Books like Young Bleys

I've been slowly downsizing, part of which involves dumping books on the local library. Some of the books I've decided to re-read before parting with. Among that category are the books in Gordon Dickson's Childe Cycle. When I first read it I thought it lacked the originality and wonder of the earlier books, and didn't add much to the whole thing. Now, though, I found it much more interesting. It took what was a largely two-dimensional villain of the later novels, fleshed out his upbringing and character, and by the end of this novel made him into a sympathetic person whose motivations are understood, and in fact parallel those of the eventual hero.A bit slow to start, by the end I was looking for excuses to sit quietly and read.