[mrslave]

Me too with Consider Phlebas. Then I hit the Alastair Reynolds novels pretty hard and now I'm stuck for new material. Dune is en vogue so perhaps that's the right read next? I really enjoyed Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky but couldn't quite get into A Fire Upon the Deep but it still sits on my shelf taunting me.

[CRConrad]

> read next?

Stephen R. Donaldson: He's more known for The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, but you might prefer The Gap Cycle; it's more typical SF.

Also, the Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton. Perhaps Dan Simmons? And of course anything by Charlie Stross.