If you're into Fantasy I'd definitely look into the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. (Shameless plug, I just finished the 16th book of the series and want more people to discuss it with) It's a really good mix of low/high fantasy, plus a really good cast of characters and a wise-cracking wizard-detective protagonist.
Most definitely. Every book after Storm Front is better, the series really picks up around book 3-4. However though I will say this, some of the characters Harry pits wills against are demigods, the scale of the conflicts rises accordingly, so be prepared for craziness. Edit to include I'm more than a little hype on this at the moment, I just finished the 16th book, Skin Games, yesterday (it came out tuesday) And Jim Butcher did an AMA not long ago.