They're Tolkien ripoffs only in the same sense that Tolkien is a rip off of early fantasy writers such as Dunsany and George MacDonald. He was undoubtedly a hug

They're Tolkien ripoffs only in the same sense that Tolkien is a rip off of early fantasy writers such as Dunsany and George MacDonald. He was undoubtedly a huge influence on modern epic fantasy, but he himself was working from a tradition that already existed while he was writing.