The closest I’ve got is Neal Stephenson, specifically his System of the World trilogy vs the standalone Cryptonomicon, both set in the same larger context, and even with a character that shows up in both.

I loved the standalone, but I’ve tried and failed multiple times to even make it through the first of the trilogy.

E•M👁️•TION

Silflay hraka, u embleer rah!

One Dog Goes to Heaven

Man in Tight

also i bet they don’t use spreadsheets… more like pdf files 🥁