h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There are several books which I would consider "must read". That goes for anybody - not just for Sci_Fi geeks like me.

1. The Dune series - Frank Herbert
2. The Rama series - Arthur C Clarke
3. Tiger, Tiger - Alfred Bester
4. Discworld books - Terry Pratchett
5. Manifold trilogy - Stephen Baxter

and also most of Greg Bear's books. I suppose a fondness for DNA's works can be considered a given.

I'm currently reading "Elric" by Michael Moorcock but am slightly disappointed. Perhaps if I'd read it when I was 16?

I definitely agree with the Rama series. Absolutely fantastic.

yeah! i still have my fingers xd that the film will eventually be made, tho it's a long shot, i know.

and re elric, i know exactly what you mean. i tried reading them when i was 24, got nowhere fast, and decided i was about 10 yrs too old to appreciate them. but i know people who read them at the right age and still rave about them. it's definitely an age thing. unlike, say, the narnia books, which i re-read last summer, and still thought they were fantastic, despite it being a good 20 years since i first read them, and probably well over 10 years since last reading them. i think that's one ofthe signs of a good book: you enjoy it, and get different things out of it, when you read it at different ages.

I agree with you on Terry Pratchett, the Rama series, and the Manifold trilogy. I also like a lot of Stephen Baxter's books - I really like the way he finds scientific explanations for his strangest plot twists (read Titan if you don't believe me!) and the way he doesn't just write one dimensional scientist characters.
If you like SB, look out for Ben Bova's books - he writes about humanity's expansion throughout the Solar System.
I tried to read the Dune books ages ago and I am going to have another go at them soon.
Annie