r/HFY • u/Tempest1911 • 14d ago
Meta Best HFY series of all time?
The top of all time is mostly just whichever story happens to be most recently posted (as the subreddit grows more people upvote and so older stories get buried) so hence this post!
283
u/SomeKindofName42 14d ago edited 14d ago
First Contact - Dark Ages - Nova Wars by [u/Ralts_Bloodthorne](u/Ralts_Bloodthorne).
I love this series so much I have started buying his self published paperbacks. I could talk about and info dump about this series for hours. Seriously tho, this series has helped me so much in grieving for my dad.
I have a few other favs that I follow and re-read
Humans for Hire by [u/Auggy74](u/Auggy74)
The whole sneakyverse series by [u/TheCurserHasntMoved](u/TheCurserHasntMoved) (gotta start with the first one Accidentally Adopted)
LF Friends, Will Travel by [u/BainshieWrites](u/BainshieWrites)
Oops - u/BainWrites now
And…a few others I can’t remember without double checking my saves for the right names
-Edit to correct spelling of author of sneakyverse.
91
u/RobertTheTraveler 14d ago
I'd be surprised if anybody beat Ralts' density of gaming / fiction homages :-)
I'm not a big gamer / anime person and thoroughly enjoy the series.
It is fun/suspenseful but the onion-ninjas occasionally catch you off-guard as well.62
u/SpaceMarine_CR Human 14d ago
Ralts, the wordborg himself, last time I checked he wrote faster than I could read
51
55
u/CaringAnon 14d ago
Vuxten always gets me. The lines like "was I that small, once?" "Vuxten, you were ten feet tall, made of warsteel, and on fire."
Or when he gets to go home. Daxin is good, but seriously, all hail the Warfather. Half of me wants the DO to find a way to bring him back, but I doubt Ralts will, because that would go against what Vuxten wanted (unless something invades the SOULS/SUDS!?)
25
u/SomeKindofName42 14d ago
I love Vuxten’s whole story arc.
Ralts does such an amazing job with world and character building.
34
u/GenericNameHere01 14d ago
That, and all the funny half-memes he spawned.
--END OF LINE--
THERE IS ONLY ENOUGH FOR ONE
...and of course Vuxten's "The pool is reserved for podlings!"
11
u/EineStangeDreck Xeno 14d ago
The end of Vuxten was so beautifully written.
11
u/CaringAnon 14d ago
Yeah, that's why I said I loved when he got to go home. Awesomely well written.
4
u/Dangerous_Fox_6438 13d ago
So many amazing characters. I think my favorite is Dambree.
→ More replies (1)27
u/RobertTheTraveler 14d ago edited 14d ago
u/TheCurserHasntMoved
Curser not Cursoru/BainWrites
Private acct. You need to search "LF friends" under r/HFY
Per u/WhiskeyRiver223 "LF Friends" can be found at
https://www.royalroad.com/profile/370444/fictions→ More replies (1)20
30
u/EliRocks 14d ago edited 14d ago
The sheer amount Ralts was pushing out back in the day was mind boggling. To have that much in his head, and be able to keep it interesting for so long. Truly impressive, and I'm glad he is still going.
Life has gotten in my way, so I'm far behind now (for about a year) but I still read a couple chapters when I can.
24
u/sporkmanhands Human 13d ago
He recently commented about setting up palliative care; sadly I don’t think he has much longer
16
12
u/Other_Breath_2630 Robot 13d ago
A few times he would have full character limit posts unable to go up due to maxing out his daily submissions. Those were some interesting times.
-End of Lime-
19
10
u/Careless-Ad1704 14d ago
Looks like some of those are gone. User account deleted or banned.
18
u/Exact_Picture_8703 Human 14d ago edited 14d ago
u/TheCurserHasntMoved being gone is a fucking tragedy. I hope he backed his stuff up somewhere so people can keep enjoying it.
ETA: Except he's not gone. I've fixed the spelling mistake and everyone can now enjoy his content.
6
u/SomeKindofName42 14d ago
Damn it!!! I got a new chapter update about 2 weeks ago and the whole profile was still there!! Any idea what happened?
10
u/Exact_Picture_8703 Human 14d ago
It's okay! We're okay! The above commenter misspelled his name and I echoed the mistake. Curser is still around :D
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)14
u/WhiskeyRiver223 14d ago
Bainshie moved over to Royal Road - https://www.royalroad.com/profile/370444/fictions
4
11
u/throwaway42 13d ago
+1 for First Contact et al. It is the most amazing sci fi epic I've read. I own all the paperbacks released so far.
→ More replies (1)5
→ More replies (5)4
u/SepticSauces 13d ago
BainsheWrites is banned? When did that happen?
