I sat down in a cafe to have a glance at this new book I'd bought, Anna Karenina, having not known much about it, and having intended to read it after my upcoming month of exams. Just a glance, why not?

I read the first line, sighed, and thought "fuck, I'm definitely going to read this huge book instead of revising for my exams".

Recommendations for fantasy, with some notes on tone, for whatever you want to get out of the genre:

A Wizard of Earthsea (not long, very digestible, a lovely natural way of incorporating magic into a world and belief system, only a few books in the series)

Magician series by Raymond E Feist (serious, high aims, end of world stuff, sprawling across a massive universe with a huge cast, and the series can be continued on through several generations of various types of story, if you feel inclined to continue)

Anything of Discworld, start with Guards! Guards! (Very big world, huge cast, comedic in tone but often very serious and philosophical, the stories are tight and well planned, the magic is both absurd and serious)