And to go along.... list some contemporary sci-fi

[fuzzyoctopus]

Hey, I thought it might be nice to have this list too.  What contemporary science-fiction is in the must read category?

[Fellfrosch]

Dune, unless you count it as fantasy. Other than that...I guess I haven't read a lot of sci-fi. Dang, that makes me feel all stupid and stuff.

[JP Dogberry]

Neal Stephonsen, Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash are both excellent.

Neuromancer.

I like Bruce Sterling, Schismatrix was great.

Hmm..I can't think of much off the top of my head that isn't punk, though

[fuzzyoctopus]

Well I'll definitely count Dune unless you want to get into the "what's the difference b/t sci-fi and fantasy" debate.  Dune is very cool.  Personally I think that the best sci-fi has fantastic elements, but that's a personal bias.

I think things like "Beggars in Spain" and "The Ship who Sang" should be on here, both being on the "early" side of contemporary.

[EUOL]

Hyperion--which Tage recently read and so I'm thinking about it--is a fantastic book by any count.  Hugo winner, very successful marketly, and very literary.  

By the way, Dune probably doesn't fit the 'contemporary' requirement any more.  Stephensen, however, is a name I've heard kicked around quite a bit.  Brenna's husband has recommended Snow Crash to me several times, I believe.

[JP Dogberry]

Consider me recommending it to you several times, thusly:

Read Snow Crash
Read Snow Crash
Read Snow Crash

Seriously, it's excellent. Just make sure to have read Neuromacner and have some understanding of what cyberpunk is first.

[fuzzyoctopus]

I'm sure it was Brenna's husband since that's one of his favorite books.

He got me to read a Micheal Marshall Smith book that I think is amazing; "Only Forward."

[EUOL]

...

Telling me I have to read Neuromancer to understand Cyberpunk is like telling someone they have to read The Firm so that they can understand what lawyers are.  Cyberpunk was around for quite a long time before Gibson mainstreamed it.

Evidence?  Blade Runner--which came out two years before Neuromancer.

Nothing against Gibson, but I've never been all that impressed with his works.

[JP Dogberry]

You don't need to read Neuro to understand Cyberpunk, sorry if it sounded that way. You need to read it to understand Snow Crash, since Stephenson's world is basically Gibsons turned up until the knob falls off. Well, ok, it's like that compared to any punk world, but it really does feel like it's having a go at Gibson mainly.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

yeah, I have to agree with EUOL, but I didn't want to be the first to say it (since I'm so negative all the time). But Gibson gives me heartburn. comparing to him won't motivate me to read something.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Then you should read Michael Marshall Smith who I've found is wholly accessible to the non-cyber loving sci-fi reader, (speaking as someone who has not read Neuromancer, and who found Snow Crash to be very weird.)

[EUOL]

Okay, JP--I think I understand.  Thanks for the warning.