6th out of 14 books
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10 voters
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Ra
by
Sam Hughes (Goodreads Author)
Magic is real.
Discovered in the 1970s, magic is now a bona fide field of engineering. There's magic in heavy industry and magic in your home. It's what's next after electricity.
Student mage Laura Ferno has designs on the future: her mother died trying to reach space using magic, and Laura wants to succeed where she failed. But first, she has to work out what went wrong. An ...more
Discovered in the 1970s, magic is now a bona fide field of engineering. There's magic in heavy industry and magic in your home. It's what's next after electricity.
Student mage Laura Ferno has designs on the future: her mother died trying to reach space using magic, and Laura wants to succeed where she failed. But first, she has to work out what went wrong. An ...more
Web Original
Published
December 13th 2014
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Community Reviews
(showing 1-30 of 377)
There have been many stories which say they are about defining what magic is and giving it strict rules. All these stories have nothing on this one.
minor spoilers for chapter 4ish on
This is book by a science nerd, for science nerds. It's got heaps and heaps of techno babble, which rather than sounding completely ridiculous (star trek), it sounds like the author has a deep understanding of the way that magical physics works, and how people would use and think about it. The technobabble builds off ...more
minor spoilers for chapter 4ish on
This is book by a science nerd, for science nerds. It's got heaps and heaps of techno babble, which rather than sounding completely ridiculous (star trek), it sounds like the author has a deep understanding of the way that magical physics works, and how people would use and think about it. The technobabble builds off ...more
When I complained that Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality had little scientific exploration of magic even though the protagonist was eager and well equipped to do so, a friend recommended this book. I was not disappointed.
It takes place in a world much like ours except that a new branch of physics was discovered in the 1970s. It was called magic because its practice vaguely resembles the old superstitions (staff, spells in a weird language, bracelets, drawings on the floor, etc.). It is ...more
It takes place in a world much like ours except that a new branch of physics was discovered in the 1970s. It was called magic because its practice vaguely resembles the old superstitions (staff, spells in a weird language, bracelets, drawings on the floor, etc.). It is ...more
Coherent and packed with action. Will read again.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Ra, published as a web serial (but which I read in e-book form), starts off as story about a group of talented students set in a world were magic has been discovered in the 1970s and has become an important field of scientific study. In the first handful of chapters it offers a strong portrayal of the discovery of magic and the life of students who study it, that's very rich in atmosphere. Subsequently the story switches gears a couple of times, as the focus shifts towards the world's hidden his
...more
Ra is incredibly clever, has a fantastic plot energy and a genuine sense of mystery. The worldbuilding which powers the mystery is supremely confident, and it's great fun to uncover each new clue. The emphasis on characters, organizations and even magical powers behaving logically is something you don't even notice is missing in most fiction until you see it emphasized like this. Slightly deeper characterizations and fuller settings are all that's keeping this from being an SF bestseller.
The fir ...more
The fir ...more
I love the concept here, and the story plays out pretty neatly. My biggest problem is that the narrative hops around a lot -- and for a story that relies heavily on things happening at a lot of disparate points in time, that can quickly become confusing.
Definitely a story worth re-reading.
Definitely a story worth re-reading.
Aug 02, 2015
Una
rated it
liked it
Recommends it for:
tiem, kuriem gribas jautāt, kā tieši brīnumi notiek un kā tie ietekmē pasauli
Recommended to Una by:
maģijas un zinātnes fani
Interesants hibrīds starp zinātnisko fantastiku un fantāziju. Iztēle/brīnumainība un tehnika satiekas ļoti loģiskā, bet pārsteidzošā sfērā, kurā tās satiekas arī mūsu pasaulē. Tur ir maģija, daudz zinātnes un daudz, daudz pārgudras kaušanās, visādu intrigu un ilūziju. Ja man būtu svarīgi, kas ar tiem varoņiem notika, būtu jāpārlasa kādas pāris reizes, lai to saprastu, bet diemžēl nav īsti. Taču atceros, ka vismaz viens no pavērsieniem bija tiešām foršs. Tas bija saistīts ar atšķirību starp galve
...more
Plot holes and inconsistencies aside, the story was a lot of fun. Sam's a decent all-around author, but also has a real knack for thinking up interesting science fiction ideas and then running with them to some pretty extreme conclusions.
Inventive worldbuilding, and overall really well done. Only complaint (and it's minor) is that there was a lot of plot that happened maybe 2/3 through, and that it happened so abruptly that it was hard to follow. Might just have been me though. I thoroughly recommend this book for sci-fi folks and fans of detailed worldbuilding.
the end wasn't what i expected, but since the story was consistently never what i expected, i'm satisfied. that was a hell of a ride.
Always a fan of the Stephensonesque writing style. (view spoiler)
Still thinking of the good bits a month later, so that's a sure sign of success.
Also, publishing the playlist was a nice touch.
Still thinking of the good bits a month later, so that's a sure sign of success.
Also, publishing the playlist was a nice touch.
so, magic is real
(and a weird branch of physics)
but then shit goes down
(and a weird branch of physics)
but then shit goes down
Compelling world building, mechanics, possibly the "hardest" fantasy I've ever seen. A non-linear execution reminiscent of unfolding layers of origami, seamless switches between POV to construct a mind-boggling story that felt far larger and more epic in sweep and scale than its word count should have allowed. Let down by weaker character writing and an ending which honestly, strips the main characters of agency, but otherwise a compelling read.
This was great on a sentence and chapter level, but as a complete work it feels like something is missing. Ra reads sort of like a collection of related short stories (though I think to a lesser extent than Ed or Fine Structure by the same author), or an abridged best-of version of a full book, and developments in character and plot are passed over as we move basically from critical scene to critical scene. It's still awesome though.
I had no idea where things were going for nearly 3 quarters of this book, maybe more. It STILL gets my recommendation for exploring an idea I had never seen done before.
Beautifully, mind-bendingly complex sci-fi. A real pleasure to puzzle through.
A very non-trivial, interesting and original sci-fi story. Complicated enough to be worth a second read.
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Oct 19, 2016 12:59PM