Sci-Fi Recommendations - for the unenlightened

[Dee_hee]

There are some great recommendations in this thread. I'll never get through them all

[ushumgal]

My recommendations are pretty basic, but if someone asked me where to start with scifi, this is where I'd send them...

Lois McMaster Bujold
The whole Vorkosigan series - very richly-developed, human chacters

Larry Niven
Ringworld - what can I say? It's a classic!

Roger Zelazny
The first Amber series - one of the most original things I ever read