Books

I highly recommend the Earthsea book by Ursula Le Guin (I actually recommend all of her books) and the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Frtiz Lieber. Especially if you are looking for something that is a quick read and not a 20 book, 50 billion page series.

Also the Drizzt novels by R. A. Salvatore, while not the same level of quality, are fun.

Ooooh

Terry Pratchett!!

Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series is a good one. Unlike most authors in this genre who tend to be overly descriptive and feel the need to develop the lore of every squirrel in the kingdom, Le Guin writes really tight, well thought stories, where every word is important to the story.

You might want to look at Robin Hobbs' work.

So many suggestions possible with that prompt.

I might suggest the Vlad Taltos series, starting with Jhereg, by Steven Brust. Reaslistic characters, snappy dialog, interesting premise of human's status in the society, and a pretty far-out series of villains. It comes down to more or less a first person assassin- / intrigue-based plot with cleverly set-up who-dunnit elements here and there, and an overarching storyline, and a good sense of the universe.

Some good suggestions in this thread. If you want even more options - I have been tapping into this Slashdot thread for a decade now, and it's still giving me winners - which might not work for you, mind (e.g ."Little, Big" by Crowley, it led me to "To Reign in Hell" also by Brust, "Jack of Shadows" by Zelazny,)

Lots of good recommendations here. I'll just leave some +1s for a few I've seen here that I've enjoyed.

Blacktongue Thief: A thief tries to rob the wrong warrior and gets wrapped up in a quest to a distant land besieged by giants. The first of a trilogy, but the ending gives you enough closure to be a standalone read while also setting up where the story will go. Personally, I enjoyed the first-person narration which gives you a colorful look at a somewhat non-conventional fantasy world, although it's still fantasy. If you liked Abercrombie then you might like this. There's a similar focus on flawed characters trying to do the best they can. There is some war and politics but they are firmly in the background and far from the main focus.

Legends and Lattes: A retired adventurer opens up a coffee shop in a land that has never heard of coffee. I'm not sure if "cozy fantasy" was a thing before this book, but it's been held up as an archetypal example. The plot is low-stakes and focuses on the characters and the difficulties of running a small business. Makes a good palate-cleanser between denser reads. No war or politics.

Kings of the Wyld: A retired group of adventurers has to come together for one last job after their leader's daughter ends up trapped in a city besieged by monsters. Admittedly how much you enjoy this one depends on how novel you find the idea of adventuring groups being treated as rock and roll groups. Like literally being a stand-in for rock and roll bands with groupies, managers, and all of that. I've seen some criticism that the book doesn't have much going for it beyond that which is a bit unfair. Following a bunch of middle-aged heroes past their prime was refreshing and I think the author did some interesting things with the main character who only uses a shield in combat and whose main motivation is to make it back to his wife and daughter in one piece. Very little war and politics.

Also, I don't think he's been recommended but you might want to check out Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire trilogy. Admittedly it's not typical high fantasy and it is somewhat heavy on war and politics, but if you liked the grittier, grounded feel of Abercrombie then you might like it. It is arguably darker though and the main character straddles the line between dark anti-hero and outright villain protagonist for at least the first book. But it might be worth checking out if you really liked the First Law trilogy.

The Name of the Wind By Patrick rothfuss.

Still waiting on that third book 5o come out though. It's only been 17 years. It'll happen any day now. 🥲

'Glory Road' by Robert A. Heinlein. Takes all the common fantasy tropes and kicks them in the nads.

I'll add a +1 to some mentioned:

• Cradle series - progression fantasy, basically DBZ or Naruto style progression with a magic system, intelligent beasts/dragons, demigods, etc.
• Night Angel Trilogy - street rat turned assassin with magic. I feel like it leans pretty heavily into fantasy tropes, but they're fun reads.
• Kings of the Wyld - this book is fucking hilarious. The main characters are basically a kickass D&D group but it's 20 years later, they're old and fat, and have to go on one last epic adventure.

+1 for Cradle already mentioned. I'd add

• The Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan
• Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

I advocate to expand people's thinking of the fantasy genre beyond the usual Euro-centric elves, dwarves, and wizards type stuff.

As such, a fantasy book I recommend is based off of Persian magic and setting is called The Wrath and the Dawn. It is based off of the Arabian Nights legend of that region.

Well, my other recommendation is not a book because it was a web comic, BUT, it fits the fantasy genre. What makes it unique is the fantasy elements are based off of Aztec gods and magic. It is called Leyendas: https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/leyendas/list?title_no=63874

There is another fantasy web comic with middle eastern elements called Suihira The City of Water: https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/suihira-the-city-of-water/list?title_no=39385

Memory, Sorrow, & Thorn series by Tad Williams is my all time favorite. I also noticed that I relate to different characters as I age which makes rereading it a fun experience.

Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy. On par with Tolkien and Martin IMHO

It isn't so much dragons, but it it is fantasy. The Cradle series by Will Wight is phenomenal. If you're a fan of audio books they are all available in that format also, narrated by Travis Baldree

Michael Moorcock's Elric books tick all of the boxes in your list. So do his Corum and Hawkmoon books.

