Reading is fun!

[Terr]

from a singlular house to eutopian mega cities.

Aw man, now I'm feeling all depressed and hopeless because I'm remembering I-have-no-mouth-and-I-must-scream-esque mega-cities (dyson spheres, pocket dimensions, whatever) from Blame!

Atlas Shrugged turned me into a right-winged doucher

Never having heard of Ayn Rand before, a relative recommended the book... I kept with it, trying to see what was going to happen etc, but by the time I got to the one-full-chapter-monologue I considered the book a perversion of fiction, a political philosophy I didn't agree with which was--worse--wrapped up in a horribly one-sided story to the ultimate detriment of both politics and story... So... yeah.

If you can get your hands on one of the copies of Nightfall

I'd also toss in some of the Mote (In God's Eye) series, and Tales of Known Space. Ringworld... notsomuch.

Clive Cusser

Sounds dirty (Cussler.)

I can't recall where I read it, but someone once described Cussler's books as the kind where you stack on several kinds of ridiculous awesome to get a final product which is both oddly compelling while also being something you'd be ashamed to admit reading.