http://io9.com/5880602/great-science...s-or-trilogies
This article seemed relevant to the "series fatigue" discussions that crop up now and then. I'm not sure why they threw in the "and fantasy." A couple of the authors have written fantasy novels, but AFAIK they're all pretty much sci-fi authors.
A lot of these people I haven't read, or haven't read much. Ben Elton sounds interesting.