That might be true, my memories are probably tainted by the fact I read them while I was in middle school. I used to think Eddings was cool back then too, can't stand his crap now.
I like the coming of age type stories like name of the wind... i read the first book of the riftwars series (magician: apprentice), it started really well then all of a sudden had way too much going on with too many characters... would have been better if it had just followed the main char
what does everyone see in the SoiF books? I've read the first four (not sure if there are newer ones yet) and I didn't think they were very good.
You said Sci/Fi so I'll put one up for John Scalzi Books by John Scalzi « Whatever
His books are almost an homage to Robert A. Heinlein, but I like them because of the sometimes serious, often hilarious, always ridiculous shit that he thinks up. His characters have the feel of real people. Good stuff.
if you havn't read any gene wolfe, I would start with the book of the new sun - that's four very dense novels that will keep you busy for a while. They're extremely well written. They may not be exactly what you're looking for if you want a more traditional sword and sorcery book but I would keep them on the list.
for something more traditional, the raymond e feist 'riftwar' series is a classic, and if you like them he's written a few more.
While book of the new sun series is technically well written it is one of the few novels that I have ever had trouble getting through due to both the pacing and the sheer density of the writing.
When I eventually read Free Live Free I became really pissed off because it is fast, easy and fun to read. I had just assumed that Wolfe couldn't really help himself in terms of the writing style but it turns out that he intentionally made the New Sun series that freaking dense which sort of makes him an asshole in my book.
Also Hyperion is amazing. Read the books a long time ago and now I'm listening to the Audio books. Great production value with 3 different narrators.