I’m new to the fantasy community, but I’m glad to see it here on Lemmy as well! I would say my favorite novel/series so far has been Mistborn, but it’s kind of the only one I’ve read so far (although it was fantastic). I’d like to gauge all of your responses too!
Robin Hobb is top-tier. I also enjoyed a lot of Karen Miller’s works–it’s too bad life stuff got in her way and sort of arrested some of her career momentum a few years back.
Mercedes Lackey…I feel they work best if you encounter them at a young age.