My current writing project is The Unmoored. Stories set in a science-fiction world where humans are not the dominant species in the galaxy with a vast empire etc. etc.
I am currently posting the first story set in this world, named Intergalactic, chapter-by-chapter on Royal Road. Click here to read it: Intergalactic on Royal Road.
Spoilers below, stop reading if you want to explore the world through its stories !
In The Unmoored, humanity is one of the species in the galaxy hampered by a feature of their physics: They only experience three dimensions. Most of the intelligent races in the galaxy live in at least five, some up to eight. This inherent limit makes humans primitive in the eyes of most aliens, and makes their access to most of the really advanced technology very limited.
As a result, humanity can’t expand into the galaxy at will, but is instead limited to a few regions of space that are fine in 3D space but problematic in higher dimensions. The only places where being a low-dimensional creature is actually an advantage.