First, regarding Jordan and Sanderson: I in no way blame Sanderson for this. I am not a Sanderson fan, nor have I even read a single one of his books. In fact, he's said some pretty stupid things on his blog about WoT (really, 11 is you favorite? That's flat-out retarded). John and I more or less agreed, way back in the day when Jordan was still writing the series, that there was no way he could conclude with a single book. John said he would write a 2000 page finale; I said he'd just wrap up what he wanted to and ignore the rest in a fit of cynicism. The point is, this entire debacle is Jordan's making. Sanderson wants to do the story (such as it is) justice and please fans by wrapping things up as well he can. He's stuck mopping up Jordan's masturbatory mess.
As for Martin....I started them last summer and devoured them. I even tried other Martin works (not really worth it IMO). Anyway, your (Nick's) points:
1. If you keep in mind this is really just half of Dance with Dragons, it makes more sense that the story arc is....less than good. I'm not going to try to defend it, I'll just say I enjoyed it.
2. I agree about Dorne. Isn't it supposed to be his version of Wales, like north of the wall is some crazy mix of Ireland/Scotland? That was my general feeling. But the fact is that these characters feel kind of thrown in at random. Why are they here? And why the rotating POV rather than just one person? I suspect the Dorne plot will help catalyze Daenerys' return...but more on that later.
3. I agree entirely. Similar to the Dorne problem.
4. Arya is my favorite character, after Sandor Clegane (don't count him out just yet). It seems pretty clear to me that she is in training to become someone very powerful with an important role in fighting the Others. As for the Sansa chapters, I agree that they add to the political intrigues, etc. I just hate reading them. Sansa is an unreliable POV and annoying.
My major problem is that at some point, Martin is going to have skip ahead several years (5?) Daenerys needs to learn to be a good ruler so she can unite Westeros against the Others. The dragons need to grow (large enough so She and others can ride them into battle). Bran needs to learn the magic of the Forest People ( he will be another dragon rider as well). Arya needs to finish her training (will she be one of the generals in the battle against the Others?).
I think Bakker is doing a slightly better job with a similar overall story: The first trilogy covers training and identification of the threat, the second Kelhus will use his training to lead Men against the Consulate something like 20 years later. I haven't read the new book yet but I am immensely excited.
