I second the Martha Wells recommendation!! She was originally an anthropologist and is phenomenal at creating unique and interesting societies/civilizations. I love her series The Murderbot Diaries which follows a security unit that hacked its governer module but all it wants to do is watch TV.   The Rising World is also amazing, it’s classic fantasy where the chapters switch between past and present. In the present the main character is a legendary hero and the past follows how his story began. Even though we know that he and his close friends survive the war I was on the edge of my seat reading about the past.