TOlkien is a genius through and through. Spiralingmarce however has the reading comprehension of a three year old and can obviously misconstrue a story's points within two page and still believes he knows enough to criticise it.

Masterfully written works!

Tolkien is alright. It is true...he was one of the creators of sci-fi, but not any more than the other great ones (into sci-fi? you'll know who I mean). It is like explaining to Leonardo da Vinci that Cellular phones are not a form of magic! He would not be able to cope with the true master of nowadays: Modesitt! Will admit that Modesitt probably read a lot of Tolkien when he was young...and enjoyed it.

No doubt, a master.

Tolkien is simply the best

Great for originality, but the people mimicing his work have a much better product.

Is there really anything you can say about this guy? He set the standard, and it has yet to be raised.

Great author. Intricate plaots and stories. Created his own LANGUAGE. Genius who has written some of the greatest literary pieces of all time.

Incredible writer who created fantasy.If it wasn't for him there would be no sci-fi & fantasy. His books are timeless

Absolutely enchanting. I can't think of another word to describe him. Especially reading about how he starting trying to write his own languages when he was just a kid? I agree with foot7910om, his prose can be lacking sometimes, as I got quite confused in some parts of the series, although I forgive him because he writes with such beautiful language. But when I read Hobbit and LOTR for the first time this summer, it had me in a trance and kept me there for months. I got the unfinished tales, and it was particularly fascinating to learn about the origin of wizards, and how they're not actually wizards by our standards (they were supposed to be like our equivalent of angels). Truly the most beautifully entertaining literature I've ever read.

It sometimes gets quite annoying with everyone considering Tolkien's a God. You see, i agree he may have begun the whole thing, i agree he's set a nice and deep world, i even agree LoTR is quite thrilling. But i'd say Tolkien was good for his time. If i have to compare it with the current stuff it's a middle-range book. It has the magic, it has the plot but all of it is quite flat. What i like in LoTR is the ending with Frodo submitting himself to the Ring. Up until then it was all black&white, good&bad. This act made Frodo look more..well, human. Silmarillion is very nice, if a bit dry. But dont even get me started on the Hobbit cos i can rant and rant and rant...

I have only read the story of the ring and I´m really stuck. I just love little Frodo and his friends, and I am now dreaming away to the fantasy world. Who doesn´t wan´t to meet an elf, or even better, an warlock. I am right now waiting on the movies that will come. See ya!

No other fantasy writer has been able to create his own world so thoroughly and credibly!

J.R.R. TOLKIEN is the god of sci-fi and fantasy. He is the best!!!!!

NO ONE WRITES BETTER THAN J.R.R. TOLKIEN. HIS WRITING IS VERY DESCRIPTIVE AND YOU FEEL AS IF YOU EXPERIANCE THE STORY. HE IS THE TRUE CREATOR OF SCI-FI. WITHOUT TOLKIEN THERE WOULD BE NO STAR WARS, NO STAR TREK, AND NO X-FILES.

In a hole, in the ground, there lived a Hobbit. Not a wet, damp hole and not a dry, sandy hole. It was a Hobbit hole - and that means comfort.

HE ISBETTER THAN GREAT! HE IS GOD!!

Ahhh, some call him the Master. I shall take that crown off of his head right now and throw it out into the masses. Although Tolkien is an amazing writer (don't get me wrong after the early statements), I find his works to be oddly thrown together. First you have the Hobbit, a more whimsical beginning to the story. You see glimpses of Tolkien's description and world, however, it just seems too much like a child's story. Then suddenly, the Lord of the Rings. Good God! What an epic...if you started this series as a younger person (like I did and many others)...you get lost in this book. It was an epic battle for my attention span because Tolkien decided to suddenly go more indepth with the world he created. He continues like this with the next book after the Lord, but it makes you wonder why he did that? Regardless, Tolkien's place here makes sense and I will always be respectful of his talents.

The ultimate fantasy author.

The Master.

All I can say is that the guy who started it all and that those are the best books ever written!!! Steve. stsvld1@hotmail.com

A true expert at his art. Anyone else is simply his apprentice. I love Jordan, but without Tolkien...would there even be a Jordan? Would there even be fantasy at all? A scary thought. In my opinion other writers can challenge, but no one can really compete.

