Different anon here, I’d also like it if you could recommend some space operas if you have the time
I enjoyed the original Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell (tried the sequel series but it didn't capture me like the original).
It's military sci-fi but very cerebral, with a big focus on strategy and logistics and internal politics, rather than action. Despite what the covers would lead you to believe, the main character isn't some action hero. He spends 99% of the series either in his quarters, in the captain's chair, or in a conference room.
The premise of the series is that 100 years ago John "Black Jack" Geary fought in the opening battle of what turned out to be a century-long interstellar war between the Alliance (basically the Federation from Star Trek) and the Syndicate, a corporatist dictatorship.
He is awoken 100 years later to a culture he barely recognizes, shaped by a century of war. He also found out that his sacrifice in the battle 100 years ago morphed his image into that of an impossibly brave and capable hero that is idolized by the entire Alliance military.
The main plot involves the Alliance fleet falling into a trap by trying to attack the Syndicate home system directly and then getting nearly destroyed. Geary then has to take charge of what remains of the fleet and guide them home through enemy territory.
Quick, objective, note about the misleading covers.
That is only true with the US covers. The UK covers are so much better.
Here is the covers for book one. The looming eyes knock some point off but overall I think that version is better.
The series also goes beyond The Lost Fleet and it's six books. Overall there are twenty-two books.
I prefer the US cover even though it's inaccurate because the UK one looks like every other space opera book I see hundreds of.
The covers being unrepresentative also kinda fits the narrative in an ironic way, of how the Alliance views Geary as this badass hero when he's not.
