Sufficiently advanced sci-fi is indistinguishable from fantasy.

That is awesome. I'm writing that down and putting it somewhere so that I won't forget it.

I didnt want to spoil your enthusiasm, but I was totally disillusioned  about the quality of the Forgotten Realms stuff after Bakker. There are some really great fantasy series out there if thats what you are looking for though.

After Bakker I started up some Salvatore stuff and forced myself to finish the "last" series (there are now 2 more).
Eventually I started reading some of the suggestions that people have given out here and found myself wonderfully surprised. Here would be my suggestions to you:

Perdido Street Station:
It depends greatly on what you are looking for, but China Meiville's Perdido Street Station (first book in the Bas-Lag trillogy) knocked my socks off. Meiville likes to write unique books, and he does a great job at that. Its extremely dark and grimy, and it takes place in a semi-steampunk city. There is a bit of magic, but not a lot. The whole book was just nothing like anything I had read and I loved it. Not for the faint of heart.
As for the rest of the series, I haven't yet read, but I plan to some day.

Dune:
Look, if you want a well written sci-fi book, you simply have to read this. Dune, by Frank Herbert, is a gem, and one of the most critically acclaimed  sci-fi novels ever written. Its part of a large saga, which takes a bizarre turn half way through, but redeems itself in the last 2 books. I'd say that you should read the whole series, but no need to commit to the whole series. Reading the first book will be quite satisfying.
BTW pay attention to  the author. Frank Herbert wrote the main series, and then his sons/others tried to keep it going I've heard that those books arn't nearly as good as the core series done by Frank.

Ender's Game:
Interesting book, by Orson Scott Card, and the movie is coming out so if you plan to see it, I'd say read this first. I really liked it, and its not as deep/intense as Bakker/Meiville, but still worth the read. Also the sequal, Speaker For the Dead, is worth the read if you like the first one. The other 13 books in this series where not as good imo, but if you want to try and read them all, read them in the order in which they where published, not chronologically. It makes way more sense that way.
 
Game of Thrones:
As far as Fantasy is concerned, this is one you should probably read. Some love it, some hate it. If you like Bakker, this is worth a shot. I'm sure you can find 1000 opinions about this book, so I won't bother giving you mine.

Honorable mention: Neuromancer:
A bit dated, but I think this book was pretty good. For the time period in which this was written, its very impressive and insightful. William Gibson did a great job, though some people think its lots a lot of its prestige over the years.


Also there are at least 2 topics where people have asked for good books to read which have a lot of responses. I've yet to be disappointing.

haha no need to mount a defense. Really I'm just curious to hear the perspective of someone who likes the books who I find respectable. You fit that criteria quite nicely Locke. I was just attempting to articulate some of my own feelings/thoughts with the intention of hearing others opinions. Besides, we all know that a thread where everyone has the same opinion is boring. Just tell me what you think I'll not criticize it

Damnit, I was too lazy to actually look through the comments so i just searched for the word "greek" in the search bar. Maybe it only shows 1 page worth or results, sigh. I guess thats the reason why it sounded familiar   

Up until the last few chapters I was pretty disappointing. I felt like nothing really happened in the majority of the book, and the ending started to get interesting, but I am on the fence as to whether or not I should pick up the next one. If I had to wait 2 years for the next book to be written, I would have probably forgotten about it, but since they are all out I might pick up the next one and give it another shot.

btw I really liked Joe Abercrombie and obviously Bakker, maybe I'll look into the others.

I have read about 30 of R.A Salvatore's books. I was quite enthralled with them for a number of years, and I recently got a friend of mine hooked. I'd say Salvatore is one of the more popular d&d writers, and his stuff is pretty good. Though, to be honest, I doubt I'll ever read another one. I've had my fill of the adventure of Drizzt and company, though I don't regret reading them.

The main Drizzt saga is somewhere around 25 books. There are also a few other offshoots that explore some of the other characters, which where just as good as his main series. Most of them are broken up into 3 or 4 book series, so its easy to get through 10 books and have it not feel like a slog.

One of my favorites was the first trillogy "The Dark Elf" which start just before the birth of Drizzt, the hero in the rest of the books. If you are looking for a good place to start, I'd say its best to start at the beginning, and this is where it is.


Interesting side not, Salvatore wrote most of the lore for the game Kingdoms of Amalur, which I thought was pretty cool.


Hope that helps.

Everyone needs to gloat sometimes. I just packed away all my books yesterday

I love the idea, but who would show up even if there was a contest? . You and me and locke and Callan... sweet lol.