Peter F Hamilton has some great hard sci-fi novels like the Commonwealth series. Super nerdy with some interesting characters.
John Scalzi is probably my favorite sci-fi author for excellent characters. His “Old Man’s War” is genius.
scalzi is mil-sci-fi, which I also enjoy, but not man vs nature conflicts like weir writes about (even Artemis is largely about solving physical problems even if they arise from interpersonal conflict..)
Yeah I was going to say the same thing. Pandora's Star/Judas unchained is the best scifi I've ever read. Peter F Hamilton's worldbuilding is unmatched.