Book reader community.
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.
I've read only The left hand of Darkness by Le Guin and I totally didn't cry, you understand? If at any point anyone tells you that, they're disgusting liars trying to tarnish my reputation. That aside, I really enjoyed the book and Earthsea was on my list of potential reads. I've never heard of the other recommendations, will keep in mind. Thanks
All her hainish cycle books are really good too, which is a very loosely connected shared universe, that left hand of darkness takes place in.
I recently reread The Dark Elf Trilogy after a long, long time and I still quite liked it. It's funny how differently I see the themes of the first book now than I did as a teenager.
I also remember Weis and Hickman's Draconlance Chronicles trilogy being a fun read back in the day.
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.
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. 🥲
You might want to look at Robin Hobbs' work.
My personal favorites are the Assassin series, starting with Assassin Apprentice by Robin Hobb.
Some of the best most heartfelt characters I have read in any modern fantasy, with a brilliantly unique type of magic and adventure. There is some political intrigue, especially within the first trilogy, but it isn't overly burdened by it.
The whole series has continued to be a heavily character driven emotional roller coaster that I would love to be able to forget just so I could read them again for the first time.
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.
+1 for Cradle already mentioned. I'd add
I've heard the Wheel of Time stuff is pretty good. Piers Anthony's Xanth novels were popular long ago, but he has sort of disappeared (I just looked him up, and he's probably just retired). I've personally read the Black Cauldron books and enjoyed them quite a bit. Robert Aspirin's Myth books can be fun. Hopefully there is something new to you in that list!
Does Stormlight Archive count?
If you can get past the first 700 pages of book one then yes.
'Glory Road' by Robert A. Heinlein. Takes all the common fantasy tropes and kicks them in the nads.
I love how the other races don't trust Humans, because we are always in "mating season" and they lose their minds during theirs, so assume we are always loopy because of ours.
The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini! I've read it too many times. It's a really good hero's journey and the characters are all really interesting. Plus it's focused on dragons and magic and elves and dwarves, lots of cool creativity that goes on in the world. And I just really enjoy Paolini's world-building. He's very good at it and it stays consistent. There are two wars that I remember, one is a small-scale thing that sets a lot of events in motion, and the other is the big climax at the end of the series. It's my favourite series next to The Dark Tower. I'd highly recommend it!
I'll add a +1 to some mentioned:
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.
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
I really liked the Night Angel series, The Way of Shadows is the first book.
Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy. On par with Tolkien and Martin IMHO
Is it safe to assume you've read the name of the wind and wise man's fear? HURRY UP AND FINISH YOUR SERIES ROTHFUSS, please
Legends and Lattes might be some easy lovable reading if you're looking for low stakes character-driven fantasy. It's very low on action, but there is some.
A former adventuring hero orc swordsman decides to retire to open a coffee shop, collecting a cast of local misfits to help make her dreams a success. It's light but basically D&D meets Stardew Valley if that makes sense.
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,)
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
David Gemmell's Legend.
He was from a rough upbringing and thought he was going to be dying of cancer and wrote a book about an aged hero of old who was now past his prime.
It was a misdiagnosis and he went on to write a lot more.
They are all excellent, and different enough from what you normally end up reading in the genre to be worth a look. There's a bit of a more rawness to his books I really enjoy.
Just out of curiosity, why haven't you read Tolkein?
I've started with LOTR and I found the style a bit too dense and with too many songs scattered here and there which... aren't my thing.
I one hundred percent acknowledge the writing is good, the story must have been original back then and all but it didn't grip me. Later the movies came up and they scratched the itch for knowing what happened with the story. I know the books are much better fleshed out than the movies but if I didn't finish them before watching the movies I doubt I can be bothered now. Part of what keeps me hooked is not knowing how the story will end.
Start with Hobbit. :)
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.
Patricia C Wrede. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. The titles for the series are below:
Fantasy stories with each book centered around one protagonist and a meta take of your usual fairy tales. And includes wizards, dragons, princesses too.
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.
The Myth Books by Robert Aspirin.
They are like The Stainless Steel Rat series by Harry Harrison, but fantasy. Both are pretty much unknown, sometimes dated, yet they can occupy one for thousands of pages with it's humor and intense narrative.
Myth Inc gets stale near or after coming to Aaz's New York planet, tho. But that's 7 or 8 books deep, so doesn't matter much.
I really liked audiobooks. I guess they were from Audible? I'm not a native speaker, yet it was easy to follow while doing manual labor and no author's joke got spoiled. Voice acting for Aaz and Masha was super cool.
The Diamond Age kinda counts?
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.
Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, david eddings are all good too, and unfortunately all have passed away so dont expect more books!
Malazan book of the fallen is the best epic fantasy series I've ever read
Michael Moorcock's Elric books tick all of the boxes in your list. So do his Corum and Hawkmoon books.