I found Wheel of Time to be a a bit too boring. I felt like I was waiting for stuff to happen, but by book five or so, the series I'd been waiting for to pick up actually seemed to be slowing down. The characters were unrelatable supermen. I know a lot of people like these books, but not me. I think of LOTR as vastly superior!
My favourite fantasy series is Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld which is an absolute blast. It starts out okay, gets truly awesome for a very good stretch in the middle and then goes back to okay towards the end. The series go to different places and characters so there are several mini-series inside it. So, a new reader wouldn't have to start at the beginning .. If anyone would like some Discworld advice, I'd be happy to give it as I've read every book, generally more than once.
