I'm a huge Eclipse Phase fan, although I think the setting needs to be reworked for sanity, and is dated due to the references to the politics going on when it was written. I realise that it's justified as Autonomist propaganda, but it really is too much of an author tract. It does have a useful number of references listed in the back of the core book if you are looking for more fiction and nonfiction works featuring transhumanism.
From things I have personally read:
Greg Egan is an Australian mathematician and computer programmer who excels at hard science fiction. Not all of his works use real physics, but he has an unmatched passion for internal consistency and thinking through the ramifications of new technologies.
Permutation City - my favorite Egan novel, this deals with uploads, artificial life, and simulated realities, among other things. This was written in 1994, but it reads like it was penned yesterday. Filled with all kind of interesting ideas and technologies to mine for inspiration, including a look at how these technologies would impact society. I would not run or play an Eclipse Phase game without reading this.
Axiomatic - A collection of short stories. Uploads, genetic engineering, mind editing, nanomachines, and a number of other ideas are explored. A few "holy shit" moments. Lots of stuff to steal.
Schild's Ladder - A physics experiment goes wrong. Has an interesting look at how humanity adapts and spreads throughout the galaxy based on our current understanding of physics - there is no FTL, which means that travelling to other stars involves transmitting the data making up your ego so that you can be reinstated at your destination. All kinds of interesting ideas that were lifted wholesale in Eclipse Phase. Hard science fiction.
Peter F. Hamilton writes hard-ish space opera. Some elements can be excused (FTL travel, for example) but some of the things he introduces are completely ridiculous (the souls of the dead, really?). Still, his fiction is filled with cool technology, factions, settings, and spaceships. Lots of inspiration for things to use in your own fiction.
His Night's Dawn Trilogy is the best of his work that I have read so far. Features an interesting dichotomy between hi-biotech people with living starships, grown O'neill colonies, and an interesting version of uploading, as well as a faction who have pursued mechanical solutions to their problems, using cyborgs and nanomachines. Voidhawks are pretty cool.
Peter Watts has a background in marine biology, and his attention to detail in the biological sciences as well as the mechanical aspects makes for fascinating reading - Watts and Egan are the gold standard for hard sci-fi. His misanthropy shines through in his novels, however. To quote one reviewer, "Whenever I find my will to live becoming too strong, I read Peter Watts." His writing really sets the tone for Eclipse Phase. Most of his work is actually hosted on his website.
Starfish, Maelstrom, and ehemoth compose the Rifters trilogy. Not to spoil too much, it features a group of very broken individuals who have been modified to survive several kilometers beneath the surface of the ocean in order to maintain a geothermal power plant. An extremely spooky setting is only made more interesting by an author who knows his shit. Bad things happen.
Blindsight deals with a near-future first contact scenario. Hard sci-fi with actually alien aliens. I'm not going to spoil anything. Thematically, this questions the nature of cognition and consciousness. I don't agree with his conclusions, but it really made me think about my own arguments. If Neon Genesis Evangelion depressed you, avoid.
Echopraxia is the sequel to Blindsight. Things get worse.
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Humanity, Plus: Transhuman Ideas, Recs, Discussion ...
Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith
