For hard SF, two names that come to my mind without even having to think are Larry Niven and Poul Anderson.

Yeah, Niven is my favorite, at least until his last coupla books. Haven't read Ringworld's Children yet. I would love to see The Mote in God's Eye on the screen. Anderson is fun, too. Hal Clement is another "hard" science fiction author.

Michael Crichton drives me nuts. I've only read Jurassic Park and its sequel, and I could barely get through those because, while the books have neat plots, the man's writing style is awful. Almost every time a character speaks, Crichton puts the word "said" after the dialogue. Never "remarked," or "replied," or "shouted," or anything else -- just "said." An excerpt from JP:

"The Land Cruisers have started again," Arnold said. "They're on their way home."

"But why did they stop?" Hammond said. "And why can't we talk to them?"

"I don't know," Arnold said. "Maybe they turned off the radios in the cars."

"Probably the storm," Muldoon said. "Interference from the storm."

"They'll be here in twenty minutes," Hammond said. "You better call down and make sure the dining room is ready for them. Those kids are going to be hungry."

Arnold picked up the phone and heard a steady monotonous hiss. "What's this? What's going on?"

"Jesus, hang that up," Nedry said. "You'll screw up the data stream."

The entire book is like that -- it feels really stilted and unnatural.

I really liked The Andromeda Strain, enough so that I've reread it several times. I've enjoyed a lot of his other books. The "said" thing doesn't bother me at all.

I had a lot of people push "Prey" at me. It actually ended up being rather weak. Obviously didn't do his homework on how fruitless most genetic algorithms are....

In any case, can't say I've read much else of his stuff.

Almost every time a character speaks, Crichton puts the word "said" after the dialogue.

There are things I dislike about Crichton, but that's not one of them. I like said. It recedes into the background. With words such as "remarked," I get distracted and starting thinking, "Was that really a remark, exactly?" The context should tell you, rather than the said synonym.

Yeah, but people should at least reply....

Said's not background for me. It's present by its absence of detail. If that exchange had had half as many saids, even if they weren't replaced by anything, my internal pattern-counter wouldn't tick over, and it wouldn't be so staccato to me. And just distractingly staccato, not rhythmically, or mood-enhancingly.

A couple of those lines were questions, and therefore should have had "asked" after them instead of "said." And would it really hurt the man to throw in a "replied" every now and then?

See, the conversation was about science-fiction writers, and then someone brought up Crichton, which is just ... wrong.

I hereby perform indignities upon Prey, which was composed entirely of fey-yu.

Hey, now. He writes fictional science all the time.