Ender's Game is utterly amazing. Hyperion is very good space opera, too--it's more of a collection of novellas which get tied up. One of my favourite villains, and I enjoyed the sequels more, I think. The Mars trilogy is pretty good. Oryx and Crake had a very 1984ish feel, and I enjoyed it.
I agree with others that this is a pretty common list, and if I were to try and stray away from what you might find commonly find on such lists, but are also worth reading: American Gods, The Forever War, Caves of Steel, The Stars My Destination, Snow Crash, The Thrawn trilogy (Star Wars, if you're into that), Wind-up Girl.
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