I think user ‘A Maguire’ nailed it in her comment… the writer needs the talent to pull you in and we readers need both the time & space as well as the longing to be teleported. Stanislaw Lem was good at it, but so are writers who put an irresistible cliffhanger at the end of every chapter like a Dan Brown.

Often, I think, it’s a convergence of thirst and subject matter. The Celestine Prophecy once soared off the shelves because it gnawed at a desperate sort of hunger and superstition that was likely associated with the ending of the millennium.

Personally, it has become harder for me to immerse because my interests are themselves immersive. Science Fiction was a great teacher for me in my youth and young adulthood. Those teachings served the purpose of helping open my mind. But my immersive journeys these days are not so much about leveraging books to open my mind as they are about leveraging an open mind to more deeply explore everyday life problems, human shortcomings and deeper awareness.

And then there’s this: Nowadays I might read a page or two into a book and become so spellbound by a breathtaking insight that I close the book and trot off in contemplation for a day, a week or a year.