Dog_Moon2003 said:
What exactly is Jordan-esque? I could make a guess, but I'd rather not have to. [I haven't really paid much attention to those threads containing debates on authors]
Like the "Wheel of Time", really. (Since Jordan did write a lot of Conan books and I don't mean those).
I would describe it as being very epic in scope (and book length); lots and lots of characters and the 'action' cuts between them. And in some cases, a plot similar to "Wheel of Time" and similar characters. But mostly I meant "Epic" fantasy as opposed to the more personal sort.
(Actually a lot of this probably also applies to the granddaddy of the genre, Lord of the Rings, but I think the popularity of Wheel of Time has had more recent influence).
There's nothing wrong with it (other than I personally don't like it), but lots of my favorite authors have gotten on the bandwagon, so to speak, since it sells better.
I like stuff like as I mentioned, the Garrett novels by Glen Cook. They basically entirely revolve around the day to day life of Garrett, who happens to be a detective in a fantasy city. They're always told from his point of view. Glen Cook also has a more epic series, the Black Company stuff, but he still puts out the Garrett novels as well.
Compared to say, Lawrence Watt-Evans. His "Ethshar" series is another favorite of mine, usually novels in that line told the story of the adventures (or misadventures) of a single (or maybe 2) different characters and generally focused on their personal life. But he's largely given up on it, since the other sort of fiction sells better. Except he's written one more novel via the "ransom" model, that is, he'll write one chapter online, then if people pay him x amount of money, he'll write another.
Anyway, I don't blame authors, they are just following the money, so to speak. (And I know for a long time, Glen Cook had a full time job at a car plant, so money wasn't quite as important to him). But from a personal level, it has changed my reading habits. I like historical mysteries because they are sort of like what fantasy books used to be. Focused more on 1-2 different characters (the detectives) wandering around.
