Quote Originally Posted by Big D View Post
I'll cautiously suggest David (and Leigh) Eddings. A competent author, though his novels re-use the same character archetypes and plots endlessly. Lots of humour, much more innuendo than many other fantasy authors, and some genuinely memorable and likeable characters and moments.

Go for his earlier works, though - The Belgariad series and its sequel The Malloreon, and The Elenium and its sequel, The Tamuli. There are plenty of blatantly recycled ideas between the two stories, and he openly admits that he wrote Belgariad using a 'formula' based on The Lord of the Rings, but there's enough originality for one to derive plenty of enjoyment from them.
I've the Belgariad and the Malloreon. I might pick up the other two for a look. Someone also suggested to me George RR Martin's "The Storm of Swords." It sounded really cool.