r/printSF:

u/DirectorBiggs

Alien Clay was a bit of a slog, I liked Cage of Souls better. Both are similar concepts with vastly different execution.
u/DirectorBiggs

I really love CoT universe and appreciate how it hit a wide audience and turned a lot of folks onto his work. Dogs of War is also a fantastic trilogy with very original concepts, wonderful execution and is way under the radar. I actually have only read Bear Head (2nd in the trilogy) and Bee Speaker (3rd) is being released soon but BH was absolutely amazing and I’m confident in my assessment on the trilogy at large. DoW is top of my TBR list, waiting for library to fill my order. I’m also a big fan of The Final Architecture series which was my first foray into AT. He’s become one of my absolute favorite contemporary sci-fi authors.
u/DirectorBiggs

Im a big fan of Final Architecture as well, maybe more than CoT which gets all the fanfare. Definitely check out Dogs of War, its fantastic.
u/DirectorBiggs

The other great series thats flying way under the radar is Dogs or War trilogy. I also didnt like Alien Clay that much, loved Cage of Souls and really loved Shroud.
u/DirectorBiggs

Yep, came here to say these two. Both fantastic and some of my absolute favorite.
u/DirectorBiggs

Many books by Adrian Tchaikovsky, another recent is Shroud which is done very well and a fantastic read. For sure Murderbot and not as recent (so pronouns not dialed in) is The Culture series by Iain Banks.
u/DirectorBiggs

Neither of those fit OP’s request, they’re both trilogies / series, not short length.
u/DirectorBiggs

Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky is my favorite 2025 so far. If within last 12 months counts, The Mercy of Gods by JSAC.
u/DirectorBiggs

Read the first 2 books and was left with quite a lot of 🫤, meh. Didnt bother with last two. I forced my way through as its so well acclaimed and Im completely ambivalent about. Read them earlier this year and forgot I read them until this post. Meh.
u/DirectorBiggs

Dude I read the Illuminatous trilogy twice before it clicked as well. This is well over 30 years ago, may be needing a reread.