I've been following this thread since its inception and am curious why "epic" here seems to be equated with "long-winded."...
I agree, "epic" is perhaps not the best description for what I was trying to convey. The word has certainly come to mean novels of an unusually large size but you're right in that it also means the scope of the story.
For me, the question I was trying to pose was more along the lines of novels with deep, flowery descriptions vs those with straightforward prose. Even that doesn't seem to get at the idea but I hope that makes more sense.
It's less about page or word count and more about style...
"The weathered old man in a dirty work-shirt strode into the sleepy cafe and tossing a crumpled fifty dollar bill on the counter ordered a banana chai frappe."
vs
"The stains on the man's work-shirt were a map of his most recent meals, taco sauce and mustard blended together in a West Virginia shape across his chest. The wild scruff running down his jaw meant he was at least a week out from any kind of relationship with his razor. His leather lace-up boots clomped their way to the counter and his cracked hands fished out a wad of paper. The fifty dollar bill slid across the metal counter as his voice belted out the order; banana chai frappe."
This isn't the best example but I guess it kind of represents what I'm going for. I'd say my writing style is a mix of these two. I don't get into minute detail through the whole story but I do try, at times, to bring it in close for some of these moments.