John Scalzi - Agent to the Stars

Outside of this series, two recommendations: Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus , which is another alternate history, and Card's novelization of James Cameron's The Abyss — perhaps the only novelization of a movie that actually reads like a full-blooded novel.

Sheri Tepper:Like Card, Tepper is a profoundly empathetic writer, and naturally enough, her empathy is a distinctly womanly one. This feminine viewpoint, coupled with Tepper's considerable story-telling expertise, is what I love about her writing: unlike most of the writers on this list, whose work I feel I could probably emulate, given time (and a jolt by God), Tepper is writing from a space I can't inhabit. Mind you, this isn't about writing female characters — any competent writer can do that (and just about every writer on this list has). It's the overarching mental scaffolding we're talking about — how Tepper creates her worlds as well as her characters.

Her take on the universe is fundamentally different than my take. But what makes her such a good writer is that she can make me see, feel, and believe her take on things — through the deftness of her prose and the strength of her characters. It's like visiting a foreign land, and discovering to your delight that you can speak the language (or at the very least, the natives can understand you ). Also, on a not entirely unrelated point, Tepper understands satire to be something more than broad lampooning; she's got some marvelous satire in her work that just about slides under the radar. No offense to SF, but most of the writers in the genre are not known for a delicate touch. Tepper's got it, God bless her.

Suggested Reading:Many of Tepper's works take place in the same universe but only tangentially touch on each other, thus avoiding the "sequel" feel. Of these books, the one I most highly suggest is Grass , which shows Tepper's mastery in several techniques: first, building a rich, complex and believable universe; second, creating a plausible crisis that can End Life As We Know It; third, creating a character, Marjorie, who is resourceful, willful, capable — and human. Great book. Tepper followed it up with Raising The Stones , which is just as good in an entirely different way: this book gets to the heart of what makes us human, and whether it's something that an outside force can help us with. You can read either book without having read the other, but read them both for the full effect.

Dan Simmons:Dan Simmons is probably the best all-around writer out there in SF Land because, among many other things, he's merciless. This is a guy who will make you put an emotional investment into a character so charismatic and central to the plot that you can't help but think he or she is the main character — and then kill that character half-way through the book. AND still pull the book off cohesively. Talk about a one-two punch: both the chutzpah to give the reader the unexpected, and the skills to pull it off flawlessly.

What makes Dan Simmons even more of a treat is that he's the rare writer who can pull off two separate genres completely: science fiction and horror. Simmons writes in each (and on more than one occasion, such as The Hollow Man , both at the same time), and has won the top awards in each genre (the Stoker for horror and the Hugo and Nebula in Science Fiction). Finally, for his masterworks (The Hyperion series), he shamelessly rips off everyone from Chaucer to Keats to Mickey Spillane — and nails each one on the head. Basically, as far as writing is concerned, there's apparently nothing the man can't do. It's sort of disgusting if you think about it, so don't. Just enjoy the results.

Suggested Reading:Simmons' best work are the first two Hyperion novels: Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion . In these books, Simmons creates a fully realized universe that ranks up there with Asimov's and Herbert's in terms of complexity and believability, and does it while creating personalities you can really sink your teeth into (which, for what it's worth, neither Asimov or Herbert could really pull off in their respective universes). The first two Hyperion books, in my humble opinion, represent the best science fiction writing in the last decade or so; you'd be a fool not to run down to the book store and pick up copies right this very instant. The two books that follow these, Endymion and Rise of Endymion , ain't too shabby either.

If you want to try some of Simmons' horror work, two titles should work for you: Carrion Comfort , a massive tome that combines mind control, zombie-like creatures, the deep south, Nazis and Hollywood - and does it very well, thank you. Also seek out Children of the Night , Simmons' riff on the Dracula fable that includes a new and exceptionally well-realized spin on the vampire myth.

Susan Cooper:Cooper wrote the Dark is Rising juvenile fantasy series, which I think represents the absolute best juvenile fiction can be. It has a juvenile protagonist and is clearly written to appeal to younger readers (I first read it in the fifth grade), but it never, ever writes down. The characters are rich, the situations complicated and of earth-shattering importance, the references vivid, the themes never simplistic and the resolution satisfyingly consonant (for a fantasy series) with the real world. You'll notice I haven't even started to talk about the writing style here. It's even better than what I've described so far — good enough that I can read the books again as an adult, and enjoy them as much as I did when I was a child — without having to read them through a child's eyes. That's good writing, friends.

I understand the books have been optioned to be made into movies by the Jim Henson Studios. Here's hoping they don't screw them up.

Suggested Reading: The Dark is Rising Series, naturally enough: The Dark is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, and Silver on the Tree . There is another book in the series, Over Sea, Under Stone , and it's actually the first of the series, but I've always found it the weakest of the series, and I found that not reading it doesn't detract over much from enjoying the rest of the series. I suggest reading The Dark is Rising first, to get a grip on the tone of the series, and then reading Over Sea later. Don't let the fact they are juvenile fiction stop you — they really are worth the read no matter what your age.

Those are the biggies — here's some quick notes on some of my other favorites.

David Brin:Brin is hit-and-miss with me, but when he hits, he makes an impression. Earth , his novel of the near-future (in which intrepid scientists fight against a black hole that has sunk into the center of the Earth) is his best work in my eyes — a detailed and well-wrought vision of a world on the brink, not so different from ours (Brin also gets credit for nailing the concept of hyperlinks a few years before they actually showed up). Brin's Uplift Trilogies are so-so for me; I have to really work to get into them. The Uplift War is the one novel in the series that works best for me; the rest are ehhh in my book. I feel sorry for him about his novel The Postman , the movie version of which got the worst reviews of 1997. Fortunately for him, no one seems to blame him for it.

Neal Stephenson:The most readable author in the cyberpunk movement, mostly because he's got a hell of a sense of humor, and an ear for dialogue and hip description: the first couple chapters of Snow Crash , his (deservedly) most-acclaimed novel, are some of the best, funniest science fiction you'll read. What Stephenson has not managed to do to date, however, is come up with a serviceable close to his books; in Snow Crash and The Diamond Age (there's a third book, Zodiac — actually his first published — which I have not read), he creates these wonderful, funny, vivid worlds, and then doesn't know how to wrap them up. It's frustrating. Still, better half a loaf than none — I still have more fun reading him than just about anyone else.