I have traditionally read fantasy for fun, action-based entertainment. The "few meaningful things" in fantasy are generally throw-away ideas, unless you're talking about a few exceptional books here and there.

It should also be said that there is plenty of crap in the realm of "serious" or "realistic" literature. However, when someone reads a classic book, it is precisely because not only is it realistic, but it has also stood the test of time, with profound messages and themes that are perennial issues for people, whether they be existential, moral or otherwise. The reason they work better than fantasy is because they ring true. Sure, you could have a fantasy series that explores, for example, racism, in a non-confrontational way, but it's still just going to be a pale reflection of the real experiences represented in the (admittedly fictional) account of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. A series like Narnia can explore the Christian message in an alternate universe, but its message is nothing compared to The Brothers Karamazov in terms of trying to understand Christianity in a post-Nietzschean setting.

For many people, and I find myself increasingly in this category the more I read, the distraction of the implausible world, poorly-defined cultures and fanciful creatures is unnecessary, unhelpful and frankly just absurd. If there were any serious message, it is lost in the silliness of the setting. As a result, I can only read fantasy with a view to mindless entertainment.

The problem is that both Jordan (in books 7-11, and with Sanderson in 13) lost the ability to write entertaining books as he got bogged down. Martin has shown, in his latest two installments, the same tendency. Add to this that every fantasy writer since Tolkien thinks they have to write 3-12 book series, and you can see why I am just giving up on the genre.

Sci-fi, I will admit, has a few more options for "realism" because it can posit hypothetical questions that have bearing on the real world, or paint pictures of bleak outcomes for humanity if mistakes being made are not corrected. Obviously, we're not talking about the fantastic sorts of sci-fi like Star Wars, but more books along the lines of Solaris or movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which I will admit can be classified as sci-fi though the level of hypothetical development is very small).

I think you can see why fantasy is just failing on both counts for me. It's too absurd to be taken seriously (most of the time - I'm sure there are some rare exceptions out there) and too prone to getting bogged down due to the serialization that is rampant in the industry to be entertaining.

It's at the point where I can't bring myself to read The Way of Kings even though I've liked Sanderson's books. He's an entertaining author but the thought of a ten-book series just turns me off, particularly after Martin and Jordan.