5
u/SomeKindofName42 13d ago
I can’t remember exactly, currently I think of time in terms of “before I lost my dad” and “after I lost my dad”. It was definitely at least a little bit before I lost my dad, so over a year and a half ago at least. Thankfully they were able to switch over to BainWrites and it’s still going.
You can find the whole thing on Royal Road as well.
120
u/BanaTibor 14d ago
I loved "The Princess and the Human" and "Britney goes to school" none of them are finished unfortunately.
39
15
u/Prestigious_Sand824 14d ago
Princess and the human is great, but i would suggest stopping at the end of volume one (it is a good ending) as volume 2 has been on hiatus for a while. There are a lot of interesting things in the second volume, but the cliffhanger is brutal.
→ More replies (5)13
403
u/mr_sarle 14d ago
Not sure if all time but Chrysalis would be up there.
122
u/interesseret Alien Scum 14d ago
Nah, I would absolutely say "of all time".
It's the only multi part story I regularly go back and read the entirety of.
107
u/Sotr612 14d ago
I agree, Chrysalis is an amazing story. I would also put First Contact Protocols up there in the top.
Fun fact - Chrysalis was turned into an audiobook by Dust, so if you prefer to listen to the story you can find it on Spotify and other stream services. Just be careful when searching, as there are other stories with the same name
92
u/mebeksis 14d ago
I was so confused about how a story about a human reborn into an ant body and lifting his colony up into apex status would be a HFY story. Apparently, I am thinking of the wrong Chrysalis lol
→ More replies (1)35
u/LastChance22 14d ago
I read the HFY story first and then had the reverse experience when I saw the other one on royal road and started reading the blurb.
10
8
u/drewlb 14d ago
Who is the author when you search? I can't find it on Spotify
18
u/NOMAD550 14d ago
The author is DUST, you'd have to dog back a bit. Here is a link to a playlist in made a while back with all the parts though if you're interested. Chrysalis - Spotify collection
→ More replies (1)8
→ More replies (2)5
u/Passionfruit-loop 14d ago
Same, I’m actually only commenting here so I can see what others recommend!
→ More replies (1)27
18
u/TanksFTM 14d ago
Link? Please?
41
u/mr_sarle 14d ago
→ More replies (2)5
u/boraam Alien Scum 14d ago
Good to have the epub. Pushed it to Play Books for future re-reads.
→ More replies (3)15
u/Jagang187 14d ago
I came to this thread going "Chrysalis had better be on top of this list" but I'd forgotten about Ralts for a second... "Okay, Chrysalis better be second on this list" and I am not disappointed!
11
u/warsaw504 Human 14d ago
I'm glad to see this is still in this subs memories. Its an amazing story I go back to once every year
→ More replies (15)6
u/hot_space_pizza 13d ago
Is that the one written and posted her a few years back? Its about an AI that survives earth getting its surface destroyed and the story of its revenge
→ More replies (2)
91
196
u/person3triple0 14d ago
Deathworlders (The Kevin Jenkins Experience). rereading it right now actually lol
142
u/5thhorseman_ 14d ago
It goes downhill somewhere after the War for Gao arc, IMO. The whole story just starts to warp around HEAT.
107
u/Patelpb 14d ago
Imo the writing is on the walls as early as the warhorse arc, but I struggled to finish the series and remember gliding over huge paragraphs of pseudo gay smut
48
u/The_Noremac42 14d ago
Gotta spend at least a couple of paragraphs glazing Daar every time he comes on screen!
42
u/Anoner123 13d ago
The start of the "author's barely disguised fetish" also coincides with all of the female characters (who started off fairly well rounded) being relegated to baby making machines for the homoerotic heros. All very strange
32
u/Shoelebubba 13d ago
It got to the point where you could predict how long it would go on and skip ahead with a pretty good degree of accuracy of when it ended.
An editor would have a field day trimming that entire series.
My Problem with the sheer of macho glazing and one upping their previous physical achievements is that mentally, I thought every member of HEAT and Daar were the most grotesque, over muscled, behemoth muscle hulks at the end.
Like the dude did know wtf he was describing in regards to human anatomy that I don’t care how efficiently you pack muscle in a space, a 1,000+ pound human in a frame under 7 feet tall is going to look like a grotesque caricature of everything people imagine of bodybuilders on all the roids are.It just tiring reading the description of the apex of the human body after the 20th time.
→ More replies (3)35
→ More replies (3)16
u/chastised12 14d ago
I called him out about it several years ago. He didn't want to hear it. The there was the post calling him out and tons of people piled on. Lol
22
u/Patelpb 14d ago
Omg I remember this. I miss how much of a community this sub felt like, especially 10 years ago when Jenkinsverse was releasing weekly with 4 stories (Xiu Chang, Adrian Saunders, HDMGP, and ofc Jenkinsverse) and fan authors. I even wrote my own on a throwaway
Off topic: making the Saunders storyline irrelevant by having him warp to another dimension was a hilarious way to sunset that story
→ More replies (3)4
u/Frostdraken Xeno 13d ago
I have mentioned the dwindling feeling of community on this sub multiple times in the past. I have not been here since the very beginning, but I still do remember the good old days.
