Years ago, there was a sci-fi novel that I read about a series of ill-fated expeditions to explore an alien structure in space. It popped into my head for some reason, and it's been driving me crazy that I can't remember what the book was or who wrote it (or if it was actually any good, for that matter)...

I think the structure was only accessible every so often (once a year? once every three years?), but the items I do remember are:

1. Every team died, to a series of traps or other hazards--I don't remember there being any inhabitants; the dangers were environmental. If I remember correctly, the novel started when there had already been numerous attempts to explore it.

2. The teams live-streamed their video and telemetry back to earth

3. Almost the entire planet watched the expeditions in real time, and provided feedback as to what the team should do next, which was aggregated and relayed to the mission leadership--it was sort of like when Twitch played Dark Souls (but before that happened, and with real human lives at stake).

4. The novel prominently featured a sort of stock market or futures exchange where people would invest in the outcome of almost any public event in order to try to bring it about. The author actually created a website to mimic this system (but did not accept funds--you just voted for things that should happen in the real world).

I cannot pin down the author to a specific sub-set of those I've read, but I believe it was written after 1990, and before 2010. The fact that there was a website connected to it would seem to date it, but it could have been associated with a later edition/publication of the book, so I don't want to overly restrict my criteria.

I do not believe it had any sequels or tie-ins.

I've tried searching various engines, StackExchange, GoodReads, etc. as well as conversing with assorted large language models, and have repeatedly come across these (somewhat similar) plots which are not the book I'm looking for.

1. Rogue Moon
2. Rendezvous with Rama
3. Ship of Fools
4. Pushing Ice
5. Blindsight

I'm starting to think I imagined the whole thing... Anyone have an idea of what this could be?

Years ago, there was a sci-fi novel that I read about a series of ill-fated expeditions to explore an alien structure in space. It popped into my head for some reason, and it's been driving me crazy that I can't remember what the book was or who wrote it (or if it was actually any good, for that matter)...

I think the structure was only accessible every so often (once a year? once every three years?), but the items I do remember are:

1. Every team died, to a series of traps or other hazards—I don't remember there being any inhabitants; the dangers were environmental. If I remember correctly, the novel started when there had already been numerous attempts to explore it.

2. The teams live-streamed their video and telemetry back to earth

3. Almost the entire planet watched the expeditions in real time, and provided feedback as to what the team should do next, which was aggregated and relayed to the mission leadership—it was sort of like when Twitch played Dark Souls (but before that happened, and with real human lives at stake).

4. The novel prominently featured a sort of stock market or futures exchange where people would invest in the outcome of almost any public event in order to try to bring it about. The author actually created a website to mimic this system (but did not accept funds—you just voted for things that should happen in the real world).

I cannot pin down the author to a specific sub-set of those I've read, but I believe it was written after 1990, and before 2010. The fact that there was a website connected to it would seem to date it, but it could have been associated with a later edition/publication of the book, so I don't want to overly restrict my criteria.

I do not believe it had any sequels or tie-ins.

I've tried searching various engines, StackExchange, Goodreads, etc. as well as conversing with assorted large language models, and have repeatedly come across these (somewhat similar) plots which are not the book I'm looking for.

1. Rogue Moon
2. Rendezvous with Rama
3. Ship of Fools
4. Pushing Ice
5. Blindsight

I'm starting to think I imagined the whole thing... Anyone have an idea of what this could be?