Young Adult versus adult SF/ Fantasy

[mirth]

I find many of the adult fantasies nowadays to be rather repetitive. The stories are mostly along the lines of LOTR with some big quest or some big battle. David Eddings with his the Belgariad and Mallorean Series was a joy to read more so for the witty and energetic conversations rather than the plot. Unfortunately, his Tamuli series was just a rehash of his Belgariad series with even the characters being very similar. I still adore Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (a must read) but that is more of a satirical take of our world in a fantasy world.

Young adult (YA) fantasies however seem to be getting better. Many of them though targeted at children, are reaching out to the adults as well; the most obvious example is the Harry Potter series. I find that many YA books have plots differing from the usual LOTR quest kind (Eoin Colfer's The Supernaturalist which is likely to develop into a series is an enjoyable page-turner). Even those with such plots have more interesting characters.

Many YA books now have characters who are narcisstic and sometimes nasty protagonists but yet are compelling and enjoyable to read. Jonathan Stroud's the Bartimaeus Trilogy is one. Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl Series is another.

Some YA books even bring in 'deeper' issues like religion. Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy is an excellent read. Even the classic Narnia novels seem to have a religious slant especially the later books in the series.

So what are your thoughts on adult and YA fantasies? Maybe, I'm just not reading the good adult fantasies. Any recommendations? Any recommendations for YA fantasies as well?