When i say entertaining I am talking about the kind of entertaining to which your post referred. That is the level on which I want to be entertained.

And, honestly, down the road, I think Sanderson has the chance to get there. In the meantime, I agree with you that I read largely for the resolution of his 'plot twist', which, to his credit, is always thoroughly enjoyable to do.

I just think that storytelling, the ability to tell stories that are powerful, revealing, and in a way timeless, are at the heart of what literature is all about. This requires prose that does not detract from the story, characters with real depth (otherwise I have no connection to them and could care less about their hardships/choices/situations), and intensely personal, yet universal thematic elements that really hit you and stay with you. The prose, and to a great extent the plot, should serve the characters and the themes should rise naturally from the characters. I get a little caught up in literary critics I have read, and no, I can not name them off the top of my head (when slogging my way through academic papers if I remember the content, let alone the author, I am lucky) that raise the prose above the other elements.