I think I'm going to say something now that will make everyone here hate me.
I have read a lot of fantasy and I don't think The Lord of the Rings is the best out there. Before everyone starts attacking me - it's just my personal opinion. And I do think Tolkien is wonderful and I can see why he seems like the greatest to a large group of people. It's just that I have always been very interested in the (late) Medieval period and Tolkien's work is clearly inspired by the Heroic period that preceded the Middle Ages.
That said, I often notice I tend to get a little annoyed at the many Tolkien rip-offs out there. Wheel of Time is a good example and there are other epic fantasies that are disturbingly like Lord of the Rings. Similar names don't disturb me much (do you have any idea how hard it is to come up with phonetically possible names that have not been used before?) but Tolkien introduced a lot of clichés that many writers can't seem to avoid.
For example, a regular fantasy-hero is born and raised in an area that is isolated from the rest of the world. The inhabitants are kind, but ignorant. For some tragic reason he has to leave this place, encounters evil beings wearing dark cloaks who live in towers. The friendly Elves live in woods, Dwarfs live in caves. Granted, this may seem most logical when examining mythology, but the Irish fairies definitely weren't all wood-sy.
I have never read Eragon, but from what I've heard it's a huge rip-off of both Star Wars and Lord of the Rings - but what else can we expect from such a young author? I personally rather read something less well written with an interesting, new idea than a book which might have been a good read if it had not been written before.
Ah well, it's hard to avoid any Tolkien-ish influence if you're an aspiring fantasy writer. LotR is much like the Bible in that way.
- Cailín