I feel we should have a dedicated sci-fi/fantasy books thread - I know there is a 'What are you reading at the moment' thread, but most mentions on there are for books outside of the Sci-Fi genre. As a kid I got hooked on Ray Bradbury, and it's been mostly Sci-Fi for me since!
As a boy growing up I remember being thrilled by Isaac Asimov's 'Foundation' series, Stephen Donaldson's 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever' series, all of John Wyndham's books, and later on the bizarre books of Philip K Dick.
Although Dune is by far my favourite fiction book of all time, a close second is a book that I recently finished - 'A Fire Upon The Deep' by Vernor Vinge. I wonder if anyone on FT has read it? It is an amazing and unique work of fiction, with the most fascinating aliens that I've ever come across.
For the FT sci-fi/fantasy readers out there, what/who were your own early influences?