backbone epic

[Lewstherin14]

Is there a series that does for high fantasy epics what 40k does for military sci-fi or Cthulhu does for cosmic horror? a long well written shared universe that more or less renders redundant most other series in the genre? I really liked runelords until the 5th book and loved Gardens of the Moon The Wheel of time series by Robert Jordan is okay I started reading it when I was thirteen but I probably would find it derivative if I picked it up today.