Protecting One's Self

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

I can see that being the case, although I also enjoy reading Pratchett and I don't think I've read a Pratchett book that hasn't contained at least one allusion to Tolkien. However, I would also put Pratchett into a different sub-category of the fantasy genre. He was undoubtedly influenced by Tolkien, but managed to create a much different world that doesn't come off as a cheap attempt to copy him.

Pratchett is a special case, as he uses all the staple fantasy tropes consciously and subverts them. His work is basically a parody of genre fantasy, and by basically I mean that he uses parody as his launching pad, but in his best works he moves way beyond it.