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To the Stars
Kyubey promised that humanity would reach the stars one day. The Incubator tactfully refrained from saying too much about what they would find there.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 8, 2021
Madoka in a high-sci-fi military focused space opera is probably one of the more insane settings out there, but this is genuinely one of the most fun and well thought out worlds I've read about. Every chapter makes the world feel more alive and despite it's gigantic length, To The Stars somehow never ends up just dragging along. Cannot recommend enough if you've watched Madoka! (And if you haven't you should do that anyway~)
October 21, 2020
Cutesy magical girls with impractical outfits and improbable weaponry in a far future hard sci-fi story featuring relativistic combat, group minds, heavy genetic engineering and transhumanism, AI ships with personalities a la the Culture, multi-system civilisations, seemingly truly alien aliens, and impeccable tactics and game theory.
All of this wrapped up in a mystery plot centered around the characters of a manga/anime set hundreds of years in the past, in present-day Tokyo. There are also a large cast of new characters who are surprisng interesting, memorable, and easily differentiable. I particularly enjoy the encyclopedia entries and other documents presented at the start of each chapter to provide detailed context on the world, its history, and it's inhabitants. I wonder why this technique is not more widely used.
All of this wrapped up in a mystery plot centered around the characters of a manga/anime set hundreds of years in the past, in present-day Tokyo. There are also a large cast of new characters who are surprisng interesting, memorable, and easily differentiable. I particularly enjoy the encyclopedia entries and other documents presented at the start of each chapter to provide detailed context on the world, its history, and it's inhabitants. I wonder why this technique is not more widely used.
March 19, 2020
(Review up to ch. 51 as the work is unfinished as of now).
"To the Stars" is a military SF/space opera fanfiction of Madoka Magica.
The writing is generally acceptable; it starts wobbly but improves throughout and while TtS starts leaning heavily on the characterization of the original work, it adds a large cast of original characters and some extra flesh to old ones as it progresses. However, there are a number of features which make TtS actually good and unique.
The world is "lovingly crafted" and chock full of details in a flagrant display of literary maximalism, detailing technologies, tactics, organizations and history through many in-universe blurbs and brochures and Wiki articles. It is also honestly and refreshingly transhumanist, depicting obvious improvements on human welfare and condition as such.
It is also remarkable for being enjoyable for me while being military SF in part. I'm generally lukewarm about the genre, because it appears to be mostly either reflection on contemporary war, which is usually stale and boring (and best explored in other media), or some combination of banal machismo, utter technological stupidity, and tired tropes about military dysfunction.
In contrast, the military aspects of TtT are 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.
Later on, TtS also noticeably improves on character writing, architecting and finishing satisfying character arcs for the old magical girls (Yuma, Kyouko, Mami). So, I'm looking forward to what is to come.
"To the Stars" is a military SF/space opera fanfiction of Madoka Magica.
The writing is generally acceptable; it starts wobbly but improves throughout and while TtS starts leaning heavily on the characterization of the original work, it adds a large cast of original characters and some extra flesh to old ones as it progresses. However, there are a number of features which make TtS actually good and unique.
The world is "lovingly crafted" and chock full of details in a flagrant display of literary maximalism, detailing technologies, tactics, organizations and history through many in-universe blurbs and brochures and Wiki articles. It is also honestly and refreshingly transhumanist, depicting obvious improvements on human welfare and condition as such.
It is also remarkable for being enjoyable for me while being military SF in part. I'm generally lukewarm about the genre, because it appears to be mostly either reflection on contemporary war, which is usually stale and boring (and best explored in other media), or some combination of banal machismo, utter technological stupidity, and tired tropes about military dysfunction.
In contrast, the military aspects of TtT are 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.
Later on, TtS also noticeably improves on character writing, architecting and finishing satisfying character arcs for the old magical girls (Yuma, Kyouko, Mami). So, I'm looking forward to what is to come.
October 15, 2016
"Kyubey promised that humanity would reach the stars one day. The Incubator tactfully refrained from saying too much about what they would find there."
One of the best pieces of fanfiction I've ever read, To The Stars follows Shizuki Ryouko, a newly contracted magical girl in the world of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, circa 2450. Earth is firmly post-scarcity, and since the unification of the various magical girl groups in the mid 22nd century, a magical girl can expect to live indefinitely. But 20 years ago, humanity encountered a hostile alien race and the military was hopelessly outmatched - quickly losing planets to the invaders. Until the hidden society of magical girls revealed themselves and joined the fighting, that is. Now, humanity stands a chance - but for a new contractee like Ryouko, that just means you get conscripted to join the fighting. And being a magical girl doesn't make you immortal, as anyone to have seen the show can attest...
One of the best pieces of fanfiction I've ever read, To The Stars follows Shizuki Ryouko, a newly contracted magical girl in the world of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, circa 2450. Earth is firmly post-scarcity, and since the unification of the various magical girl groups in the mid 22nd century, a magical girl can expect to live indefinitely. But 20 years ago, humanity encountered a hostile alien race and the military was hopelessly outmatched - quickly losing planets to the invaders. Until the hidden society of magical girls revealed themselves and joined the fighting, that is. Now, humanity stands a chance - but for a new contractee like Ryouko, that just means you get conscripted to join the fighting. And being a magical girl doesn't make you immortal, as anyone to have seen the show can attest...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews