I am considering how to write a "fiction" book about the far distant past (millions of years ago), like some sort of historical or science fiction book. I'm not sure if there is a specific category for this kind of evolutionary book, I have not really read a science fiction book before, I am more of a non-fiction kind of person.
In learning how to write a science fiction book (or similar), all examples revolve around a central or "main" character, like "Nell" in The Diamond Age. Most movies too revolve around central characters with a few less central but still prominent characters, like Hunger Games, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Braveheart, Batman, etc.. I don't think about things in terms of individual "people", I think about things in terms of patterns or, coming from software development, in terms of "types" or "abstractions". So I might think about how dinosaurs in general would have had X kind of experience, or animals y type of behavior, but not a specific dinosaur or animal.
Is it possible to write such a book using generalities yet still tell a story about some parallel possible history? Like telling the story of the evolution of an alternative species, and the major events the species had, etc.. Sort of "Big History fiction". If it is possible to write such a book, what are the key story elements you should have to make it interesting (or what resources do you recommend I check out to learn more, such as a fiction book or "how to write x" series). This would mean you can write books which don't have individual main characters. If it's not possible to write such a book, why not, what is wrong with not having main characters?