But whether you like GRRM and/or Tolkien and/or Jordan, you can't deny that they're huuuuge sellers. I certainly have a preference for some of them and not others, yet I acknowledge that the authors all do something that a vast percentage of the population love.
But not every book will agree with everyone.
And yes, it's writing that great book that's the key - without good characters, plot, setting, and writing, no one can ever stand a chance at loving what you've written. For me, characters are what makes a story. I've read some heavily world-buildinged books and put them down because I can't get into the characters.
Now, if he had included a history of the road, that would have been extraneous - but as a single sentence, it works well - because of brevity. There are a lot of sentences in those first 50 pages of Eye of the World that do this very effectively.
Point taken. But where is the limit? History is important because it's made the places and characters who they are, shaping their upbringing. Sometimes it's important to know a place's history to fully understand a character's motivations (though not an info-dumped piece about stuff that just halts the pace and action).
As with a lot of things, the key is in deciding which is needed and which is not. And in writing history in small chunks here and there throughout the story so readers aren't bogged down in having to learn too much.
Edit: Hmmm. perhaps it all comes down to what is natural. If the history in the story feels natural and not forced, and it's well-placed...
