To: Bill (and everybody else)
Re: Fiction that is not driven by characters
On further reflection, I think low emphasis on character isn't just an attribute of science fiction but a wide variety of genre fiction, including mystery novels, political or legal thrillers, spy novels, fantasy, and historical fiction. These are all genres that draw readers in without a strong emphasis on character. Yann loves those Master and Commander books for their detailed portrayal of a historical past, as much as the events themselves. And I'm pretty sure that James Bond is not actually the most important part of James Bond novels (Please correct me if I'm wrong Zach). What I am looking to write is genre fiction matching the diverse interests of you, me, our friends, and other people who really care about politics, culture, and design. Maybe call it design fiction.
For examples of this approach, try Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow or cyberpunk "science" fiction, such as "Snowcrash" by Neal Stephenson or "All Tommorrow's Parties" by William Gibson. Unfortunately these books are narrowly defined as "science" fiction and, despite their potential for a broader appeal, the vast majority of their audience is computer literate young men, i.e. me and Jon but not agata. My hope is that we can do better. Maybe, we can create compelling fiction that can both be informed by design and inform design.
I won't get into the larger morass of questions I think this is mixed up with (i.e. designers as mediamakers, design as media, user research as entertainment) but I am anxious to discuss this question further, so any thoughts would be very welcome.
EDIT: For Jon: An addendum on the importance of pictures. Isn't cover art in genre fiction a major factor in the decision to read or not to read? Just thinking how that should apply to web writing.