I like sci-fi at a surface level but I struggle to identify what would interest me the same way I can for fantasy. Is there a good reference point for identifying which stories are about exotic places, aliens, and space life; and which stories are about humans struggling to make space as boring as possible?

The presence of the author's barely disguised fetish is a plus as long as its not Heinlein's essays on the importance of spanking naughty boys.

Picrel I really like System Shock 2 as a scifi aesthetic.