Where to find good science fiction?

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Since I moved to my current state, I've noticed myself drifting away from anime towards science fiction. Even within my anime interest, I am moving towards mecha and space opera anime.

Anyways, I've been getting more interested in science fiction primarily because I have read Arthur C. Clarke, a little bit of Asimov, and Alternate history. In alternate history, I liked Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Years of Rice and Salt" but the thing that bothers me about alternate history is that it seems to have a hang up on European, U.S. civil war, and WWII history, not on asking probing questions about other histories.

Anyways, I have always been a big book nerd, but my reading was limited to astronomy picture books, some history, and a lot of current events books.

As I mentioned, I tend towards hard science fiction, with some interest specifically in interstellar travel and xenosophonts (intelligent alien life). One of my friends has a big collection of science fiction from the 1940s thru to current times. However, at the big book stores, a lot of the literature in the science fiction/fantasy section tends to be apocalyptic and fantasy related. Then the "science fiction" tends to be based off of Star Trek, Star Wars, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, etc. Of the good authors of hard SF you find very little. I've honestly seen more good stuff at used bookstores. I am unsure if I should just shop at used bookstores to find good science fiction. Does anyone know of good science fiction bookstores in the Western United States? I live in Idaho, but I'm planning to move to San Jose at some point in the future.

Amazon?

Try Stephen Baxter and Iain M. Banks, btw.

Dan Simmons wrote a few good ones too. Early Neil Stephenson wasn't bad either

Philip K. Dick is the best.

Although I'm sure Ambivalence will be along shortly to tell me how wrong I am.

I like Phillip Dick best too but the guy wants interstellar travel and xenosophonts.

I'm rather partial to Peter F. Hamilton. There are a few fantastic elements to his books, but there's always the implication that it's based on some sort of advanced physics which we simply don't understand yet. I'd heartily recommend Pandora's Star and its sequel Judas Unchained. They're a bit different than a lot of science fiction in that there's interstellar travel, but few spaceships. Most interstellar travel happens using wormholes on the ground, with high speed rail-lines passing through them. His Night's Dawn trilogy is also very good, but is very, very graphic. In every sense of the word. Sometimes all at once. But it is a superb piece of space opera.

How about Dune?

It feels a tad long but I enjoyed it.

I strongly recommend these fairly hard SF authors, I was delighted to discover each of them.

John Varley ("The Ophiuchi Hotline" and series)
Sean McMullen ("Souls in the Great Machine" and series)
Hal Clement ("Mission of Gravity") - a hard sf classic, if you've not read it, do.
Vernor Vinge ("A Fire Upon the Deep")
Alastair Reynolds ("Revelation Space" and series) - quite hard space opera (very limited FTL, for starters)
C J Cherryh ("Cyteen", "Regenesis", "40,000 in Gehenna"; from a longer series) - the azi (tape-taught clones) in these books are very 'us' sometimes.
Olaf Stapledon ("Sirius", "Last and First Men", "Star Maker") - I particularly like Sirius.

The Internet Speculative Fiction Database can give recommendations. And if there are used bookstores in your vicinity, check them out, I've gotten some good sci-fi books like a collection of Philip Jose Farmer at used bookstores.

Amazon really is your friend (and the enemy of your bank balance!).

I've read Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy too, and found it to be very long and graphic as Astrogeek says, but I did like it (as someone who was born in Norwich and went back there to study, I really enjoyed his concept of Planet Norfolk!).

If you're moving into standard SF from anime and manga, check out some of the stuff that Viz published on their Haikasoru imprint (link here). I particularly recommend Yukikaze, Stories of Ibis, Mardock Scramble and The Next Continent. Their stuff's basically contemporary SF and fantasy, but purely by Japanese authors. Since you have an interest in literature and entertainment from that part of the world (I must admit I'm the same) I think you'll find a lot to enjoy there.

My personal SF faves at the moment are William Gibson and Paolo Bacigalupi. The former is the go-to writer for cyberpunk while the latter is a more up-to-date and ecologically-conscious take on Gibson's futuristic dystopias (Bacigalupi explores what might happen when oil reserves run out and genetic modification goes out of control, and so forth).

Your location indicates that you live in Boise Idaho. Find your local used book stores, and go to the Science Fiction section. Look for stuff by Phillip Jose Farmer, Larry Niven, Harlan Ellison, Fred Hoyle, Gordon R. Dickson, etc, etc. --You will find titles relatively cheaply. Chances are that you'll find a few used book stores around the University