If you want to get into UF, I recommend trying the Symphony of the Sword. That's long but it builds up gradually as our main viewpoint is also a new arrival learning about the universe she has entered.
My writing advice for this is to remember that you need to be mean to your main character, SI or otherwise. Give them a big adventure and then remind them that "adventure" is someone far away going through hell. A first act that sets them up with promise and shows the reward off in the distance, a second act where the reward is yanked out of reach through personal flaws and/or outside enemies, then a third act where the protagonist wins through.
To use UF as an example, the first couple of parts are act 1 - the build up of the WDF as the grand forces of good. Then Exile hits and smashes all that. Finally, part 4 is the act 3 where the main four have to face their flaws and overcome them to claw victory back.
My writing advice for this is to remember that you need to be mean to your main character, SI or otherwise. Give them a big adventure and then remind them that "adventure" is someone far away going through hell. A first act that sets them up with promise and shows the reward off in the distance, a second act where the reward is yanked out of reach through personal flaws and/or outside enemies, then a third act where the protagonist wins through.
To use UF as an example, the first couple of parts are act 1 - the build up of the WDF as the grand forces of good. Then Exile hits and smashes all that. Finally, part 4 is the act 3 where the main four have to face their flaws and overcome them to claw victory back.