At a guess, I would say that many people don't like modern fantasy as much because it is less formal and heroic. For instance if we take the wizards from thre of my favourites.
Gandalf (LOTR) - Wise and kind, heroic in his magical abilites
Belgareth (The Belgariad/David Eddings) - old tramp with bad habits
StarDrifter (Axis Trilogy/Sara Douglass) - outrageous flirt, seducer, womaniser
An obvious trend is that the modern wizards are more 'human' and less heroic in the sense of perfectness, although Belgareth is pretty heroic when he has to be.
I must admit Terry Brooks might be a bit less than Maia on my scale. His overuse of magic (ie. firebolts and swords of flame, etc) may make it seem less real and more dungeons and dragons if you see my meaning.
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