Now htf was I supposed to know "his" meant "RJ" and not "Rand" in a thread on Rands height? Context, I believe, argues for the latter, so if you want me to read "RJ", yeah, you'll have to let me know. Though I'm inclined to agree with you about the rest; I love Jordan, but sometimes he tried a little too hard to be like Tolkien.

Tokien was famous for long flowery descriptions, but when he wrote a paragraph describing one tree, or leaf, he was trying convey the image and substance of something that didn't actually exist, transmit to people who'd never seen it the atomsphere of a fantasy world that existed nowhere save his head. We've all seen fancy dresses; you don't have to write me a page so I'll have a sense of what it is. Worse, if even the most mundane and familiar rather than strange and magical things get verbose descriptions you face the problem of reconciling all those details, and the more detailed you make it the more time you're going to spend making sure that emerald enameled brass cufflink in the shape of a rose with three thorns doesn't become a lincoln green painted bronze cufflink in the shape of a lily with two leaves by the next book. Worst of all, the only people who'll care will be the ones waiting to bust you on it when one slips by you, because unless it's concealing a poison needle or something a cufflink is unlikely to have any narrative value.