I’d say part of the problem for Andromeda was that everyone else got there first in terms of colonization; the player isn’t exploring a new location, untouched by colonists, they’re going to an established settlement and exploring around that instead.

Oh, it’s a great book. Or at least, I liked it a lot. The library mulching was opposed by most of the characters.

This reminds me of the book Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge. In it, a company uses a mulcher to grind down all the books and shelves in a library, then uses scans of the scraps to reassemble the books in digital form for an AR version of the library.