Apart from the great suggestions (Vernor Vinge fan for sure) I think one would I would recommend would be the "Remembrance of Earth's Past" (a.k.a three body problem). It presented plausible hard sci-fi bits, while the human aspect was incredibly weird, especially from a western perspective. Definitely opened my eyes to a lot of how Chinese people probably feel about their place in the world and their legacy.

But the scope of the series is just breathtaking, I don't think I've read anything that spanned as much in space or time, and made it believable too, highly recommended.