Here are some recent SF recommendations that I'd describe as being fast paced reads; not necessarily light but compelling and definitely not epic slogs.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells - The first of the Murderbot Diaries novellas, this is the story of a security construct who is designed as a killing machine for hire and who really just wants to be left alone to pirate as much television as it can manage to watch. Murderbot is stuck in the amoral corporate sector of the space opera future and is generally on assignment trying to keep squishy human jerks from killing themselves out of stupidity or corporate intrigue, but then it gets assigned to people who aren't total assholes and things get exciting from there. All four novellas are super entertaining, but the first one is totally self contained if you'd like to stop there.
The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers - A young human woman gets a job on a ship crewed by a variety of aliens who make a living plotting wormhole tunnels and things go all found family from there. It's kinda like a slice-of-life variation on Firefly, with an emphasis on the characterizations and personal interactions and not so much on heavy plot. This may not be your cup of tea but I loved it and it's definitely a cozy read. More books follow but this one is totally self-contained.
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi - This may be cheating somewhat, since it's the first book in a trilogy where the third volume hasn't been published yet, so I can't vouch for Scalzi nailing the landing here until April. That said, I tore through both novels out so far at high speed and feel like this is probably the sort of thing you're thinking of. A vast galactic civilization uses a sort of wormhole travel technique that links their many solar systems - until the system starts to fall apart, at which point all hell breaks loose. It's high speed entertainment with disaster movie tension combined with vicious galactic politics and at least one character whose mastery of profanity is a delight to behold. It
is a trilogy, but I think the whole thing is going to clock in at around 1000 pages and, again, it goes like lightning so you aren't going to be sitting around bored.
If you want to try reading Scalzi and would prefer something self-contained, I really enjoyed the SF mystery novel
Lock In, which is set in the future where a significant percentage of the population has a disease that has their mind active and aware but locked into their bodies unresponsively - which is why humanity developed robot suits for them to tool around in, with all the complciations that entails. Our protagonist has the disease and has just been hired as the first locked-in detective. It's a solid mystery and an interesting SF concept, all rolled into one. Additional volumes are out there but it can be totally enjoyed as a stand alone novel.
Hopefully some of those suggestions help. Either way, here's hoping you find something good to read! And, if you decide you need a SF series to get into, drop back by and I'm happy to hold forth on Lois Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga. It's
only seventeen novels...wait, where are you going?
Edit: While I was typing Pau beat me to the Becky Chambers rec - which I enthusiastically second - and plugged the first Vorkosigan omnibus, which I also enthusiastically second.
Cordelia's Honor is top-notch space opera with wonderful characters, intrigue, military SF, romance, and all manner of badassery. I really can't recommend Bujold highly enough and the two novels there are an excellent introduction to her writing. And, if you dig it,
Young Miles is the excellent follow-up omnibus - again, superior, genre-blending space opera with an emphasis on characerization.
So recommended.
