7.8 KiB
To the Stars, Chapter 49: "Transition State"
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Author: u/NotUnusualYet *
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Score: 34
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Created: 2017-02-08T07:18:33
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Comments:
u/Afforess [+6] Hermione Did Nothing Wrong (8 hours later)
As a /r/rational reader coming in blind, is this a worthwhile rational read? What background info do I need? Do I need to go watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica to understand the plot?
I'm open to all of that, but I want to make sure the time investment pays off.
u/NotUnusualYet [+10] (8 hours later)
I read it first without watching PMMM. This story is set ~400 years after the show, and mostly involves original characters, so it stands on its own.
(Some background details about existing characters are implied, rather than stated, but that actually enhances the story in some ways. PMMM ends up feeling like a really cool (and unexpected) prequel if you end up watching it.)
The "rational" elements of this story are different than many you see posted here, though. There isn't a core character or characters which are constantly thinking hard reshaping the world around them through thought and plans, like HPMOR or Metropolitan Man. It isn't "girl munchkins Madoka Magica". Rather, the entire world is a cool, rational, and expansive take on what might happen in the distant future after the end of the show. (That is probably being unfair to the examples I listed, but the point is it's more about the world than specific characters driving the plot through their own unusual "rational" view. And that's not to say characters act irrationally.)
Anyway, here's the promotional blurb from the subreddit if you're interested:
Hieronym's "To the Stars" is an expansive SciFi fanfic set in the universe of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, roughly four centuries after the ending of the show. (Rebellion was released after it began, so the movie isn't considered canon.)
"To the Stars" emphasizes worldbuilding, giving diverse and richly detailed views into a humanity shaped by centuries' worth of magical interference and technological development. Of particular interest are the last two decades and their new alien threat, which finally forced magical girls out from the shadows. Against that backdrop it all begins when Shizuki Ryouko, a young girl living in Mitakihara City, makes a contract and finds herself thrown into a mad mix of interstellar politics, religion, conspiracy, and war...
u/t3tsubo [+6] (11 hours later)
It's like Dune in scope/setting, except with magic that follows some consistent rules so it's not stupidly OP despite the characters being rational.
I like the story mainly because of the post-scarcity society which the author imagined, where benevolent AI run the government and mental health/psychiatry is a big deal. But I'm a sucker for world building in the stories I like.
The source material is a classic and excellent anime in its own right, but aside from the (essentially immortal) characters being the same, there isn't much linking the anime to this story. You do benefit from consuming the source material though, especially in understanding how the magic system works.
u/None [+3] (13 hours later)
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u/t3tsubo [+3] (13 hours later)
I picked Dune as my point of comparison mostly because of the space opera scope/scale of the setting, along with the fact that the story centers around political machinations. The differences you raised are definitely valid and I'll confess I put less thought into the comparison as you did.
u/AndrasKovacs [+4] (2 days later)
For me, the most notable thing about TtS is that it's highly enjoyable despite having a heavy component of military SF. I was lukewarm about all the military SF I have previously read, because they were always some combination of
- Trying to reflect on contemporary war. This bores me to no ends; most things about this can be and have been said outside science fiction, better and more concisely.
- Being utterly dumb. The more honest-to-God military SF that is meant to be fun without excessive social and moral awareness tends to be just banal, having the bare minimum of trashy characterization and the kind of machismo that I don't enjoy at all. The worse kind of socially aware military SF ends up being dumb by playing straight the usual tropes about military disfunction.
In contrast, TtT was a breath of fresh air (more like a month's worth of supply of it). It features a critically important and meaningful war (against existentially threatening aliens) with a human army that is hypercompetent and also morally advanced, compared to current state of affairs. In TtS you won't find armored dudes being dropshipped to certain death, while shouting incomprehensibly to each other basically through modern day radio. Rather, in TtS everyone is competent enough to be at least a decent general, and there is a lot of exploration of military optimization which is inherently fun to read about. Also, the aliens won't swarm out of holes, engaging in usual zerg melee, rather they are perfectly willing and able to nuke even a group of five humans when it makes sense.
As an example of TtS standards, there's at one point a very important spec ops mission, and it's planned by first simulating it hundreds of times by AI-s, then simulating it a number of times with the involvement of the operatives, then simulating it a number of times again with the involvement of the operatives, but with the operatives' memories modified so they believe it to be the real mission, but in a way so that they don't learn to doubt the mission being real when it's real. Only after that do they actually go on the mission. And the actual mission is an absolutely fantastic piece of SF action, densely packed with twists and delicious high-speed tactics.
u/gamedori3 [+3] (8 hours later)
I've never read (watched?) PMMM, but I've been enjoying this one for about three years. So far, it has been about as satisfying as Worm, but much less interesting per word than Ra/HPMOR. If you start reading, I would recommend making a list of characters, since some characters will disappear for several chapters (and all their names are Japanese!) I stopped reading when the author went into haiatus about a year ago, and now I'm hopelessly lost.
u/None [+2] (13 hours later)
I have the exact same problem. I've been meaning to do a reread, but goddamn there's a whole lot of material to get through. I'll do it eventually.
u/NotUnusualYet [+3] (14 hours later)
There is actually a To the Stars wiki! However, sorta stop being updated in the mid-30s chapters... I should probably update it myself sometime. However, if it's the early stuff you're forgetting, that's relatively well documented there.
I can't guarantee perfect accuracy there, either, not having looked through it too closely, but a fair portion was either written or checked by Hieronym, the author.
Edit: Actually yeah, I'll commit to working on this, at least on writing some sort of summary so people can catch up or remember things. Will require some time, however.
Edit: As you can see in the wiki's recent changes page, I have been working on it. Some distance to go, though.
u/gamedori3 [+1] (10 days later)
That is awesome! I guess I can do my part when I catch up, but it won't be soon. I'm scheduled for 60 hour weeks through the end of March.
u/NotUnusualYet [+3] (6 minutes later)
See the discussion thread on /r/ToTheStars here.