I'm not as critical of what I read as some people but I don't think I have ran into any of the poorly written copycats. Some nicely written copycats but not poorly. 
Of course I'm picky of the ones I buy so I might be avoiding the bad writers. But I also reject good writers because their type of UF isn't quite what I want. Patricis Briggs is one-I'm not sure if I put her on my list. I love her writing and story telling abilities but the Mercy books are to romantic sounding for me. Well, they might be more paranormal than UF. Sometimes they are very close to each other.
Then again sometimes it's just not quite right for me. Like Rachael Craine--not sure about that last name--stormwardens series. Good writing, nice tale but something about it doesn't grab me even after reading three in that series.
I have become highly critical, maybe too much so, but if I'm going to use my precious time to read, the book better knock my socks off. Same goes for TV, movies, the whole works. Sadly, most don't live up to my standards anymore. Once you've had a sip of the best wine it's hard to go back to the cheap stuff.
JB is in the copycat class as well, for he's taken from other works, same as the others. The trick is using those copycat portions in a different aspect with original values, tweaked to fit a new story. And I think JB did just fine in that respect. And there's some references he doesn't even try to hide (and I'm not talking about the Star Wars stuff).
I feel the same. It was my first try at UF, even though through the years I may have read a couple of short stories or stand alone UF books without realizing it. Now I'm hooks most of my reading is UF. But that may have to change. Three series have ended and even though Butcher is writing another DF novel how many more will follow? I think the Walker papers are going strong and Gilman's second series still needs at least three more. McGuire's old series has at least three more. Seems like there's another I'm losing but can't think of it right now.
It'll take me a while to get my fill of DF, so the books I have on the shelf will likely be gathering dust a while longer.
And I'm already bemoaning the fact that someday the DF books will end. Gah!
My favorite author in the past was mostly categorized as SciFi, but his short stories ran the gamut of genre. Unfortunately, Harlan Ellison doesn't write anymore, but he's one of the best SF authors out there, though it's unfair to call them SF. He's in a category and a style all his own.
And it's probably hard to find his books. I had trouble several years ago, because they're out of print, but well worth finding if you're lucky. He also wrote for Outer Limits and worked for Disney for a day...until he got fired. He also wrote articles and reviews of many different things, highly critical of what was popular at the time (around the 1970's IIRC). The man is very opinionated and outspoken, but he knows his craft.
Back in the 70's Harlan let one of his novellas be made into a movie, which turned out less than stellar, and he swore he would never let Hollywood screw up one of his stories again. The movie, A Boy and His Dog, stemmed from his story entitled Vic and Blood. It was a hoot in its own way and became a cult classic. It's about a post-apocalyptic world where the boy wanders with his dog, Blood, who is telepathic, "talks" to him. Their banter is priceless.
