So I just finished reading through The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and also most of Tolkien's other works. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a fantasy book series that they liked.

The Inheritance cycle. Feels kinda like a knock off of star wars in the first book but really comes into its own starting in the second book.

There is a huge thread on the Entertainment board. Lots of good recs there. My personal recommendations?

Read Sanderson, Scott Lynch, Anthony Ryan, Larry Correia, Peter V. Brett, Brent Weeks, Terry Mancour.

Skip Pat Rothfuss and GRRM. They are never going to finish their series and love to **** all over their readers.

You could also try Raymond Feist's Riftworld series or the Belgariad by David Eddings. I wouldn't put them at the peak of writing ability, but they're fun stories. Plus Feist has like 50 books in that universe.

If you're willing to dip your toe into some more YA-focused work, I will always recommend Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles.

Also a favorite, though a much more humorous take than Tolkien, is Pratchett's Discworld books. Very British, very funny, and very good.

Regarding Rothfuss, I'm not a huge fan. The framing story is very interesting, but I spent most of the time looking for a likeable character and not finding one.

Belgariad series by David Eddings is a good one, and the subsequent Malloreon series. They move pretty quickly

Deathgate Cycle is decent, and a bit older. It kind of dragged for me but was good

Brandon Sanderson has quite a few good series. Mistborn is a finished series, so that would be a good one to get into. Stormlight Archive is probably his epic fantasy series.

I've been reading The Song of the Shattered Sands series by Bradley Beaulieu lately and it's pretty good. Read the first two before reading the prequel

https://www.goodreads.com/series/122067-the-song-of-the-shattered-sands

Raven's Shadow series by Anthony Ryan is fantastic. I listened to the audio books for 1, 2, and 3; then read the short stories and prequel. This story is awesome and the narrator is good

https://www.goodreads.com/series/81339-raven-s-shadow

I've also been reading his Draconis Memoria series. It starts out great and is getting a little weird, I haven't read the latest book yet

R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt books are a reasonable choice. They started out great and kind of dragged to the point where I stopped. The Iceland Dale trilogy is fantastic. He has about 30 books or so in this world now, so if you like them it'll keep you busy for a while. I would put this as lower on the list, it's a bit older fantasy and not as well developed as some of the newer stuff

As others have said, Wheel of Time is one you should read. Be warned, the books are long and the series drags a bit in the middle, as other posters have said. You can watch the scope expanding out of control rather quickly. After Robert Jordan died, Brandon Sanderson was brought in to finish the series, and he did a good job wrapping it up in only 3 books.

Pat Rothfuss" "Kingkiller" is the best written fantasy series going today. If prose and dialogue are something you value, start here. Just be warned that book 3 of his trilogy is long delayed.

Joe Abercrombie's "First Law" has the best characters going today. Initial trilogy complete + (3) standalones in same universe + upcoming trilogy. Very dark but very funny. Think Tarantino in middle earth.

GRRM's "ASOIAF" c'mon, it's Game of Thrones. Has gotten some recent hate because latest book is long delayed and the tv show outpaced it. You can just watch the show but the first three books of the series are absolute classics. Tremendous reads.

Erickson's "Malazan" is probably the most epic series in recent memory. Ten massive tomes covering thousands of years across hundreds of characters and multiple storyline threads. Hard to get into but those who persevere generally have this at the top.

Most people will tell you to read Brandon Sanderson - absolutely give it a shot because he's hugely popular. His strengths are plotting, worldbuilding and interesting magic systems. Characters and dialogue, not so much. But I'm in the minority on this guy so look him up + he's a machine and cranks out books like a madman

Try Julian May's Saga of Pliocene Exile series.

Robert Jordan
Patrick Rothfuss
Brandon sanderson.

Check those fellas out. All of them have great books.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Start with Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan. Mistborn, Stormlight and the Wheel of Time will keep you busy for a while. IMO, these are the best fantasy series out there.

Personally, I think Rothfuss and GRRM are vastly overrated, and the fact that they seem to have no interest in wrapping up or just don't know how to wrap up their stories doesn't help. I also didn't think the books lived up to the hype. Until they finish their stories, I can't recommend you start their series. Do watch GoT, though. Great show.

Beyond that, Shannara, The Sword of Truth, Malazan, Eragon and others come in. All have pros and cons, but in the end, they're worth a read.

