[Aamina]

Yeah, instead of being "ho-hum" we can be deliberately unclear. "Badass undead swordsman who turn into dust" doesn't make you badass, it just makes you a swordsman. When mortal swordsman, who have been alive 90,000 years less, can consider taking you on then you're not very badass and it flies in the face of every "badass" comment every character in the series has ever made.

And what if everyone judged Erikson by Gardens of the Moon? People who love him have admitted the book is off. Legend is D. Gemmell's first, and even though your review of it is snide and retarded, and I completely disagree, I don't think its fair to judge him by the book he first wrote in 1984 while working at a newspaper compared to what he did as a fulltime writer.

You've consistently brought up minutiae when the underlying point is that Erikson spends a significant amount of time being unclear. You claim that "if I keep reading" I will understand, but again, 2000 pages in means that certain things should already be addressed and if they are not, that is by definition unclear.

I bet you could also claim that the TV series Lost is also great television and only tells you things as you need to know it. There comes a point where not explaining something hurts the storyline, and doesn't "make you want to get the next book" but leaves you wondering "why in the hell didn't he just give the explanation within those 200 pages that the characters make reference to constantly."

For example, in Memories of Ice, Quick Ben unleashes all 7 Warrens at once at the Chained God. The description of it is that the god roars in pain. What an epic description of 7 Warrens going off at once. But what does that even mean to begin with? How does a warren even hurt anyone? Its made clear that each warren does a different thing, Denul Heals, Shadow is illusory...what is he unleashing from 7 warrens at once? Fire? Ice? Darts? Poor rebuttals? Energy? Its very unclear and by the third book I shouldn't be asking myself questions like "what does it even look like when someone gets hit with a spell...?" With magic so commonplace, perhaps a bit more of an explanation about what is going on when spells are flying around.

The examples abound, and if you think his writing is clear and concise I guess you also think that Lost for a few more seasons is going to be great. I've stuck it out for 3 books, and I'm willing to go one or two more since I have nothing else to read right now, but the point remains that his writing style can be easily described as "vague."