Sharon Lee and Steven Miller's "Liaden Universe" books (SF). The first three, Conflict of Honors, Agent of Change, and Carpe Diem came out in the late 1980s (and I have literally read the covers off of them). Apparently their editor decided they weren't selling well enough and dropped both the series and the authors. They were "rediscovered" (they were there all the time, doing other things) about 3 years ago, and have rounded out the series with a prequel and 2 sequels. Good stuff, and "can't put it down" reading.