I'm not really clear on your "Spiritual/philosophical" criteria, so I may be a little off-target, but here are some gut-instinct recs that your tastes pinged for me:
Carol Berg (especially Rai-Kirah trilogy and Lighthouse duet)
This author pings on the "spiritual" element for me because she tends to put a lot of focus on her characters' development process. Most of her characters will undergo major challenges to their ingrained belief-systems and come out the other end very different people from where they started. Similar to what you were talking about re: Robin Hobb, I think.
I wouldn't call any of her series "epic" in scope, but there's always some sort of save-the-world scenario that evolves over the course of her series, but the focus remains pretty tight on just one or two characters and the roles they have to play as things unfold. The Lighthouse Duet, in particular, has a bit of a Brother Cadfael mystery vibe to it at the beginning, as well.
Guy Gavriel Kay - Fionavar Tapestry
Should definitely score high on the "spiritual" scale by a variety of different readings for that term. Closest thing I can think of to fantasy doing a Narnia-style allegory outside of Narnia itself. Should definitely satisfy on the grand scope and character fronts. I haven't read them in a while, so I'm not sure if anything in the plot would count as a "mystery".
Martha Wells (Death of the Necromancer & Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy)
I'm not so sure that these are a match on the "spiritual" requirement, but it's also light on politics or other "earthly matters". There's a war going on, but the characters are sort of affecting things from the fringes, not in the midst of the battles, planning, and such. She's really amazing with the character-centric viewpoint and the mystery element, imo.
Katherine Kurtz - Deryni books
Lots of politics in these, but also heavy on spiritual issues, as she has many, many characters who find themselves torn between their magical heritage and the teachings of a Christian church that vilifies them as inherently evil. I would say the "Camber" trilogy, in particular, ranks high on the spiritual side of things. Hmmmm... not sure that there's much of a mystery element, though.
Carol Berg (especially Rai-Kirah trilogy and Lighthouse duet)
This author pings on the "spiritual" element for me because she tends to put a lot of focus on her characters' development process. Most of her characters will undergo major challenges to their ingrained belief-systems and come out the other end very different people from where they started. Similar to what you were talking about re: Robin Hobb, I think.
I wouldn't call any of her series "epic" in scope, but there's always some sort of save-the-world scenario that evolves over the course of her series, but the focus remains pretty tight on just one or two characters and the roles they have to play as things unfold. The Lighthouse Duet, in particular, has a bit of a Brother Cadfael mystery vibe to it at the beginning, as well.
Guy Gavriel Kay - Fionavar Tapestry
Should definitely score high on the "spiritual" scale by a variety of different readings for that term. Closest thing I can think of to fantasy doing a Narnia-style allegory outside of Narnia itself. Should definitely satisfy on the grand scope and character fronts. I haven't read them in a while, so I'm not sure if anything in the plot would count as a "mystery".
Martha Wells (Death of the Necromancer & Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy)
I'm not so sure that these are a match on the "spiritual" requirement, but it's also light on politics or other "earthly matters". There's a war going on, but the characters are sort of affecting things from the fringes, not in the midst of the battles, planning, and such. She's really amazing with the character-centric viewpoint and the mystery element, imo.
Katherine Kurtz - Deryni books
Lots of politics in these, but also heavy on spiritual issues, as she has many, many characters who find themselves torn between their magical heritage and the teachings of a Christian church that vilifies them as inherently evil. I would say the "Camber" trilogy, in particular, ranks high on the spiritual side of things. Hmmmm... not sure that there's much of a mystery element, though.
