Greetings and well met,
ReededGoat. Fascinating name - a reference to the deity Pan?
*bows and tips bard's cap*
There
is a lot of imitative junk out there. I personally think this has at least as much to do with the publishing industry as lazy authors. I also believe that there are some writers who so badly want to get published that they prostitute their craft to the whims of the publishers. Therefore, mostly imitative stuff gets published.
I think you would be interested in these older threads that have to do with similar slants on this topic:
Writing in the Spirit of Tolkien
Quote:
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Many might say that all modern fantasy is based on Tolkien, but Tolkien himself would probably disagree.
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With good reason. Other equally powerful influences on modern fantasy are the Arthurian legends; Robert E. Howard's sword & sorcery tradition; and science fantasy (which I distinguish both from science fiction & fantasy in that sci-fan concerns itself with aliens and starships, but rather than mechanics, it deals with Light and Dark, and all the archetypical stuff.
Another thread that might interest you is:
Are You Writing Serious Fantasy?
The above mentioned thread was a spin-off of a discussion that dealt with the whole question of whether fantasy is even a valid genre, and why doesn't any of it measure up to Tolkien?
The other thread (which I can't find!!!! arg!) was called, "Are there any valid criticisms? (aka Kalessin's rant)". I highly recommend it. You'll feel right at home - if you can find it.