Need a good fantasy book

I'd go for the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson.   Awesome series :)

Finally found another author that really kept me glued to the book:
 
Robert Redick.  I have only read the first 2 of the series, but I thoroughly enjoyed them.
 
The Red Wolf Conspiracy
The Ruling Sea
 
Still need to read The River of Shadows, and the 4th titled The Night of the Swarm.
Took me a while to get fully involved with the characters and plot, but after giving it enough time I did not want to put it down.  Great stuff.

Don't know if these really fit in here since they are not fantasy per se (thinking orcs/elves/dragons whatever), but incredible books with a sci-fi/small fantasy-esque vibe to them.
 
Metro 2033 & Metro 2034, written by Dmitrij Gluchovskij. It is a post-apocalyptic story where people have taken refuge in the subway (or Metro) that runs beneath Moscow. The subway is HUGE and built to resist a nuclear war, and forms a labyrinth beneath the now abandoned Moscow. Each station in the metro have during the years after the nuclear bombs become small individual states. The first book is fantastic where you follow Artiom who have to travel through the Metro for various reasons (won't tell you all the goodies!) and encounters one thing after the next. It really is a fantastic story and one of my top books ever read. Just got started on the follow-up, Metro 2034, and so far it is just as good. I can't recommend it enough if you wanna get out of the typical fantasy-stuff for a while, but still feel at home.
And for all you gamers out there, it was made into a great FPS-shooter that I also recommend but the storyline there doesn't quite follow the book so read it first :)

I'm almost finished with book 4 of the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher and they have been awesome thus far.  I just purchased book 5 today.  Highly recommended.  Between this series and The Dresden Files I think I have to say that Butcher has become my favorite author.
 
I recently read The Magician King by Lev Grossman, the sequal to The Magicians.  Both are very funny and great black comedy/fantasy/sci-fi reads.  Also plowed through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susana Clarke.  It was a bit dry at times but quite an epic story with immense detail and historical fiction laced with fantasy.

My favourite fantasy series is "Labyrinths of Echo" by Max Frei. Unfortunately, only one or two books were translated from Russian to English. Check out "The Stranger". Here's a summary:
 
Max Frei’s novels have been a literary sensation in Russia since their debut in 1996, and have swept the fantasy world over. Presented here in English for the first time, The Stranger will strike a chord with readers of all stripes. Part fantasy, part horror, part philosophy, part dark comedy, the writing is united by a sharp wit and a web of clues that will open up the imagination of every reader.
Max Frei was a twenty-something loser—a big sleeper (that is, during the day; at night he can’t sleep a wink), a hardened smoker, and an uncomplicated glutton and loafer. But then he got lucky. He contacts a parallel world in his dreams, where magic is a daily practice. Once a social outcast, he’s now known in his new world as the “unequalled Sir Max.” He’s a member of the Department of Absolute Order, formed by a species of enchanted secret agents; his job is to solve cases more extravagant and unreal than one could imagine—a journey that will take Max down the winding paths of this strange and unhinged universe.

To echo others, if you want a series that will "take some time and explore a village" as you mentioned, please check out The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.  Its currently sitting at 13 books, with the 14th and final due late this year or early next year.  Brandon Sanderson is the author of the final 3 books since Mr. Jordan passed away.
 
I got into Wheel of Time because of Sanderson's involvement.  I haven't gotten to the ones he wrote, but its a great series.  Hats off to Robert Jordan.

Riceloft


To echo others, if you want a series that will "take some time and explore a village" as you mentioned, please check out The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.  Its currently sitting at 13 books, with the 14th and final due late this year or early next year.  Brandon Sanderson is the author of the final 3 books since Mr. Jordan passed away.

I got into Wheel of Time because of Sanderson's involvement.  I haven't gotten to the ones he wrote, but its a great series.  Hats off to Robert Jordan.

Jordan is an incredible story teller and the whole saga has been amazing, just absolutely amazing, and so complex, but I will say that Sanderson has made the series even better. He is just plain and simple a better writer. Much more exciting to read his words. Jordan's story in Sanderson's words is some great reading. Cannot wait for the last book. I've been reading the series for 20 years!

Riceloft


To echo others, if you want a series that will "take some time and explore a village" as you mentioned, please check out The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.  Its currently sitting at 13 books, with the 14th and final due late this year or early next year.  Brandon Sanderson is the author of the final 3 books since Mr. Jordan passed away.

I got into Wheel of Time because of Sanderson's involvement.  I haven't gotten to the ones he wrote, but its a great series.  Hats off to Robert Jordan.

I´ve been reading the series up until the sixth book until I gave up. Too much braid tugging, stereotypes, deus ex machinas and a quickly escalating plot. If someone dies and then in the next book he´s resurrected in a way that you´d think would work for any of the villains, well... it makes the death of characters meaningless. I had many problems with the books, but I´ve forgotten most about it. It´s been a while.

My personal favorite series is the Black Company series by Glen Cook. 
 
Chronicles: The Black Company, Shadows Linger, The White Rose
Books of the South: Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, The Silver Spike
Glittering Stone: Bleak Seasons, She is the Darkness, Water Sleeps, Soldiers Live
 
Hard to describe. Told in first person by several different characters. 
 
From the wiki: "The series combines elements of epic fantasy and dark fantasy as it follows an elite mercenary unit, The Black Company, through roughly forty years of its approximately five hundred year history."
 
Awesome, awesome stuff. The first book, however, is tough to get into until about half-way through as you get to know everyone. I read the entire series every couple of years. 

I've just got into A Game of Thrones. So far it's amazing. The style is fantastic.
 
Also, +1 to Max Frei recommendation. I wish there were more of his books in English.