Thank you for asking this OP! I'm also in the market for more sci-fi and I just don't have the time/patience for 1000 page epics.
So, first off, everything everyone has said about Gibson. His short story collection, Burning Chrome, is excellent.
More short but great standalone sci-novels:
Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers. So. Freaking. Good. And tragically underrated because it was written in the USSR during the Cold War.
The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett. A fascinating look at what people in the 1950s thought a post-apocalyptic society would look like. Very different from what gets written today.
Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon. A sci-fi classic that clocks in at less than 200 pages.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Much, much better than the movie, though the movie is also good.
Armor by John Steakley. A bit longer than 350, but you'd be fine just reading Part I (I'd almost recommend it in fact, though his fans might lynch me for the suggestion). Best action scenes of any sci-fi ever written, imo.
Re: Rec me sci-fi books, pleaaaaaase?
So, first off, everything everyone has said about Gibson. His short story collection, Burning Chrome, is excellent.
More short but great standalone sci-novels:
Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers. So. Freaking. Good. And tragically underrated because it was written in the USSR during the Cold War.
The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett. A fascinating look at what people in the 1950s thought a post-apocalyptic society would look like. Very different from what gets written today.
Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon. A sci-fi classic that clocks in at less than 200 pages.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Much, much better than the movie, though the movie is also good.
Armor by John Steakley. A bit longer than 350, but you'd be fine just reading Part I (I'd almost recommend it in fact, though his fans might lynch me for the suggestion). Best action scenes of any sci-fi ever written, imo.