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[SalmonGod]

Roger Zelazny is my 2nd favorite author, behind Tolkien.  I think he's the most wildly creative person ever.  He throws out crazy fun ideas like worthless trinkets, devoting mere paragraphs where other authors would have fueled books with them.  He just has so many.  My favorites:  Amber Chronicles, A Night in the Lonesome October, or Lords of Light.  He's nothing terribly deep, but incredibly fun.

Gibson and Stephenson for massive amounts of cyberpunk.

I support this recommendation. Neuromancer and Snowcrash, specifically, are the crash course in cyberpunk.

My wife and I were half-jokingly discussing names for our first kid with my dad, and I had read Snowcrash only a few months prior.  When he suggested Hiro Protagonist totally non-seriously, you wouldn't believe the crooked grin that spread across my face.  Thus, my first kid is named Hiro.  Two years later, the tv show Heroes comes out, and Hiro Nakamura becomes a wildly popular character.  Today most people assume his name was inspired by the Nakamura character, which frustrates us to no end.

[lemon10]

Perdido street station (good gritty bizzare steampunk world), and everything else by china mievelle (although i would recommend reading perdido street station first).
The year of our war (good bizzare fantasy, british though so it might be a bit hard to get in a bookstore)
The Lies of Locke Lamora (about a group of con artists in a medieval Venice like city, fantasy, excellent).
The Malazan Book of the Fallen, first book in the series is The Gardens of the Moon.
Wheel of time, first book in the series is The Eye of the World.
Name of the wind (excellent fantasy)
The Blade Itself
The Darkness That Comes Before
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (excellent and British)
Dresden Files (urban fantasy, love it, but lower quality (even if it is slightly more enjoyable) then most of the others on the list)
The Magicians
The Warded Man

Hm... looks like quite a list. Enjoyed all of them very much, and would recommend them to anyone that likes fantasy/high fantasy/steampunk.

My response to the last good books thread I read, all of the books on the list are excellent.

[sluissa]

I have to mention Nathan Lowell's books again. Most of them are currently limited to mp3 audiobook format, but don't let that stop you, (especially since those versions are free). The text versions, as they come out, seem to be high quality as well.

Series is called the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper.

First set of books follows one, Ishmael Horatio Wong(sp?) as he rises through the ranks from lowly Quarter Share assisstant steward all the way up to, eventually Owner's share of his own ship.

Second set, that's currently in production of the audiobook format. Is Shaman's tale. Following the comings and goings of a agricultural planet, more closely of a specific fishing village, and even more closely of the shaman of said village and his son. I don't describe it well though.

All of these are available on http://www.podiobooks.com

[Jiharo]

A Night in the Lonesome October ... nothing terribly deep, but incredibly fun.

Wholeheartedly agree.

[Silfurdreki]

Naomi Novik's Temeraire Series had me interested for some time.  Haven't finished the series yet though, don't have the next book.

Naturally it has dragons.

It has dragons, during the Napoleonic Wars.  Big dragons.  Like 10 people strapped to a harness while shooting guns while riding a dragon big.

Seconding this, I mean, it has wooden ships, iron men and formation flying dragons (with whole crews) dropping bombs on aforementioned ships and men. Is there anything else one could wish for in a setting?

[Zangi]

David Brin's Uplift Books
Its Sci-Fi, about 'patron' races 'uplifting' primitives...