Wonder-full game

It was primarily a boardgame session at Scimitar this week, with only one miniature wargame being played.
On the other boardgame table, the guys were played Mansions of Madness (the new Cthuhlu themed game from FFG) for the first time. We, however, had decided to try 7 Wonders.
There has been a lot of buzz about this game since its release at Essen last year, and I was wondering what all the fuss was about.
If you aren’t aware, 7 Wonders is a card-based civilisation game, which uses a simultaneous card drafting mechanic.
What’s that mean in english?
Each person has a civilisation, which is based around a wonder of the ancient world. As you build these wonders, they can give you victory points and other beneficial effects during the game. Resources, buildings, trade and technology advances are represented by cards. These are gained throughout the game by selecting them from your hand.
The game is played in 3 turns, with each turn taking a number of rounds. During each round, each player has a hand of cards, from which he/she must select a card to play. This can be used to build his/her wonder, advance their civilisation, or even dicarded in order to gain money. Once the card is selected, the rest of the deck is passed to the player on their right or left (depending upon the turn of the game). Therefore the game is not just about selecting the civilisation advances that would most benefit you, but also possibly preventing your opponent from geting an advance that they would find of great use.
Whilst there are a few issues with production (apparently, there are some colour matching issues with the 2nd printing) the game, on the whole, looks pretty impressive when being played.
More to the point, what game do you know that can play up to 7-players, offer a decent challenge, and yet be completed in under 45 minutes?
Certainly, the game is on the lighter side (one could almost suggest filler) – but it ticks so many boxes that it has instantly been added to my ‘must have’ list.
I’d highly recommend that you try it, should you be given the opportunity.