I really enjoyed The Hyperion Cantos, and the first few Dune books I read a long time ago (may reread these now). Can anyone recommend some other books (or series) along these lines? Huge stories on an epic scale, space battles, cool future tech, etc.
I think The Expanse is a pretty obvious recommendation.
I also really like the Remembrance of Earth's Past books by Cixin Liu, but I'm not sure I'd call that a Space Opera. It's a series, yes, but it is very unlike other long-form space operas.
I watched the show first (I've never gotten past season 4, personally) and I liked the books WAY more. The show added a lot of unnecessary drama that distracted from the overall plot IMO.
The show is my favorite show of all time and I still think the books are better. If you liked the show, at all, you'll really like the books. Amos Burton is probably my favorite character in any fictional universe.
Part of the reason why the show is so good is because it follows the books pretty closely imo. It's astounding how on narrative they manage to stay for that many seasons (with some exceptions, probably.. it had been a while since I'd read the books when I watched the show)
The expanse is probably the best sci fi series of recent past. It is only comparable to classics like Asimov and le Guin in quality, although it has a very different philosophy and style.