Hyperion ***** : All four books in this serious are "big" science fiction: society, government, military, time and space travel, religion; it covers it all! (I read these last year but forgot to review them until now.)

Player of Games ***** : Culture series, book 2. Even better than the first! About a master player in a game that determines who becomes emperor.

Consider Phlebas **** : Great space opera with thorough backstory a la David Brin's Uplift series.

Tunnel in the Sky **** : Classic Heinlein space-cowboy, coming-of-age, young-adult fiction.

Borders of Infinity **** : Continuation of story line from Vor Game.

Anathem ***** : Science "monks" sequester themselves from the rest of the world for 1, 10, 100, or 1000 years at a time so that they can solve interesting problems in peace. Takes place on another planet with a whole new vocabulary to learn and enjoy. Based loosely on the Clock of the Long Now.

Sunshine *** : Makes me nostalgic for 2001: A Space Odyssey. Well filmed, but impossible physics and some ridiculous plot gyrations cost this movie a star.

Warlock in Spite of Himself *** : More of the same from Escape Velocity author. Part of the Warlock series.

Earth Abides ***** : Another classic sci-fi novel that I somehow never read until now. A disease kills almost everybody on Earth and the survivors live off the remains of civilization. Epic and thought-provoking!

Escape Velocity *** : Political sci-fi set in a medieval context. A little trite in spots, but better than I expected!

Vor Game **** : Obviously part of a much larger series (which I haven't read), but good by itself. Socio-political emphasis.

Venus Prime 1 *** : Better than I expected and an enjoyable end to my sci-fi reading blitzkrieg while on vacation in Costa Rica.

To Sail Beyond the Sunset ** : Heinlein is either a genius provocateur or just a dirty old man. Either way, this book didn't take for me.

Revolt in 2100 *** : Classic Heinlein space opera pulp fiction. Overly simplistic and unrealistic solutions to social problems, but it's fun reading.

Flowers for Algernon ***** : Another oldie-but-a-goodie that I had never read until now. Great soft scifi.

On Dragonwings **** : This is actually three books bound into one: Dragonsdawn, Dragonseye, and Moreta. All part of the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. An interesting blend of scifi and fantasy crossing nearly 2000 years.

Day the Earth Stood Still ***** : One of the best scifi films ever made, over 55 years old and going strong! This is my third time watching it and I still love it.

From the you-learn-new-things-every-day department, I was doing a little remedial research into the speed of sound on Wikipedia and realized that the speed of sound is independent of air pressure and altitude. The speed of sound is only affected by temperature (which is certainly not what I would have expected). Hence, the very common statement "speed of sound at sea level" is really very misleading.

Triad *** : Finally read this book after 15+ years on my bookshelf. First contact sci-fi novel with a linguistic twist. Not bad, but disappointing ending.

Left Hand of Darkness *****: Outstanding novel full of rich social commentary and complex character development. I can't believe I waited so long before reading it!