I think it doesn't matter what genre I'm reading, I look for the same thing - characters, setting [preferably not medieval, but truthfully that really doesn't matter if everything else is solidly in place] and a story that pulls me in so deep that it's hard to come up for air.
Consistency and consequences count a lot too. No farm-boy discovers he has a magical heritage and then with little to no training, goes out and vanquishes the evil fill-in-the-blank-with-the-evil-of-your-choice.
I think strong believable characters and their conflicts and their relationship with their world are the selling point - because without you the reader - and we the writers, in fact - caring about them, you won't care about anything else; not the fantastic setting or the incredible magic system happening, nada.
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