Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle is really promising. The first two books, The Painted Man and the Desert Spear brings new life into the fantasy genre.
I can also second China Mieville, David Gemell and Neil Gaiman. Stephen King's The Dark Tower is also worth reading.
I never really liked Eddings, I find his characters to lack depth and his plots to be simple ripoffs from Tolkien with little new imagination. The Sword of Truth series suffers from a overpowered main character, and those books too get a bit repetitive, but they are certainly better than Eddings. The Wheel of Time series did have some major problems in the middle, with tons of unresolved plots, too many characters and no end in sight. I put it down some years ago and promised my self that I'd finish it when the last book was published. It's going to be a long read...