Im a huge proponent of WoT and GoT....but you might wanna give Mistborn a try, and also I suggest anyone who likes fantasy to check The Night Angel Trilogy it's a great trilogy about an orphan kid pseudo-adopted by some badass assassin and so on...totally awesome.
A Song of Ice & Fire - G.R.R. Martin. Obviously, with the popularity of A Game of Thrones, most people have heard of this. An excellent introduction into the realm of of darker, grittier, more "epic" fantasy. Excellent plotlines, fantastic characters, no end of political intrigue, and a whole lot of dying.
Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson. Do you think Lord of the Rings was epic? Do you think Dune was epic? Wheel of Time? Perhaps you like something darker, like the Chronicles of Elric of Melnibone, or The Black Company. I may step on the preconceptions of many but until you have picked up the Malazan series, you do not truly comprehend the words "epic fantasy." In the world of Malazan, men war, forces clash, and gods die.
The Second Apocalypse - R. Scott Bakker. This series contains neither the infinitely amusing political weaves of G.R.R. Martin's books, nor does it eclipse or even attempt to rival Erikson's series in terms of sheer scale. What it does, however, is give you a world so rich, so deep and so complex that yo have no choice but to fall for it, and as a result either love it or hate it deeply. This is the equivalent of Dune in the genre of epic fantasy. With philosophical insights and historical constructs so rich and beautiful, the world of Earwa is both lovely and hideous.
I read these books a few weeks ago and i was drawn into the world so fast. Great set of books and can't wait for the next book to come out.
David Gemmell
Almost all of his books are pure gold
He has an amazing ability to make you care about his characters... usualy right before he kills them off.
It was a very sad day for me when I heard the news that he had died
try shogun it is a great read, it is however a bit long about 1200 pages and has content for a more adult audience but it is so emersive you will have a hard time puting it down
"His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman is wonderfull and quiet unique in fantasy (i.e no Lord of the Ring clone). Probably the best fantasy I've read (besides Pratchett).
But I could never force myself to finish "The Simarillion", it was way too boring. Sorry. :)
First off, stay away from the Song of Ice & Fire. I've read the first two Books and couldn't believe how bad it was from the 2nd Book on. Waste of time really. Main reason is the behaviour of the charakters and plot developement.
Terry Pratchetts Discworld Novels are a good and fun read!They are witty and interesting, you never know how they're going to end!
My personal favorite Fantasy Book Series are The Black Magician and The Age of Five from Trudi Canavan. I think the storys are amazingly epic, and I love the charakters :D
I'm also a big fan of Brandon Sanderson. Especially Elantris and the Mistborn Series. Well written and set in an absolutely fantastic world.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stones-Power-Sipstrassi-Omnibus-Legend/dp/0712654461
About as epic as you can get
time travel, cowboys, the titanic, magic, other realities, christianity, king arthur, nuclear missiles, genetic manipulation..
Jon shannow is hard core!
David Gemmel X2.
Leo Frankowski's Conrad Stargard series are fun as well, in a comic-book-esque fashion.
NOTHING beats Malazan Book of the Fallen in terms of "epicness."
NOTHING.
I have read Malazan, both peter f hamilton's nights dawn trillogy AND David Gemmells Sipstrassi Omnibus EASILY out-epic it :D
Try the Bible, its worth reading. It's more like a comedy/fantasy.
HYPERION
by far my favorite. the fall of hyperion as well. Mind Blowing shit you've never thought about. So amazing.
Fear the SHRIKE
The day that I actually think sci-fi is more "epic" than fantasy is the day I'll start believing in god as well.
Robert Jordan the Wheel of Time series. will keep you busy for a while. Its similar to Lord of the Rings but "better" its a 15 book series as far as i know.
terry pratchett discworld books are the funniest books i've ever read.
The hobbit+the lord of the rings so much better than the films that missed out 1/2 of the books
China Mieville.
No one does re-boots of the fantasy genre like this guy.
Perdido Street Station is a masterpiece.
Cirque du freak if your into vampires :D THE GOOD ONES NOT THE SPARKLING FAIRIES! Or Percy jackson if you like the mythology stuff
Seconded. If you're looking to read over 100 fantasy books, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, and the supplementary stories the Tales of the Malazan Empire will put you about 20% of the way there. Oh yeah, Steven Erikson is writing a prequel trilogy now too, and we can expect a series about the badass barbarian Karsa Orlong. I'm psyched for these two series because they focus around some of my favourite characters from the Book of the Fallen. But there are <em>hundreds</em> of characters, and not in a way that seems superfluous. Seriously, stop what you're doing now, go to the bookstore, and load up on great Canadian fantasy.