Oh, well, I liked Earthsea, but that doesn't mean anyone else has to like it.
And I like the later books better than the originals, which aren't all that easy to read, I agree. I re-read
The Other Wind a few weeks ago, then some of the stories from
Tales of Earthsea.
I have mixed feelings about the Amber books. I like them well enough that I played a character in a very involved Amber RPG some years ago (using Amber Diceless), but sometimes I felt like Zelazny was just sort of stringing them along. Oddly enough, I like the early Merlin books better than either the Corwin books or the later Merlin books.
I haven't read anything published by Kate Elliot under that name. I did really enjoy
The Labyrinth Gate, which she published as Alis Rasmussen, and it was only last year that I found out they were the same person. Since then, Kate Elliot's books have been generally on my "to read" list, but... well... this is embarrassing to admit, but I wonder if I'd enjoy them, based on the cover illustrations. I kind of need to be able to like at least one of the main characters, usually, to enjoy the story.
I'm currently re-reading early Katherine Kurtz-- and kind of wondering what I saw in it when I was younger.
People who actually like Le Guin might also like Tanith Lee, I think.