Quote Originally Posted by BigHomie
I can't say I'm "big" into sci-fi.

A few years ago I took my nephew to b&n to get this Star Wars book he wanted. I was looking at them and ended up picking up Zahn's "Thrawn Trilogy"

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it but I got hooked right away. I'm not the guy that would camp out in line for a week to be the first to see the movies - but some of the books are pretty good. I've read about 85 to 90% of the SW's books, which is about all I'm gonna read... I'm not really interested in the books that came before "A new hope".

Knowing that I like that stuff is there a book/author you'd point me in the direction of?
I think I can help you with some "real" sci fi. Those Star Wars books are part of what I referred to as mass produced sci fi. But since you did enjoy them I would suggest trying Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. If you like it, there are several books in that series and Card is a great author. It's the story of a young boy who, after being sent off to military school at age 8, thinks he is playing a military training video game but later finds out that he is responsible for annihilating an entire alien species. That being said, keep in mind that I am a bit of a sci fi snob in that I really detest mass produced market driven literature. I tried reading a couple of the star trek books and found out that they truly sucked. And as I mentioned, I am, or was a big star trek fan. But that too has devolved in to a huge marketing machine. Whatever you should decide to read, and regardless of what I say...keep reading!!!!
Douglas Adams is just darned good entertainment and a great author. Comedic sci fi (a somewhat new variation on the genre) at it's best. The other auhors I mentioned all got started back in the 30's, 40's and 50's writing for magazines and anthologies.