As a fantasy writer, he was not highly regarded (one cannot call him profoundly mediocre without venturing so far out on the critical limb as to bend it to the ground, so derivative that the reader loses track of who he's ripping off, to say he is tin-eared would render a disservice to a blameless citizen of the periodic table of the elements).

Thanksgiving (prologue) - Reamde (2011) - Part I: Nine Dragons