Seeing as this is a lonely little forum with no posts I thought I'd kick it off with the authors I follow and sci-fi books I've enjoyed Feel free to add anything yourselves, the more the merrier in my opinion!

Peter F Hamilton
Definitely my favourite author and always good for huge space opera's with plenty of world building, technology and interesting ideas - I just don't think you can beat him in terms of these things. His Night's Dawn trilogy (The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist, The Naked God) are probably the most popular of his works, although I do prefer his Commonwealth Universe (Misspent Youth, Pandora's Star, Judas Unchained, The Dreaming Void, The Temporal Void). Those last two books, Dreaming and Temporal, are the first two in his latest trilogy with the third, The Evolutionary Void, due early next year. I also run a fan site/forum over at www.theunisphere.com.

Neal Asher
Another of my favourites with the best alien creations I've come across in sci-fi. His world building for the Polity Universe that contain all but one of his published novels is immense and full of ideas. I'm more a fan of his Spatterjay/Prador books (The Skinner, Voyage of the Sable Keech, Prador Moon) than his main series, the Ian Cormac books (Gridlinked, The Line of Polity, Brass Man, Polity Agent, Line War). He's also a great short story writer, his collections, The Engineer Reconditioned and The Gabble and Other Stories, have some of my favourite short pieces. The stand outs, by a huge margin, are his Owner stories - an almighty, god-like entity that owns worlds and the space they are in. He's writing the first full length novel about this at the moment and it's my most anticipated novel EVER!

John Scalzi
I'm sure everyone on here is familiar with John Scalzi, if not for his novel then for his blog, Whatever. His books are great military SF/space opera and the humour that he uses makes the pages turn even quicker. I love Old Man's War (and the sequels The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony - I've yet to read Zoe's Tale, not out in the UK yet) and that book alone is right up there with some of the best I've read. I still need to catch a few of his other things, but what I've read goves my confidence to know I will enjoy them

Gary Gibson
Gary only has a few novels out there so far (Angel Station, Against Gravity and Stealing Light) but he's shown he's got what it takes to deliver a great story. Stealing Light is the first book in his Shaol Sequence (book 2, Nova War, is due out later this year), and he's created an interesting and complicated universe that has plenty to offer for the rest of the series.

Tobias Buckell
Carribean science fiction isn't something I thought would mix, but Buckell doesn't half persuade you in the best possible way! Crystal Rain (steampunk) and Ragamuffin (speace opera) are his first two novels, set in the same universe, and give a unique flavour that is very satisfying. I still need to pick up Sly Mongoose, the third in the series, but I've heard it gets better, which is no small feat after how much I enjoyed Ragamuffin.

Some other books I'd recommend without hesitation are:
The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons - of the the greatest series of books out there. Simmons does a wonderful job with everything. Shame I didn't enjoy his other sci-fi books anywhere as near as much as these four beauties.
Dark Space/Chaos Space by Marianne de Pierres - the first two books in a series and they build up very nicely, provided you're willing to make the investment. I'm looking forward to see how these go
Seeds of Earth by Michael Cobley - not out until March, but this one is a solid space opera that has some great ideas. One to look out for

I've got loads more that I could add, but for the moment I think that should do!

I've got to agree with Chitman there - Peter F Hamilton is an incredible author! His Night's Dawn Trilogy clocks in at over a thousand words per book, but I guarantee that when you pick it up (with recommendations from both me and Chitman, I just know you will) you'll finish each book in less than two weeks! Incredible stuff!

Gary Gibson, Tobias Buckell, John Scalzi and Neal Asher I cannot yet speak for - haven't read any of their stuff yet, but Dan Simmons is incredible, too. :-) De Pierres also hasn't buzzed through my mind yet, but I've also got a copy of Seeds of Earth, and it's definitely going to be a trailblazer in SF. :-)

One author I'd like to add: most people see him as one of the Epic Fantasy greats, but I haven't seen much talk of his (and I hope I'm the first to coin the phrase) Epic Science Fiction saga, The Gap Series. This is Stephen R Donaldson, folks. Chitman has read the first book, and reviewed it, and I highly recommend it - great, big, awesome stuff. :-)

Im surprised you both liked Hamilton so much. Opinions of him are pretty mixed out there. Might be because some of his older stuff isn't nearly as well received as his newer stuff.