Even though I don't like the basic philosophy of Dan Simmons (seems to be quite 9/11 panicked "we'll have to learn to fight once again" -kind of stuff). His new ones': "Ilium" and "Olympos" are surely worth reading... It's kind of sci-fi / Greek mythology poured together. Sounds terrible, reads great! He's very crafty in knitting the web together and making a story take you with it.
Well probably someone has already mentioned those in this thread, but read this then just as an affirmative yes-vote...