Question related to reading fiction: How do you read and follow the story in fiction books that involve highly technical details of the world the book is set in? For eg, technical stuff in The Martian, and detailed descriptions of submarines, navy, US Defence etc in The Hunt for Red October?

Isn’t the fun of The Martian (and now Project Hail Mary) that the author makes the technical aspects accessible?

I am learning to let go of the details. Infact all those unnecessary descriptions annoy the f*ck out of me. Dropped "The Martian" due to that. I prefer to enjoy the plot without worrying about the technical details. But others may have a different opinion. Technical textbooks already take up enough brain compute. Can't handle the same gear turning experience when I am reading for leisure.

@damp-coat-97256 The technical details made the story plausible, loved reading those but didn’t understand most of it 😛, similarly for the author’s next book ‘Artemis’. @faint-energy-11966 I am learning to let go of the technical details as well and enjoy the plot after a long stint (2-3 years) of reading only non-fiction 😄. It does create a FOMO of sorts – if I’ll regret skipping the description in order to follow the plot later on.

But how do you read a detective story?

This is the dilemma I guess – when to read diligently, when to skim over the details.

But how do you read a detective story? Trust the author, I will say. If the author is good enough, they will never make important conversations or information seem hard to read. If you have to read a line again to understand what it says, the line is not probably much important, and you can carry on. Excellent authors like Agatha Christie and JK Rowling never write important lines in complex formations or with an information-overload. They keep it simple. The plot revealing lines are much simpler, and they should be. So, you are right, @damp-coat-97256, just go with the flow! Trust the Author! Their writing will guide you.

“If you have to read a line again to understand what it says, the line is not probably much important, and you can carry on.” This is very well put.