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Anathem by Stephenson fits this bill. Cold open to a universe with no exposition and no viewpoint character that gets things explained to them. It's pretty fucked up until you begin to piece together the clues and build the world logic for yourself.
The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson (not to be confused with that other Robert Wilson) deserves an honorable mention. The story is driven by the appearance of massive monument commemorating a military victory 20 years in the future. As the story progresses more of these future monuments appear as the story drives towards the conditions that will initiate the war.
I started Anathem and threw it down after twenty pages of Stephenson being Stephenson.
Then someone told me it was worth slogging through the first 200 pages to get to the plot.
I ended up finishing it.
I absolutely loved Anathem. Very underappreciated for a Stephenson book.
Many of Stephensons books are like that. I like Snow Crash for the world building that obviously went into the writing, but you have to figure it out along the way.
Loved the concept!