[ QUOTE ]
I came into this thread to post this. Gene Wolfe is my favorite author, and arguably the best sci-fi writer of all time. Seriously everyone needs to read these books.
Start with the Fifth Head of Cerebus, then skip to the Long Sun books, (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_Long_Sun) then go back and read the first series, the book of the new sun.
[/ QUOTE ]
I'll 3rd the recommendation, and I also agree with GA that Long Sun makes sense before New Sun. Long Sun is ultimately easier to "figure out," but still retains much of what makes Wolfe awesome. If Long Sun is a little too much for you, I think you're unlikely to like New Sun. Unlike the Long Sun -> Short Sun transition (I've just read the first book in that series, looking forward to the next two), you miss out on very little by reading Long Sun first. There are definitely enough clues that it seems like the worlds are connected, but that connection is more or less irrelevant, and Long Sun stands alone very nicely.
Also, be careful trolling the Wikis if you think you might be interested in Wolfe. Spoilers will definitely show up.
EDIT: Also, 7ontheline's suggestion of Vinge reminds me of two great books of his:
A Fire Upon the Deep and
A Deepness in the Sky. The second is a prequel to the first. Both are very, very good, and either could be read alone. I first read Fire back towards the end of high school, and Deepness at some point late in college. The long separation blurred how similar the books really are, which is a little disappointing, but both are high quality space opera, and do an
excellent job imagining convincingly alien cultures.