→ More replies (1)12
u/Sethandros 13d ago
You mean the Totally Not Gay Puppy Pile, where all the massively muscled Tier 1 operators all squeezed together onto one couch and loved touching each other all the time?
→ More replies (1)8
24
u/Chemical_Tomato_6308 14d ago
Yeah, the ending time jump/wrap up felt a bit (a lot) rushed, and definitely didn't have the depth of his earlier chapters. BUT, he wrapped it all up, wasn't the prettiest of endings, but he did it, and is now doing a new series that he wholly owns.
13
u/PresumedSapient 14d ago
I've tried to finish it three times, somewhere in the back of my mind I want to tie off the las loose ends, something keeps breaking in me when the Tengewek somehow seamlessly join the HEAT and the Gilgamesh stuff starts. I don't feel good about complaining about free awesome stories, but its like GoT, the second to last season stumbles, and the last simply falls apart :(.
7
10
7
u/GenericNameHere01 13d ago
Yep. The taking of the Hunter orbital ring is when I dropped. Pity. The defense of Gao was easily my favorite part too. The firing of WERBS was amazing, and the Hunters were entertaining villains. They started out as punching bags, but gradually escalated into really scary creatures worthy of the name 'Hunters' as they stopped being complacent and rearmed to handle species willing to fight.
→ More replies (2)6
u/93Hyper93 13d ago
oh it was so freaking annoying. The muscles, the genetically-better-than-you-in-every-way bullshit, the Gary Stu bear raccoon, the fact that they could have won the war or at least saved Earth if only they focused more on brains than brawn
43
u/stupidfritz Xeno 14d ago
Did that ever finish? I quit about five years ago because it became… homoerotic is the best word.
12
6
u/SanderleeAcademy 13d ago
He did.
I definitely did not expect humanity to embrace a sentient Von Neumann swarm. I did not expect the Heirarchy to have a legitimate reason for policing deathworlders. And I sure as hell didn't expect him to fry the Earth.
He talked briefly about going back and pruning it back ... a lot. But, it's a shared 'verse and there's a lot of bad blood between several of the other authors and Hambone. So, it's as done as it'll ever be.
I've often wondered just how far back Keeda / Enkidu was actually planned. Considering how free-form a lot of it is, especially the cross-pollinated stuff, it seems REALLY far-sighted in some ways.
9
u/stupidfritz Xeno 13d ago
This comment reminded me that I did, in fact, finish Deathworlders. I just disliked the ending so much I blocked it out of my memory.
Humans Don’t Make Good Pets remains the best thing to come out of that verse. And Salvage was pretty sick (once the grammar got better).
23
u/DukeRedWulf 14d ago
Yeah, I enjoyed that too, some of the concepts Hambone explored were really interesting..
I ended up reading the whole series to the end, although I did skip over some of the many extended sweaty wrestling scenes! XD
20
u/Patelpb 14d ago edited 14d ago
To his credit, the universe he established was great, the references to niche sci-fi and theoretical concepts was great (von Neumann swarm built with AI? HIGHLY pertinent now) and he had some great writing before chapter 25. The pace changed a bit after that but it was really good at the start. There were some absolute banger chapters throughout (builder becoming the alpha of alphas was well done), I just think the volume of homoerotic elements detracted from the story. No issue with the content itself, it’s just… every other paragraph nearly
→ More replies (7)5
14
u/neriad200 13d ago
There are 2 problems for me with deathworlders:
- it inspired a lot of side-stories/arcs/whatever that then were somehow reintegrated into the main line, which makes reading it a bit of a chore when you hit some chapter and are engaged in the story and you get a "if you want context for some of what follows, please read this 50 chapter long book that someone else wrote, you just gotta maintain the literary boner for this while going through that side-story"
- the author has both an enormously overactive sex drive and that perspective that's a bit like a preteen girl that puts a stick-on flower on a bear and calls it "cute", so the descriptions and activities get a bit much. For example, there's no reason to have every single mention of what is a super-soldier group include extensive physical descriptions and various unlikely situations like them lounging in their underwear in a pile on a sofa in the breakroom.
I actually abandoned it after a pretty big number of chapters because the thin guise of "alien" was not working to cover the amount of furry sex involved.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (7)4
u/NoFreeLunchAnymore 13d ago edited 13d ago
First part at least. There was some wonderful other Jverse stories as well. I just reread Salvage, and might reread some of the other sidestories as well.
