I'm considering getting into this as well - I've read a lot more British than US sci-fi, although I've read all of Gibson's work, some of Joe Haldeman's, etc.
I'm a huge fan of Richard Morgan, Iain M. Banks, etc.
I've recently started moving away from what I'd term more "technical" sci-fi such as Alastair Reynolds and Peter F. Hamilton, but this is more than partly due to the lack of new material available at the moment, at least from my favourite authors.
Whereabouts does Larry Niven fit in? And for that matter, how about Neal Stephenson?
I see Iain M. Banks as primarily character-driven space opera, Alastair Reynolds as technology-driven space opera, Gibson as, social speculation etc... how would people classify Niven and Stephenson?
I'm about to start reading Broken Angels by Richard Morgan, the sequel to Altered Carbon, which I'd highly recommend to anyone that likes film noir, sci-fi, character-driven story, good writing, detective stories, and anything dark and violent. I reckon that covers most people here!
Thanks in advance!
Edit: Use the spelling, LukeThis comment was edited on Nov 20, 00:02.