I'm going big with my sci-fi recs this time: fat multi-volume space opera, tales that could end up costing you sleep. Alastair Reynolds epic Revelation Space trilogy consists of the books Revelation Space, Redemption Ark, and Absolution Gap. It sprawls across the far future with imagination and style. Fermi's paradox, bent space-time, nanotech, inscrutable aliens, and the clash of civilizations feature prominently. Reynolds characters are refreshingly human, and his plot lines are never stale. Reynolds is from Wales, with training in physics and astronomy, and considerable work experience with the European Space Agency. He knows his stuff, and it shows. Two standalone novels set in the Revelation Space world are also available, The Prefect and Chasm City.

Peter Hamilton's duet, the Commonwealth Saga, consists of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. Set in a near-future where death is nearly eliminated, and wormholes are the basis of faster than light travel. A small number of distinctly different intelligent species are confronted with a powerful external threat. Political maneuvering, religion, and armed conflict all feature prominently in the tale. Hamilton's latest work, the Void Trilogy, is set in the Commonwealth universe 1500 years after the events in the Saga. The Dreaming Void was published in 2007, and the second book The Temporal Void, is due in October of 2008.

I was obsessed with these books when I was young. They are technically for kids, which I was when I started reading them, but very enjoyable for teens and adults as well. Good fantasy, unique characters and very imaginative story lines. The series contains: A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and Many Waters.

The Vorkosigan books by Bujold are fun, fast-paced, and easy to read sci-fi space opera stories. The books in the series are: Komarr, Memory, Shards of Honour, and Cetaganda.

Robert Heinlein's tale of a human raised by another world, who comes home and tries to understand us.

Okay, folks, most people don't know where to get started when it comes to the Star Wars books. If you take a look at the list, you'll understand why. There are a few hundred books dedicated to different sections and chronological sequences of this universe. Most of them are geared toward young adult readers, but all the "Jedi" series are fun to read and short in length. Like the film itself, if you want to jump right in, why not start in the middle with this one, A New Hope?

Want to know what happened to Han Solo, the gun-toting, Wookiee-befriending smuggler whom we all know and love from the movies? A.C. Crispin takes us from Han's teenage years up to the point right before we meet him in the Cantina bar.

I don't even know where to start describing this book. From the first few pages, Stephenson hooks you with brilliant, hilarious scenarios and then catapaults you deep into a virtual world that is being threatened by a new virus. Hiro Protagonist (the main character, of course), pizza delivery guy and Metaverse "warrior prince," was one of my favorite characters of all time after I finished reading the book.