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OK I was a bit panicky on my first post...I shall improve.
If Tolkien's fantasy had never existed it would indeed affect the literary world in a major way. During his time more of realistic fiction and authors like Virginia Woolf were more popular--and fantasy writing was nearly out of the question (OK maybe I'm overreacting)! In fact the style of writing during his time more revolved on character development -- in The Lord of the Rings it is more "plotty" per say. The characters he developed were more of "stereotypes" (or "archetypes" if you don't agree with that identification). Tolkien was focused on Medieval literature--it was unique.
If he hadn't published his volumunous prose perhaps we would still be stuck writing in more realistic points of views.
At the present RPGs won't be so popular and the fantasy genre would not have flourished as much--there would be less shelves dedicated to that genre in the bookstore.
On a more personal level...I would be a narrow-minded, practical, reader who's only purpose in the world is to find the perfect flat-billed Platypus egg in Tasmania.
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