Harrison and Gibson don't have similar styles at all, but they do have similar levels of talent. There's style and all, but good prose is an art of its own. I like Eco a lot, but haven't read Wolfe. Mieville is a bit clumsy with the prose IMO.

There is no microevolution, just evolution. Small changes add up over time, long stretches of time until they seem big when you look at the differences. Changes aren't micro evolution just evolution. Sometimes its so difficult to tell if someone is trolling or really believes the stuff you say. If you really believe…

Listen, it is Gene Wolfe's birthday. If you want to have your mind blown, for the love of beans, read Gene Wolfe!

Poul Anderson. I loved Tau Zero and War of the Wing-men!

Ben Bova.

I know they recently republished some of his works, but there's never a bad time for a Samuel Delany 'revival'.

I am really surprised the Heinlein's concepts don't get more play in Hollywood. I would love to see his works on the big screen some day...IF they are done right!

George Alec Effinger ..Wiki Effinger

I will admit to hometown favoritism for this one, but it doesn't change the fact that George Alec Effinger was one of the best authors I've ever read. The poor guy had hardly any luck at all when he was alive, so it would be great to see him get any recognition at all really. Schroedinger's Kitten, The O. Niemand…

Actual science and studies of lifestyle effects on a people being used to justify something? Get this outta here!

What about Stephen Donaldson??? http://www.amazon.com/Fouls-Chronicl…

LOTR and now stuff like Game Of Thrones has helped Fantasy in general and mature fantasy in particular find new audiences, and really, SFWA Grand Master Poul Anderson did it as well as anyone ever has.

Roger Zelazny wrote lyrical but tough minded hard boiled prose that was a joy to read. He wrote science fiction as if it was Fantasy and Fantasy as if it was Science Fiction. He created alien cultures that seemed believably alien yet also completely relatable.

How about Alfred Bester. There was something so grand, so operatic about "The Stars My Destination". "The Demolished Man" has aged slightly less well, but only in comparison to the superlative TSMD.

I'm torn between Doc Smith and Van Vogt. Man. Their books are fun.

I"m thinking Asmoiv.

I'd like to second Fritz Leiber. He could do anything. "Gonna Roll the Bones" is one the best pieces of prose I've read in any genre.

Someone's already mentioned Heinlein, so I'm submitting Poul Anderson.

Thomas Disch. I will never be able to reconcile myself with the fact that I live in a world in which Thomas Disch shot himself, among other things, because nobody gave a damn about his writings. I really have a problem with a universe in which one of the finest American authors and poets of the 20th century can't live…