Rather than simply throw up my own list (although I may put together a Gratuitous List of such in the coming weeks), I thought it might be more interesting to look at epic fantasy, or at least the modern interpretation of the subgenre, through a chronological perspective. This has the benefit of allowing works to be listed without too much regard for whether they're any "good" or not, but more by their importance in the development of the field.
I'm only about 1/4 way through reading this blog series but it's very well written, I'm learning new things, and adding PLENTY to my goodreads list.
Highly recommend if you are a fan of the genre