Quintessence is a choice-based work of science fiction by Andrea M. Pawley.
In this entry, you are one of many quanta in the universe, and you choose how the story keeps unfolding. The narration blends astrophysics with metaphysics in ways that never clearly define the reader as a character, which seems appropriate for a story about universes that are continually expanding, collapsing, merging, and separating.
The choices in Quintesence were less about deciding how my character acted, and more about choosing which actions would affect it. Events repeat over and over in this universe until one of your choices uncovers a way "out."
I appreciated how this entry tracked details like the age of my universe and the number of times that it had collapsed. Even when I was repeating choices that I had seen before, I knew that some type of progress was being recorded. I also liked the visual details that enhanced the presentation of the story.
I was less appreciative of the novelty cursor, which felt like it spent more time getting in the way than adding to the experience.
The language in this work did its best to relay events that are far outside the scope of my comprehension. Stars are formed, civilizations rise and fall, and black holes... do the astrophysics-y stuff that they do. I don’t always understand hard science discussions, but I thought the animal imagery added a novel twist to the story.
It explains the callous indifference of the universe as the extension of an aloof cat's bad behavior.
I found a few endings and decided to stop after it seemed like the quanta and the forever cat were all happy. I liked that one, even though the story can always begin again.
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