Conversation

It seems like there's a high % of science fiction readers on here. For a few reasons -- the main one being that I'm a frustratingly slow reader -- I have yet to dive in on any serious SF quests, and I end up getting lost in the meta-chatter. (pretty much sitting in the "I've heard Dune is good" camp)

Curious to hear some examples of works that you consider good/important, either for the genre or for you personally, and briefly why. They don't necessarily have to be novels, either.