Ra

Serial online fiction by Sam Hughes about magic being incorporated into science
==Length==
* Ch1 - 6.7 - 6.7
* Ch2 - 12.1 - 18.7
* Ch3 - 5.4 - 24.1
* Ch4 - 11.7 - 35.8
* Ch5 - 19.0 - 54
* Ch6 - 14.2 - 69
* Ch7 - 8.8 - ~78
* Ch8 - 10.1 - ~88
* Ch9 - 11.9 - ~100
* Ch10 - 17.4 - ~117
* Ch11 - 16.9 - ~134
* Ch12 - 12.1 - ~146
* Ch13 - 9.3 - ~155
* Ch14 - 0.1 - ~156
* Ch15 - 9.8 - ~165
* Ch16 - 7.3 - ~173
* Ch17 - 15.7 - ~188
* Ch18 - 13.0 - ~201
* Ch19 - 12.7 - ~214
* Ch20 - 15.3 - ~229
* Ch21 - 18.5 - ~248
* Ch22 - 11.6 - ~260
* Ch23 - 13.8 - ~273
* Ch24 - 9.9 - ~284
* Ch25 - 9.7 - ~293
* Ch26 - 13.3 - ~307
* Ch27 - 14.3 - ~321
* Ch28 - 14.6 - ~336
* Ch29 - 10.9 - ~347
* Ch30 - 9.5 - ~356
* Ch31 - 11.6 - ~368
* Ch32 - 5.9 - ~374
* Ch33 - 11.6 - ~385
* Ch34 - 12.3 - ~398
* Ch35 - 9.2 - ~407
* Ch36 - 10.4 - ~417
==First read (20th July - 13th December 2014)==
===Format===
Online
===Journal===
As one of Sam Hughes' major ongoing works, I had it earmarked and it often came up in discussion on reddit in various places including among HPMoR fans. On the 20th of July 2014 it came up in a thread on r/HPMOR and I was at Matthew and Caroline's feeling poorly with hay fever or something and I read the first few chapters. I decided it would be easy to zip through what had been written so far.
Over the course of the 20th and the 21st I read up to chapter 18. I found it very hard to follow, really, thinking it was very confused. Like there were chapters missing. I frequently couldn't tell if it was going in chronological order, had no idea what the characters were talking about, and felt like I wasn't grasping the implications of events and revelations.
On the 22nd I read up to Ch28. It continued to be hella confusing. It just kept escalating and spiraling and pulling the rug out from under my feet. I couldn't keep track of what scale I needed to be thinking on. It was just like nothing matters, anything is possible, there's no core upon which to plant my feet and build from. I'd definitely have stopped reading at this point if I hadn't been determined just to power through to the latest chapter so I could read spoilers about it on reddit.
On the 24th I read up to the latest Chapter, 34. I was pretty sure it was a bad story, but 'alexanderwales' was actively commenting on threads about each chapter on reddit, which made me think it it might be me that wasn't getting it. But all my previous criticisms held. I just couldn't figure out what the rules of the universe were, if there even were any that can be believed with confidence. I wasn't enjoying it.
At some point Chapter 35 came out and, on the 13th of December, the final chapter, 36, came out. I think I could probably go back and reread the whole thing now that I understand the actual reality underlying it all, but to justify my initial confusion I'm going to insist that it didn't do enough to rebuild reality after so ruthlessly and completely undermining the possibility of faith in any true reality.
===Rating===
-1
Category:Science fiction books
Category:Hard science fiction books
Category:Books read in 2014
Category:2010s books
Category:Books with -1 rating