So much of it is serialized these days, though. I like being able to read a discrete story and know it's not going to just explode into a multi-book series that will be finished, with luck, at some point before my grandchildren graduate from college.

The authors just seem to get more and more full of themselves the less they advance their plots. Look at Jordan's idiotic "read and find out" (no offense to the site name) to virtually any question from fans, whether he needed to or not. It was so ubiquitous that when he actually did answer it was a huge surprise.

As for the "level" of Jordan or Martin, it's very, very low. If they make you think, it's more of a credit to your own personal insight than to any reputed talent that they have.

I always enjoyed fantasy as a diversion, something light to read from time to time. The problem is that people like Jordan and Martin are killing even that joy. If that is what fantasy is becoming, then I'll just read the serious literature that provides worthwhile ideas and not waste time on genre lit.