I moved from Asimov to Clarke to Heinlein in HS, and then to Niven and Pournelle (and their many other collaborators) in college (after Asimov and Heinlein died, and Clarke's output dropped off in quantity and quality). If you like Ringo, I'd look at the stuff he's done with David Weber, and also the SF/Alt History 1632 series by Eric Flint, later with David Weber. The March to the Sea series by Weber and Ringo is really good--the first volume is in the Baen Free Library, get it if you haven't read it.
And while he's not really hard SF, you left out one of the greatest (if most paranoid and drug scarred) minds in the whole genre--Philip K. Dick. Granted nearly all of his work was written in a fit of mania, which leaves large plot holes, story lines that start up and never finish, and characters whose trains of thought cannot be followed without descending into madness yourself. It is, however, that same manic energy which does pull you into the characters, and his work certainly has stood the test of time better than most.
--scot |
