John Crowley John Crowley John Crowley! _Little Big_, but,
I’d recommend _Engine Summer_ as that was the first Crowley I read (though already a fantasy fan at the time), oh that beautiful cover!, how could I not take it from the bookstore shelf?

and
even though I haven’t finished reading it yet,
definately,
Patrick Rothfuss _Name of the Wind_

a third one from your list?
hmmm? Robert Jordan’s WoT? Ha! Were I to recommended _Eye of the World_ to my friends I’m sure I’d make a few converts, but by about book 6, those friends may become my enemies! hahahaha

ok, pardon my sexism,
to lure women to the genre: Marion Zimmer Bradley _The Mists of Avalon_
and for men: Jim Butcher _Storm Front_

For younger,

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman ragons of Autumn Twilight (It’s what got me anyway in middle school, and convinced me fantasy does have more to offer other than Tolkien. For most people in this information age I don’t think Tolkien would do it.)

For pretty much any age, though they’d have to be a little more mature to understand the jokes:
Terry Pratchett: any. I haven’t really read the ones on the list so it’s hard to choose. Whichever one has Vimes in it.

and for those in late teens and beyond: Neil Gaiman: American Gods

Jim Butcher
The Dresden Files

George R.R. Martin
A Game Of Thrones

Neil Gaiman: American Gods
R.A. Salvatore: Homeland
Rosemary Jones: City of the Dead

Rosemary Jones: City of the Dead
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings
Weis and Hickman: Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Rosemary Jones: City of the Dead
George R.R. Martin: A Game of Thrones
Jacqueline Carey: Kushiel’s Dart

These are the three I would pick out of that list to recommend to someone who had never read anything in the genre.

Runner-up: Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind, which I think is just a little too epic for a first-time reader and relies a fair amount on a keen understanding of the genre and its conventions. Excellent, excellent book, btw.

Cheers