This list is just in the order that I thought of them, not in the order I think is best quality wise.

• The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
• The Naked Sun - Isaac Asimov
• The Robots of Dawn - Isaac Asimov

All pretty great robot detective novels. Lots of pondering on Asimov’s 3 laws of robotics and how they would play out. Pretty good.

• I, Robot - Isaac Asimov

Also pretty good, anthology of short robot stories. Similar kinda vibe as the above 3.

• Foundation - Isaac Asimov
• Foundation and Empire - Isaac Asimov
• Second Foundation - Isaac Asimov
• Foundation’s Edge - Isaac Asimov
• Foundation and Earth - Isaac Asimov

What if math could predict the future of civilization. The first 3 are the best… sorta loses the thread a bit in the last 2. Overall pretty good. Mostly doesn’t have any robots like the other Asimov books I listed.

• Ringworld - Larry Niven

A giant ring shaped megastructure around a star, lets go explore. Only the first is any good, some low key sexism in it but bearable. Past the first the sexism ramps up. Nivin like a lot of male sci-fi authors doesn’t know how to write women.

• The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells

A half robot half human security robot hacks its own systems. Very good, my interpretation of the series is its an allegory for the autistic experience. Also Martha Wells can write women so that’s always a big plus.

• The Three-Body Problem - Liu Cixin
• The Dark Forest - Liu Cixin
• Death’s End - Liu Cixin

I see the 3 body problem series recommended a lot in this thread but it has a lot of overt sexism baked into the plot so don’t really recommend. Lots of fun sci-fi concepts tho, gets into some pretty surreal concepts that border on mathematical physics.

• Ender’s Game - Orson Scott Card

Probably already seen the movie, its pretty much the same. The book is pretty good but the author himself kinda sucks, bigtime homophobe. The follow up books are nowhere near as good as the first.

• The Found and the Lost - Ursula K. Le Guin

Every novella by Ursula K. Le Guin. Some of them are not scifi but most of them are, and the ones that are not are still great. I am currently working though this one now. She has a big anthropologist/feminist slant to her writing so highly recommend. Feels very modern when compared to the other sci-fi that was coming out around the same time. I plan on reading her other longer novels after this but I have not gotten there yet.

• Dune - Frank Herbert

Pretty good sci-fi. Has a bit of a “white boy goes and lives with the natives and becomes their savior” vibe that kinda feels a little off to me but I think Herbert had good intentions. It’s an allegory for the middle east and oil extraction. Overall worth a read just to check it off the list.

• The Captain - Will Wight
• The Engineer - Will Wight

The Last Horizon Series, wizards in the future in space. Pretty much feels like a dnd campaign where every one is already lv20. Sci-fi+Magic. It’s not really very deep but its a fun nonetheless.

• The Martian - Andy Weir
• Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir

Hard science fiction. If you like competency porn or engineering/science then these are for you. Very nerdy stuff.

• We Are Legion (We Are Bob) - Dennis E. Taylor
• For We Are Many - Dennis E. Taylor
• All These Worlds - Dennis E. Taylor
• Heaven’s River - Dennis E. Taylor

The writing itself is kinda meh but the stories are fun. The kinda stuff an engineer daydreams about, like von neumann probes and mind uploading and stuff like that. Over all fun series but not very deep.

Currently on the third book in the Three Body Problem trilogy. Just absolutely mind-blowing. Highly recommended.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, if you want another addition to the Sci-Fi theme.

Can also second some books others have mentioned, like Dune (one of my all-time favorites) and Three Body Problem (for a recent one I liked, although it was a bit “rough” in terms of style and storytelling).

For sci-fi, one I haven’t seen mentioned here yet is Red Rising.

Kind of an Enders Game meets Hunger Games in the first book, but quickly expands into a solar-system wide war with lots of intrigue, star-wars-like tech, and amazing characters.

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Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Final Architecture trilogy ticks a lot of the same boxes as the Expanse. A blue collar crew of misfits from different factions gets caught in the center of a galaxy-spanning fight for survival.

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Hey, sorry to Necro an old post but are you aware of Corey’s newest series The Captive’s War? There’s a book and a Novella out right now and they’re incredible.

Couple of stand alone books:

The Paper Menagerie (and other stories)

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Stardust

Johnathan Strange and Mr Norel

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Couple of series:

Discworld (start with guards guards and follow a reading order guide)

The Culture

Malazan Book of the Fallen (be warned this is big and complex, but my fucking god is it rewarding. Especially on a second read through)

Children of Time

Final Architecture

You could finish the rest of the enders game universe, it’s a really interesting read