let's see... I recommend any novelization based on a movie based on a book by Philip K. Dick

congrats on the new print! it's kind of amazing.

My favorite series of all time is the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. Also, Tad Williams' The Dragonbone Chair, Overland, and Shadowplay series' are all very good. :) Oh, and The Deed of Paksenarrion is a great series as well by Elizabeth Moon, who has done some sci-fi books as well.

I don't know what Gattica is but The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a damn fine book well worth reading.

epic = Peter F Hamilton trilogies. they're a bit daunting sizewise, but well worth it once they get going.

for something more of a slim nature, Michael Marshall Smith writes some quirky interesting books in that section.

Dune by Frank Herbert is one of my favorites. I also enjoy Illium by ? and Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.

awesome thanks guys...and yes spacesick, i have meant to check out Dick's other books.
thanks, spacesick

as another insight into what i am asking suggestion of...
here is a line that could potentially be in many a book and would very much turn me off from it, most likely.
"as the great man of glory rose to the sunshine his armor gleamed with the valiant deeds he has rendered unto thus lesser than he....and blah blah blah...

i like the more confused, or accidental hero, as it were.
more easily for me to i identify with, and therefore become attached to the protaganist, i suppose. :)

evercurious...the description of "quirky" is very intriguing to me, as i often really enjoy when something/someone is quirky

Dune was actually too political for me...

not strictly sci fi, but i'd suggest slaughterhouse 5 by kurt vonnegut...
it's got aliens in it...

the best series that ive read yet are "teh malazan book of teh fallen" books by steven erickson

if you like epic fantasy they are teh best out there as far as im concerned

steven king's dark tower series?
or the stand?

Illium = David Eddings I'm sure. I've been wanting to read that series.

the dune series is epic, particularly the first couple of books.

I love fantasy novels, and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is really one of the best I've read in YEARS! He's a newish fantasy writer, but definitely would recommend! Very much an accidental hero story.

i like the more confused, or accidental hero, as it were.
more easily for me to i identify with, and therefore become attached to the protaganist, i suppose. :)
if you haven't read it The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a damn fine book well worth reading. would be perfect for you.

he tweaks things, so it's based in our world/time but with something altered... it's been years since i've read them so the memory's vague, but he has interesting turns of phrases sometimes that made me go wow. accidental heroes are common with him too. :)

If you like quirky sci-fi and haven't read Hitchhiker's Guide then you need to get on it! I also love the Red Dwarf books. :) Very quirky.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell are both classic sci-fi books that have similar themes to Gattica.

maybe the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan? i know they're available on tape. it's the LOTR formula. simple farm boy goes on a huge adventure with magic and sword fighting and monsters. i loved it, but i was a teenager at the time so i don't know if i was qualified to judge at the time.
and in the same vein there's The Belgariad by David Eddings.

thanks guys, keep em coming...
though horror is not to my taste, sorry twoonbee.
although dismal stories of the future might be cool.

i love my copy of The Raw Shark Texts on cd audiobook!

it's fantastic!

i'm also in love with Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar series of books.

d'oh - that was in reference to MMSmith.

Also both feature "flawed" accidental heroes.

Ooooh, and The Black Company series by Glen Cook. :D Fantastic and not too long series.

Start here, and read everything else in the series - there are 9 books in three separate trilogies (Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy) using the same characters in the same world.

Seriously, they're my favourite fantasy novels in the whole world.

i have read the hitchhikers guide series, and listened to the British radio drama.
as well as 1984...
i will be checking up on all these great suggestions.

Also if you like dystopian future stories try Gene wolfe's "Book of The New Sun" series - they are like a blend of sci-fi and fantasy.

I really loved Krakaboom suggestion too. Very entertaining - and with a flawed hero.

i did love Asimov's short stories as well as as Ray Bradbury's short stories...any suggestions for one of there novels that would be best?

Fahrenheit 451 is a classic Ray Bradbury novel. Plus it's set in a distopian future - you might like it.

Also

I like World War Z, but that's probably not fantasy enough...

Ender's game ftw

The dark tower books aren't horror!
theyre the tales of king arthur retold in the future with cowboys and robots and mutants!

David - absolutely! Pug is one of my all-time favourite characters. I also love that the magic in this world isn't really so sword-and-sorcery, and that there's so much political intrigue.

I tried Sword of Ice and Fire but couldn't finish A Feast For Crows (I think it's Book 5) - the story just didn't seem to go anywhere, and there were simply too many characters. I was hopelessly confused, and worse, bored.

y'know, i don't know why i haven't read Fahrenheit 451 yet...hmmm well prob cause i dont really give myself much time to actually "read", that is why audiobooks are of such interest to me...when i am doing the tasks at work that require very little thinking i can be read a story...hehe, like i read stories to my kids every night, i get a story read to me :)

Yes! Ender's Game

Enders Game is grand... and i actually read that one :)

you can get through faerenheit 451 in one sitting, and it's a good read. ray bradbury's imagery blows my mind every time i read his stuff.

day of the triffids is ace

i'm reading The Kingdom Beyond the Waves and it's pretty good.

there's a new direct sequal to Ender's game out (Before speaker for the dead and not a Parrellel story like Ender's shadow)

you guys are awesome, i will be looking into to all these suggestions...
but for now I must be getting myself busy.

any and all suggestions are welcome though.

can't find Hamilton's Reality Dysfunction on audiobook, but i highly recommend starting there. i was reading that series so much in the day that at night i was flying spacecraft in my dreams... very cool!

and don't be too tempted by his one off book Fallen Dragon for the sake of size - great read but the ending let the whole thing down (imho).

day of the triffids was great

ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING, by Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman. You don't know how much I love them both.

(it's a lot, by the way)

Also I'm going to check these out, eventually, as well. I tried to get the Dune stuff but my library doesn't have the first book or something stupid!

time enough for love

Thinking of some recently-published works.....

Robert J. Sawyer?

He's got several novels available on Audible.com as well as a short story -- so you can decide if you like him or not.

Allen Steele's Coyote series -- a large organised crew of dissidents hijack a spaceship to escape a tyrannical regime, and succeed in establishing a colony on a planet in another star system. Adventures ensue. (Also available from Audible.com, and again there are some short stories to give you a taste of the writer's style.)

Naomi Novik has a series of books with dragons, but they're science-fiction-alternate-history, not fantasy. I haven't read them but I've friends who are enthused about her work. Should I mention Audible.com again?!?

And I'll wind this up with a mention of my pal Robert Charles Wilson. SPIN is a particularly good book.