What's your favorite science fiction book? I ask, because this is a real tough one for me. I'm inclined to say the Hyperion [1] novels by Dan Simmons. That being said, the book I just read by Alastair Reynolds was pretty damn good too: Revelation Space [2] Any way, what's yours?

As a side note, I would have to agree with Evan [3] about the fact that we have so many sci-fi readers. I think it does a lot to create a more broad-minded civil atmosphere. It really is a shame that science fiction is still considered the red-headed step child of literature because there is some work out there--especially the hard-fiction and some cyber-punk--that is deserving of more mainstream treatment.