My all time favorite epic fantasies come from Chinese literature.  If you want a Far Eastern version of Lord of the Rings, you'd have to read Journey to the West.  It is one of the most incredible fantasy stories ever!   at least to me anyway.  If you want more, you could read Outlaws of the Marsh and Three Kingdoms.  Its arguable that the last two aren't that  fantastical (subtle magic and fantasy elements at best), but they sure are epic.

I also love the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman.  Was surprised no one mentioned that.  It definitely blurs the line between science fiction and fantasy, but could easily be qualified as both.  I would also recommend the Orcs trilogy by Stan Nicholls.

Lastly, I highly recommend any of the Redwall books by Brian Jacques, at least read either Redwall, Mossflower or the Last Patrol.  And last but not least, the Chronicles of Narnia.  A far more readable fantasy series than Tolkien's.  Don't get me wrong, I have all the respect in the world for Tolkien's ideas, but his prose was kind of tiring to read after awhile, but that's just my personal preference.  I loved the Hobbit, and wish he had kept his writing style closer to that.

Redwall! I loved those books. They may be children's books but nonetheless some of the best fantasy out there.

I'd also have to echo Tolkien (taken as a whole - Silmarillion, Hobbit, LoTR), George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, and the first trilogy Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant Chronicles. The second trilogy wasn't very good, and I strongly disliked what I've read of the 3rd trilogy.

I also have to mention three series that I almost never hear any mention of that I enjoyed immensely:

Riddle of the Stars, by Patricia A. McKillip (possibly my favorite book of all time)
The Coldfire Trilogy, by Celia S. Friedman. One of the most unique fantasy ideas I've ever seen.
The Rune of Unmaking, by Madeline Howard. The final book hasn't come out yet but I really enjoyed the first two. 

Edit: I just thought of another book that I need to mention: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke.

+1 for Pullman. I don't know how I managed to forget him, but damn, those are a good read.

Redwall is one that I forgot about and is a great read.  And since we've gone back to our childhood days by mentioning The Chronicles of Narnia, why not throw this classic children's series into the mix...The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander.

I still say that the whole saga of the Riftwar is very immense and well written.  And the series of books written by Jannuy Wurts...The Empire series.  This series is set in the Riftwar world as well, only on the other side of the Rift on the planet of Kelewan.  It follows the life and trials of Mara, who becomes a ruling lady in a violent world ruled by a very different sense of honour.

If you like the Riftwar series and have not read this series, then I highly recomment this one.

Tolkien is the prototype of epic fantasy and stands the test of time. 

C.S. Lewis' Narnia series is also a great epic story.

I enjoyed Stephen R. Donaldson's Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever trilogies.  Definitely epic in scope, but also definitely a difficult read.  And as someone else mentioned, Covenant is sort of an anti-hero, which makes it interesting and different. 

I don't believe anyone else has mentioned Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series.  I would call this "fantasy", and it certainly is epic (7 books).  Molds horror, sci-fi and fantasy elements into an enjoyable story.

At risk of (re) iteration, I think JRRT rules when you are talking about epic fantasy (although i haven't read him in years now). How he treats right and wrong is immense, but i suppose given when he was writing it isn't that incredible to believe and, despite his dry style, he still manages to convey incredible emotion. i remember being annoyed with him for making such a puny character into such a hero (when i was a teenager) but as i grew up i began to understand what he was attempting to do.

 i'm looking forward to getting my teeth into some of the authors mentioned here.

I also wanted to defend Goodkind  . While not the most brilliant story teller, his later books definitely up the ante on his earlier works. from book 3 (iirc) he perceptibly grows better at storytelling with each book. I think by about book 7 or  8 they are excellent. Unfortunately the last book tends to avoid the heights he scaled iwth the previous 2.

 the (original) Farseer trilogy was good but as for the T Covenant series, what a whining little

Spydyr, it's about time someone mentioned Lloyd Alexander. These were some of my favorite books as a kid and definitely qualify as epic fantasy.

