In a message dated 2/19/2004 3:59:57 PM Eastern Standard Time, Bradford Holden <holden at oddjob.uchicago.edu> writes: > Quoting dragaera-digest-help at dragaera.info > (dragaera-digest-help at dragaera.info): That's one odd attrib line... > I am puzzled as to what Jordan and Brust have in common. > One writes long complicated epics about good versus evil. > The other writes books with sardonic protagonists > undergoing journeys of self-discovery. At least that is > how I see it. Firstly, this post only refers to the first 4-6 books of the Wheel of Time, when RJ actually seemed to know what he was doing. But RJ and SKZB have memorable characters in a large, vivid world. Both have a considerable amount of *original* Cool Stuff. And most importantly, both actively encourage people to re-read, analyse, and nit-pick the books, thanks to all the information that's concealed from the reader. Despite what he's come to, I think Jordan deserves some credit for pioneering the Big Complex (aka Doorstop) Fantasy sub-genre. Without him, I imagine Martin would have had trouble finding a publisher for his Song of Ice and Fire, and we'd probably miss out completely on Erikson and Hobb (though she could continue writing as Lindholm and not make any money). --KG