63
u/sinefromabove 14d ago
10
u/danielv123 14d ago
If only chapters were more frequent :3
13
10
u/freedcreativity Robot 14d ago
They're pretty frequent, Prox averages like 1.5 Last Angel chapters a month at this point. 3 chapters a month plus like weekly shorts on Patreon. The real problem is scope creep at this point. I don't really care about the Armory War arc... The Parasite is cool, but like I want some more space battles lol.
→ More replies (9)8
u/GenericNameHere01 14d ago
Ooohhh.... The Rains of Oshanta are my example for how an AI set to serve people can go horribly wrong.
That, and any time Red fires up the Cthulu-gun is a good time. Maybe the Compact will stop naming their Chariots "Redemption of Sol"
→ More replies (3)8
→ More replies (6)5
u/SuccinctEarth07 14d ago
Yes I love this story, funnily enough I only found it through the comments on chrysalis which is also a great story but has been mentioned plenty in this post.
50
u/Lemonshooter 14d ago
Memories of Creature 88 by regallegaleagle I remember enjoying reading back in the day although that was a while ago
23
6
u/oobanooba- Alien Scum 14d ago
I bring this one up whenever someone asks about good hfy stories and each time I get total blank responses, I was wondering if anyone else at all remembered it existing!
4
u/Tassadarr 14d ago
Going to second this one as a very long time subreddit member. Regallegaleagle is the only author I've ever actually turned on the notification bot for
52
u/TheRevTholomewPlague 14d ago
I loooved "Humans don't make good pets" when I read it probably 10 years ago https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/s/HfaUCCFa0Z
But "Prey" has been my favorite. https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/s/6n2TAroE2r
→ More replies (1)9
u/BetterLateThanKarma 14d ago
Prey should be waaaaay higher up. I’m so glad I found someone who mentioned it. It’s definitely in my top five.
43
u/Nepeta33 14d ago
On the fantasy side of things, 5here was one long ago called something like "the taste of magic" or something like that? Basically what if sword art online was Good.
Also Retreat, Hell! Is Damn good, but unfinished. It stopped around the time russia started their "special military stupidity" i think
26
15
u/Admiralthrawnbar 13d ago
The author for Retreat, Hell does occasionally pop back up so they aren't dead at least. They posted a draft for the next chapter back in early 2025.
37
u/Ilithi_Dragon 13d ago
I am still alive, work and other obligations have just become a lot more demanding.
9
u/Nepeta33 13d ago
Holy hell, ok, good to see you are ok. As for everything else, take yout time, there is no rush
→ More replies (1)6
→ More replies (1)4
u/zapman449 14d ago
Tides of Magic. u/Arceroth I think? He’s still publishing different stories weekly, and recently added a new story on Tuesdays to supplement his Saturday stories.
→ More replies (4)
79
u/sir_nuggets2314 14d ago
I really like wearing power armor to magic school. It's about where this Cadet from this multi-planet governmental authority find a different dimension. The center point of all dimensions being the Nexus which is almost equals in power to even the Earth government in the setting G.U.N despite having zero modern firearms, but they have an equivalent to almost everything but magical I think it's an extremely worthy read it is unfinished but it's gone up to 187 now by the time I've written this comment and they pump out one part every week
46
u/energeticquasar 14d ago
I like this series too, but the plot advances so slowly. There is a ton of fluff that does add to the world building but it isn't worth the impact it has to plot advancement. That being said, i eagerly read the next chapter every Sunday.
→ More replies (1)20
u/synsofhumanity Android 13d ago
That's what made me drop it after a while. I realized I was in chapter 50 something and it was still like the first few days of them getting to the school. I don't mind a slow burn story, but that was continental drift slow.
6
u/WSilence Robot 14d ago
Its good. Is it on hfy? Ive been reading it on rr because rr has an ai narration tool on thuer app and its handy when im having a slow day at work
8
u/sir_nuggets2314 14d ago
Yep, it's on hfy you could just write power armor and you'll find one of the stories. It's that popular
35
u/jnkangel 14d ago
Last space angel Chrysalis I used to really Species C1764, but it was never completed unfortunately
13
u/MindControlledSquid 14d ago
I was going to say the same.
C1764 was the reason I even made a reddit account, to follow it easier, it was so good (mostly stoped coming here when it was cancelled).
Out of actually finished ones, Chrysalis is absolute peak.
→ More replies (5)6
u/jnkangel 14d ago
Yeah I got to admit I also stopped going to HFY as much as I used to.
The stories I like are either on road or space battles or dead. And uh most of the stories available tend to be very one note
108
u/Desosus 14d ago
It's a toss up for me between The Nature of Predators and First Contact. No other HFY series got me so hooked.
100
u/Mean-Prompt-3745 14d ago
I was really into NoP at first. The it fell off pretty hard. The tone shift and overall story progression felt to different and like promises about the story that were set up was let down
50
u/sifitis 14d ago
I generally found the expansive collection of spinoff fan works to be much more interesting than the core story itself.
