an interesting recurring theme i've noticed when rereading the myst library journals is that the ages themselves seem aware and alive. It only rains on stoneship when atrus is there. The water stops changing color in channelwood as soon as the elder human dies. the sky in mechanical age only turns blue once the black ships are vanquished. and in selenitic, atrus gets a strong feeling of unease, and then on literally his first night there he is almost killed by an unprecedented meteor storm, almost like a defense mechanism on the age's part. and atrus' analytical nature is always at odds with the fantastical and unexplainable aspects of these worlds, and sometimes there are things he just can't explain. it's an interesting aspect of ages that i don't think i've seen at all in the later games
I liked that about the description of Katran's ages in the Book of Atrus - with very little formal training, she writes beautiful, surreal, dreamlike worlds that defy every part of D'ni understanding of the Art; Atrus takes one look at one of her ages and has everything he thought he knew about them blown out of the water
