[BlueSkyJaunte]

Just finished CTRL ALT Revolt! by Nick Cole. I laughed out loud through much of it, and yet it also gave me a lot to think about. I'm currently reading Soda Pop Soldier.

Ryk Spoor and Eric Flint did a trilogy called Boundary. Pretty good stuff.

If you want real hard sci-fi, look at the works of Charles Sheffield. He was a genuine physicist/mathematician by training and took his writing seriously. I particularly enjoyed Aftermath and its sequel Starfire, and the Cold as Ice trilogy.

My absolute favorite stories are by Cordwainer Smith. There are collections of his work floating around out there. A close second is Alfred Bester's oeuvre. Both of these guys were "golden age" writers but I'd put their work up against anything that has been written since.