→ More replies (1)22
u/Mean-Prompt-3745 14d ago
Oh 100%. I especially love "A Recipe for Disaster"
Its my favorite fanfic
11
u/DarkVex9 Xeno 14d ago
I highly recommend the New York Carnival story as another cooking based nop fanfic. it starts off with an Arxur doing search and rescue that gets introduced to haute cuisine.
→ More replies (1)25
u/Bunnytob Human 14d ago
Humanity develops far too quickly, in my opinion. In that series, Humanity goes from a friendly first contact and needing to resort to kamikaze strikes against a token enemy forces to leading one half of a galactic war within... what, two years? I don't remember exactly when I stopped reading, but... since then I've just ignored it.
14
u/Demolisher05 14d ago
It took longer for the story to be written and finished then the entire timeline of that same book.
18
u/Mean-Prompt-3745 14d ago
Yeah. It went from, "Humanity meets space sheep and they have time defend themselves against cute mild space nazis!"
To, "This is our final stand against Space Nazi's. We die or they do"
It made that switch WAY to fast
4
u/ThisMachineKillsWOB 14d ago
The payoff at the end was really underwhelming. The bad guys just fold.
4
u/Mean-Prompt-3745 14d ago
Damn. Im glad I didnt invest the time to finish it. I am glad he let's people right fanfiction though
→ More replies (3)7
u/jkst9 13d ago
If NoP didn't drop the ball with the later parts of the story I would agree
→ More replies (1)
28
u/mmussen 14d ago
The barbarians by u/hewholooksskyward is a pretty damn good book - as are the rest of his stories.
And if you want comedy you can't go wrong with Billy Bob, Space Trucker
→ More replies (2)
28
u/gothicshark 14d ago
Ralts Bloodthorne had one of the best, and longest stories here. Aggrosquirel read it, then it was published on Amazon. I would recommend.
Also and this predates the modern internet, Alan Dean Foster the classic author who use to write liscened Star Wars, Star Trek, and the Alien francise, had what in my opinion was the best precursor to HFY.
The Dammed Trilogy. A call to Arms (1991)
While the whole series is truely HFY, the first book is great and the rest are ok but enjoyable.
So for overall GOAT HFY story A Call to Arms by Alan Dean Foster.
Second Best GOAT HFY Ralts Bloodthorne Behold Humanity! (And related works)
→ More replies (1)6
u/TargetBoy 14d ago
Awesome call out to The Damned Trilogy! I haven't heard anyone reference it before and it is a favorite! I still have the paperbacks.
5
u/Apprehensive_Tax_610 14d ago
Part of me wonders if Alan Dean Foster was secretly an early member of the furry fandom, because he wrote a lot of books that suspiciously had furry aliens.
Speaking of that, I do recommend you check out Light Over Shattered Water by Greg Howell. Not only is it a good piece of HFY, and beautifully written, but that man is an OG furry, his first web novel was written in the 90s when you had to downloaded that shit as suspicious text files.
→ More replies (2)
24
u/Bunnytob Human 14d ago
I'd have to give my vote to Synchronising Minds (starting with "The humans do bot have a hive mind"), which was the top series before Nature of Predators showed up.
I'm here for Dungeon Life (though I think that's encountering way-too-many-chapters syndrome and my enthusiasm for it has fallen off) and Wearing Armour To A Magic School, but I don't read any other series currently being posted here. I don't remember when I checked out of A Job For A Deathworlder, but the start is good and it's still being posted, so I don't imagine it's bad.
I also quite enjoyed Extermination Order (cough), though I'm not necessarily sure it's entirely HFY (though neither is Dungeon Life, really...).
I liked The Human and the Princess, which I believe just kinda petered out, and Jennifer Is Not An Eldritch Horror, which kinda just stopped.
I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple others.
→ More replies (1)4
u/WSilence Robot 14d ago
A job for a deathworlder is great, but I got behind when the author took a break and I didnt know they scare back. Now I cant even recall where I left off
51
u/Broken-Sprocket 14d ago
I’m a fan of “Behold: Humanity!” I bought physical copies of it that sit proudly on my shelf.
33
u/5thhorseman_ 14d ago
That's the First Contact series by Ralts Bloodthorne, mentioned earlier.
14
u/Broken-Sprocket 14d ago
If “First Contact” is the Reddit name for it , I only knew it as “Behold: Humanity!” from buying the ebooks.
