My Summer of Fantasy

I've always been an avid reader of science fiction but never really got into fantasy. In an attempt to expand my horizons - and after watching the incredibly cheezy but enjoyable (in a Xena kind of way) "Legend of the Seeker" - I recently picked Terry Goodkind's "Wizards' First Rule." I was trying to decided whether I should start the rest of the books after reading some mixed reviews online claiming the series gets pretty unbearable towards the end. (Critics in a nutshell - little character development, bad writing, Objectivist rants.) Anyways, Since I know lots of my facebook friends are super-geeks (like me), I asked their advice. While I'll probably hold off on reading more Goodkind for now, here's the list of recommended books that I compiled from the ensuing discussion.

Piers Anthony - A Spell for Chameleon (Zac)
Robert Aspirin - "Another Fine Myth" (Zac - humor fantasy)
Patricia Briggs - Moon Called (Chris W.)
Terry Brooks - Running with the Demon (Jason)
Terry Brooks - Magic Kingdom For Sale--SOLD (Zac)
Molly Cochran & Warren Murphy - The Forever King (Zac - Arthurian spin on its head)
Rick Cook - Wizards Bane (Zac - a universe where computer programming languages can be used to make magic)
Diane Duane - So You Want To Be a Wizard"(Zac - YA with female lead)
Steven Erikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen (Kelly)
Barbara Hambley - The Ladies of Mandrigyn (Zac - best female lead written in fantasy)
Robin Hobbs - Assassin trilogy (Dave R.)
Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time series (Jason)
Mercedes Lackey - Winds of Fate (Zac)
Ursala LeGuin - Earthsea series (Mary, Zac)
Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind (Zac)
Maria Doria Russell - The Sparrow, Children of God (Max)
Mary Steward - The Crystal Cave & the rest of her Arthurian series (Zac, my mom)

I'm also looking into feminist-friendly fantasy books currently, and will post a list of what I find. Let's see if there's anything out there that doesn't use the damsel-in-distress and violence-against-women-as-plot-motivaters tropes in excess. (For many examples of the latter in comics, check out the excellent Women in Refrigerators website.)

Looks like my summer reading list is getting full! Thanks to all for the great suggestions!