Thank you for the suggestions.
I've actually sampled most of the authors you mentioned, at one time or other, but I've not read them extensively. I wasn't too impressed with "The Sword of Shannara", but I'll try "The Elfstones", since you say it's much better. Salvatore, unfortunately, wasn't quite my cup of tea either (I read the Homeland trilogy, but was not interested enough to try more books from him). And I couldn't finish "Lord Foul's Bane", because of the unpleasant protagonist. I know, of course, that he's depicted that way intentionally and I plan to return to the books one day. I also plan to read the rest of Hambly's trilogy some day, since the first book, while not jawdropping, was quite ok. Ditto for Eddings.
So many plans and so little time... But I'll certainly put "The Elfstones" on my soon-to-be-read list. Thanks.