[DeuceKicker]

Another recommendation for the Farseer Trilogy.

The title and cover art implied to me a light, D&D-esque story, but it's so much more. Fitz is one of the most sympathetic main characters I've read. This series also introduces The Fool, who gets his own series (the Tawny Man trilogy) later and is one of the most enigmatic main characters I've encountered. I wish I'd been paying more attention to The Fool the first time around.

After The Farseer trilogy I was ready to read anything written by Hobb. The Liveship Traders is written in the same world as Farseer, and features the same Hobb gift for writing engaging characters.

I also second evil twin's vote for Tigana. Incredibly moving and frustrating descriptions of the loss suffered by the people of Tigana--not at losing their homeland, but their very identity.

The Lions of Al-Rassan, also by Guy Gavriel Kay, is excellent as well. Kay writes pseudo historical fiction with light touches of fantasy. Lions is drawn from the Spanish Reconquista, when the Christians retook Spain from the Moors. The climax is epic and heartbreaking.

IMO, don't bother finishing Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy. You can tell the guy knows his science, and I want him on my team if I ever enter a contest to terraform Mars, but I don't want to read about every step of the process ad nauseum.

Going to check out Gene Wolf and Steven Erikson