I love Sherlock Holmes stories, it’s one of the things I read when I was younger that aged very well for me (unlike Conan which I’d read a few short stories and thought was awesome, then read a collection a few years back and for quite a few of them thought “yikes”). Mystery is my second-favorite genre, but I keep getting put off it by poorly written stories.
I finished Bayern Agenda and fluff it still is, but I warmed up to it (sci-fi with a bit of a mystery, I wonder why). There’s a sequel, and I’ll get around to it, but meanwhile I’m correcting a mistake and reading an old recommendation - Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds. Too early to tell, but the first few pages have me hooked.
Sci-Fi can be a difficult genre to love. It attracts the worst story-tellers aside from possibly romance novels, but the few gems tend to stick with you forever. On that note, a series I loved despite itself was the Bobiverse novels. Lots of cringe, but enough of that solid founding idea that it pays off. Maybe someone already mentioned it in this thread, I don’t recall.
I also hope everyone is re-reading Dune ahead of the movie spectacle so we can all throw popcorn at the screen when it inevitably disappoints.