Sci Fi Books

Consigliere said
(1) The Expanse (epic and fantastic - characters, plot, "realism" all top notch)
(2) Hyperion (excellent world-building in book #1, but #2 is fine but just more of the same plot)
(3) The Black Cloud (old fashioned but tight and "realistic")
(4) Three Body Problem (fresh idea, good writing, sequel even better; but the Chinese names lose me)
(5) Blindsight (clever take on consciousness in context of first-contact story)
(6) Ender's Game (fun little book)
(7) Dune (just read #1 for the first time - great but future installments seem questionable)
(8) Hail Mary (good premise, good writing)
(9) The Sparrow (good premise, poor writing)
(10) The Wall (kind of Young-Adulty but excellent premise)
(11) Long Way To A Small Angry Planet (fun but ultra-woke worldbuilding and dialogue tries too hard to be clever)
(12) Cuckoo Cloud Land ("intellectual" but really just OK)
(13) Red Rising (started, lost interest - seems to be a Young Adult thing)
(14) Station Eleven (started, lost interest)

I personally love the entire series of Dune books. Dune Messiah and Children of Dune are very good. But it gets very weird in God Emperor of Dune and that continues through Chapterhouse: Dune. I personally don't mind the weirdness but it turns some people off. But, beyond the original book, there are many side stories and prequels done by Frank Herbert's son, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson that don't include the weirdness of the later Herbert books. The Herbert/Anderson books aren't quite as "deep" as what Frank Herbert wrote, but it's still a good set of stories in a very interesting universe.

If you are looking for hard Sci-Fi, Alastair Reynolds. For more space opera stuff, check on the Empire of Man Series by David Weber and John Ringo. Also the Safehold series by David Weber.

I'm also a huge fan of Neil Stephenson. He crosses lots of genres but his most famous stuff if mostly Cyber Punk. i.e. Snow Crash, The Diamond Age. But, I'm a big fan of all of his work including the Baroque Cycle series, Cryptonomicon, Anathem, and Seveneves.

Edit: I also recommend the entire Altered Carbon series by Richard Morgan. Don't let the Netflix series keep you away. It was mostly nothing like the books and completely changed the story and the characters involved. There is a long story being told, but each of the three books are very different. Really a fun read and a fun world that was built.