So, what are some recommends from the RAH fan club? Not necessarily Heinleinesque, but good authors of the genre that provoke new thought or inspire you to check out other works by the same person.
I'll start:
Neil Stephenson, Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, The Baroque Cycle, and, his best, Cryptonomicon. Brilliantly written and plotted, with wonderful characters.
Tim Powers, The Anubus Gates, Strange Tides, Last Call, Declare. Weird fantasy, different from anything else I've read.
Daniel Keys Moran, The Armageddon Blues, Emerald Eyes, The Long Run, The Last Dancer. More obscure, undeservedly so. He didn't seem to catch an audience, but I really liked his stuff. If you're out there Daniel, FINISH THE CYCLE!
On the subject of DKM, he has resurfaced. He has a blog now, and has put all of his old stuff online as PDFs for free. Go to http://danielkeysmoran.blogspot.com/ for all the info.
William Gibson's _Pattern Recognition_ is the best book I have read in 10 years. I'm reading it again for the third time, and have gifted it to others many times. People either love it or are vaguely confused by it.
Charlie Stross is another fine young author out of the UK. Check out _Accelerado_ the best book I have read on The Singularity. Also see _The Atrocity Archives_ for a fine blend of mathematics and metaphysics. He also has a series reminiscent of Zelazny's _Amber_, _The Clan Corporate_ that is more contemporary and tightly drawn.
regards,