I've read 4 fantasy series when I was younger and they rank like this for me:
Lord of the Rings
Song of Ice and Fire
Harry Potter
Wheel of Time
I think wheel of time is not even in the same league as the other 3. The characters are fairly weak and don't grow as much as you'd hope. If there's one way to describe them I'd say childish. Ofcourse its fantasy so the author gets a pass. The plot is not the greatest either, I found it really slow at certain points, especially the books in the middle (book 7 to 10). What the book does excel at is creating a very very detailed world and hundreds of characters. I guess that's what most people read fantasy for