Let me take this opportunity to introduce to you the Waylander, arguably heroic fantasy's greatest assassin. He was created and written by the late David Gemmell, who also authored Legend. If you are not familiar with David Gemmell or his work, I'll try to summarize his style without despoiling the man's legacy...
His work is more character based, as opposed to world-based like Robert Jordan (RIP) who emphasized the creation of settings and worlds. The dialogue among characters, their minimalist and cut-and-dry approach to life might be off-putting to someone who prefers their fantasy characters to be more hearty, self-reflective, optimistic, and full of life -- like the stuff you'd read about in those Forgotten Realms books and Wheel of Time. The world he creates is full of gritty, violent, and solemn characters with a Nietzschean perspective of life. Gemmell's never afraid to kill of characters, even characters that might seem untouchable and important at first, which puts him on par with George Martin as far as author-to-character attachments are concerned.
His books are very well written and easy to read. Definite page-turners, if you appreciate that sort of thing. I'd recommend you start with Gemmell's first blockbuster book, LEGEND, to get an honest feel of his style. I only mentioned Waylander here because he's my favorite character among all of Gemmell's creations, but you're free to start with those books, as well, especially since the events in Waylander take place before the events in LEGEND.