Newer series:

• The Traitor Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson.
• This series is considered “hard fantasy” by some (compare with “hard sci-fi”) because the political/economic/science (or pseudo-science) institutions of the universe Dickinson creates are rooted in our reality much more than fantasy usually is. The story itself is about a brilliant young woman from an island peoples who were colonized by a harsh empire, and she tries to join the system in order to break the system, but instead ends up dancing with a LOT of sociopaths. The series is not done yet, so I’m not entirely sure yet how much of a villain Baru is, or if she is eventually redeemed.
• One thing to beware is that some of the accepted science in this world mimics old, OUTDATED and disproven theories from our world (because, you know, this fantasy world is behind us in tech), and I guess some people don’t get Dickinson is trying to show how even very intelligent people do things based on bad science, and these readers instead nod along with the bad science. So take “scientific” reasoning in this world with a grain of salt, some is wrong on purpose, and if you don’t have a background in those sciences you might not catch the author is refering to historical, disproven theories from our world
• Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir
• This is sort of a “science fantasy”. There’s necromancers, but also space ships. It’s probably one of the most unique fantasy univeses I’ve seen in years, and the writing is tons of fun.
• Although I very much rec this series, for me the grimdark, sardonic behavior of the characters started to grate after a while, but the 3rd book in the series follows a different character and sort of reassured me the author was able to write a softer, more hopeful outlook while not losing the mystery/complexity of the world
• The series as a whole is very confusing at parts–but that’s not you, it’s intentional. People say they don’t fully have everything fall into place until the 2nd or 3rd read, and that was true for me too. Basically, it’s a series for people who like to dig into mysteries and theorize on things and such.
• Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor
• This is about an albino girl from Nigeria who learns she has magical powers. And while the story is about a magical school for kids, and those kids go on adventures, it is so informed by African culture and thought and mythology that beyond the idea of “school for magic kids” there’s nearly 0 resemblence to other “magical kids in school” books. Either way, the series is very fun, and I wish I had been a kid myself when I encountered it b/c I think it would have had a much greater impact on me if I had.

I was going to rec some older series too–but honestly, I’m sure you’ll hear of them.