scifi

I've been reading a bit of sci-fi again recently. Any recommendations for really good and relatively recent (10 years) sci-fi novels that really hold together well as a work of fiction and don't start with a good idea but tale off like many seem to. I've been reading lots of good short stories...

'Solaris' sci-fi writer Stanislaw Lem dies

And they have a demonologist. John Edwards doesn't have a demonologist. But we haven't seen their hot chick* engineer and field interviewer.... Donna LaCroix * The term "hot chick" is used loosely to mean any woman left at the bar during closing time.

This has been bugging me on and off for a while. I've summarised what I can remember below. (?) Indicates I'm not too sure of the accuracy of the recollection. As a youth I remember reading a novel about a man who crawls into a barn to escape a storm. The barn turns out to be a spaceship...

I like good sci-fi. The problem is finding it amidst the mountains of crap. Suggestions?

For the physicists here: I'm picturing a sci-fi weapon - it uses a wavelength of light that can pass through skin, but if it uses a focal point beneath the flesh it will concentrate at a point and cause burns. I'm researching for a friend who wants to write a short story using a concept like...