I'll second the Prince of Nothing series by Bakker. A very interesting read, if a bit wordy.
Brandon Sanderson is suprisingly good... his plot-, character- and world-developement have exceeded my expectations repeatedly. I found the Mistborn series to be particularly enjoyable.
My STRONGEST recommendation, however, is for Patrick Rothfuss'
Name of the Wind. Absolute top-notch character developement and writing/storytelling. I have not enjoyed reading this much in more than a decade. In fact, it's the only book I've intentionally reread since Terry Goodkind's
Stone of Tears.
Speaking of unintentional re-reads... C.S. Friedman is doing a new series that was worth re-reading, even if I thought I was buying a new book at the time.
