Popular fantasy authors/books I'm personally not a fan of

I've seen some lists of recommendations for fantasy authors and I always notice a few that pop up that I don't really agree with even though they are popular with other people. Here's my list with my reasoning why I don't like their books. I'll add to the list as I come up with more.

Diana Gabaldon - [Outlander] - This was recommended to me by Peggy. I've seen this recommended on some female-heavy recommendation threads too. I peg (haha) this one as more romance than fantasy even though there is "time travel" involved. The fantasy elements are way too simple and basic to be integral to the story. Perhaps the sequels improved on this - I read in the synopses that there is more time traveling involved. Sorry, but it was just a step up from trashy romance for me. Not that there's anything wrong with trashy romance...but it's not what I'm looking for in a good fantasy novel.

Sharon Shinn - [Archangel] - This book/series was recommended to me by a former roommate who knew I liked reading fantasy. However, I would probably categorize this book more as a fantasy-romance crossover. I tried to like it but it just didn't do anything for me. I don't remember specifics as this was 5 years ago, but partly what killed it for me was the reliance on Christian themes. It paralleled Christian mythology too much, and at the time at least, I was so over Christian mythology for it to add any value to the story for me. There may have been some interesting story elements, but nothing that really stood out to me.

Anne Bishop - [Black Jewels Trilogy] - I bought the trilogy because I saw the series recommended a few different places. I even bought an additional sequel book. Lawrence even read all the books. The mechanics in the world Bishop created are definitely interesting, however I think the story and its execution sucked. Part of it may just be a preference in style. Even though this was set in a fantasy world, the characters felt very modern- as in I could imagine the characters from Charmed or Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the story as a TV show. It didn't have the non-modern fantasy feel that I personally like. Actually, this is probably a big reason I don't like some of the fantasy-romance crossovers out there. I also don't read any of the currently popular vampire teen fantasy novels because they mesh too much with modern life. Back to this series though - the thing that really killed it for me was when I realized the main characters were never in any real danger and the antagonists were comically stereotypical bumbling villains. Every tight spot the protaganist found herself in, somehow every time, something fortuitous would happen and nothing was ever really tragic. I know some bad things did happen to her (I read this a couple years ago so my memories are fuzzy) but the "dangers" always felt grossly over exaggerated and the resolutions entirely predictable.

Robert Jordan - [Wheel of Time series] - I read these books in my freshman year of high school, 10 years ago. I really got into them but I stopped midway through the 5th book because I realized it was getting repetitive without every going anywhere. None of the characters were really likable and I couldn't take one more mention of the icy stares and braid pulling. NONE of the women were likable, and I think one of the men was but he didn't get much attention in the story. It sucks because the story had SO much potential if only it had been properly developed and paced. I heard the last few books were much better but I don't think I could put myself through the torture of reading the middle books (literally thousands of pages where nothing happens).

attencion deficit

I'm beginning to feel disappointed in myself. I've read about others noticing the phenomenon as well. I feel like I've got an inability to pay attention to just one thing for large amounts of time. I try to read articles, and if they're too long I feel like I shouldn't bother. I need to force myself to read to the end. I want to pick up some good science fiction or fantasy books to read, but the thought of spending all that time reading when I could be knitting or on the internet makes me avoid books. I haven't even read the last Harry Potter book yet! I haven't read the 6th of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books either! Is this a result of my knitting obsession, or is it the internet? Perhaps it started with World of Warcraft. Maybe I'm just not in a reading mood, and I'll just have to wait until my interests cycle back to reading again.