Can you recommend shorter modern fantasy books?

It depends a bit on what appeals to you, but if you want something wrapped up and lean, lately there are fantasy titles going around that don't pretend to be the first in some never-ending trilogy - maybe check out what's come out in the last few months, especially since the genre is changing quite a bit and there are plenty that close the story in a single book without leaving you hanging. Try searching for fantasy standalone on Goodreads, filter by year and maybe by length, so you see what catches your eye without relying on what the usual big names suggest - often the best discoveries come when you scroll past the first few pages. If you read in Italian you could also just ask in reader forums, they're usually pretty helpful for finding stuff that doesn't always end up on TikTok.

Recent standalone fantasy novels aren't really the norm, so if you find one you actually like it's almost always because the author made a conscious choice not to drag it out. What can help is searching for reviews on platforms like Goodreads filtered by length and publication date: that way you can see right away how many chapters it has and what readers who just finished it think, without waiting years for sequels.

The problem is that over the last two years publishers still prefer series because they sell, so true standalones are rare. But what's changed is that now there are more fantasy books with self-contained plots, maybe with the potential to explore that world, but not as a narrative obligation. The difference compared to ten years ago is substantial.

If you're looking for something recent and finished, check fantasy titles that don't have the subtitle "Book One" - often the more thoughtful authors let a story be a story without promising you more volumes. Another tip: read reviews and see if people who've read it say "complete story" or "open to a sequel." On Goodreads people are pretty honest about this. A good modern fantasy of medium length (not twenty-five hundred pages, I mean) should take a couple of weeks of steady reading, not months. Start from there and see if you find authors you like - once you've found someone who writes decent endings and doesn't drag things out, it's easier to discover other names at the same level.