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I havent read a better fantasy series than any of the Shannara serieses (terry brooks)
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The Sword of Shannara was the first fantasy book I read oh so many years ago. I got it because the title was cool, the cover was interesting, it was huge, and the description on the back was cool.
Many years later I've read every Shannara book and enjoyed the series immensely. I never quite got into his Kingdom of Landover stuff, or the Knight and the Word, although the 'Shannara' in his new "Genesis of Shannara" worked on me and I read it recently. Not bad but nothing like the old stuff.
I've mentioned Steven Erikson on these boards before, mostly any time someone mentions Jordan or Martin. The world Erikson's created is the deepest, broadest, most interesting I've experienced. He's more 'adult', like Martin, but brings in more magic without making it childish. The first book took me probably 100 pages or so to get into it, but trust me, I'm on the 7th in the series and the first six went from intriguing me to solidifying Erikson as my favorite fantasy writer.
Fantasy is really subjective (like anything I guess) and I'm sure it depends on why you read it, but I haven't seen Brooks mentioned much here, so maybe there's something I like about his writing that I've found again. I don't know, I just have to recommend him sincerely to anyone interested in something different but great.
Here's a few links to the series:
(1st)
http://www.amazon.com/Gardens-Moon-Malaz...9029&sr=8-3
(2nd)
http://www.amazon.com/Deadhouse-Gates-Ma...9874&sr=1-1
You'll see many people compare him to Martin. While I really liked a Song of Ice and Fire, its starting to slow down for me, plus, I've always been a sucker for interesting and nonstandard use of magic and non-weapon based abilities, and Erikson's take on magic in general is pretty cool.