Lord of the RingsThe HobbitLord of the RingsThe Hobbit
I will often be referring to David
Eddings' Belgariad and Terry Brooks'
Shannara trilogy (the first three books) as typical, high quality fantasy
epics.
Many fantasy epics follow an archetypal "boy grows up" motif. The hero is young, ignorant, and the wielder of some secret, incredible power. Which is all well and good, but contrast with Tolkien. The hero of the Lord of the Rings is Frodo, a hobbit who is small in stature, over-fed, and clearly not a brawny hero. However, he is not a child, despite his appearance. He is a mature adult, and at key moments, like the chaos at the Falls of Rauros, displays this maturity in accepting his burden and following the path which minimizes danger to his friends and maximizes the chance the quest will reach a successful conclusion. This isn't an adolescence tale, a parable of a boy growing up and becoming an adult ("discovering his hidden power within"). It is the story of people who have been living sheltered lives taking up the burden of fighting for good when the danger was great.
Gandalf is a strange character - he has a quirky sense of humor, will take command of a situation when necessary, and despite his reputation he almost never uses any magic. Tolkien's handling of the magic issue is, in my opinion, masterful. Take the battle with the Balrog as an example. The story proceeds with Gandalf and the Balrog plummetting into the chasm, and later when we encounter Gandalf again he describes the battle. But we, the readers, didn't get to see the battle, so it is left to our imaginations.
Frodo and Sam, against all odds, struggle to the Cracks of Doom, where ... Frodo claims the ring for himself, is attacked by Gollum, and is saved when Gollum succeeds in wresting the ring away, only to slip and fall into the Cracks of Doom. The hero fails. He is seduced by the ring, and is incapable of completing the quest. Gollum redeems himself, but only be accident. That's the ending.
Aragorn is the coolest fantasy character of all time, hands down. No one else will ever come close.
Tolkien's world is extremely well-developed, and has a sense of richness and stories untold. Other fantasy worlds seem shallow in comparison, particularly Eddings' world. Tolkien's references to the vast told and untold history, as well as dangling loose ends (like the story of the other two wizards), make the story feel like a part of a broader tapestry, and thus even more real.
