Suggested Reading: Books that begins to explain some of my outlook (most of which I've read several times each)
Robert A. Heinlein:
To Sail Beyond the Sunset
Time Enough for Love
Friday
The Past Through Tomorrow
Piers Anthony:
With a Tangled Skein
Anthonology
any three others
Parke Godwin:
Firelord (1980)
Beloved Exile (1984)
The Last Rainbow (1985)
Less necessary, but fun, are:
Waiting for the Galactic Bus
The Snake Oil Wars: or Scheherazade Ginsberg Strikes Again
The Snake Oil Variations
Sherwood
Robin and the King
Sherri Tepper:
A Plague of Angels
Gibbon's Decline and Fall
The Gate To Women's Country (if only for their take on the Iliad)
Others as moves you
Charles DeLint:
Someplace to Be Flying
Others as moves you
Anne Bishop:
The Black Jewels Series
Nancy Kress:
The "Beggars" Series
Roger Zelazny:
The Amber& Chaos Series
I will add to this as more come to mind.