Ouch, don't compare "Shannara" and Potter.
I admit my perceptions are colored because I first ran into Potter when I was 16, lonely, and in desperate need of escapist fantasy; but I enjoy them. I have a number of friends I'd have never met without our mutual interest.
Don't watch the movies; the first two are no good. Well, they have good bits, but read the books. And you have to read the first three before quitting, because book 3 is where it really goes from "neat story, really cool world, I wouldn't mind visiting" to, "whoa, this woman can write!"
Sorry, I shouldn't have used the S-word :) Okay, I'll give the first three books a chance sometime--probably after some Heinlein and Asimov, though, as I'm in a classic SF mood right now. When you first read Potter, what other fantasy had you already read? When I was 16 I think my major fantasy reading other than Tolkien and R.E. Howard was Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series. I also tried to read Moorcock at that time but didn't get past the first Elric book--not sure why, I liked the character and sword but the rest of it lost me for some reason.