Same goes for musicians. The reason there are too many derivative indie, metal and prog bands out there is that too many of them don’t listen nearly widely enough.

http://www.genjipress.com/repairshop/non-sf-for-sf-authors.html

I did this because one of the problems I see with many would-be or budding SF authors is how they often read SF and nothing but.

I have always enjoyed military fiction so this was a good cross over book for me. Absolutely loved this book so I’m going to backtrack and grab the first ‘Virtues of War’. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys exciting stories and strong characters, not just sci fi fans.

I probably could have worded the bit about Golden Age writers to read a little less dismissive, but I still don’t think works dating from the 1950s are necessarily the best introductions for new readers. There’s probably a bit of “Standing on the shoulders of giants” at play, and without Heinlein and Asimov to blaze a trail we’d probably never have had writers of the calibre of Iain Banks working within the SF field. But I still feel more modern writers are more accessible to readers of mainstream contemporary fiction.

Probably guilty as charged of ignoring the 60s/70s generation of writers such as Ursula LeGuin and Michael Moorcock, though.

@JinjaBeardy – I love Stross’ Laundry novels, but I’m not sure how they read to someone without prior knowledge of H.P.Lovecraft. Ditto the near-future police procedurals Halting State and Rule 34 – They’re full of MMORPG and other geek culture references that strongly appeal to the sorts of readers who are probably reading SF&F anyway.

If you know someone who likes crime procedurals then Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Retrieval Artist series is the SF for you. Strong and believable characters set in a universe where humans are struggling to find their place in amongst some pretty unpleasant (and unfathomable) alien races.

“The Disappeared” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. ‘CSI in spaaaaaaaace’

If your intended victim, oops sorry, reader is into spy novels then I’d go for a second dose of Charles Stross to add to your choice, in the form of his ‘Laundry Files’, Another cross-genre series, part SF, part horror, part spy novel and more besides.

“The Atrocity Archives” by Charles Stross. If James Bond had started in I.T. …

If you’d like the reader to get the ‘sense of awe’ that science fiction is often quoted as inspiring and they are wondering what that’s all about, there are plenty to choose from but using the ‘No established golden oldies’ criterion then I’d pick Jack McDevitt as a relatively easy read for SF newbies.

“Engines of God” by Jack McDevitt. Archeology in space, with fighting.

Time travel. A staple of SF, and the one plot device that even a person who has never read a word of SF will know. A vaguely related field is alternative history. For newbies there is much to choose from, and while it’s a little dated now I still enjoyed the plot of my selection, mainly because it doesn’t actually involve direct time travel (which appeals to the hard-SF fan in me) and it has a heavy dose of alternate history too. Take this stone, two birds.

“Timescape” by Gregory Benford. Time travel (ish), Alternate history, eco-disasters and scientists as the central figures.

Finally, we need something for the action fiction fans. If your intended SF reader-to-be likes their action full-on, and isn’t put off by some pretty graphic depictions of violent action, then you could do worse than Richard Morgan.

“Altered Carbon” by Richard Morgan. Not a rose-tinted pair specs to be found in this future vision.

There, that’s my tuppence-worth.

“WE”, Evgeny Zamyatin
“The Star Diaries” or “Solaris”, StanisÅ‚aw Lem
“The Stars My Destination”, Alfred Bester
“The Revolving Boy”, Gertrude Friedberg

And maybe something by Daniel M. Pinkwater.

… And my own books, but I’m biased.