Definitely my favourite, by far:
Stanislav Lem, Niezwyciężony (
The Invincible).
One of the few real legends of literature, excellent style, and far ahead of it's time.
Excellent read, excellent audiobook, really gripping (though as Eschbach goes, there is a tiny bit of too-much-honey here and there):
Andreas Eschbach,
Quest(a very, very good space opera, properly detailed)
Nice and with fine surprises, good characters (of course):
George R. R. Martin, Tuf Voyaging
Neither Steven Baxter's Long Earth nor Proxima series could really convince me, though both have compelling core concepts. They felt too ... randomish. Maybe too much "bake a novel by recipe" or something? Don't know.
Yet I am one of those who think that while Asimov was an excellent factbook writer, he wasn't really good on writing novels. His Foundation saga was great in it's core concept but dusty in style and lacking vision of future's society already when he published it. *awaiting the stones*
EDIT Did I already post something here in the past? Sorry if that is the case ... time passes ...