[Formendacil]

Comparison.

Tolkien set the benchmark for fantasy writing. And this isn't just my personal opinion. I suggest you look at the reviews for all the other big fantasy writers these days. Of the reviews printed on the books (and this is especially true for the big writers, more than the small ones in my experience), there is nearly always one that refers to Tolkien.

They say things like "Will be the next Tolkien..." "The best thing since Tolkien" "not since Tolkien have we seen" "even better than Tolkien".

Now, I don't know that these sorts of comments are always true, but the nearly inevitable mention of Tolkien in fantasy reviews shows the immense impact that he has had upon the expectations of the genre.