Number 1 for me has always been all things Middle-Earth. (I have a tattoo around my waste invoking the blessing of the Eldar in Tengwar- I know I am a bit of a dork...) I agree that Sil was a hard read until I became an adult, and I didn't get around to reading it until a few years ago. His books are the only ones I will buy multiple versions of just to collect them at 80-100 bucks a pop.
Number 2 is Terry Brooks' Shannara/ Word and Void Series. (Especially now that he has combined them!) I had a hard time at first with "Sword," but his writing vastly improved after the first one. His writing has been rejuvinated with his fantastic Genesis of Shannara series.
Number 3 is Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels, while kind of sci-fi, they HAVE to be considered fantasy because of the Dragons!
Number 4 is David Edding's Belgariad and Mallorean, plus the single Belgarath and Polgara stories. I couldn't get into The Dreamers- kind of felt like all the characters from previous books recycled somehow.
Number 5 is Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series (but he really could have shortened it by SEVERAL books.)
Number 6 is Guy Gavriel Kay- any and all of his books, but most especially The Fionavar Tapestry. I really like him as an author, because each of his stories have a completely different feel to them, which signifies a keen imagination and rare talent, he doesn't seem to be in it just to churn out another Trilogy or two.
Last, but not least is R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt books.
I like this thread! it's the first one here that made me want to post a reply. There are a lot of books listed here that I have wanted to try- thanks for posting!