I finally tore through my unread book pile last week, and now I have nothing to read. I'm hoping that someone here can give me some recommendations on what I ought to be reading next.

If it helps, here are my top five authors (in no particular order):

Matt Ruff. I like everything I've ever read by this guy, but Sewer, Gas and Electric is the first of his I read, and it is far and away my favorite. He's got a knack for creating impossible worlds and situations that still manage to house incredibly fun and relate-able characters.

Nicola Griffith. I originally picked up Slow Water because of my weird interest in water treatment processes (yep, same reason I picked up Sewer, Gas and Electric), but the book exceeded all my expectations by far. My favorite thing about her writing style is the way her characters physically inhabit their settings- while most sci-fi type authors have characters who live in their heads, hers really experience the what it feels like to move through and touch the world.

George R. R. Martin. Fantasy stuff typically bores me to tears because I get tired of characters being pure of heart and solving problems with magic. Martin's work is in direct opposition to that style of storytelling- all his characters have motives and points of view. The best laid plans often backfire beyond belief, and no one is ever safe from the next plot twist. Characters who would be easy villains in someone else's stories are laid out here so the reader can see their motivations and the reasons for their actions. Every time I reread Martin's books, I notice some small detail that I missed in the past (and sometimes, it seems like it changes everything I thought I knew).

Bruce Sterling. I see Sterling as being similar to William Gibson but with bigger ideas and more range (though I love both their work). Although I couldn't name a single character he's written (rare for me, as the characters are usually my favorite thing about an author), the basic concepts of his books stay with me. I find the articles and non-fiction equally interesting, so I guess I must just really dig his writing style.

Neil Stephenson. I love, love, love Diamond Age, Zodiac and of course Snow Crash. But in the interest of full disclosure, I couldn't get through Cryptonomicon. Like, at all. I've had the hard cover since the day it was released and despite a number of valiant attempts, I've only made it a handful of pages in before giving up. Diamond Age is my favorite of his because of the concept and the fully realized female characters.

Actually, that's worth making a bigger deal out of. Probably the single most important factor in my liking a book is that there be at least one or two awesome female characters. There are obviously exceptions to that rule (for instance, I will probably always like Lord of the Flies, and I read comics all the time) but it's a good place to start.

Okay, if you were able to read the novel I just wrote above, recommend some other novels for me! Thanks in advance.