As far as I'm concerned, it's the only end I care about. I found his books got progressively more difficult to read as he spent more time on meaningless tangents and less on the actual story. I think on one level he's a brilliant story teller, but he's not the first author that eventually gets more focused on his words and being clever than on the story itself.
Not a direct correlation, but take Clancy. As time went on, his books got longer and longer, but not necessarily better. Taking five pages to explain something, especially when tangential to the story, that could be explained in five paragraphs, is often more about the writer becoming enamored with his prose than focused on being a good storyteller. IMHO.