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/