[hinckley buzzard]

Azimov's Foundation Trilogy is the defining epic space opera. Herbert's original Dune (the series goes downhill fast after that.)

[GSWarrior]

My favorites works by my favorite writers:

Robert Silverberg
The Book of Skulls
The Masks of Time
Dying Inside

Gardner Dozois
Chains of the Sea
A Dream at Noonday
A Special Kind of Morning

Jack Vance
The Last Castle
Tales of the Dying Earth
The Demon Princes series

Orson Scott Card
Ender series
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus