Th only other fantasy epic I have read alongside LOTR & TH, is Stephen Donaldson's "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" volumes.
Although very enjoyable and totally absorbing, it was also very heavy going, far more than the writings of Tolkien's LOTR. I think one of the major differences in writing styles is that the LOTR books were totally un-put-downable, whereas with Donaldson's CoTC my brain had to take a time-out every few pages because I was either getting too irritated with some of the characters, especially Covenent himself. Or that his prose was far too over elaborate and distracting at times. Not to the point of boredom, but that there was just too many things going on to stay focused in one session.
Still a great set of books though. However, I have only re-read CoTC once in the last 7 years, whereas I have re-read LOTR 3 times in the same period of time!
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