I haven’t had any luck in finding sci-fi books recently. I’m looking for a longer story that takes its time to establish the world/universe and the characters living in it. I like the idea of exploring space or futuristic cities/landscapes and being on a journey together with the protagonist. The story doesn’t have to have a happy end or flawless characters, but I also don’t like it when everything is hopeless/dystopic and all the characters stumble from one flawed decision to the next one. Some examples of what I enjoyed so far are:
- Dune
- Project Hail Mary
- The Expanse Series
- Hyperion Cantos Series
- Bobiverse Series
- The Murderbot Diaries Series
- Tuf Voyaging
- Night’s Dawn Series (Might not be for everyone… contains excessive violence and some smut, but also some very interesting ideas)
- Vatta’s War Series (I usually don’t like military sci-fi, but this one wasn’t bad)
- The Interdependency Series
- Falling Free
If you enjoyed some of these stories and have any similar suggestions, feel free to share them here. If not, maybe consider checking out the list above… I highly recommend each of these entries.
Ditto on the Becky Chambers series. I actually liked the second book the most narratively, and if the OP likes Murderbot, they may really enjoy similar themes around artificial intelligence. I also really liked the final installment. It’s a familiar setup with strangers locked in a room together, but I found it very meditative. Also, it wraps up one series character’s journey to a decision that I found very profound.