For someone who likes sci-fi I don't spend enough time thinking about long distance space travel.
I admire the stories that avoid "warp drives" or "worm holes" -- though such a thing isn't a dealbreaker. I just think it's admirable to deal with the upsetting immensity of space on its own terms.
But if you want to avoid hand-waving you need to really think about how people deal with time, delayed communication, etc.
What is your favorite way that a sci-fi story did "long distance" ?
@futurebird It's been ages since I read it, but I recall Freefall having faster-than-light travel but no faster-than-light communication. The fastest way to send a long-distance message is to let a ship carry it, but those ships basically just do laps of the known universe like some colossal interstellar bus so it could still be months or years before the message gets through, let alone any reply. http://freefall.purrsia.com/
@DamonWakes @futurebird The #Traveller #ttrpg has the same limitation. The Imperium has a network of "xboats" to deliver the mail pony Express style.
