I’m with you on Redshirts in So Many Ways, but there are some bangers in the past 20. Spin was good, Rainbows End was really good, I know the Yiddish Policeman’s Union was highly lauded, I loved The City & The City, Ancillary Justice was fantastic in all the ways Sci-fi should be, The Three Body Problem was really good, I know that Jemesin was loved, The Calculating Stars was excellent, I’m currently working through A Memory Called Empire (but Gideon The Ninth was AMAZEBALLS), Network Effect was fun - but I love Murderbot. For 2022 I loved Master of Djinn (that’s some great worldbuilding there) and for 2023 The Spare Man was the “Thin Man in space” I didn’t know I needed (but am totally the target audience for).
I’m with you on Redshirts in So Many Ways, but there are some bangers in the past 20. Spin was good, Rainbows End was really good, I know the Yiddish Policeman’s Union was highly lauded, I loved The City & The City, Ancillary Justice was fantastic in all the ways Sci-fi should be, The Three Body Problem was really good, I know that Jemesin was loved, The Calculating Stars was excellent, I’m currently working through A Memory Called Empire (but Gideon The Ninth was AMAZEBALLS), Network Effect was fun - but I love Murderbot. For 2022 I loved Master of Djinn (that’s some great worldbuilding there) and for 2023 The Spare Man was the “Thin Man in space” I didn’t know I needed (but am totally the target audience for).
And FWIW Legends and Lattes was low-stakes, low-key, and comfy-enjoyable