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DrWho42

Second-person Prose in the 24th Century

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Would second-person prose be the dominant form in the 24th century with the popularity of holonovels?

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I don't think so. Second-person prose is a bit irritating to read unless it's one of these "what option do you choose now, if you choose this, go to page 3, if you choose that, go to page 5" books that used to be rather popular among kids when I was young. I'd actually say that holonovels are not written in second-person either, they just offer the opportunity for someone to play one of the characters who appear. I'd say they're still written in good old style and only become interactive through the holodeck/holosuite. But that's just a guess. I just can't see second-person prose as very popular, no matter what century.

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I'm not even sure you could call it prose. You would be witnessing the novel play out in real time, maybe even playing the part of a character yourself. Prose is written.

Yeah, granted. I should have said "narrative" instead. I guess you could argue that holonovels are the descendant of text-adventure games like Zork.

 

 

I don't think so. Second-person prose is a bit irritating to read unless it's one of these "what option do you choose now, if you choose this, go to page 3, if you choose that, go to page 5" books that used to be rather popular among kids when I was young.

Irritating at first. It takes a while to get used to. I've found "Halting State" by Charles Stross to be quite good after that.
I just can't see second-person prose as very popular, no matter what century.

Yeah, I was just thinking what the transition would be like between the age of holodecks to the alternate 31st Century Archer encountered in the two-parter "Shockwave". From holonovels that had you as the main character to having to regress technologically. Except: Did Daniels ever say whether the destruction of humanity was a gradual process or something much quicker? Either way, the first-person and third- will probably continue to reign since it's not like all of literature got lost in World War III and the Eugenics Wars. Edited by DrWho42

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^

 

Indeed, quite a few people even still read ordinary books and have large collections of classics and whatnot. (Jean-Luc, for example. Hehe.)

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