Lord Of The Rings

What can I possibly recommend if you like Lord of the Rings? 'Rings' is the progenitor of an entire genre and one can recommend almost anything. Regardless, I'll try to suggest a couple of books based on the "feel" of Lord of the Rings. 

Tolkien has always been about the world in which his characters live, never about the characters which live in his world. He created a world full of myth and legend, starkly real and full of mystery. There is always some strange power deep in a mountain, or some magical glade in the heart of a forest. There are worlds deep in the world, and worlds high in the heavens. It's a land full of wonder, a world too large to explore; it's an earth that still has mysteries and unknown lands. 

There are several authors who recreate this type of world -- but with stronger characters and more meaningful relationships. Tolkien's characters were always too perfect, too evil; their motivations are at best unclear and at worst, unrealistic. Modern fantasy has taken the roots created by Tolkien and grown them into full trees and in some cases grafted those roots to new trees completely.

Be sure to check out our Best of the Tolkien Clones list. 

For Epic Fantasy like Tolkien but Bigger, Louder, and Broader, and more modern ideas:

Starts with The Emperor's Blades. This is a new epic fantasy (out in 2014), but takes a lot of the Tolkien ideas (sweepingly large worlds, a cast of heroes, mysterous ancient magic coming to life, different cultures, etc) and updates it with modern writing, great writing, well developed female characters, an epic storyline, and an ending-of-the-world conflict.

If you like Tolkien, read Eye of the World by Jordan. This man, when he was alive, claimed Tolkien's world-building mantle: Jordan created a massive world, richly developed cultures, and a well-defined magic system. When you read Jordan, you explore an ancient world full of secrets. I have to throw out a disclaimer though: Wheel of Time is far far from perfect; Jordan becomes lost in his own world as it grows too big even for him; (some of) his characters devolve into caricatures, and Jordan's handling of romance between characters is puerile to say the least. However, many people still find the books great fun, and if you like Tolkien's epic style, Jordan is a must read. Jordan died a few years ago, but the talented Brandon Sanderson finished the series. It's now completed and Sanderson did a good job at finishing it. Overall, I was disappointed with the series though, even if Sanderson did his best. This is one of those series that started out strong but started to die around book 5 or 6. It's still worth reading though, especially if you like heroic epic fantasy that is absolutely epic in length and scope.

For another epic fantasy with an end-of-the-world plot and a coming-of-age (sorta) story, read Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings. Words of Radiance, book two was released this year and for the most part carried the torch passed from the first book. The series is now THE epic fantasy saga everyone talking about. If Jordan took up Tolkien's world-building mantle with A Wheel of Time, Sanderson has replaced Jordan by building an even BIGGER world with this generation's new epic fantasy series. And he's a better writer than Jordan.

If you want a book that's like Lord of the Rings but longer, has strong female characters, and very strong characterization (FAAAR better than Jordan's), read Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn saga, another classic. The series is older, yes, but it has aged remarkably well. And the writing is top notch, and good prose and good characters never age.

The Deathgate Cycle. Magic, Tolkien style fantasy races, multiple worlds, powerful sorcerers, necromancers, and lost magic. More along the lines of a D&D style story, but elevated. The series ends horribly, but the journey is pretty good. If you like Tolkien AND Wheel of Time, you'll dig it.

For beautiful, lyrical writing and a world full of mysterious magic snf ancient myths seeping through the fabric of the story:

Jack Vance's Lyonnesse trilogy -- a highly influential and absolutely wonderfully written series that channel's the same feelings that does Tolkien. These, like Lord of the Rings, are classics, steeped with English and Irish myth. The closest 'pure' epic fantasy that you'll find to Tolkien in style. However, this is HIGH fantasy, and not epic fantasy with a band of heroes seeking to overthrow a dark lord. Did I mention this has some of the most vivid and beautiful prose in the entire genre?

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. Welsh myths and epic fantasy by an influential writer who's often compared with the likes of Tolkien. If you like Lord of the Rings, well, you need to read these classics. I would define these as written for Young Adults and kids, but like Harry Potter and the Hobbit can absolutely be appreciated by adults just as much.

Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle is also a beautiful tale, full of lyrical, often sad, prose; a tale about a village boy who seeks his destiny. 

If you want the beautiful, almost lyrical writing of Tolkien and a world in which magic is present but still a grand mystery (i.e. not every character is throwing around magic like kids throwing sand at a beach), Sean Russell's The Swan's War is the answer. 

Patricia A. McKillip's Riddle-Master is also another series(trilogy) with similarities to Tolkien's style of writing.

Shadowmarch by Tad Williams. If you like the whole ancient mythos of Middle Earth, the histories, the tales within a tale, the small stories that Tolkien throws into his world that tell of the "early days" of mankind and of elves and of magic and gods and kings, then you'll find a lot to like in Tad William's Shadowmarch which incorporates a lot of folklore tales of gods and faeries which are directly relevant to the plot and story; there's a lot of mystery and magic to the world created by Williams. And the series is completed.

For subversion of the Tolkien conceits:

For a 12th-century version of Middle Earth set in a stark (English) European landscape that's as cold as the world is gritty and brutal where main characters can die at any moment, read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire saga tale. This is Lord of the Rings with all the black vs white cut into strips of grey and where the bad guys are just as complex as the good guys.

Besides, everyone is now calling Martin 'The American Tolkien.' What more can I say there?

If you want to see some of Tolkien's conventions turned on their heads and enjoy a noir version of a classic high-fantasy tale with a starkly realized cast of grey characters, read Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy.

Richard Morgan, author of some seriously kick your ass science fiction, brings his talents to the fantasy genre with some pretty damn cool gritty fantasy with his A Land Fit for Heroes trilogy (starts with The Steel Remains). In his completed trilogy, he pretty much tries to subvert every sort of Tolkien convention. Take Tolkien, change about every equation and add an unhealthy mix of violence, graphic sex, and disturbing acts of inhumanity, and populate it with a caste of seriously flawed characters and you have something along the lines of a Tolkien gone mad. I'd say this is probably the most grimdark series I've read yet.

Another interesting tale that plays directly on the Tolkien mythos is Jacqueline Carey's The Sundering duology, which takes many of Tolkien's conventions and mixes them up. It's a story told in all that high language, high mythology glory that Tolkien wrote in. Think of it as "Sauron's Tale" as told from the perspective of the bad guys who you find out are more misunderstood than anything else, while the good guys are self-righteous pricks. The whole thing is quite serious (this is by no means a comedy but rather a tragedy) and I thought it was a pretty compelling tale all around.