I am a fan of exactly two brands of literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction. I would like to separate the two even as they are usually junctioned ( and in a certain state of natural symbiose ). Hardcore Science Fiction is a whole different world than Hardcore Fantasy.
I consider, for example, Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov, A.C. Clarke, Douglas Adams and Dan Simmons to be pretty hc ( =hardcore )Sci/Fi authors. There are more, but we shall dig into them later on.
I have to hurry now, so let us leave the opening post to this gimped, fractured state of existence. Let me just say that Simmons' Hyperion rocks my world from the very "w" to the very "d", and in all-caps if I had the boldness.