soben
You just posted this 4 hours ago… is this a glitch in the Matrix?
I just watched a video that covered this in part. You want to keep the player immersed in the game experience. The more interfaces you give them, the more they’re taken out of the experience.
So autosaves are a great way to keep the user interacting with the game and feeling immersed.
Not sure if Riot Baby counts, but I just finished that and The Dreaming Void.
I’m tracking my progress through the Hugo award winners, so I’m now reading Rendezvous with Rama and have the Broken Earth trilogy on hand for when I’m done that.
I wonder if this is why I haven’t enjoyed Dreaming Void or Pandora’s star as much as I thought I would. The focus definitely seems on the characters more than the world/science.
Meanwhile some of my favorite books involve exploring new worlds and delving deep into what they’re discovering: Aurora, Rendezvous with Rama, Long Earth, and the like.
It’s so hard to describe what really makes the books work for me, but the ones that stick out the most tend to follow along a few main threads lately:
“End of the World”: in which we follow characters, but are regularly given a top-down review of how things are happening on a global scale. “Lucifer’s Hammer” is a great example of this, as well as “Seveneves,” “40 Signs of Rain,” and maybe “Project Hail Mary”
“What if” looks at geopolitical intrigue: This plays out in which a new technologyis dropped in, or time has passed from modern era. How would things change? What societal structures would go through an upheaval and how would the various forces react. Good examples are “A World Set Free” by HG Wells, “The Long Earth,” and “The Expanse” – I think “Three Body Problem” fits here as well. “Dune” is a possible fit as well.
“ALIENS??”: books in which we discover new worlds, technology, and are exploring it for the first time. “Rendezvous with Rama,” “Aurora,” and “Ringworld” – “The Long Earth” also fits here.
I don’t know what it is, but I struggle with both series that take place in the Commonwealth. Pandora’s Star took quite a bit for me to get into, hooked me right as the book ended, but I enjoyed Judas Unchained after that.
I just finished Dreaming Void (Void #1), and it flowed the same as Pandora’s Star to me, but I’ve grown a little over that kind of lead-up and then just end the book. On top of that, the world shifted too much, and it’s hard for me to feel like I understand it in the slightest. I’ve been hesitant to continue it.
Almost feel like I want a side by side comparison of Muad’Dib sitting there vs Leto II when he’s full on sandworm.