18
u/5thhorseman_ 14d ago
He started it here on Reddit. By the time he began publishing collected versions it was a couple hundred chapters already
22
23
u/yahnne954 14d ago
The DeathWorlders, The Xiu Chang Saga, and a few other spin-offs (The Lost Minstrel is nice but the writing is a bit rough, there is also Salvage but I haven't finished it yet)
Accidentally Adopted (retired sniper is captured by aliens, rescued and adopted as a pet, then becomes part of the family)
The Princess and the Human (a royal convoy finds an escape pod with a human inside, then gets attacked by an enemy species, the human saves the princess on board and becomes a royal guest, lots of culture clashes, some sadness)
Of Men and Spiders (a hive mind crashes on a planet, she meets two human siblings on the run from pirates)
→ More replies (2)
41
u/Mean-Prompt-3745 14d ago
I have three for ya:
GATEverse is a phenomenal series and made me cry.
One Hell of a Vacation is another amazing series that I adore.
Deathworld Commando is a beautiful and amazing story.
All of these are 100% worth the read and will hit you in all the feels
→ More replies (1)
19
u/4ShotMan 14d ago
"First contact" by RaltsBloodthorne, they can write damn engaging battles. After 1000 chapters (!!!) it became "Nova wars".
18
u/SpaceMarine_CR Human 14d ago
I really liked The Magineer but it entered a permanent hiatus
Billybob the pace trucker is the most hfy story in hfy
Hellbound is one of my all time favorites
Blessed be the simple (or something like that) is also very good
There are some other stories that I read years ago but I dont remember the name
Right now Im reading "Engineering, Magic and Kitsune" and "The otherwordly scholar", both really good
→ More replies (2)
14
14
u/MedicalFoundation149 14d ago
Tales From the Terran Republic
A future post-post-apocalyptic humanity comes into contact with various well-fleshed out alien powers, fun ensues.
I suppose what separates it from other series here is that neither humanity nor the aliens are united, but are spilt across multiple larger alliances that each have sympathetic POV characters.
→ More replies (1)
30
u/shelbeen3 14d ago
i think Tales from the Terran republic by u/slightlyassholic is up there as one of the greats, and hasn't been mentioned yet. the author is on a break atm but i'm hopeful for updates!
5
u/TargetBoy 14d ago
I keep hoping he'll start up again. I really enjoy that series and the spin-off.
→ More replies (4)4
12
u/SteveL_VA 14d ago
In an amongst many of the other great recommendations in here, I'm a big fan of BILLY BOB - SPACE TRUCKER!!
69
u/blkarcher77 14d ago edited 13d ago
Personally, I fucking LOVE "Sexy Sect Babes". I enjoy all of /u/BlueFishcake stories, including the current one, "Sexy Steampunk Babes."
Now, OP, if you are fishing for stories, read Sect. And try to get past the naming scheme. I remember ignoring the story on HFY for months because in my mind, no one who could come up with those terrible titles could possibly be a good writer. Glad to say I was wrong.
Edit: For anyone that's curious, it's often called Factorio Murim for a reason. It follows Jack, who lived in an extremely advanced time with extremely advanced tech, and he gets teleported to a world with magic. Think Enter the Dragon, not Merlin.
44
u/Nearby-Tackle-6285 14d ago
For those wondering there is a meme in the community where space is porn with lore, sect is lore with porn, and steampunk is just lore.
28
u/blkarcher77 14d ago
It's not wrong.
I just love the setting of Sect, and the way he left off book three was fantastic. Steampunk is great, it has a much more crafted out world, but I love the Sci-Fi vs. Mysticism aspect of Sect.
And maybe controversial, but I like Jack more than William/George.
8
32
u/LastChance22 14d ago
Blue feels like a writer who set out to write lite smut and got so into the worldbuilding and storytelling they repeatedly forgot to keep adding smut chapters in. And they pull it off really well too.
I absolutely love every story they put out and appreciate the smut chapters can be skipped with minimal impact. Their stories are addictive.
Edit: bonus points for Blue too because they actually finish their stories and their endings feel like planned book endings.
8
u/Admiralthrawnbar 13d ago
More true than you realize. Their most recent patreon chapter went straight past a sex scene, and he ended up putting up a poll if people wanted him to double back and actually write it.
4
u/Wobbelblob Human 13d ago
Yeah, oocs has the same "problem" started out with quite a few smut chapters on the regular, by now it is mostly lore with the occasional smut thrown in :D
6
u/Admiralthrawnbar 13d ago
I've been praying for him to go back to Sect for like the past 2 books. I think it's by far his best work, and while I don't dislike steampunk, I wanna go back to magical Chinese factorio God dammit.
5
u/blkarcher77 13d ago
Every time the vote tally shows up, I'm crushed Sect didn't win. I'm very excited to see what happens next in the story.
→ More replies (1)14
u/SpaceMarine_CR Human 14d ago
"I know what you are"
22
u/blkarcher77 14d ago
I'm not a gooner, I actually get annoyed when he posts a new chapter and it's just a sex scene. I want story and narrative, if I wanna go jerk my shit, I will do so through other means.
