That's a bit cynical I think. I've read the first two of the Three Body problem series, and part of the delight is the way it highlights (by contrast) the various cultural assumptions made by the sci-fi authors I normally read (a weirdly large proportion of whom are Scottish). But comparison aside, it's a really good read.
Empires of the Deep[1] may break out of the cliche you speak of, but I haven't seen it (and it's unlikely any of us ever will). There was a superb story about the not-quite-making of this film on HN a few months ago[2]
Yup, as notahacker intuited, Charles Stross is another favourite author, whose back catalogue I am eagerly consuming now.
His Singularity Sky / Iron Sunrise are (opinion) great introductions to what the kids may call his 'hard science' fiction -- though I'm disappointed that there won't be a third (and disappointed in myself for misunderstanding a rather large plot construct throughout the entire second book).
Accelerando is superb -- a delightful discovery made via some HN comments ages back.
Empires of the Deep[1] may break out of the cliche you speak of, but I haven't seen it (and it's unlikely any of us ever will). There was a superb story about the not-quite-making of this film on HN a few months ago[2]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empires_of_the_Deep [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11766319