Some good suggestions here and I'll have to go do my research on what's what.
Thank you all for the help.
I've read Cherryh's Morgaine books and really enjoyed them even though they're pretty damned unhappy throughout! I see a couple of Cherryh recommendations so maybe I should steer myself that way for a time.
As for Peter F. Hamilton, I actually have Night's Dawn and just haven't gotten around to reading it yet.
Some of the others listed so far I've seen mentioned in other threads, but a few seem entirely new to me (maybe I just forgot I ever heard of them!)
I'll pick something and let you all know what I try in case anyone's curious.