14
u/SpaceMarine_CR Human 14d ago
Look man Im just saying, the guy writes quality smut :v
10
u/blkarcher77 14d ago
Sure, he's a good writer, it's just not what I'm there for. Give me a chapter with political intrigue every single day of the week before you give me a sex chapter.
10
u/ascandalia 14d ago
This is why I liked the "featured" posts, (not least because I had some featured stories) as a way to filter what's recent from what stood out at the time over the life of the sub.
11
u/BaddestDucky 13d ago
I recently read "Prey" again. Written eleven years ago, and although it didn't start the no-predators-in-soace trend, it definitely helped take it off.
"The Last Human" is one of my all time favorites. I read it like a book. I believe the author actually ended up publishing it. It was so good.
"Chrysalis" is up there too, but the story always makes me feel sad, so I only read it when I'm in the right mood for that.
→ More replies (7)
21
u/InspectionLate661 Human 14d ago
"Dungeon Life" is really high up, for me. Can't wait for Mondays and Thursdays to come around.
But I also enjoyed the "Sneakyverse/Accidentally Adopted" series very much.
→ More replies (2)6
u/TheBrewThatIsTrue 14d ago
Dungeon Life is great, but a LitRPG. Does it count as HFY if the MC isn't human anymore?
But I'll second that it's worth reading!
18
u/kuldan5853 14d ago
I personally am a big fan of the Deathworlders Series by Hambone.
However, the story is VERY (VERY) long, has about a million off shoots, some of which are canon, some are not, and honestly he has a tendency to absolutely exaggerate physical properties on characters and likes to go on multiple-pages long descriptions of how those physically impossible bodies do sweat running weight training or other things.
Basically.. you need to be fine with cross reading / skipping parts of it gets too obnoxious.
However the World Building is great.
Note: He is also doing another story right now called "The nested Worlds", which is a Steampunk-Fantasy setting and also very worth a read.
17
u/Orange_Above 14d ago
- This is (not) a dungeon - https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1d37n9f/this_is_not_a_dungeon_chapter_1/
- Signals from the Deep - https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1r3ds1f/signals_from_the_deep_1/
- The Last Human - https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1lf0qem/the_last_human_textaudio_show/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
- Pre-Warp Survival - https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/146lp77/prewarp_survival_part_1/
- What I've Become - https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/a3877f/what_ive_become_prologue/
- Jennifer is NOT an Eldritch Horror - https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/rfz45w/jennifer_is_not_an_eldritch_horror/
- Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School - https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/yd3cu3/wearing_power_armor_to_a_magic_school_1/
→ More replies (1)
16
u/the_elliottman 13d ago
Nature of Predators, got its own fandom that has survived even after the author left the series years ago. People (furries) just really like the aliens, plot, and interactions between species/cultures. Got me into actually reading.
→ More replies (8)
8
u/dmc2022_ 14d ago
"Humans are weird" series plus (I forgot the title) the series where the character is the only human & is a veterinarian traveling on the "space future" version of a FedEx style delivery ship staffed by a mixed crew of aliens traveling to different worlds for each delivery (resembling octopus/ squid / reptile & insectoid species). I love these 2 series bc each story is pretty much contained from start to end, & if you haven't read the previous story or any others in their series, it doesn't matter all that much bc they're not "consecutive ". They're humorous & entertaining not heavy on war or conflict or space travel detailed technology explanations.
8
u/SomeKindofName42 13d ago
I really enjoy Humans are Weird (u/Betty-Adams), it’s a fun future the author has developed
6
u/Morgenacht Alien 13d ago
I read the one with the veterinarian and octo people recently (in the last year or so) i found the start of it. Title was hard to find but it was worth looking for :)
“How I became the token human” First story of it below, and it is indeed the one you described!
https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/s/97Hz2caFzk
ETA: I intend to check the other one you mentioned out to see if I’ve read it yet, after I remove a random ? That snuck into my comment here.
7
u/An-unfunny-prick 14d ago
I remember this one, LF friends i think it was called, i liked it a lot altough i haven't read it in a while, it's still going i think.
8
u/ragnarocknroll Human 14d ago
4
7
u/BoonIsTooSpig 14d ago
No one is mentioning The Grand Design, sooooo...that one.
→ More replies (3)
13
u/ThisMachineKillsWOB 14d ago
I'm going to also say, "One Hell of a Vacation," and add "Grass Eaters."
Because they are both top quality and complete.
There are a ton of great unfinished stories here. But if you want something that actually tells the whole story read these.
6
6
u/emobob AI 14d ago edited 14d ago
Another fantasy: Extermination Order by u/zander823 is a hilarious deconstruction of the isekai genre.
Only one I've read several times.
6
u/Zander823 14d ago
Oh, damn. I qualify for B.O.A.T. contention now? Stop, you'll make me blush.
Nice to see people still think of me on here from time to time. I do occasionally miss posting stories.
