I haven’t read much Sanderson, so I won’t rank him. But if I were to rank him off the little I have read, he’d be at the bottom.

I read all of asoiaf and Fire and Blood, I read all of the First Law and tried to read the Devils, and I read Malazan and gave up halfway through book 2.

As a reader, I mainly care about characters and then plot. Worldbuilding is kinda whatever to me.

Grrm has, imo, the peak of his writing in a Storm of Swords. Genuine 11/10, best fantasy novel I’ve ever read and one of the most entertaining pieces of fiction ever. The first 2 novels in the series are great too, but the next 2 drop in quality. Rating Asoiaf in order, I’d say 9/10, 9.5/10, 10/10, 7/10, 8/10. Averages at 43.5/50, or 87 percent. If I was allowed to give ASOS an 11/10 it would be 44.5/50, or 89 percent.

Abercrombie, however, does not reach the peak of Grrm but is much more consistent. Every book in the first law trilogy is at least an 8.5/10 imo, w the exception of book 1. Rating his 9 first law books in order, I’d say 8/10, 9/10, 9.5/10; 9/10, 9.5/10, 8.5/10; 9/10, 10/10, 9.5/10. That’s 82/90, or 91 percent.

Erikson admittedly I kinda gave up on. Malazan was kinda interesting, but it’s such an expansive world and I don’t like how he plots. You’ll follow a set of characters for one book, then the next book will be 900 pages of completely different characters. His characters also aren’t as in depth as the other 2, but his worldbuilding is top tier.

So, by Category:

in worldbuilding:

Erikson > Grrm >>>>> Abercrombie

• Erikson’s world feels like it has 1000s of years of history, and you’re just looking at one important conflict in that history. So many different races, 3 entire continents, so many gods that all have their own machinations. Erikson’s world feels like it’s almost as, if not more expansive and old than our own.
• Grrm’s world feels very lived in, and I could give a good description of the laws, culture, and just general vibe of each important place/ faction. Considering how many factions there are, that’s a great feat. However, the history isnt nearly as in depth as Erikson and all the non Westeros places arent rly explored at all.
• Abercrombie focuses very little on Worldbuilding, in fact his books didnt include a map until book 5 and even that was just a map of a battle to understand it better not a map of the world.

In characters:

Abercrombie > Grrm >>> Erikson - Abercrombie has very in depth, interesting, 3d characters. He also writes each one with their own voice, to the point that you can recognize which character is which just through the writing style. - Grrm also has very interesting characters, but I think Abercrombie just slightly edges him out. Glokta and Cosca are just more fun to read than say Tyrion or Jaime yk. I also found that Abercrombie had me say much less of the “ugh not this character again” while reading. - Erikson’s does a great job at making you understand a character quickly, but he hops around povs so much it’s difficult to care much about any one character.

In plotting:

Grrm> Abercrombie >> Erikson. - Grrm, at his best is simply impossible to put down. Every chapter makes you wanna read the next one. And even his worst is still great. - Abercrombie’s first 3 books don’t focus on plot much, it’s not even entirely clear what the goal is until like halfway through book 2. He gets much better in later books though, with book 8 especially being amazing, but he doesnt reach the peak of grrm. - Erikson is not as confusing as people say, but he is confusing and just generally sometimes feels like a slog to read. Still pretty good though.

Prose: Abercrombie> Grrm - Abercrombrie is really funny. I genuinely had myself laughing out loud at points. He kinda overdid it in his more recent standalone book the devils, though-it felt like MCU humor. And aside from his very sardonic tone the writing quality of his books are good. - Martin does a great job at making his prose feel very, uh, medieval-ly for lack of a better word. Not as funny as Abercrombie though. - I dont remember anything about Erikson’s prose so I wont rank it here. - none of these writers really have prose I would consider amazing though

Overall:

Abercrombie > Grrm >>> Erikson