Recently, my favorite is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Even if you've seen the film, the novel is worth the read. And if you're a Star Trek fan, Redshirts by John Scalzi is a hoot. Others I've enjoyed:
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series - Douglas Adams Dirk Gently duology - Douglas Adams Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis Space Trilogy - C.S. Lewis His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 1984 - George Orwell The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick Dune - Frank Herbert Ringworld - David Niven Rendezvous With Rama - Arthur C. Clarke Robot Series - Isaac Asimov Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton Timeline - Michael Crichton Hunger Games trilogy - Suzanne Collins Lightning - Dean Koontz
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
I read Eyes of the Dragon a few months ago and I liked it a lot more than I thought it was. It was very straight forward and matter of fact (which went against his usual style as you mentioned) so it took me a while to get used to it but I ended up really liking it.
"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2