"Halting State" by Charles Stross
A crackling, sharp-eyed look at 2012 Edinburgh, where police sergeant Sue Smith is reluctantly assigned to help solve a virtual crime involving marauding Orcs robbing the virtual bank of a very real company that smoothes the transactions of gamers across the world in their pursuit of the very best gaming experience.But all is not as it seems, and as companies and countries battle online and in person, the pursuit of world information domination is at stake.

"The Sunrise Lands" by S.M. Stirling
In 1998, all internal combustion engines and electrically powered machinery mysteriously fail, plunging the world back into the Dark Ages. Warming the cockles of every medieval re-enactor's heart, the survivors are those who know older ways. Oregon, after plague and famine decimates the population, finds itself organized into a feudal "protectorate" in Portland, a Celtic clan with goddess overtones in the Valley, a forest band speaking Elvish, and a group of warrior monks in Mount Angel. This four-part series with a fun Oregon connection is irresistible.

"Rainbows End" by Vernor Vinge
Robert Gu, a crotchety poet long envied and despised by both his family and colleagues, has sunk into the depths of Alzheimer's, only to be brought back to a new reality when medical progress provides him a rejuvenated mind and body. Sent to a middle school where other partially "repaired" elderly mix with teenagers much more technologically sophisticated, Gu despairs of ever regaining his poetic genius. Vinge is a master in presenting a fully realized future world where virtual reality and the possibility of biological mind control are everyday occurrences in this 2007 Hugo Award winner.

"Prayers for the Assassin" by Robert Ferrigno
Away from the science fiction aspects of most near future novels, Ferrigno posits a world where, in 2015, simultaneous nuclear attacks on New York, Mecca, and Washington D.C. are followed by a "confession" from Israeli extremists. The result is a country which schisms into a tightly run moderate Islamic republic in the north and a more lawless Christian government in the south. Ferrigno deftly spins a consummate thriller in this brave new world that will leave you eager for the second volume in the planned trilogy.