Rocky Lhotka has a post about his recent reading. Some very good stuff on here. Vinge is a good one for sure though is less impressed with Deepness in the Sky than some of his other stuff. Reynolds, in my book, was a bit of a disappoinment. His writing and story telling is excellent, but he finished his series with what I call the "gee, and then a miracle happened" ending. I won't go into specifics, but when you can wrap up a multi-volume epic in about five pages, you know he was looking for a cheap way out. Maybe that is the biggest challenge of these huge epic tales - how to you end them without taking forever as well.

I would also throw out Peter Hamilton as a great author. His Reality Dysfunction series was astonishing despite its "miracle" ending. I just started his newest series that begins with the book "Pandora's Star" and am totally digging it. Hamilton is worth a read for sure.