"Epic Fantasy" books

[Jones]

Reincarnation is also a theme where one of the main characters, Nevyn who is a Merlin like character, has chosen reincarnation to atone for an action he took that resulted in the untimely death of others.

I decided to read the Deverry series again and I misremembered the above. Nevyn actually decides not to die until he has atoned for the harm he caused others. To that end he lives a very long time and meets the others as different people in different incarnations.