Stross is probably my favourite author, in so much as one can have one. I enjoy pretty much all his works. Accelerando is a great book, if you like OA you'd like it.
I'm reading Old Man's War at the moment and really enjoying it. The basic premise is that the universe is a harsh place and although there are many sentient races habitable planets are rare and lead to constant fighting for their control. The main character is a geriatric who is recruited into the Colonial Defence Force, given a hell of a lot of upgrades negating his age and thrown into dangerous situation after dangerous situation. It's not strictly hard science fiction but it's well written, full of great ideas and has really good pacing. No chapter is drags on too long or goes by too quick.
Edit: incidentally there's a great description of getting a DNI in OMW. When first activated it talks to the protagonist in natural language, stimulating the auditory nerves so he actually hears a voice. To respond the protagonist has to speak out loud. Over time the DNI maps more of the brain so this becomes less necessary, effectively it learns the protag's brain (as well as his mind/personality). After a short while to command the DNI he just has to subvocalise and eventually the DNI gets so good at reading his brain state it can predict his needs and provide info, overlays, translations etc at the exact same moment the protag realises he needs it. Like a perfect personal assistant.
I'm reading Old Man's War at the moment and really enjoying it. The basic premise is that the universe is a harsh place and although there are many sentient races habitable planets are rare and lead to constant fighting for their control. The main character is a geriatric who is recruited into the Colonial Defence Force, given a hell of a lot of upgrades negating his age and thrown into dangerous situation after dangerous situation. It's not strictly hard science fiction but it's well written, full of great ideas and has really good pacing. No chapter is drags on too long or goes by too quick.
Edit: incidentally there's a great description of getting a DNI in OMW. When first activated it talks to the protagonist in natural language, stimulating the auditory nerves so he actually hears a voice. To respond the protagonist has to speak out loud. Over time the DNI maps more of the brain so this becomes less necessary, effectively it learns the protag's brain (as well as his mind/personality). After a short while to command the DNI he just has to subvocalise and eventually the DNI gets so good at reading his brain state it can predict his needs and provide info, overlays, translations etc at the exact same moment the protag realises he needs it. Like a perfect personal assistant.