Perfect prose

Prose matters. That's something that took me a while to truly understand. You can gave the greatest story in the world, but if the style of writing is flat that it will have as much impact as a dead fish falling on a garbage heap.

To that end, I've been re-reading Neal Stephenson's THE BAROQUE CYLE. Not strictly a fantasy series, though alchemy does play a part in it, but eh prose...pure poetry flowing across the page. From beginning to end it captivates (and given that each book approaches near a thousand pages, there is a lot to be captivated about.) Good prose does that, pulling you into the story, creating a golden glow in the as it carries you into another world...in fact, I would wager that is the writing style is good enough, plot becomes unnecessary. The prose will be enough.