[Dain]

I don't think we should be so elitist about our beloved books, even if they are better. It makes us look bad. I've read a lot of other books that I've enjoyed, even though they weren't as good as Tolkien's works. Tolkien did have the best grasp of the mythohistorical aspect of the genre, and so his books all seem a little more real than anything else I've read. Other authors can't seem to make their characters "un-modern" if you understand me. As noted, every fantasy book suffers from a lack of originality. There's always a "dark lord" and unlikely hero, etc. While some are blatant copies (Dennis McKiernan), some are interesting. I liked Eddings--he stays away from the normal races (his different races of humans substitute) and has an interesting take on magic and Gods (I liked the Elenium more than the Beleriad or whatever it was). I also liked Jordan while I still kept up with it, because he has a very deep world and some original ideas, though the forces of evil sounded familiar. I can't say I've read much else, though. I tend to stick to science fiction--there are some brilliant authors there. If I get an itching for fantasy, I can always re-read all my Tolkien (and I still have all the HoME books, etc, to go through...).

lol, I think addiction is just about right!