Looking for self-contained sci-fi novel?

Looking for an epic, maybe, that isn't too heavy on the lore and is just fun to read. I can handle a bit of comedy as well.

I'm happy with space wars, or androids sticking it to the man. It's so hard to find a good science fiction amongst all the fantasies.

I don't want to read a giant series at the moment, so a stand-alone novel would be lovely.

A book with charm will do nicely. I'm more interested in personal stories than giant wars.

If you can't think of anything with the above criteria, but still a great sci-fi novel to read, put it down anyways. Short summaries would be appreciated. :D