I’ve basically been ordered to pick up any fiction book and read, after a friend discovered I’ve not read anything but non-fiction for a decade.
The ones I’ve enjoyed in the past have been short, fantastical or sci-fi (think Aldous Huxley, Ian McEwan), but crucially with amazing first person descriptive prose - the kind where you’re immersed in the writing so much you’re almost there with the character.
I liked sci-fi as the world’s constraints weren’t always predictable. Hope that makes sense.
Any recommendations?
Edit: I’m going to up the ante and, as a way of motivating myself to get off my arse and actually read a proper story, promise to choose a book from the top comment, after, let’s say arbitrarily, Friday 2200 GMT.
Edit deux: Wow ok I don’t think I’ve ever had this many responses to anything I’ve posted before. You’ve given me what looks like a whole year of interesting suggestions, and importantly, good commentary around them. I’m honouring my promise to buy the top thing in just under 4 hours.
It's definitely not short, but The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey is absolutely top notch.
The attention to detail that goes into a sci-fi series that lives within a realistic world, with actual physics is incredible - i.e:
Ships need to calculate when to flip around midway through their journey to decelerate by burning the opposite direction.
Torpedoes and tungsten slugs have travel time.
Making hard accelerations or evasive maneuvers can and will crush you into your flight seat due to the intense G forces and the only way to not black out is a cocktail of stimulants, adrenaline, and blood thinners
Communications take place at actual light speed, which means when you're dealing with distances up to several hundred million kilometers, it can take anywhere from minutes to hours for your message to be received.
But fear not! This is truly a traditional sci-fi novel, packed full with ancient alien substances that seem to reprogram human cells for their own use - but to what end? Ancient feuds between those born in space, and those born on a planet. And the answer to the age old question: why not just use asteroids as weapons?
The main characters are an extremely close knit group, who it seems at times get by on sheer willpower and a touch of luck (with some excellent planning).
The story takes turns being told from different characters' perspectives, which really helps you get to know each character intimately - how they think, and feel about the events unfolding - how their morality affects their choices.
If you're looking for a more "realistic" take on sci-fi, this series is absolutely up your alley.
The first novel is called "Leviathan's Wake" and there are 9 main books in the series, with a smattering of novellas between that expand on the world.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8855321-leviathan-wakes