So far sci-fi wise I've only really read the Bobiverse, Manta's Gift, and Ender's Game, I typically read high fantasy and the like such as Nightlord or Mistborn.
What I'm looking for in science fiction (or science fantasy) is things NOT focused on human politics, the nitty gritty of surviving in science fiction, and romance. For example when listening to expanse I was hooked by the prologue and then dropped the book a few chapters in which it kept going on about people's piss, human politics, perspective switching, and never bringing up the interesting prologue.
I really like books with a sense of adventure or exploration, and although they don't necessarily have to be 'happy' (I'm more than okay with gore/violence/conflict) I don't like stories where nearly no one is likeable, or the setting feels so grimdark the story feels largely pointless due to the sense of hopelessness. I'm perfectly fine with romance so long it isn't the focus and doesn't devolve into soap drama stuff.
I very much like interesting aliens, especially when they interact with humans and are characters in the book. By this I mean aliens that are a little more interesting than 'human but another skin color' but also aren't esoteric background characters driving the plot but not entirely present outside of a few mentions.
by Antermosiph