What are the Lindens' favorite SF novels?

Most of my favorites have been named already. So, I'll lay down two dystopic future books.

_Arslan_ by M.J. Engh

_House of the Scorpion_ by Nancy Farmer -- this one often gets shelved in the young adult section, but it's perfectly fine for adults, too. Just doesn't happen to have any sex described directly.

The Peace War by Vernor Vinge - Stasis fields as tools both for war and for peace.

The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson - A monument appears out of nowhere, commemorating a military victory sixteen years in the future.

Kiln People by Davis Brin - What if you could clone yourself, but the clone only lasted a little while? What would "work" mean then? When would you choose to merge the clone's memory back with yours, and when would you let it go?

...besides Viz, T3 and EVO you mean... ?

The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)
Faerie Tale, Magician, Riftwar Saga (Raymond E. Feist)
Angry White Pyjamas (Robert Twigger)
The Good Guys Wear Black (Steve Collins)
Anything by Eric Van Lustbader
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (Stephen Donaldson)
etc.

edit: oh, just noticed the original post asked for SF books only - sorry..

Favorite recent sci-fi: Inversions, by Ian M. Banks
Favorite "read while I'm letting hind-brain solve difficult coding problems" sci-fi: most anything from the pulpy, mil-sf side of Baen Book, particularly Eric Flint, David Webber, David Drake, but not John Ringo (blech)
At times favorite all-time sci-fi: Deed of Paksenarrion, by Elizabeth Moon, Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick
Current favorite all-time sci-fi: Illium , by Dan Simmons
Favorite "read everything she's written" sci-fi author: Octavia Butler (so sad that she is gone)

Robert Reed's works such as Down the Bright Way, Marrow, and Sister Alice are a lot of fun. He portrays post-singularity transhumans with a gritty, painful... humanity. I prefer Ian M. Banks (previously mentioned), and Banks does torment his characters more (I was in a foul mood for weeks after reading Use of Weapons) but Reed's just off on a very different plane than most other SF writers. I highly recommend you give him a chance.

I can't believe I'm the first to mention Greg Egan. Permutation City and Diaspora are perhaps the definitive "uploaded beings" novels, with a dash of cutting edge theoretical physics. Sadly, like most of favorite authors, the endings are typically weak. Lots of fun stuff, though!

I actually prefer the more traditional books by Stross(Singularity Sky, Iron Sunrise, and the new Glasshouse)to Accelerando, which (IMHO) worked better as short stories. I like my short stories short and my novels long. Stringing together short stories devalues them.

Of course, my favorite all time SF series is Asimov's Foundation (er, rather, Robots/Empire/Foundation) which evolved from a series of short stories. So some authors can pull it off.

Speaking of classic SF, I was in a used bookstore on Haight a few weeks back and stumbled across a trove of some true classics I'd been meaning to read: Space Vikings by H. Beam Piper and the Dumarest books by E. C. Tubb. For some reason there was a tremendous meta-discussion in the SF world in the 1960s, with all of the authors trying to tell the One Great Fallen Empire story - Asimov's just became the most famous. Speaking of that, I also found Interstellar Empire by John Brunner; I happened to read a number of his pulp novels when I was younger. To bring things full circle, Brunner is perhaps best known now as the author of The Shockwave Rider, perhaps the seminal cyberpunk novel.

I adore Tad Williams' Otherland series. The series is four volumes strong and it starts with the City of Golden Shadow. I read these long before I'd ever heard of Second Life, and when I found SL it was like entering the Otherland as if I'd come home.

Its hard to say it in public but I did really love the Bio of a Space Tyrant series by Piers Anthony (ducks).

Other books of greatness I also love:

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Philip K Dick - the short stories mostly
Grass - Sheri Tepper
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin

I think my all time favorite is George Orwell's "1984".

Job: A Comedy of Justice, by Heinlein

Vernor Vinge's new book Rainbows End recently rocked my world!

I am more a fan of short stories and was a long time subscriber to the now defunct OMNI Magazine.

Memorable shorts for me were William Gibson's "Johnny Mnemonic", Theodore Sturgen's "Time Warp", Iaaac Asimov's "Found!".. really too many to remember, much less name.

OMNI was also responsible for introducing me to Stephen King who is one novelist I have read over the years. I'm also a big fan of Tom Robbins and (off topic) James Baldwin.

-Jill

Dune

Currently reading Jack Chalker's Soul Rider: Empires of Flux & Anchor

(First time I ever logged in to SL, all I could think of was Piers Anthony's Adept series)

Neuromancer, 'cause Molly and Case are such badasses - and because it was such a gritty read way back when.

I also love the books by George Alec Effinger: _A Fire In The Sun_, _When Gravity Falls_, and _The Exile Kiss_

And I'll always mention Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, which is more comedy than anything else

I'm a huge fan of anything Heinlein. My favourites of his are Starship Troopers, and
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.