I read Children of Time recently, really liked it. I don't dislike sci-fi but there's so much of it out there that it has to be really interesting and unique to catch my attention; usually I just read the plot synopsis of books that I'm vaguely curious about but don't want to put in the effort to read (I did that with the Three Body Problem for example). So Children of Time's storyline of gradual yet rapid evolution of jumping spiders and how their civilization would be influenced by their anatomies and the species around them was something I hadn't even heard of before and I was very curious. Unfortunately I found the sequel to go in directions that I dislike (namely, horror elements) so I stopped reading halfway through the second book, and the third book wouldn't have done much for me either based on the summary I found. I understand why the author didn't want to extensively detail the evolution of another species (this time, octopi) but I'm still disappointed that he didn't because it was my favourite part of the first book.

I also liked the Foundation series for that same theme of development and evolution over a very long period of time. Now that I think about it actually, it might have been a factor in turning me into an ML, "psychohistory" is remarkably similar to historical materialism with a lot of the more difficult philosophy trimmed away. It probably also helped turn me into a fatalist. Hitchhiker's Guide is also a classic that I enjoyed but the sci-fi in there feels more of a device to help the comedy (which I have no complaints about!). I also liked Ringworld but I feel no compulsion to read the sequels.

On the fantasy side of things, I like The Inheritance Cycle a lot; the author has recently returned to the series as of 2023, with more books planned. It's not even an amazingly creative world or anything, it's just a series I read during my childhood and so I have fond memories of it. It does have my all-time favourite magic system too.