I'll just put out my list since it's probably what people browse those threads for. I just finished it so I might be biased, but Miller's "A canticle for Leibo

I'll just put out my list since it's probably what people browse those threads for. I just finished it so I might be biased, but Miller's "A canticle for Leibowitz" is some of the best Sci-fi I've read. Extremely thought provoking, and you get the opportunity to read from someone coming from a very different place than your usual sci-fi writer. I loved the setting and the plot, monasteries are definitively a unique setting for Sci-fi (Think Il Nome della Rosa by Eco meets Mad Max) Philip K. Dick also has a very unique outlook and is worth a read, either through "Do Androids dream of electric sheep" or "Ubick" (warning: Ubick is extremely weird) Given my native tongue is French, I'll not forget Barjavel, excellent writing (although I read it in the original French). Like Miller, the philosophy is very different from your usual Sci-fi. La Nuit des Temps (or "The Ice People") and Ravage ("Ashes, Ashes") are great reads. For Gibson, I'd recommend the Bridge trilogy ("Virtual Light", "Idoru" and "All Tomorrow's Paties") over Necromancer. Gibson writes prose like poetry, it's the best English literature I've read. His writing has a literal taste, sweet yet with a nuanced and rich flavor. Once you are into a book, each sentence is a pleasure to read. But he doesn't make any compromises for newcomers. Necromancer is really hard to grasp. Since the Bridge books are set in a world more similar to our own, it may be more approachable to someone new to the author. Asimov and Clarke were very popular at their time. But I think they didn't age well. The recommendation in the OP of the Foundation series (though I recommend you limit yourself to the original trilogy) is alright. The idea is very unique, but the writing is poor, and well, gender has a weirdly backward role for a futuristic society. OP is missing Clarke. Classic author who is responsible for 2001 A Space Odyssey. However, Clarke best work is "Childhood's end". Yeah, the new-age ending didn't age well, but it's still really good. "Rama" is good too, but the sequels do not hold up. Greg Egan is very obtuse, you need a very good level of math to understand some of his work. But not all of his novels are intractable. I loved "Distress", it introduced me to a very different way to think about gender identity. I'll second The Tchaikovsky recommendation from OP ("Children of Time") It's very high on my Sci-fi tier list. I'm surprised to see him in such a list, because he's not the conventional Sci-fi recommendation. But it makes sense, Children of Time is such a unique and excellent novel. The premise is insane, the story is excellent, and the writing tops if off. It works surprisingly well. I'm a big fan of Charles Stross. Accelerando and Glasshouse are definitively very good. But I'll go and recommend "Saturn's Children". It's more his style: Very much like Tchaikovsky, his premises are insanely ridiculous and almost outrageous, but perfectly coherent. His work is so much fun! It's a blast to read through his novels.