J.R.R. Tolkien was an awesome author not simply because he pioneered the fantasy genre but because he included a bit of himself in his books. He let the world know what his values and ideals were but implanting them into an epic tale of timeless courage, loyalty, and love. The time it took to create Middle-Earth with its races, languages, lands, and lore testifies to Tolkien's brilliance. While current fantasy authors may be more interesting reads, most of them emulate Tolkien's work in some way. None of them took the vast amount of time that Tolkien did in creating a world that was as layered as Middle-Earth.
