I also have enjoyed most of what Neil Gaiman has done. Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein was an interesting read if you are not easily offended and have an open mind while you read it.
I really enjoyed the Real Story series by Stephen R. Donaldson. All 5 books were interesting, although the first one was a bit short and served to merely set up the rest of the series.
If you prefer you fantasy on the epic side of the street try out Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series. They are excellent, but very long. I would guess that they average about 1000 pages each. As an archaeologist and anthropologist he has exquisite detail in the creation of his setting, with characters that are well realized.
Another science fiction series I have enjoyed are the Avery Cates books by Jeff Somers. Really gritty, but fun, with some great transhumanistic themes running throughout. The first book is The Electric Church. The writing style is done in a way that grabs you by the short and curlies and makes you keep up or be left with a tender patch. Not exactly the feel good books of the decade, but fun, misanthropic good times to be had. I have only read the first two. The last one is waiting for me, so I can't speak to its quality.
I also quite enjoy Dan Simmons books. Illium and Olympos in particular stand out as excellent examples of "hard" sci-fi. They take place on a terraformed Mars and a mostly abandoned Earth years after mankind evolve to a posthuman state, and deals with the aftermath of our arrogant abuse of quantum physics and genetic tinkering. In the setting the story of Troy and Greece is played out over and over again with artificially created "Gods" attempting to sway the course the war with their chosen heroes with the remnants of humanity and a rogue A.I. or two try to figure out what has happened to the original habitants of Earth, and why this historical war is being replayed on Mars.
If any of this sci-fi stuff piques your interest I will plug an excellent RPG called Eclipse Phase by Posthuman studios. Amazing fluff and their resource section points towards some really neat non-fiction material that tackles some interesting questions.
Speaking of non-fiction, Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephan Dubner are excellent books, with some interesting discussions about odd facts, and how they tie together. Fun chapters with titles like "School Teachers and Sumo Wrestlers" keep you wondering where they are headed next.
Sorry for my lack of vampire, werewolf porn, but I will have to admit to also being a sucker for the "good" 40K books, with Dan Abnett being my favorite. Many of the other authors are lacking, but can still churn out a mildly entertaining romp from time to time. And Dresden is a blast to read. I liked Butcher's Dresden series enough to buy the first two books of his fantasy series and am waiting to dive into them.
Cheers, and enjoy some summertime reading!
