Book suggestions

If you like Sanderson, possibly you'd enjoy The Wheel of Time series; it has the bonus that Sanderson finished the books after Robert Jordan passed away, so you know he wrapped it up well. Caveat: once the story starts to slog (I started feeling it around book 7, some people say sooner) maybe pick up a summary of the next couple of books and skip forwards. When it slogs, it realllly slogs.

I also just generally recommend John Scalzi as a author. His books tend toward funny and light-hearted sci-fi: "Starter Villain" is about a guy who inherits his uncle's secret evil lair, and suddenly is in charge of a network of intelligent cats; "Redshirts" is a Star Trek parody where the ... redshirts ... have noticed the statistical improbability of the rate they die off, and oddly only when around the high-ranking officers. He's great, and and instant grab for me if he releases a new book.

Here's what I've been reading lately in the fantasy/sci-fi genre:

The Earthsea series. Extremely well-written coming of age stories in a magical world of islands with lots of sailing themes. A predecessor of many modern fantasy stories.

Dungeon Crawler Carl, for a modern lighthearted (but adult) take on a real-world DnD foisted upon Earth.

The Hyperion Cantos, for a long-form hard sci-fi discussion on interstellar humanity, AI, biotech, pseudo-immortality, and ancient religions.

The Discworld series, for a British-humored satire of of magic and various aspects of humanity (gender, death, Hollywood, etc).

The Sten Chronicles, for more hard sci-fi about a "slave-turned-hero-turned-rebel" with a custom-made ultra-sharp blade in a sheath implanted in his forearm. Also has a slow-drip joke that lasts each book (or most of them) where the payoff is a bit... anticlimactic (in a humorous way).

The Honor Harrington series is more hard sci-fi, with a Mary Sue-like commander in interstellar naval battles.

Left Hand of Darkness is an observation of a world where gender identity is turned on its head (relative to us).

Snowcrash is a story about hackers in a late-stage capitalist pseudo-apocolypse world where a virus has been developed that bridges the online and meat-world.

And of course the 5-book Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy. More interstellar British satire.

It depends a bit on what it is about those books that you like, but here are some general recommendations.

The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb - Merchants, pirates and sentient ships! It's a slow build up but it really pays off in the end.

The Deeds of Paksenarrion by Elisabeth Moon - A sheepfarmer's daughter becomes a mercenary. Some insight in the mundane life of a soldier, but also camaraderie and heroism.

The First law by Joe Abercrombie - A barbarian protagonist that blurs the line between hero and villain. Often called bleak and grimdark.

The Goblin Emperor by Catherine Addison - An unlikely and completely unprepared heir inherits the throne and has to figure out who to trust. Hopeful and heartfelt.

The Mistborn series by Sanderson is fantasy with two different series that takes place during a traditional Medieval setting (First Era) and another that takes place 300 years after the last book of the first trilogy that takes place during their Industrial Revolution (Second Era). And Sanderson did said that he is not done with this setting considering that he is planning on taking this setting to a Cold War era (Third Era) and to a Sci-fi setting (Fourth Era). And the magic system for this series is also interesting because it is metal base that the user digests and burns in their stomach, and it is hereditary.

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Despite the name the character that the series is named after really, really hates killing and it is the last thing that it wants to do, and the only thing that it wants to do is to watch it's soap operas. It just refers itself as such because of a accident where it went haywire and killed a bunch of people that it meant to protect, but the other characters refer to it by SecUnit. It is a Sci-fi setting. Definitely check this one out from your library because it is a novella series with two full length books mixed in. And the author is not done with the series either.

Have you read the Sunlit Man from Brandon Sanderson? It's relevant to Stormlight, especially Wind and Truth, so if you find yourself wanting more after finishing the book, it might be of interest to you. I read it after and was glad I did.

I just want to add that SLUM has every book ever in epub/mobi format for free.

I recently finished the Dagger and the Coin series. Maybe you'd like that?

It wouldn't be a book recommendation thread without the obligatory you should read Malazan! Very epic fantasy, but darker than Brandon Sanderson's work by a good amount. I'm currently reading it and have loved the series so far.

Have you read the Lord of the Rings? It still holds up to this day and is the classic epic fantasy adventure that has gone on to influence many other works over the years, whether directly or indirectly. It is also shorter than a lot of people remember. The entire trilogy clocks in at ~480,000 words, which is less than Wind and Truth (the latest Stormlight Archives novel for those who are not familiar with the series) and this word count also includes the brief introductory chapter about Hobbit lore which can be skipped by those who are not interested and the appendices which I would guess are mostly skipped/browsed lightly by people who read the series.

I'd like to recommend the Ethshar series. This is a series of standalone fantasy books set in the same world. I've only read the first two so far, and admittedly read book 2 before book 1 without feeling lost or confused. The only benefit to reading the first book is it explains some of the back story for the setting and details how the kingdoms/city states (its been awhile since I read these) got started. They're short and great fun! Book 2, With a Single Spell, follows the adventures of a novice mage who only learns a single spell (how to cast a fireball, essentially) before his master passes away. This was written as a sort of challenge due to someone asking the author, who ran a custom TTRPG, how someone would play a character with only 1 spell (the mages were able to pick spells by rolling a D100 to determine how many spells their character knew).

The Obsidian Chronicles may be enjoyable for you. This is a trilogy following a young man who manages to survive a dragon attack on his village. I don't want to give away any of the plot points as I really enjoyed seeing how this series progressed.

The Corean Chronicles is a gunpowder fantasy series that has an interesting magic system. I have only read the initial trilogy, but found it a great read and enjoyed seeing the main character increase in power and learn more about the world, while really only wanting to get back to his farm and enjoy his quiet life.

The Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series is very much epic fantasy. I found the series to be a bit of a slow burn and really got to know the characters and watch them grow throughout the series. I enjoyed this and look forward to reading the other books in the setting eventually.

A bit tangential, but I've really enjoyed the Dresden Files series. This is an urban fantasy series where you follow Harry Dresden, a wizard who is a private investigator in contemporary Chicago. The series is long, but each book is relatively short. I do give the warning that the first two books are the weakest (I still enjoyed them and think they are worth reading) and that the series really found its footing in book 3 and then started running. You get to watch Harry grow through the series and one of the biggest appeals to me is seeing how he interacts, and his relationships grow with the different characters.

I'd give more recommendations, but just these series should keep you covered for a while. I hope some of these click for you, and if they do, I'd be happy to hear your thoughts about the books.

I've been reading The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez and it's growing on me! I would describe it as a light sci-fi comedy. Not sure what else there is to say really... there are a lot of books out there so it can be hard to choose!