WI:J. R. R. Tolkien is never born

Edward Plunkett

Dunsany was a strong influence on Lovecraft but more dreamy than nightmarish. Also Burroughs and Howard would have more of an influence.

One interesting consequence is David Eddings would probably not dip his oar into fantasy at all and would probably become mostly a writer of detective novels.
 
One interesting consequence is David Eddings would probably not dip his oar into fantasy at all and would probably become mostly a writer of detective novels.

Good!

On the other hand, lots of other people I really like would never start writing. Most cite Tolkien as the primary influence in interviews.
 
If C.S. Lewis was still alive, then he'd probably take up the mantle of "king of fantasy". In OTL, Tolken outshined Lewis (and rightfully so). In a world without Tolken, Lewis' influence would be that which the entire fantasy genre would be locked out for anyone not into thinly veiled Christian propaganda.

Uhh, you know that Tolkien was a reasonably devout Catholic, right?
 
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