I used to love James Clavell books when I was a kid/teenager. Although, I haven't checked out the Shogun series yet.
I tend to enjoy TV show adaptations of books. Last Kingdom, Witcher, and Foundation are probably my favourites right now. I'm a giant fan of Asimov, having read through the core books multiple times... the books are not for everyone (particularly the earlier ones), but I still highly recommend them. My preferred read order:
1. There are two entrances into the universe: Foundation and I, Robot. Read those first - I recommend Foundation.
2. Next do Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation to complete the original trilogy.
3. The Galactic Empire trilogy is a good place to go next, stylistically; but if you want a more character driven experience, go with the Robot trilogy: Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and The Robots of Dawn. The Galactic Empire trilogy is optional, except for Pebble in the Sky.
4. The Foundation sequels: Foundation's Edge, then Foundation and Earth.
5. Robots and Empire.
6. The Foundation prequels: Prelude to Foundation, Forward the Foundation.
The reason I suggest reading in this order rather than chronological is because books that take place earlier, like Robots and Empire and the Foundation prequels, are not only better written, and easier to move onto, but they're more impactful knowing what happens in the future - otherwise, certain moments will go from powerful to just another detail. The Foundation prequels, in particular, uncover the whole scheme.
The story begins in the near future (or very recent past, technically, if we had early robots), shows the advancement of the positronic brain, the development of the FTL drive (I, Robot). Then jumps ahead a few thousand years to the early colonization of space, the first 50 planets (The Robot Trilogy). Then jumps again by thousands of years to the rise of the Galactic Empire (The Galactic Empire trilogy). Then jumps ahead thousands more years (maybe more than 10,000 years) to the fall of the Empire (All the Foundation books). Robots and Empire occurs in the timeline, and I don't really want to spoil much of it, but it answers questions from various books (including Pebble in the Sky).
Also, if you're going to read the books, I recommend doing it before the show, because while the show isn't a straight up translation of the books, many of the elements are taken from throughout these books - and some stuff will be spoiled.
Also, if you like Asimov. I'd recommend other books by him:
The novel: The End of Eternity.
The Novella/Novelette: Nightfall
The short story: The Last Question (my favourite short story of all time)
The collection: The Complete Robot Collection (or something similar (but not a substitute for I, Robot when reading the above series, since this will destroy the pacing and gets off the core story).
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
