Writers with a body of work that I admire:

Greg Egan. Science fiction so hard it can scratch diamonds. Gardner Dozois has called him the most important new author of the 90s and I agree. Novels "Quarantine" and "Permutation City" are standouts, but he also has some good short fiction.

Robert A. Heinlein. The king of the golden age of science fiction. Way too much good stuff to pick something specific out.

Ursula K. LeGuin. The science in LeGuin's science fiction is anthropology, not biology or physics. When she's good, she's really good. Personal favorites include the novel "The Dispossessed", and short stories "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight" and "Solitude".

Robert Reed. Great short story writer. Whenever I see his name on the front of a magazine I have to buy it. Can't think of anything that stands out but I am looking forward to seeing his "Sister Alice" series in novel form this spring.

Bruce Sterling. Sterling works really hard to figure out what the near future will look like. His non-fiction is as good as his fiction. "Holy Fire" and "Schismatrix" are standouts in the fiction department, and his "Hacker Crackdown" is a great non-fiction book about the origins of the internet.

Walter Jon Williams. Just a damn good writer. Nothing really deep to say, but draws me in and keeps me with him. Good plots, good imagination, great pacing. His characters tend to be a bit Machiavellian, but are likeable enough to make me care about what happens to them. Standouts - Novels "Days of Atonement" and "Metropolitan".