Fun Fantasy series with immense worldbuilding and great characters?

Wheel of Time doesn't really fit "recent," but still fantastic.

Way of Kings is great. Codex Alera is a fun read as well

My 3 main recommendations were already mentioned but I'll mention them again for visibility.

Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. There are actually multiple main characters, but the world building is top notch. I haven't finished the series yet (it's my "read during lunch" series atm) but so far there are 2 male main characters in the 18-25ish range

The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. The main character starts around 12 and there are arguably multiple main characters, but it's a damn good series. Think ancient Rome but everyone controls elementals

Lightbringer by Brent Weeks. A fantastic series where the government and religions of the world are built around the magic system. The series happens over a few years but the main character starts at around 15

Since I mentioned Lightbringer I also want to mention The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. It's a dark fantasy series featuring magically gifted assassins. Most of the good guys are criminals and murderers. It's a brutal series with an excellent cast of characters and a world that feels like it's been through hell. The main character starts off as a kid, but is in his 20s by the end of the series

People need to stop recommending Pat Rothfuss. His stuff is awesome but he'll never be done it and as such were just adding more people to this waiting room of misery. Books that are equally excellent AND the author delivers:

• The First Law Trilogy
• Stormlight Archives
• Codex Alera
• Assassins Apprentice
• Red Rising (not fantasy but an amazing SciFi)

First Law and Red Rising are my top favourites!

Others have mentioned these, no doubt. But I think they’re worth mentioning again. Sanderson’s Cosmere material is a superb starting point to get into fantasy.

Mistborn era 1 is a tight, fast paced trilogy with fantastic world building and fun, loveable characters. The setting of these books, just the world itself, is one of my favorites for sure.

Stormlight Archive is an enormous fantasy series, essentially Sanderon’s magnum opus. He’s halfway through writing his fifth book in the series out of a planned 10 and it is so so fun. There are some older protagonists in this book, but they are all fantastic.

Third, not Sanderson (except the last three, sort of) is Wheel of Time. I started reading fantasy with WoT, because a 14 book series just sounded like a really fun adventure to go on. I was hooked after book one. It’s a huge series that follows a fairly small cast of main characters who undergo so much growth. The three core characters are all 18 year old males, give or take a couple years. It has what might forever be my favorite ending to a series. Maybe not though. I haven’t read a ton of fantasy yet.

Give any of those three a spin and I think you’ll find that you really like fantasy.

Stormlight archives fits everything except protagonist. It has multiple protagonists, not just one. Some of the protagonists are indeed male and around that age.

Cradle series, by Will Wight. Fast paced, fun. Started on book one and could not stop myself from reading all the way to the end!