I recently read
The Prince of Thorns by fantasy newcomer Mark Lawrence. It's a dark, entertaining, first person narrative that is not quite what it may first seem to be. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It's the first installment of a trilogy, but the book stands on it's own two feet quite nicely. There's some overarching plots that are left for the future books, but all in all, this one has a nice sense of closure to it. It's not sprawling and full of flowery prose or excessive world-building (which pleases me immensely), it's relatively compact, terse and sincerely bad-ass.
If you're looking for something new and not wanting to get too involved in a never-ending series or bogged down with a lot descriptive detail... it may be just the ticket.
I'm getting ready to read
Jamrach's Menagerie (from the Man Booker Prize 2011 long list) by Carol Birch. The description has me a little pumped.