don't forget LOTR (books) was fundament of modern fantasy, it's undeniable classic and will always be.
before we had heroic fantasy created by REH that can be read even now and it's still good (yeah talking about Conan books).
but no one attempted to creat so much developed world with history, myths and language before Tolkien (fantasy world).
after Tolkien comes fantasy boom, every author good or bad must have their own map of his world drawn in his books, everyone tried to be another Tolkien but no one can be since he was simply first who created such complex books.
what i'm trying to say it's no matter what some troll gonna say about Tolkien - you can't change history
personally i love hobbit, read it 6 times when i was young, LOTR read 2 times, also good but i was already influenced/corrupted by Black Company series so LOTR was kind of softcore for me ;)
if you wan't some more hardcore fantasy stories (and i mean hardcore) i recommend:
Kane series by Karl Edward Wagner
Black company series by Glen Cook
Malazan book of the fallen by Steven Erikson
and from newest ones, maybe not as hardcore like previous ones but also incredibly well written, well thought and planned, series that shows how war influence evolution:
Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky