I'd recommend the Malazan Book of the Fallen which is, in a lot of ways, what Tolkien wished he could have accomplished in the sense of how much creative freedo

I'd recommend the Malazan Book of the Fallen which is, in a lot of ways, what Tolkien wished he could have accomplished in the sense of how much creative freedom Erikson had available to him and how much world-building he's able to consequently do. Erikson is an archaeologist, which informs his world-building in the same way Tolkien's philology did, and as a bonus, the world is informed not by Catholicism but concepts of evolution. Here's Erikson talking about the trope of "barbarians": http://www.stevenerikson.com/index.php/the-problem-of-karsa-orlong/ http://www.stevenerikson.com/index.php/the-problem-of-karsa-...