. But I was incredibly hyped and engaged after I caught up, and the story was such that I retroactively enjoyed the whole thing.

But if you've already tried it and didn't enjoy it, there's no sense in forcing it. Not everyone can enjoy something like Ra.

u/traverseda [+1] With dread but cautious optimism (21 hours later)

You can't tell me what to do.

Rosebud was the sleigh all along.

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