Wow! Completely forgot about that one, :look but I tend to think of that, Brian Jacques, Robin McKinley, Mercedes Lackey, etc as 'old school' YA Fantasy, vice adult 'epic' fantasy.
I feel like WoT was a great intro to Epic Fantasy. I had a hard time getting into Malazan Book of the Fallen (too military-focused) and Lord of the Rings (too much detail and too slow moving). I think the Belgariad is also a great intro as well, but isn't as good of a re-read as you get older.
I...