Thank you for letting me about these authors. Robin Hobb I am familiar with but the other names are all new to me. And in a genre that I like, so I will check them out. There have been many great SciFi suggestion in the comments section, not sure if any are what you are looking for.
Years of schooling certainly stifled my desire to read for the joy of it. Took awhile to get back into it, but glad I did.
I appreciate the comment.