I've read Harry Potter, Red Rising. Tried reading Dune, Game of thrones and Lord of the rings, and it was just way too complicated. I created a notepad with names etc, and it got so complicated that it felt like doing homework.
Any modern standalone fantasy book that are easy and not crazy complicated? I don't mind a series, but I know they can get crazy and span like 10 books. Which might be too much.
I typically read popcorn thriller/mystery/sci fi. McFadden, A.G Riddle, Dan Brown, Crichton,
by BrysonTurnRoundStory
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Inheritance Cycle, Eragon series.
The Legends and Lattes series by Travis Baldree
You might enjoy some of Brandon Sanderson’s books, he’s got a lot and everyone will recommend something different, but for a fun, underrated, standalone, I’d recommend **Warbreaker**. A rich and unique world, interesting magic, great characters, a twisty story, all very easy to follow while still feeling substantial.
Or check out **The Tainted Cup** by Robert Jackson Bennett, a sort of Sherlock Holmes/Watson type of murder mystery set in an interesting and mysterious fantasy world.
Another fun, underrated, fantasy series is Riyria Revelations by Michael J Sullivan, starting with **Theft of Swords (The Crown Conspiracy/Avempartha)**. It follows a ‘rogues-for-hire’ duo in a familiar-feeling fantasy world, who take on a seemingly simple job and are pulled into something much bigger than they were expecting. A great, growing cast of characters, rich world building, lots of adventure and twists, and a compelling story that starts fairly light/low stakes but eventually grows to be quite epic. If you enjoy Revelations, there are a number of great prequel series set in the same world that you can check out afterwards as well (Legends of the First Empire, Riyria Chronicles, etc).
I’d also highly recommend the audiobooks for all of these different series, they’ve all got really great narration that elevates the material imo.
Company of Liars, by Karen Maitland
The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman
Just 3 medium length books, it’s a great fantasy series!
what about YA? the earthsea series, narnia, wrinkle in time are all classics and fairly straight forward even though they span multiple books (btu each book is a VERY reasonable length).
otherwise, the hobbit is a standalone!!
Early Riser by Jasper Fforde. Quirky comedic fantasy with lots of puns. I love all his books but this one as requested is a standalone. If you enjoy then I thoroughly recommend all his other books.
Nnedi Okorafor and NK Jemisin are great for these.
NK Jemisins The City We Became spanned two books and was pretty interesting
Nnedi Okorafor has some great series spanning three books and some standalone books as well, varying in intricacy and difficult. Zahra the Windseeker is a good standalone that’s pretty tame. If you want a standalone that is significantly darker, Who Fears Death? was wonderful. Her Akata Witch series is YA but ages up with the characters really well over the span of the three books. I can nerd out over her fantasy for days.
Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander – this isn’t exactly modern, but well written and loved by a lot of folks!
The Time Quintet by Madeline L’Engle also. Fantasy and scifi mixed together. Enjoy!
Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw. Main character is undead. Hijinks ensue. The main characters name is Jim, not Canibuyavowel from the kingdom Icantpronouncethatastan.
Patricia McKillip for lighter magical stuff. Standalones are best.
Michael J Sullivans Riyria books, read in Timeline order, not publication order. Adventures of an Assassin/Thief and a Swordman.
Lawrence Watt-Evans does “popcorn” magic books, The Ethshar books. Can be read out of order too.
[https://www.goodreads.com/series/51058-ethshar](https://www.goodreads.com/series/51058-ethshar)
Tress and the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. It’s delightful, lots of memorable characters, well worth the read.
If you like his writing and characters, this book is part of a larger universe with multiple series and other books that range from stand alone, trilogies, and longer series.
Tress of the Emerald Sea
[The One True Goddess of Acropolis High](https://www.bigdogplays.com/playdisplay.asp?playid=707) is a short, one-act fantasy play that’s easy to follow. It’s standalone and it’s very funny.
Piranesi, Susanna Clarke