On Mon, 12 Nov 2018 13:13:22 -0800 (PST), Cindy Hamilton
> wrote:
>
>Hands down, the best recently deceased (as opposed to living)
>speculative fiction author is Terry Pratchett. You can
>step into the Discworld at a variety of points and feel right
>at home. For women, I generally recommend Witches Abroad. For
>men, Guards Guards.
>
>Do you care at all for urban fantasy? Jim Butcher is very good,
>although his first couple of books were rough around the edges.
>A wizard who's a private detective in contemporary Chicago.
>
>If you like straight science fiction, we've been enjoying the
>Columbus Day series by Craig Alanson.
>
>We tend to like it funny and snarky.

My top 3 SF (I never read Pratchett and I stopped reading SF 25 years
ago):
Jack Vance
Philip K. Dick
Frank Herbert