Malazon books are probably the most epic I've ever read and the only book series I think you could read 3 times through and not fully comprehend or remember everything (I've only read them twice lol)

I'll echo NavyAg's suggestion about Glen Cook. He's not a writer to fill in a lot of details like GRRM, but he tells a pretty compelling story. The Black accompany books were apparently a big influence on Steven Erikson in writing the Malayan series. Personally, though, my favorite Cook series is his Instrumentalities of the Night.

Raymond E. Feist, Rift War books are awesome!

Magician Apprentice
Magician Master

In all seriousness. The book gets very slow at certain spots even so much that it was a chore to get through, but I have never read a book that was action packed the last 3,000 pages. I couldn't stop reading once Brandon Sanderson took over. Absolutely enthralling!

Malazan series by Erickson - easily the most far-reaching epic series out there. I absolutely loved it and can't recommend it enough. However, you will need to read it straight through to keep up. It took me 2+ years to do that and it was pretty much the only thing I read in that timeframe. His co-author also has a set of shorter novels in the same universe in parallel that provide backstory on some of the characters and events in Malazan. I've read a few of them and they are good as well.

Joe Abercrombie - all of his stuff is awesome but it's more gritty fantasy. Red Country is almost fantasy western.

The Wheel of Time - Stopped reading it after book 8 and never finished it because books 6-8 were so excruciating to get through. I would wiki those 3 books and not read them. I always read that Sanderson wrapped it up well but at this point I would have to start all over as I started that series when it came out in 1991. The first 3 books were incredible.

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss - read the first book but never read the second one. Guess I'm glad I didn't based on what I see here. The acclaim I saw for the first one was baffling to me. It was an average book and nothing special.

Brandon Sanderson - not sold him yet in general. I've read Elantris (his first book) which is average. I've read the first Mistborn novel (it's ok) and I've been reading the second Mistborn book off an on for almost two years. It's a slog. As someone else mentioned the characters and dialogue are lackluster.

Not previously mentioned:

The Fionvar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay is a combination of CS Lewis and Tolkien. Really good and only 3 books. Almost anything by this guy is good and he has several stand-alone fantasy novels that aren't a huge series to get through.

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher - urban fantasy but fun, short reads.

The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell - his take on King Arthur. 3 books. Excellent damn read.

YouBet said:

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Malazan series by Erickson - easily the most far-reaching epic series out there. I absolutely loved it and can't recommend it enough. However, you will need to read it straight through to keep up. It took me 2+ years to do that and it was pretty much the only thing I read in that timeframe. His co-author also has a set of shorter novels in the same universe in parallel that provide backstory on some of the characters and events in Malazan. I've read a few of them and they are good as well.

Joe Abercrombie - all of his stuff is awesome but it's more gritty fantasy. Red Country is almost fantasy western.

The Wheel of Time - Stopped reading it after book 8 and never finished it because books 6-8 were so excruciating to get through. I would wiki those 3 books and not read them. I always read that Sanderson wrapped it up well but at this point I would have to start all over as I started that series when it came out in 1991. The first 3 books were incredible.

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss - read the first book but never read the second one. Guess I'm glad I didn't based on what I see here. The acclaim I saw for the first one was baffling to me. It was an average book and nothing special.

Brandon Sanderson - not sold him yet in general. I've read Elantris (his first book) which is average. I've read the first Mistborn novel (it's ok) and I've been reading the second Mistborn book off an on for almost two years. It's a slog. As someone else mentioned the characters and dialogue are lackluster.

Not previously mentioned:

The Fionvar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay is a combination of CS Lewis and Tolkien. Really good and only 3 books. Almost anything by this guy is good and he has several stand-alone fantasy novels that aren't a huge series to get through.

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher - urban fantasy but fun, short reads.

The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell - his take on King Arthur. 3 books. Excellent damn read.

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Ahh you stopped in the worst part with wheel of time. I encourage you to try it again and skim books 6-9. Those last books are great and the ending was amazing.

Same with Sanderson. Mistborn was okay but the way of kings is where it's at.

Not mentioned yet, but Michael J. Sullivan's Ryria books are great.

James Islington is a new author, but I really like his first two books.

I just finished Metro 2033, it was really good.