March 2026
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    This feels like such a specific Type Of Plot, but don't know if there's actually a name for it.

    Essentially, a character or characters are stuck someplace and the tension of the story comes from managing the ways that the environment is trying to kill them. There's often a very strong 'ticking clock' element, and a note of 'okay but if someone was in this situation, how would it go down?'

    Examples are things like The Martian and A Fall of Moondust. Doesn't have to be hard scifi/prompted by an accident/contain a rescue subplot– I'd probably say that the first Hunger Games book counts as well– but I would prefer something that leans heavy on the thriller/pacy side of things. Lord of the Flies is probably not the kind of thing I'm looking for, but I wouldn't rule it out.

    by Honeycomb246

    3 Comments

    1. FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven. It got mixed reviews in my book club but I thought it presented a lot of good discussion points.

    2. maybemaybenot2023 on

      Doomsday Book by Connie Willis- a doctoral history student is sent back in time to research her period, but time travel isn’t perfect, and she ends up in the middle of the plague years in Britain, which is not her research area, and the people in her own time have no idea when she actually is.

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