Recommendation for books where protagonist discovers mysterious world together with the reader
Hi, just finishing Inverted World by Christopher Priest. Loving it and it made me realise what I actually love the most about sci fi/fantasy books.
It’s when protagonist doesn’t understand the world or setting that they are in and reader discovers it together with them. This is crucial part for me. I don’t want a world where it feels mysterious but character is familiar with it and it’s just reader discovering it by protagonist actions, the protagonist should feel as lost and surprised as me. The world should feel alien, mysterious and unexplained at first, with the rules and nature gradually revealed as the story progresses. Stanislaw Lem’s books seem to perfectly fit what I am looking for but I read most of them (didn’t enjoy some of them as much as the ones I listed below).
The world building doesn’t necessarily have to be complicated.
Some examples of the books I read, love and I feel they match what I am looking for:
- Inverted World
- Rendezvous with Rama by Clarke
- Solaris by S. Lem
- I who have never known men by J. Harpman
- The Invincible by S. Lem
- Eden by S. Lem
- Fiasco by S. Lem
- Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock (maybe a bit less here as the world isn’t so alien by still fits a bit)
- Priest story from Hyperion
Some booked that could have worked but didn’t:
- Roadside Picnic - it was okay, but characters already knew the Zone and knew what they are looking for so there wasn’t a lot of mystery to discover
- Pushing Ice - had moments but the mystery was a bit lost at some point between politics and intrigue, still solid title though!
- Blindsight - just didn’t click with me
- Ringworld - I hated it lol