I think it'd be fun to post our top five choices and your favorite book from each. Though, please try to base your choices on overall work instead of just one particular novel.
1. Philip K. Dick - aside from the sheer volume his work (which was massive), he introduced us to so many foriegn concepts and ideas. Where William Gibson might have invented the matrix, Philip K. Dick was questioning the very existance of a real reality decades prior. He's a visionary and a real mind bender. I never read anything by PKD that I didn't like, and I've read it all.
Book: The Man in the High Castle
2. Sam Delany - I refer to him as the Shakespeare of SF. He has the most poetic prose style I've ever read. Everything he writes, even when the situation isn't meant to be, is riviting. That, combined with his literate nature really makes his sf seem more than pulp entertainment.
Book: Dhalgren
3. William Gibson - Co-creator of cyber punk. The literary equivilant of John Woo. Reading this guy is always fun for me. Aside from his flash cut prose style which always keeps me on edge, his ideas and the way he exacutes them really leave me thinking after I close the covers.
Book: Neuromancer
4. Orson Scott Card - The simplest reason: plain fun to read. A literate core surrounded by a pulpy crust, truly the best combination in my opinion. His work is accessable to anyone, kids and adults and makes both think just as hard. Reading almost any piece of his work, you can expect a good time.
Book: Ender's Game
5. Ray Bradbury - Though he only wrote only one sf novel (an amazingly superb novel), that along with his short stories has made him one of the greatest living authors of today. Terrific grasp of emotion and a simple prose style that pull a reader in, not to mention brilliant ideas that inspire even today, this guy lives up to his title.
Honorable mention:
Assimov - Terrific author and visionary, but idea's got too dated over time. However, that in no way dilutes the power of his work, in my opinion.
Herbet - Loved his ideas, and I really do think that the Dune novels are terrific, I simply can't stand his writing style.
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