
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
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 2 Oct 2026, 05:28 UTC
Entry forecast updated 2 Oct 2026, 05:28 UTC
Ranking model: rs-public-oracle-state-v1
Forecast model: rs-model-entry-v1
Chart history contains only this ranking model's runs; legacy points are not spliced in.
Coupled 14-day outlook
rs-joint-entry-copula-v1
Any eligible RS entry
3%
Two or more lists
0%
Likely threshold order: Sci-fi → Action → Adventure → Main.
Leading bundle: Sci-fi (2%).
Estimated from one fitted shared story path; category probabilities are not multiplied as if lists were independent.
Separate entry forecast; this probability does not enter the ranking score.
Overall Rising Stars Shadow RS rank
#6247 of 12,145 · 6197 below RS #50
By genre
beats 48% of similar stories
beats 25% of similar stories
beats 87% of similar stories
Mid-pack, room on both levers
Traffic and conversion both sit mid-field for a story this size. Growth here compounds from consistency: steady cadence feeds traffic, and a sharper hook lifts what each view is worth.
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.
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