Next step

this. it's not Dune, but it has its moments. best court scene near the end EVER.

Bear through Neuromancer. It's not too long, it's rare to hate Gibson.

>genre fiction

Yo, this book is boring.

I don't want to make a new thread to ask this; what is the best story from the characters of Hyperion?

This was a big influence on PKD. Reading it you will pick up on many of the themes later expressed by PKD in a more embryonic form.

robert "lets have a big orgy" heinlen

Anything by R. A. Lafferty is GOAT

Try the "Dread Empire's Fall" Trilogy by Walter Jon Williams. I rate it to be the best military science fiction I know, eye to eye with Starship Troopers and Armor.

I'd give the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster-Bujold a try. Really well-written and action packed stuff with hilarious and memorable characters. The series starts with "Shards of Honor".