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I have read some of the books on the list, a few comments.
Consider Phlebas (1987), by Iain M. Banks
I was not impressed, but it is readable. Lots of action, but otherwise a bit shallow and purposeless.
A Fire Upon the Deep (1992), by Vernor Vinge
Excellent book.
Pattern Recognition (2003), by William Gibson
Very, very boring. W. Gibson lost it after the Neuromancer trilogy. Other recent books by him have the same problem: BORING.
Glasshouse (2006), by Charles Stross
This is OK, but to put it into the top 20 its a bit of a stretch.
Some other recommendations:
Alastair Reynolds - very good except for the Absolution Gap
Isaac Asimov - Foundation series is a classic
Frank Herbert - Dune (AVOID the prequel books by his son)
Greg Bear - Most of his books are very good
Frederik Pohl - The Gateway series is a classic
Stanislaw Lem - some very good classic scifi.
My avoid list:
C J Cherryh - I read Cyteen and Deepstation, had to give up the former. REALLY boring stuff.
Dan Simmons - Hyperion, Fall of Hyperion - weird and boring at the same time.
Jack McDevitt - started two of his books, was not impressed at all.
Beware Hugo and Nebula awards, they are awarded for writing and not for the story.
Just my 2c.
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