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I remember reading the Shannara books when I was a youngster (well, the first three at any rate). At the time I noticed how, shall we say, 'similar' they were to Tolkien (particularly The Sword of Shanara to LotR). I commented upon this to my friends, and was told, quite pointedly, "Well if you don't like it, don't read it!"
As I had already read LotR twice very recently, I was starved and ploughed through them all. Kind of like Methadone, I suppose. . .
I have also read the Covenant series (twice) and I recall enjoying them immensely. I have recently seen that Donaldson has begun another four-book series in which he is going to complete the Chronicles. I must admit to being a bit wary of this, but as Donaldson is one of the few truly original imitators of Tolkien, I can hope for the best.
Has anyone read Donaldson's other epic fantasy series The Mirror of Her Dreams? Again, I recall reading the two books of that (twice) and very much enjoying them.
Also liked the first series of books by David Eddings.
To bring this back to Tolkien: I wonder if I would have liked and/or read any of these books had it not been for Tolkien? So much of the experience of reading these was, for me, to bring back the enchantment of reading about Middle-earth. Is imitation really such a bad thing, when undertaken by someone who is a competent writer and who loves LotR the way I do? Worse, is writing an imitation any different from fanfic or RPGs?
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Scribbling scrabbling.
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