The Neverending Story by Michael Ende is good. (Oh, on preview I see Lissla has already mentioned him.)
You might want to look into Diana Wynne Jones. She’s written a number of good fantasies of various sorts. You might want to start with her Chronicles of Chrestomanci or with Dark Lord of Derkholm (which is both an epic fantasy and a lighthearted parody of epic fantasy).
For humorous, but hardly epic fantasy, I suggest the M.Y.T.H. books by Robert Asprin. Lots of bad puns, a fairy godfather who wears pin striped suits and is named Don Bruce, a dragon named Gleep…what’s not to like?
Lord Dunsany of the fantastical, “The King of Elf Land’s Daughter”, and Robert E. Howard of Conan the Barbarian fame.
Elizabeth Moon (might be out of print) Paksenarrion series
Patricia Wrede – everything she has ever written
Anne McCaffrey – especially the Pern stuff, but most of hers (avoid the co-author titles) and don’t listen to the “she’s SF” people.
Be careful of Charles DeLint. I love his work, but he is waaay too in touch with less-than-pleasant realities to fit your request. The urban fantasy series is good, but rather very terribly “bleak.” Try Moonheart, to start. It’s more gentle.
I mentioned Dunsany.
The Bridge Of Birds by Barry Hughart.
A very elegant fantasy set in China, puncuated with refined wit.
Why do I always end up seeing these threads after everybody else? Most of what I would recommend has already been mentioned. Here are some other thoughts:
[ul]
[li]Anything that was printed in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series[/li][li]The Biography of Dom Manuel of Poictesme by James Branch Cabell (it’s a series). Start with Jurgen, then Figures of Earth, then The Silver Stallion. Then decide if you want to continue.[/li][li]A bunch of stuff in the Fantasy Masterworks collection is worth checking out. Try the Vance “Dying Earth” volume and the stuff by Dunsany, de Camp & Pratt, Hope Mirrlees, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard.[/li][li]Dunsany also did a couple of more medieval-ish romance-ish volumes (Don Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley and The Charwoman’s Shadow)[/li][li]It’s not epic fantasy, but the Fafhrd & Grey Mouser stuff by Fritz Leiber is well worth checking out.[/li][li]Pratt also did a volume called The Well of the Unicorn.[/li][li]If you’re looking for moderately gritty “doorstop” fantasy, David Drake (the military SF guy) did a fantasy series starting with The Lord of the Isles.[/li][li]It’s not a pseudo-medieval fantasy, and it’s almost impossible to read, but The Night Land is one of the more remarkable works of fiction in the English language.[/li][li]William Morris (yes, the chair guy) is arguably the guy who invented the modern school of epic heroic fantasy. Try starting with The Wood Beyond the World and going on from there. Keep a dictionary handy.[/li][li]Wolfe did a remix of themes from Norse mythology in his books The Knight and The Wizard.[/li][li]It’s not exactly epic fantasy, but the Thraxas books by Martin Scott are decent light reading.[/li][/ul]
:smack: By William Hope Hodgson, of course.
Hey! I have read the The Incompleat Enchanter, or at least one book? All I can remember is the hero riding in the back of a cart. My memory isn’t good.
I have read:
Gaiman
Diana Wynne Jones (who is fabulous)
Asprin
Piers Anthony
Bramah’s Carrado stories (at least some)
But haven’t read:
Moon
Hughart (though I’ve intended to)
Vance
Ende
Stasheff
Flewelling
Or pretty much anyone Hunter Hawk mentioned.
Thank you thank you!
I love this thread. 
[Hijack] We have a lot a of Fantasy & Sci-Fi readers here, is it worth while to try and set up a book exchange? This would be like combining Ben Franklin’s original library and the US Post Service he helped to set up.
I don’t know the exact mechanics, but is it worth pursuing? [/Hijack]
Jim
The Castle Perilous series by John DeChancie is both funny and epic. It’s set is a magical castle with 144,000 gates to different universes, and full of people that have wandered in - all of whom develop magical powers. It gets quite cosmic at times, including the destruction of an entire universe.
The Spellsong Cycle from L.E. Modesitt Jr is also good, but it might be a little too gritty. Bad things happen, but the good side wins. Make that “Shreds and burns the enemy till nothings left”.
It’s set on a world named Erde, where song and music is sorcery; if you sing a song about a bridge and are good enough, one will form. A sorceress ( i.e. singer ) tries to summon a more powerful sorceress, and gets Assistant Professor of Music Anna from our world. She was thinking “I’d like to be anywhere but Ames, Iowa !”, and the sorcery latched on.
She’s now stuck on a world rather hostile to women, in a land surrounded by enemies. On the other hand, thanks to her training and knowledge she’s the most powerful sorceress alive, possibly ever. The result is several books of fanatics getting fried, crushed, drowned and vaporized. That’s the gritty part; but she does win, and does make Erde a better place.
More plugs for Diane Duane and Gene Wolfe. The former is a light read. Not so the latter.
Have you read Perdido Street Station? People seem to love it or hate it; I think it’s phenomenally good.
Daniel
I’ve only read Modesitt’s Recluce series, and a lot of people die in it. I think I read it primarily because of the food and woodworking details. I like novels about artisans when the writer clearly knows his/her stuff. I guess it counts as fantasy. It’s decent reading.
Drove me insane. I can see how people love it–the setting was fabulous, but I just couldn’t get into the characters.
I see Lissla beat me to the Recluce series. I would consider it fairly epic, and while some main characters die, it’s not until the end of the series really.
I’ll third or fourth Memmory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams. Great series.
For epic, I cannot believe nobody has mentioned The Wheel of Time series yet. Although I think I remember seeing your name in the other threads about it, so perhaps you just didn’t mention it. At 12 books, it’ll keep you reading almost long enough for the next one to maybe be published.
The MYTH books are also a fun read, although not exactly epic.
The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan was fairly entertaining. Not epic, but enough to sink your teeth into, with a follow up series in the works now I think.
I haven’t read:
DeChancie
Modesitt (though fans should check out a forum here, where Modesitt moderates)
Canavan
or Mieville
I will read Jordan someday, but I’ve decided not to start it until it’s finished.
There’s probably a date which exists such that you read his books written before but not after.
Glen Cook is one of my favorite fantasy authors. His Garrett books are just awesome. He’s also written other stuff like a series about The Black Company that looks like it might fall in the epic category.
I really like The Black Company - well the first three. I actually had a lot of trouble getting into the first one, but found I really enjoyed the first three once I did. I say give it a try.
I don’t know, at least for the OP. Most of his books are very gritty indeed; the Garret ones are some of the cheeriest, and they aren’t all that cheerful. Yes, he’s good, but usually grim.
I have to agree, Cook is a little Dark. I don’t think it fits jsgoddess OP either.
Jim