Wow, a science fiction thread. Now I can write without having to argue politics. (Yes, I'm one of those people).
The first science fiction novel I read was Heinlein's Glory Road. I cut my teeth on the previously mentioned "juvenile" Heinlein's (Tunnel in the Sky, The Star Beast, Starman Jones, Starship Troopers, etc.) Then I delved a bit further with The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Time enough for Love, and Farnham's Freehold. Then I read Stranger in a Strange Land. That opened my eyes to a much bigger world. Soon after that came Dune, still one of the most impressive of the genre.
I've been hooked ever since.
An overview:
Harlan Ellison. Simply one of the greatest writers working today. Period.
Dan Simmons is the newest and best contender. Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion are the best written science fiction in a long time. Also, if you can find it, although not science fiction read Song of Kali.
My personal current fave is A.A. Attanasio. Wyvern is historical fantasy and a wonderful book. Solaris is light-hearted classic sci-fi.
Long-time secret pleasure: A.E. VanVogt. Everyone should at least read The World of Null-A.
Can never say too much about Philip Dick. Especially the Valis books. He was an absolutely stunning talent. The closest thing that science fiction has to Van Gogh.
Saw a mention of Walter Jon Williams earlier. He did cyberpunk even better than Gibson (although Gibson's Neuromancer is pretty cool). Especially Hardwired and Voice of the Whirlwind ("Ecrasez l'infame!")
Personal favorite cyberpunk--- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, even though there's an enormous hole in the story 2/3 of the way through. His description of the near-future is entertaining and frightening.
For true near-future prediction from the late 60's - early 70's try John Brunner's The Sheep Look Up and Stand on Zanzibar. Frighteningly accurate.
I also love Clifford Simak. His writing evokes a sort of dusty tranquility. Try Cemetary World and the collection City.
Julian May's Pleistocene Saga is a great idea well written, but it does seem to be a bit light for all of her obvious effort.
For fantasy(?) absolutely read Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus Alone (the Gormenghast trilogy) by Mervyn Peake. These books will be appreciated for centuries to come. They truly are some of the most incredible things ever written. I've read them all uncounted times.
David Wingrove's Middle Kingdom series, with its Chinese ruled future is very impressive, although I've had a hard time finding them.
Then there's Roger Zelazny. Amber is a wonderful series, but my favorite of his novels is Roadmarks. Tremendous little book.
For series, Michael Moorcock. You can't go wrong with any of the Elric books, and the Cornelius Chronicles are (is? they're available both separately and in a single volume) entertaining if disturbing. My favorite is The Dancers at the End of Time series. Great books.
Of course, for comic relief, nobody's funnier or has a better sense of sci-fi satire and inside jokes than Douglas Adams.
Great book: The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. You too will love Gully Foyle.
Niven and Pournelle, alone or together are worth the time. Especially The Mote in God's Eye and Lucifer's Hammer. And Ringworld. And The Integral Trees.
Also saw an earlier mention of the Riverworld series by Philip Jose Farmer (Peter Jarius Frigate!?) Marvelous concept, well thought out and well written. Imagine, a science fiction story starring, among others, Sir Richard Burton, Mark Twain, Alice Liddel and Herman Goering. Great stuff.
And finally, the coolest end of the world novel ever, and should be of special interest to SI members (just read it and see) is Ward Moore's Greener Than You Think. It's very hard to find, so I'll give you the set-up.
Our protagonist, door-to-door salesman Albert Weener, through ignorance and short-term greed, applies an untested chemical to a woman's Bermuda grass lawn believing it to be a fertilizer. In reality, and as he was told and failed to understand, it is a mutagen that alters the grass so that it can grow on and gain nutrition from anything: metal, concrete, asphalt, and as we eventually discover, flesh. It was designed as a humanitarian aid, to help starving peoples grow grain, but as he didn't see the potential for profit in offering a product to people that were already so poor that they were trying to grow wheat in sand, he went for the lawn market instead.
The grass continues to grow, overwhelming everything in its path, and Weener, through dogged determination and a complete blindness to what's happening all around him, continues to play the situation and get richer and richer and richer until he essentially controls the entire world. Or what's left of it. Great lesson in the line between success and megalomania. Bill Gates should read this.
Ahhh... thanks. I could go on and on and on and... (as if I haven't already), but the dawn's approaching- time to go to bed.
-BLT
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