If not energy, then what?

Things like energy. Things regulated by Energy Commissions. You know fossil fuels, and non-fossil fuels, and renewable resources, and, you know.

Why are you asking me? You're evidently expected to already have communed this information directly from the group mind.

So it's not a series about the heat death of the Universe?

I can think of several things that would be intereting:

For example a world in which conventional electrical generation and storage don't work - so you could have IC if you hand lit the engine. No batteries, not cranks starters like early autos. You may have to light something with a match and set a clockwork to ignite the engine in 30 seconds and have to run for the car seat. Of course making this design without electricity would be interesting.

Incidentally Zelazny did fairly convincing universes in which electricity and conventional gunpowder did not work, in the Amber series, but this was in a magic multi-verse and he did not pretend there was a scientific explanation. I'm fine with fantasy that either simply says "this is magic not science" or that say "huh this is weird and none of the charactes have any idea of how it works".

Heinlein's "Magic Incorporated" was very funny and pretty convincing too. Set in our world, after some engineers are caught muttering spells to keep a nuclear reactor running, and it turns out that science has been a fraud all along - everything has really been running by magic. So now it is well after that discovery, and it is mystery, danger and political intrigue in a world where the magic is now open, and we ride magic carpets that are no longer disguised as jets...

It does include Heinlein's usual attitude towards women, plus a bit of racism he thinks is tolerance. So not without eyerollingness, But the premise gets points for me for sheer chutzpah .And if you can ignore the stuff you pretty much always have to ignore with Heinlein, it is quite entertaining.

For example a world in which conventional electrical generation and storage don't work - so you could have IC if you hand lit the engine.

But why wouldn't it work? No conductive metals? Only specific chemical reactions don't work? These things bother me. I can imagine a culture in which something other than electricity drives most technology and electricity is a parlor trick. That's steampunk, more or less. I'm happy enough with a technology based on handwavium, as long as the rest of physics is left alone.

As opposed to out and out magic, the SF I read that was confincing along those lines had alien energy beings that specifically fed on electricity concentrations above a certain level - so no new laws of physicas and most biological electricity was at two low a level to attract their attentions. So small enough power sources could work to drive low power electronic devices. You just had to keep electrical energy below the threshold they automatically hooverd up.

That would probably not bother my brain, because physics would still be there, and there'd be the challenge of creating very low voltage things, preferably to kill the aliens with so we could go back to big cars and Vegas.

That was a good Alcatraz. I do wish they'd shown these in order.

Heeeey, it's that guy from The 4400 ! I like him.