(×) I don't discuss my colleagues' works or my own. A novelist writes from
many viewpoints; opinions expressed even by a first-person character are not
necessarily those of the author. Fiction is sold as entertainment, not as fact.
(×) Please do not write to me again.
                        Sincerely yours,
                                         Robert A. Heinlein, by ____

As a list with links to IMDB, sorted by date:

I.S.S. (US 19 January, UK TBA)

Distant (19 January)

Roswell Delirium (March)

Dune: Part Two (1 March)

Mickey 17 (29 March)

Rebel Moon: Part Two - The Scargiver (19 April)

Breathe (May)

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (24 May)

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (24 May)

A Quiet Place: Day One (28 June)

Alien: Romulus (16 August)

Arcadian (TBA)

The Electric State (TBA)

Spaceman (TBA)

Well fuck you for making me feel old.

Ok, after a great finale, I can say that season 2 was definitely a step-up from season 1. Basically the Empire thread continued to be great and the Foundation thread finally became much more interesting and more interweaved with the Empire story line. I even stopped caring that it barely follows the books.

Hober Mallow / Bel Riose death scene was masterfully done.

That can’t be said about Salvor’s death however. I replayed the scene about 5 times and I can’t wrap my head around it, am I the only one? Shouldn’t have Gaal be the one who got blasted? I think they must have broken the 180-degree rule or something because I was sure the whole time Salvor was opposite to Gaal with Josiah being between them but that can’t logically be true. Such a badly filmed/edited scene, though a complete outlier compared to the rest of the show.

And so much for my theory that Josiah would become the Mule, with the neck scar being the distinguishing mark, lol.

I thought till the last moment the Invictus would be able to activate its hyperdrive and jump away but no, the maniacs actually did it, they blew it up! I felt a great disturbance in the Force.

Rendezvous with Rama by A. C. Clarke. Honestly, anything by Clarke fits your criteria very well. Very little world building or character development, just straight to the point hard (but still amazing!) sci-fi. His short stories are fun too.

P.S. You may stumble across legends that Rama has three sequels. Don’t believe them, there is only one book. And even if it were true, the sequels wouldn’t be written by Clarke despite him being listed as a co-author.