I enjoy reading Arthur C. Clarke's novels. You may already watched the movie version of 2001: A Space Odyssey, which I think it's BRILLIANT. I read the book first, it gave me chills... and then I watched the movie when I was in college... the impact was... I dunno how to say it; it was a life changing. Yes, I said it. It made me realize how human being is just so small... and it kinda wreck your brain for a while. I was in daze for a week after watching the movie. If you wanna read his short stories, I recommend "The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke" Reading the stories kinda give me different experience, Clarke had a way of telling stories...RIP.

I also recommend "The Dark Side of The Moon" by William Corlett. I actually cried reading it. I don't know whether it's available in USA. Basically it's about two unrelated stories but they happens at the same time. One in space, one on earth. I couldn't sleep after reading it, because it was like someone hit my head with a brick. I don't know whether it's considered to be a sci-fi novel, but in my mind it is. My friend said it isn't.

But I must say I have to mention Doctor Who and Torchwood for best sci-fi television shows, if you like watching sci-fi shows  I don't know if US viewers watch these shows, but I'm addicted watching the shows. They have everything: drama, action, and of course heavy dose of sci-fi. I just finished watching the season finale, and I want more. Can't wait until X'Mas for the new season.

If your looking for a fun, light read, Peter David comes highly recommended.

I don't know about his novels, but I read his entire "Supergirl" series, and, while it often made me laugh, it was about as far away from Supergirl as you could get. He seemed like he was writing his own weird concept and calling it "Supergirl". Also, the ending sucked beyond comprehension.

Anyway, while I don't read any sci-fi, here are my recommendations based on TV series and movies that I've seen:

the Robotech novels by Jack McKinney (a noncanon novelization and expansion of the TV series):

http://www.amazon.com/Robotech-Genesis-1-Jack-Mckinney/dp/0345341333/ref=pd_sim_b_1

"Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation" by Yoshiyuki Tomino (a more mature version of the story from the original series, told in a series of 3 novels by the creator of Gundam):

http://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-Escalation-Confrontation/dp/1880656868/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215397749&sr=1-2

the Logan novels by William F. Nolan:

Logan's Run/World/Search:

http://www.amazon.com/Logan-Trilogy-William-F-Nolan/dp/044050404X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215397927&sr=1-1

Logan's Return:

http://www.amazon.com/Signed-Logans-Return-Adventure-Decades/dp/B000N24IM6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215397991&sr=1-1

He ruined Linda Danvers in the last 2 issues. She goes back to pre-Crisis Silver Age Earth-1 (no clue how that happened), knowing that she's going there to die, and yet she marries Superman and has a daughter, apparently never tells them why she's there (her daughter's confusion in issue #80 indicates as much), is willing to let all of reality be destroyed unless the Spectre saves the daughter that she had no business creating, punches out the "original" Supergirl (remember? the one that never existed?), forcibly sends her to her own reality (and eventual death), and...sends Superman her skateboard.

Yeah, whatever.

At least, now, that series never happened.

I can't tell you how many hours I've logged on Will Eckert's Wold Newton site. Here's the link for those would really want to see the madness....

http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Pulp.htm

This site proposes that dang near every literary character are related and the fictional universe is more interrelated than anyone ever guessed. Even spending hours upon hours there, I still haven't hardly scratched the surface of this densely-written site.

other favorite places on this site: http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Char.htm (it's a character list)
and http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Chron.htm which is a tv/movie/book crossover chronology.

Another favorite link on this site: the site map http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/WNUsitemap.htm

If you can find copies, get " Tarzan Lives" and "Doc Savage His Apocolyptic Life" both written by Phillip Jose Farmer. Although not required reading, these two books (especially the Tarzan book) is what has inspired this site. several parts of the site also recommend other books that tie this fictional universe together.

My final recommendation: get a tall, cool drink and get comfy. This is not a site you can zip through in just a few minutes. But it is highly, HIGHLY recommended!

Gregg

Douglas Adams books have always been favorites of mine 'cause of their randomness, and I did read "Time Line" (after having seen the movie - I liked the book better), but, I tend to lean more toward humor over anything else, especially if it's applied to various genres. It also took me awhile to actually watch it (long after it was cancelled) because of the premise, "Space Cowboy smugglers" (or something similar), but, "Firefly" is definitely worth a look-see if you ever get the chance.

I usually have a hard time with sci-fi because they're so plot driven and the prose isn't the greatest. With that said, I recently read Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. It was very good, even though the attempts at characterization wasn't that great. Also, the Road by Cormac McCarthy isn't sci-fi exactly but it envisions a post-apocalyptic Earth and that was very good as well.

I read A Calculating God by Robert Sawyer many years ago and I highly recommend that as well.

Philip K.Dick is always good. Man in the High Castle.

Ha! Getting the Road on Father's Day is an inspired gift.

I've been meaning to read some more Sawyer books but just haven't gotten around to it yet. I heard his Neanderthal Parallax trilogy is very good. That is the one that I've been interested in reading the most.

Spin won one of the SF awards so you might want to give that one a look. It was pretty good.