I recently read Cowboy Angels by Paul McAuley and was quite impressed. It could have gotten preachy at any number of points, but took more of a morally ambiguous approach which made it much more interesting.
Also read Axis by Robert Charles Wilson which was so-so. Good writing, good characterization, but when the big climax finally happened, it didn't feel very climactic. (Ransom, I feel your pain.) Granted, this was the middle book in a trilogy, and almost all middle books seem to suffer from this in some way or another. The first book, Spin, was spot on, so I haven't written off the next one yet.
Currently reading Quantico by Greg Bear. I'd shelved this one for a long time because, although I generally like his writing, the topic didn't interest me as much as other books in the queue. I'm not far enough in to say anything other than his writing is still very immersive. The primary POV has changed each chapter, so I'm not quite sure who are the main characters and who are there for window dressing.
I've been thinking of re-reading Heads and Hardfought lately. I can still remember how much those made my jaw drop when I first read them years ago. Short, but very very good.
