I had a conversation recently regarding what books I recommend to family and friends looking to get into the genre.
The ones I went for were:
The Final Empire
Storm Front
Assassin's Apprentice
Early Stephen Kind work (The Shining or Dead Zone)
I think this is a great mix of sub-genres and styles of writing. I do go into a bit more detail in a blog [EDIT, Link removed] I wrote recently if you care for it but I would love to hear your picks