Books

I just finished Dragon Weather by Lawrence Watt-Evans. It's got the dragons, magic, adventure and intrigue while also getting the main plot going almost immediately, which I like because I feel the beginnings of books from this genre can drag on forever. It's also a trilogy, so there's more if you like it. Currently I'm reading Empire of the East by Fred Saberhagen, and it's interesting so far because it is fantasy, but there's a science fiction element to it which is fun.

Discword

Discworld is so fun, start with book 4 7 or 11 or 13 to get a feel for the strength of the story (and read one of the best ones), but really its pretty fun from the start if rough because the author is figuring out how to be an author still a bit

11 is probably my favorite, but you should read 4 and then 11 because they're connected.

edit: damn I should read the whole post first...

David Eddings? I read him way back when I was a kid (~35 years ago). Think the series was called The Belgariad or Belgarion. The first 3-6 books were fun in a light yet captivating, magicy, fantasy way.

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.

• Anne McCaffrey's "Pern" series.
• Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" series
• Tamora Pierce's series spanning multiple mini-series: Lioness, Protector, Tricksters and Immortals.

There is a book anthology called Rogues, complied by Phyllis Eisenstein. It is a compilation of short stories from various writers across many disciplines. While there is a lot of different stories, they all come back to a character who is deceitful in character you can't help but root for them a bit.

The Reyira Revelations Is great fun. Five Gods is an outstandingly well-written series.

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.

Irene Radford The Dragon Nimbus series. I read it ages ago and have fond memories.

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.

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)

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 started way too high the quality list imo

The Lost Years of Merlin, the whole series. Feels like someone gave the Arthurian mythos some actual magic by fleshing out who Merlin was as a teen.