Really enjoyed Consider Phlebas (Iain M. Banks).  It was a rip-roaring read.  Very visual and cinematic, I can still conjure up a picture of a lot of the scenes in my head.  Enjoyed the brief intro it gives to the Culture, too – the post-scarcity socialist society that are featured in a lot more books in the Culture series.  Interested to see how that’s explored further.  I’ve just started reading the next in the series, The Player of Games.

After this I think I’ll try some Kim Stanley Robinson – more speculative socialist futures as far as I understand.