
by Mr Reese
Earth lost the war and was conquered without a fight, without even knowing it was at war. The Batract Hyphae came with contracts and promises, but were only interested in humans as a workforce and as mercenaries to hold their vast empire together. Five decades have passed. Humanity’s progress has been stunted; Batract Integration Officers monitor everything and everyone. Bound for Sirius, the 1st Expeditionary Fleet has been ordered to crush another rebellion against the Hyphae. But beneath its formal orders lies a different purpose: to prepare for Earth’s uprising and to seek allies among the very species it was sent to destroy. Now, humanity must play to its strengths, using diplomacy where possible and domination where necessary, to end the threat to its freedom once and for all. What to Expect:Have you ever read an HFY sci-fi novel and wondered, “How did humanity get this strong?” Wonder no more. Upward Bound is a coming-of-age story for an entire species. Planned as a multi-book series, it tells the story of humanity and its allies freeing themselves from oppression and becoming powers in their own right. It follows the POV of influential officers as well as scientists simply doing science. Great emphasis is placed on how the technology could realistically work, based on modern scientific understanding. Think Stargate, but much farther into the future. If you enjoy grounded technology, alien politics, and humanity clawing its way toward greatness, this might be your next read. Reddit Rank Verification
No streak history
Rank updated 13 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Entry forecast updated 13 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Overall Rising Stars shadow rank
deep field · ~#244 of 7,531 · 194 below #50
By genre
beats 81% of similar stories
not enough data yet
beats 88% of similar stories
Firing on all cylinders
Traffic and conversion are both strong for a story this size. Readers are finding it and sticking — if Rising Stars is the goal, this is the moment to push.
At this conversion, the Sci-fi Rising Stars bar (≈1 new followers/day) costs about 358 views/day — the story currently gets ~846.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 50–149 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.