robert jordan
rules.
seriously, i like his stuff. ive got 1 - 9 of the wheel of time. hes taking his own sweet time writing them tho.
yes, the main character is whiny. later on however, he becomes an absolute bastard. hes more coldhearted than dracula, apart from women. he manages to nearly die about 3 times because he refuses to attack women.
the other characters do improve a bit, and more come in (plus some die).
as far as i can tell, it is impossible for the series to end before book 12, considering all the plot lines lying around.
the magic system is one of the best. not as good as Mage : the Ascension from white wolf (i bought it recently. good game), but better than most other fantasy series.
and harry potter is poo. the story is told well, and the author has managed to appeal to a lot of people, but i take exception to a book that uses words like "hogwarts". plus, some people act like its this most incredible and revolutionary tale. is it bo**ocks. ursula le guin did the whole wizard school thang anges ago, and hogwarts is nothing,
nothing compared to the majesty of terry prattchets Unseen University (UU) - you know a university where the library has no fixed size, and the librarian can stack shelves while hanging upside down from other shelves has a lot going for it.