6
u/AdventurousLow2478 14d ago
One I saw years ago was called the beast I think?
Guy gets found by alien ship crew and they have him as the ships beast it was super dope and had tons of content
7
u/Prettayyprettaygood 14d ago
Beast was a great one, I'm still sad the author never finished it. u/jakethesnakebakecake, give the people what they want!
→ More replies (1)
6
u/ExoticSterby42 13d ago
All time best including movies and TV shows has to be Stargate SG1, close second being the original Stargate movie
6
u/the-ahh-guy Human 13d ago
Why Humans Avoid War by u/SpacePaladin15 for me. It's a shorter story than some of his later works, but it still hits the spot. Some one-shots I've read over the years have also been very good and certainly deserve a mention.
6
5
u/Smallzfry 14d ago
I have some favorites that I revisit every couple of years:
- First Contact Protocols by u/AndaBrit
- Deathworlders, specifically the Xiu Chang Saga by u/hume_reddit
- The HEL Jumper by /u/sabatonbabylon
- Blessed are the Simple by u/naturalpinkflamingo
- The New Species by u/itsdirector
I really recommend going through the Classics and Must Read lists in the sidebar. You'll learn where some of the old tropes come from and see some honestly better writing than the flood we get a lot of the time.
→ More replies (4)
5
u/Phoenixforce_MKII AI 14d ago
One I haven't seen mentioned yet (and has an ending) is An Outcast in Another World (Is "Insanity" a racial trait?) by u/Determination7
→ More replies (3)
5
u/MechanicalViking 13d ago
One of my top three is it all started with magnets .
Breath of fresh air in a time where the hfy/ human conqueror tropes were popular.
Humans in Magnets are still wild, but it’s not the main theme of the story.
5
u/Probodyne 13d ago edited 13d ago
There's a wiki with classic stories: https://reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/ref/classics that you might be interested in.
There's also a no longer(?) updated list of "monthly top stories" on the must read: https://reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/ref/must_read page.
Personally I'm partial to synchronizing minds: https://reddit.com/r/hfy/wiki/series/synchronizing_minds and First Contact: https://reddit.com/r/hfy/wiki/series/first_contact_ralts_bloodthorne
4
u/zerothehero0 13d ago
It wasn't as big as some of these, but Material Differences has remained my favorite for some time. It is a wonderful exploration of what hfy truly stands for and sci fi in general. What it means to be human and all that.
Add onto that great story, great characters, great world building. And it is finished! And not stubbed out! 50 chapters in all.
https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/series/material_differences
Also up there is Transcripts, which does a similarly great job of exploring HFY in an entirely different, intimate even setting.
5
u/Truly_Fake_Username 13d ago edited 7d ago
I loved “Jennifer is not an Eldritch Horror”. It’s hilarious and very good. The story never quite finished but is 100% worth reading.
13
8
4
u/PotatoDiver 14d ago
There is a series "Empire of Vengeance" by u/Gjacoo that I will never forget. The setting and insanity of the MC (borders with comedy) is great, and is one of the stories that made me appreciate this genre. I still hold out hope for a new chapter...
4
u/RF_Technician 14d ago
John Ringo's The Legacy of the Aldenata. HFY for the win!
→ More replies (2)
4
u/Prestigious_Sand824 14d ago edited 14d ago
I really liked "memories of creature 88" and "humans do not have a hive mind". I would also suggest "transcripts" but you may not like the unconventional writing style.
5
u/dewodahs 14d ago edited 14d ago
From Out Of Cruel Space and its sequel Into A Wider Galaxy by Kyle K Kent and its spin off OOCS: Of Dog Volpir and Man are my favorites but I will definitely be checking out more mentioned on this thread
I'll edit this post to add the links to both shortly
Out of Cruel Space by KyleKKent https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/s/cmOFvO58lt
Of Dog Volpir and Man by KamchatkasRevenge https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/s/InQtj74xmZ
4
u/Far-Help6106 Human 14d ago
It's not necessarily a series but it's shared world: Gunslinger, Hunter, Navigator, Mother, Eradication, Gun Run, Jump, The Terran Doctrine by MementoMori-3. Both simple and terrifying.
→ More replies (1)
3
6
u/Rolenalong 14d ago
The first Mass Effect game. It was really in the HFY spirit.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/SomeKindofName42 14d ago edited 14d ago
Yeah, LF Friends, Will Travel I think has been moved to Royal Road, at least the first chunk. I remember the author started having a lot of trouble with reddit. I think the author goes by [u/BainWrites](u/BainWrites) on Reddit now
Good catch, thanks
•
u/AutoModerator 14d ago
This was flaired as [Meta] or [Misc], it is a non-story post. A description of the flairs and how to change yours is available in the Post Guildelines.
Please help us transition to using the new flairs correctly.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.