After a few months long absense, I'm back and ready with input
I have sitting on my overly filled bookshelf one of Terry Brook's books, but have never read it, being that is was in the middle of the series (how I ended up with only book four I'll never know . . . . ) But from what I have read here, it does seem to be a very cheap rip-off. Having not read it, I really can't comment though.
Thankfully, there are fantasy books out there that are not Tokien rip-offs or even Tolkien-esk. To whomever mentioned
His Dark Materials I firmly agree that that is also a very good series and is has no connection to JRRT, as far as I can remember. Of course, I think it is also classified as sci-fi, but the line between sci-fi and fantasy is so faint in some places you really can't tell.
I would also like to recommend another seiries that I really enjoy. It's by Susan Cooper and the seires is entitled
The Dark is Rising. Though it does have an evil dark power attempting to rule the world, it is extremely hard not to find a book that doesn't have at least a snippet of that element. Also, she takes a lot from Arthurian legend, and weaves it through her stories. Though they are generally for younger readers, I would recommend them to everyone.
P.S. Watching ABC's
Lost right now. I love getting my daily dose of Dom!