I think you are probably correct, and I was mostly being blithe in my original remark. However, I think the way of the world is that if Martin or Rothfuss or Jordan didn't exist in our reality, two things would happen.
One, someone else would have risen up in their place and produced equally or more magnificent works that were as impactful as what we're is being discussed. Read up on Harry Seldon's work for more about this theory.
Two, the OP to whom I was responding would have been affected by one of those works in a similar manner to how they were affected by our timeline's original. The idea here being, the work is unique and dramatic, yes, but a person will always find something to cling to and what attracts them is as much about the person as it is about the art itself. It isn't as if the generations that existed before GRRM had no noteworthy literature in their lives.
One, someone else would have risen up in their place and produced equally or more magnificent works that were as impactful as what we're is being discussed. Read up on Harry Seldon's work for more about this theory.
Two, the OP to whom I was responding would have been affected by one of those works in a similar manner to how they were affected by our timeline's original. The idea here being, the work is unique and dramatic, yes, but a person will always find something to cling to and what attracts them is as much about the person as it is about the art itself. It isn't as if the generations that existed before GRRM had no noteworthy literature in their lives.