Incredible writer who basicly created Science fiction. His Lord of the Rings series is unmatched in my eyes(maybe wheel of time). But in general an incredible visionary and a wonderful writer in general.

Oh, I just LOVE Frodo!!! Spank me, baby!!! :) ;)

BRILLIANT!!! AMAZING!!! SPECTACULAR!!! need I say more? OK, UNBEATABLE

Tolkien's the guy who essentially started it all. By pulling together elements of classical Norse and Celtic myth, he almost single-handedly created a genre -- for good and ill, all things considered. Most other "epic" fantasies since Tolkien have followed the same formula; the power of his vision was such that lesser writers have largely been content to rest on HIS laurels. (Hint: if you see ancient, dying civilizations of immortal elves, brutish orcs or goblins, magical glowing swords, an elderly wizard mentor, and the like, you're probably reading a book written by someone who's read Tolkien.) "The Hobbit" is slightly sub-par; there are greater children's fantasies out there, including Susan Cooper's "Dark is Rising" and Rowling's Harry Potter books. "The Lord of the Rings," however, is not only a masterwork but is certifiably one of the greater works of literature from the middle of the 20th century; for that reason, casual readers who've toothed on lesser fantasy (like Anthony, Jordan, or other pablum artists) may find his tone to be a bit formidable and hard to at first interpret. It's worth the effort, though.

Really liked the worlds an languages he created.

as good as fantasy gets

Classics

The original fantasy author tolkien deserves a spot in the top three, alhtough robert jordan doesn't.

While many people love Tolkein, he makes me fall asleep. The story is good, yes, with its archetypes and imagination. The story-telling, however, leaves much to be desired. Tolkein rushes through each scene as though impatient to get it over with. The characters are no more than sketched and remain mysterious. It's too much work to read Tolkein. His books start off slow and remain that way throughout. This is the type of book English teachers love to cram down the throats of unsuspecting students. BORING!

How can you not rate the founder of modern fantasy a 5? Forget about it!

BILBO IS NOT A SEX TOY!

ITs JuNk DuNt ReD It!!!!!

He wasnt as good as people said. Books were okay at best.

OVERRATED

Tolkien is the undisputed master, indeed, creator of the genre. These other fantasy authors WOULD NOT EXIST without him. Further, his prose and narrative technique are far superior to the other authors considered here. Robert Jordan is good, but even he pales in comparison. Tolkien's prose style is unimpeachable, his characters more real in three books than other authors' in 9 or 10. There's no contest here. He is the master.

The daddy of 'em all

A man of brilliant vision and ideas, but his prose was somewhat lacking, as was the depth of his characters. An amazing imagination which quite rightly earned him the genius status, but his execution was sadly not to the same level. 3 1/2

Greatest Of them all!

The father of all we consider great in the fantasy genre.

He is definately one of the best authors who ever lived. Although he seems to take him some unneccessary time to conclude his novel after the action has ended, he is without a doubt at the top of the list of greats.

Tolkien is the master and deserves top honors especially since "Lord of the Rings" basically came as a side product of a lifelong mythological creation, and yet the story is still one of the best pieces of fiction ever written. This will always be the standard by which all epic fantasy matches up to for all time.

Deserves a great rating based on The Lord of the Rings. This trilogy is the best fantasy ever written by far. Tolien creates a world with a deep history that is always just below the whole storyline. This story was the beginning of modern fantasy that set the stage for what has followed. Others have tried, but no one comes close to matching Middle Earth in the fantasy worlds they have created.

Tolkien rules

read the Hobbit once a year!

Tolkien is by far the best story-teller of all time. All current author's have taken a part of his style and learned from his extensive background of each charactor, their country and their emotional and cultural belief's..and intigrate them into stories in which we have empathy with each charactor. Tolkien must be considered king of multi-book storytelling. Robert Jordan learned well.

wonderful plot and characters! just too much geographical descriptions.

The man that started it all.

well I read the hobbit, and I really don't know what all the brew ha ha is about him being the worlds greatest writer, but this is only from reading the Hobbit, I haven't read Lord of the Rings, so it's probably better