A wonderful SF/fantasy series where I was struck by how intelligent and reasonable every major character was. Not everybody is educated, not everybody is a nice person, but almost everybody uses his or her brain to the best of their abilities. It's also a really well-crafted world that's seriously different from ours. Just one caveat: The series is ongoing, and the big question is not yet answered (Mrs. Kirstein is working on the next book).

I'd also recommend to read as little about the books beforehand as you can stand as too much knowledge would spoil the journey of discovery on which you would otherwise go.