I'm in the mood for Sci-Fi., Suggestions? Options

[Forever Zero]

Alright, I haven't read a good book in a long, long while. As a matter of fact the last actual novel(s) I ever read were probably either the Ender Quartet by Orson Scott Card, or a few random Dean Koontz books here and there. And probably Salvatore's The Demon Awakens.

All of which were well over a year ago. I think it's high time I grabbed a good book to sit down and read. And I'm in the mood for Sci-Fi. Preferably with some adventure in it, I'm not talking about Hard Sci-Fi.

So first off, is Dune really that good? I'm considering getting it, but people say the same nonsense about Tolkien's works and I personally can't stand them.

Any other Sci-Fi suggestions I'm open to. Take note that my sudden interest in Sci-Fi has been spawned by my recent viewing of the entire Firefly TV series, after taking an interest in one of my favorite movies of all time, Serenity. So if any books out there can come close to matching the wit and awesomeness of that series, I'll buy it in a heartbeat.

[Xenogil]

I'm going through Foundation at the moment. I still need to go through Asimov's Empire and Robot series, but I really want to sink my teeth into some psychohistory!
I'm also going through the Collective Stories of Arthur C. Clarke, story by story every night. He had a great one about a potentially frightening drawback of cryonics, assuming the subject could ever be revived. It's a shame he's passed on.

I suggest reading Stand on Zanzibar if you haven't done so. I also suggest reading another great work by Asimov, The Last Question. Like most great works of Science Fiction, it's a short story.