I am looking for a book series that upon completion will leave a feeling of emptiness, as if I'm saying goodbye to a good old friend, when you realize the good old days were left behind. It's a shitty feeling that only comes after something great, something that left a mark on you.
Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
Only has 5 books, but they're chonky and book 5 is the end of arc 1. Peak epic fantasy, with an even larger epic happening in the background if you choose to look behind the curtain.
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Starts as "haha funny man in boxers rescues his cat", ends with "this is a truly important critique of late-stage capitalism". Book 8/9 just released. Wonderful series about the indomitable human spirit and dealing with loss under the veneer of an intergalactic comedy game show.
I have plans to read the whole collection of Cosmere books, but it feels like quite a compromise, I'm looking for something shorter.
Your description of Dungeon Crawler Carl books instigated me though, I'll look them up. Thanks!
The Cosmere is absolutely a commitment for sure. He does have some other side-content that isn't in-universe if you want to sample his writing style a bit. He did a short story collection recently called Tailored Realities.
I have a fun link for DCC that my description was kinda based on for some more info. Spoilers clearly marked on other sections of the site:
https://crawlerscookbook.com/what-is-dcc/
I've been listening to Stormlight Archive and it's almost 200 hours of audiobook.
Especially if you also read Edgedancer and Dawnshard, books 2.5 and 3.5 respectively.
Absolutely fantastic series, totally invested.
Also can recommend starting with Mistborn, including book 3.5 of that.
Oh, absolutely agree with everything you said. Tbh era 1 of mistborn also fits what op is asking for in the "saying goodbye to a dear friend" feeling.
I'm a big Cosmere nerd, so I've been through the whole thing multiple times now.
Love Secret History as well.
Also heh, Invested. Me too, I have been for years.
Can't wait to see what Apple does with it!