Author recommendations... (Score 1)

I know I'm probably covering a lot of the same authors other people have mentioned, but hopefully I can come up with one or two new ones:

• Iain M. Banks - read every one of the Culture books you can; he rocks!
• Greg Bear - some of his books are better than others, but they are all good. I still am blown away by Eon every time I read it.
• Dan Simmons - Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, The Rise of Endymion are four of the most amazing books ever written.
• Peter Hamilton - I've loved all of his books
• Neil Stephenson - all of his books are good, but I still believe The Diamond Age is his best.
• China Melville - earlier reviews had it right... his books are always surprising and enjoyable
• Vernor Vinge - Fire Upon The Deep was mind-blowing
• Michael McCollum - Lifeprobe was good, but his other books are just as enjoyable
• Neil Gaiman - American Gods was one of the best books I've read in years
• Ken Macleod - The Star Fraction and his other works are new and exciting
• David Weber - I just started his Honor Harrington series (On Basilisk Station) and am enjoying it quite a bit
• Philip Pullman - the His Dark Materials trilogy

and yes, I also recommend the Harry Potter books... quite good. Unfortunately, many of my favorite authors from days of yore (and I'm sure I'm going to get yelled at because of this) seem to have lost the ability to produce the kind of books that made me love them. Specifically, Piers Anthony (I can't believe the Xanth series and crap like Ghost are from the same man who produced Macroscope and the Cluster trilogy), James P. Hogan (Inherit the Stars and The Proteus Operation were amazing, but his recent works have been less than impressive) and Jack Chalker (I'm sorry, but I think that this first set of Well World books were his peak; the ones written more recently haven't been nearly as attention-grabbing and interesting). I highly recommend the ones I mention here... especially Chalker's first Well World books... amazing.