David and Leigh Eddings

Epic fantasy authors David and Leigh Eddings are the authors of four massively entertaining series: The Belgariad, The Malloreon, The Elenium, and The Tamuli. Absolutely nothing about these books is original, but if you’re in the mood for well-written, entertaining, action-packed, travelogue-style fantasy, these stories are spot-on.

Note: Although Leigh Eddings has only recently begun getting her name on bookcovers, she has apparently been an un-credited co-writer with her husband for many years. Having considerable experience with female characters created by male fantasy writers, I fully attribute all of the charm of David Eddings’s female characters to her influence.

Aftertaste:
I haven't read the Eddings's non-fantasy novel Regina's Song, and I'm not going to, but the description sounds suspiciously like the plot of a truly god-awful telenovela I watched once....

Availability:
Everywhere.

Other Recommendations:
The Dark Is Rising Sequence, by Susan Cooper

The Inheritance Trilogy, by Christopher Paolini

The Lord of the Rings books, by J.R.R. Tolkien (Tolkien's books may be boring as dirt, but you should probably know who it is the Eddings are ripping off.)