So I haven't actually read all that much fantasy. The following list is close to exhaustive, not counting a half dozen or so that feel much lighter (e.g. Spellsinger or Stasheff or Xanth) addendum: or young adult fantasy like Harry Potter, Dark is Rising, and Narnia.
Fantasy I like:
Tolkien - though if I wasn't seven when I first read it, I might not have liked it so much, maybe
Brust - both Vlad and Khaavren
Black Company, maybe except for the last two books
Pern, at least six books of it
Belgariad - I enjoyed reading it, but I didn't like the racial stereotyping when thinking about it afterwards
Elric
Amber
Stuff I liked the first two books of, but then dropped:
Melanie Rawn - about one too many (or more like four or five too many) people had long passages whining about how Andry wasn't cuddly any more
Donaldson - eventually my urge to defenestrate Covenant overwhelmed the beautiful descriptions
Stuff I didn't like:
Jordan. I got through one book and part of a second. Very little happened, and took a whole lot of words to fail to happen. And I really didn't care much about the premise and conflict - not sure why.
MZB Darkover
Shannara
Bujold, Paladin of Souls - I was astonished I didn't like this. But... too much nothing happened.
In general, my big reasons for putting a book down are boredom. I can hate a protagonist and still like a book.
The way to keep my interest is either (a) tell me the premise and make me care (Pern, Tolkien, Black Company first trilogy, Belgariad), (b) make things happen so fast I want to keep reading to figure out what's next (Black Company, Taltos, Amber), or write so well it's just a joy to turn the page (Tolkien, Khaavren, Donaldson initially).
What doesn't work: (a) paint a world slowly and painstakingly, where the world doesn't immediately capture my imagination (Darkover), (b) drop mysterious hints without much art or quick payoff (Shannara), or (c) create fascinating angsty characters who angst about their angstful angstiness (Bujold, Rawn @ Sunrunner's Fire, Donaldson eventually).
So. My open question. What else would I like?
Fantasy I like:
Tolkien - though if I wasn't seven when I first read it, I might not have liked it so much, maybe
Brust - both Vlad and Khaavren
Black Company, maybe except for the last two books
Pern, at least six books of it
Belgariad - I enjoyed reading it, but I didn't like the racial stereotyping when thinking about it afterwards
Elric
Amber
Stuff I liked the first two books of, but then dropped:
Melanie Rawn - about one too many (or more like four or five too many) people had long passages whining about how Andry wasn't cuddly any more
Donaldson - eventually my urge to defenestrate Covenant overwhelmed the beautiful descriptions
Stuff I didn't like:
Jordan. I got through one book and part of a second. Very little happened, and took a whole lot of words to fail to happen. And I really didn't care much about the premise and conflict - not sure why.
MZB Darkover
Shannara
Bujold, Paladin of Souls - I was astonished I didn't like this. But... too much nothing happened.
In general, my big reasons for putting a book down are boredom. I can hate a protagonist and still like a book.
The way to keep my interest is either (a) tell me the premise and make me care (Pern, Tolkien, Black Company first trilogy, Belgariad), (b) make things happen so fast I want to keep reading to figure out what's next (Black Company, Taltos, Amber), or write so well it's just a joy to turn the page (Tolkien, Khaavren, Donaldson initially).
What doesn't work: (a) paint a world slowly and painstakingly, where the world doesn't immediately capture my imagination (Darkover), (b) drop mysterious hints without much art or quick payoff (Shannara), or (c) create fascinating angsty characters who angst about their angstful angstiness (Bujold, Rawn @ Sunrunner's Fire, Donaldson eventually).
So. My open question. What else would I like?