If you haven’t read it already, Becky chambers’ To Be Taught If Fortunate is hopeful and charming and deeply emotional. An inspiring love letter to exploration and science fiction. It’s tiny as well
I have read everything Becky chambers has written, including her short stories.
I can confidently say her monk and robot duology is wonderful and cute and an absolute tearjerker that is a perfect vibey solarpunk cozy space opera. There is nothing like it. Highly recommend~
I have other scifi suggestions, including hard scifi, cyberpunk and dystopia but be warned, it’s a bottomless pit. I read 43 scifi books last year, most of which I would recommend~
If you’re looking for some real existential dread and complex hard scifi (and legit truly alien aliens) you can’t do better than BlindSight by Peter Watts. It questions the value of consciousness, limitations of human senses and thought in a post singularity society, and overwhelming circumstances
She’s most well known for her long form novel quadrilogy the Wayfarer series, but honestly the first book in the series is the strongest. A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. You can skip the rest (all sidequels) without missing anything unless you absolutely adore the universe and need more~
Thanks for your interest in the genre! I've a trilogy of space opera novellas in which a starship captain lives her past lives in a segmented continuum & has to save fellow gifted psychic people: https://www.everand.com/audiobook/513715868/Time-Immemorial-Collection (available in digital or audiobook, in segments or as a trilogy)
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https://subterraneanpress.com/beyond-the-aquila-rift-the-best-of-alastair-reynolds/
(There are cheaper copies elsewhere, but this link had a good write up.)
Zima Blue and Beyond the Aquila Rift were made in to episodes of Love Death & Robots. Diamond dogs was a story that really stuck with me.
Diamond Dogs, as a cautionary tale of obsession still creeps me out, though.
p.s. I'm a big SciFi fan!
I can confidently say her monk and robot duology is wonderful and cute and an absolute tearjerker that is a perfect vibey solarpunk cozy space opera. There is nothing like it. Highly recommend~
The words are so vivid and gripping, it almost feels like you can see and hear them come alive in real-time!
It's called The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, and it's peak!
https://youtu.be/H8W7eF49xv4?si=w_gowmX4hItkRV8J