Dang, I start to care about the characters, both the “travelers” (players), as well as the NPC (computer generated toons). This 2.5 side-quest fills out the character.
What I like about this series of books is that there is no tv series/ movie yet. If I have watched the tv show or movie before Ive read, my mental images defer to what Ive watched.. Here, my imagination builds the characters and seens. I like that.