The Diamond Age kinda counts?

A few I've enjoyed that aren't mentioned elsewhere so far:

• Robin McKinley, The hero and the crown. If you've never read this, please, just go and do so, if you read nothing else on this entire response. The Newbery Medal it got was well deserved. (And it has princesses and dragons and wizards.)

• Louise Cooper, Indigo (8 short books). Sealed ancient evil, cursed protagonist on heroic journey, talking animal companion. Just lots of fun all around.

• Lois McMaster Bujold, The curse of Chalion series. Maybe a little more politics than you are looking for, but the divinity/magic system works well and I appreciate that the viewpoint characters are generally kind of old and busted. She is of course better known for the (excellent) Miles Vorkosigan military space opera series.

• Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear, A companion to wolves et seq. Exactly what it says on the tin; the catch is that the viewpoint character of the first book becomes bonded to a female wolf, which radically changes how his culture sees him.

• Elizabeth Moon, The deed of Paksenarrion. Basically what you'd get if you wrote down a really good D&D campaign (but mostly for only one viewpoint character). Formulaic in spots but enjoyable and well executed.

Other replies have mentioned Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos books, which I enjoyed a lot; and David (and Leigh) Eddings, which were my first big-kid fantasy novels (as for many other other American children of the 70s and 80s). Another long series in something of the same vein as Eddings is Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar saga; I haven't read the entries after 2000, but before that it was a lot of fun.

Eyes of the dragon by Stephen King. Its an excellent fantasy novel ... Not a horror novel. The antagonist, Flagg, is the same wizard in the dark tower series and the stand, though those don't have dragons and such in them.

Malazan book of the fallen is the best epic fantasy series I've ever read

Hm, not keen on heavy politics or war. Was gonna recommend Malazan: Book of the Fallen but the first book starts out in a war. Still, good book, you might enjoy it.

Second book is a little different than what you're describing. Fool Moon from the Dresden Files series. Pulpy magical detective noire set in modern times, where magic is sort of accepted as a real thing.

I really liked the Night Angel series, The Way of Shadows is the first book.

Currently rereading the Belgariad and will likely go straight into the Mallorean. Probably my favourite "traditional" fantasy series.

But my all time favourite fantasy series is The Death Gate Cycle by Weiss and Hickman. But is very much not your traditional fantasy setup. It's got wizards, dragons, elves, etc... but in very very non-traditional worlds. Can't recommend it enough.

My fantasy go-to series is The Chronicles of Amber. Roger Zelazny was a poet, and it comes out in his prose. Dude evokes visions inside your mind.

The universe is a collection of infinite reflections between order (ie Amber) and the Courts of Chaos. Corwin is one of the nine princes of Amber, an immortal who can travel between the reflections.

I read the first five books of the series every few years. But word of warning, the first book reflects the casual chauvinism of the the time it was written. Worth powering through those bits though.

The last five books are okay, but nowhere as good as the first five.

Reading Wheel of Time and I'm really enjoying it

I'm saving this thread for later because I'm interested in this genre, I am totally new to books, I haven't even read LOTR, The Hobbit, Game of Thrones or House of the Dragons books, I have only consumed that through the movies and TV Shows, but seems like there are some really neat suggestions here.

Lots of good suggestions already. I might recommend Uprooted by Naomi Novik, The Story of Silence by Alex Myers, or The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark.

Give The Prince Of Nothing series a read. A bit more of a philosophical series than a hack and slash fantasy.

My longtime favs (apart from LOTR by Tolkien) are:

1. The Realm of the Elderlings series bei Robin Hobb
2. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams
3. Ea Cycle by David Zindell

Have you considered Kate Elliott novels? Jaran was amazing if you like sci-fi/fantasy crossover, or King's Dragon if you like pure fantasy. If you prefer easier reading check out the Dragonriders of Pern series.

You say fantasy, but while technically sci fi, I'd like to suggest the galactic milieu series by Julian May. It starts out sci fi and I guess constantly has sci fi elements but leans pretty heavily into bridging the gap to fantasy (elves, dwarves, shapeshifting monsters, magic etc)

One for the Morning Glory by John Barnes

The King of Elfland's daughter, by Lord Dunsany

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

Oh also the Demon Cycle series by Peter V Brett was a fun romp. I like the way the author built a pretty unique world with a lot of different aspects to it. He did a good job of switching the point of view across characters to challenge perspective.

You should get on goodreads and look up books you loved to see what else is recommended from people who also read that book. I find great ones that way!

Otherwise I absolutely could not put “Forth Wing” down by Rebecca Yarros! The second book (five are expected) comes out in a week or two. A friend recommended it and it was so good I fell into a slump afterwards trying to find something as exciting.

The Lies of Locke Lamora is a fun fantasy heist book

The Book of Three is the first in a classic high fantasy series. It's a lovely comfort read, but definitely targeted at younger readers.

You might consider Nix's Abhorsen series for a unique take on Necromancers.

Foundryside is wild and fun if not a hugely traditional fantasy. Imagine if you could carve sigils on objects to make them ignore reality in very specific ways.