User blog comment:BeholdtheVision/COMMENT PLEASE/@comment-1897744-20100408231127

Er, Warboss... Tolkien INVENTED modern-day orcs. Just for the record.

And for anyone who dislikes LotR, you need to do a serious re-read. (If you dislike it without reading, that's why.) I tried the actual series after reading The Hobbit back for class in fourth grade and couldn't manage. Two years ago I did a proper, full read-through, though. Tolkien is, and always will be, the most true fantasy genius ever to walk this Earth. He is the father and founder of all modern fantasy, and the allusions within his work--especially the Biblical references--are captivating, but do not deter. Instead they take you along for the ride, and bring you into a fictional world that you cannot help but feeling is real. It is the sense of realism that Tolkien brings to everything that makes the series so great: because he wrote the entire history of the freakin' elves, for gods sake, and it's published. He created 42+ languages, and there are some that are so complete people can speak, read, and write them.

If that's not impressive, what is?