McCaffery is great. And Martin is great too, Although he's a talented hijacker like Rigney rather than an originator.
Rothfus is going to be a big star, if he can find a formulaic approach. The
Story within a Story is going to work for about two more novels then he'll have to go to a more conventional approach.
I think Doctor Forward is phenomenal but the man is not prolific. Greg bear has a lot going for him too.
I don't read horor, unless it is fine old gothic lit like Shelley or Poe. But Lumley has something going for him, if you can overlook the sick feeling in the pit of your stomach.
I saw some chatter about Brandon Sanderson earlier. He seems to be a nice guy but there
are issues with his work.
Not to be indelicate, but I would never have read anything by BS if he hadn't been chosen to finish WoT. The titles and the synopses on Mistborn and Elantris were real turn-offs and his was one of the shelves I simply bypassed when scanning for new titles. I prefer the sensual experience of perusing an actual brick and mortar and scanning synopses for a good read. His books were too short, sounded a bit too
new agey and had substandard cover designs. Layout and design often say more about how a publisher feels about a property than the actual painting selected. Tor didn't seem to believe in Brandon and I couldn't bring myself to try.
I found after reading Elantris that he has potential, but his own work really needs to come up a notch in characterization and plotting before he'll be in the same league with Martin or Eddings. On the other hand he's probably on par with Feist and Howard. But Rothfus does seem to have an edge on him, though both are in the same league. And he doesn't borrow the classics. Rigney stole from Feist who stole from Tolkien who from the Edda. But each put his own mark on the work and we forgive them. But it is refreshing to see someone like BS or Rothfus build a world that is uniquely his.
Working with WoT will probably help BS grow quite a bit. But I have to say, the online release of Warbreaker had some holes that needed plugging and some major issues with Characterization. I think his own work is suffering because of WoT. That's to be expected. He has a lot riding on how it's received. But I do think he gets
some undeserved praise in this forum because of his close ties. That is to be expected too, he shares the faith of the majority, who have a vested interest in one of their own becoming the next "Milton or Shakespeare". And he was a founding TimeWaster.
No shame in cheering your own, just remember that the world at large might not be quite as thrilled.