+1 for Tolkien and Pullman. It's too bad they probably won't make any more of the Dark Materials books into movies; the first one was pretty good although it ended in a weird way. I'm still waiting for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit (with the cast from the LoTR movies, of course)!

I haven't read the Silmarillion; it's intimidating for some reason, but the other books were great (LoTR and The Hobbit). BTW, Tolkien trivia fact: the adult komodo dragon at the Houston Zoo is named Smaug.

I like Lieber and especially Robert E. Howard but I'm not convinced their works qualify for the dictionary definition of epic fantasy; they're terrific reads though. (Also, if you enjoy any of Howard's work, you should check out the 1996 movie The Whole Wide World. If he hadn't killed himself, who knows how many fantastic books he would have written?)

I think the problem with the Silmarillion is that it reads more like a history textbook than a piece of fictional literature, which can make for some rather dry reading at times.  I myself didn't read it in its entirety until earlier this year -- I'd tried twice before in the last 10 years, but I simply couldn't get through it at the time. 

I think the key is to treat the Silmarillion not as a novel, but as more of a (pre-Numenor) "historical account" of Beleriand and Middle-Earth.  Once I got into the right mindset, I was able to enjoy it. 

The Silmarillion always felt like reading the Bible to me - I felt like I should know it backward and forward so that I know what I'm talking about when it's brought up, but it's long and boring and dreary and I just don't care that much - {G}.

Jonnan

LOLOL...

Fantasy is like religion, people read and interpret it how they want. I'm sorry you found it boring, I too found it hard work at 14 years old to get through the first few chapters. But beyond that, the rewards were many...

Its no coincidence that many authors claim inspiration for Tolkien works, and some in modern terms surpass him. But I do feel it was truly the first fantasy novel that opened up the genre to the masses.

Number 1 for me has always been all things Middle-Earth. (I have a tattoo around my waste invoking the blessing of the Eldar in Tengwar- I know I am a bit of a dork...)  I agree that Sil was a hard read until I became an adult, and I didn't get around to reading it until a few years ago.  His books are the only ones I will buy multiple versions of just to collect them at 80-100 bucks a pop.

Number 2 is Terry Brooks' Shannara/ Word and Void Series. (Especially now that he has combined them!)  I had a hard time at first with "Sword," but his writing vastly improved after the first one.  His writing has been rejuvinated with his fantastic Genesis of Shannara series.

Number 3 is Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels, while kind of sci-fi, they HAVE to be considered fantasy because of the Dragons!

Number 4 is David Edding's Belgariad and Mallorean, plus the single Belgarath and Polgara stories.  I couldn't get into The Dreamers- kind of felt like all the characters from previous books recycled somehow.

Number 5 is Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series (but he really could have shortened it by SEVERAL books.)

Number 6 is Guy Gavriel Kay- any and all of his books, but most especially The Fionavar Tapestry.  I really like him as an author, because each of his stories have a completely different feel to them, which signifies a keen imagination and rare talent, he doesn't seem to be in it just to churn out another Trilogy or two.

Last, but not least is R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt books.

I like this thread!  it's the first one here that made me want to post a reply.  There are a lot of books listed here that I have wanted to try- thanks for posting!

Dork no! Its merely a case of degree's of the faithful.

In religious terms, you're a fanatic. lol

I read the Shannara series, didn't get on with it for your reason stated. Terry Brooks writing was well, poorer than others I favour.

Moorecock's Eternal Champion series is fantastic.  If you read all the books in the series, not just the Elric ones you see how everything (everything) ties together.  His books have a great way of revisiting earlier works and expanding on them and adding to the characters in a way that does not rewrite or cheapen them.  Of the two character lines in his books, the von Bek series and the Elric series are the more entertaining, but they are all great.

Star Wars is Science Fantasy, fantasy with added technology. It has the classic good/evil theme and magic which are the hallmarks of fantasy.

As for epic fantasy: Stephen R: Donaldsons The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Those are amazing.

For me it is definitely Terry Pratchets Discworld and George RR Martins Song of Ice and Fire but that doesnt make other Universes worse. Tolkien, Star Wars, Pendragon Cycle theri all good ... and a lot more