J. R. R. Tolkien publisher used the author's own cover art, maps, and full-page illustrations for the early editions of "The Hobbit". Much of his artwork was collected and published in 1995 as a book: "". The book discusses the paintings, drawings, and sketches of J.R.R. Tolkien and in total includes 200 reproductions of his art. In a 1951 letter to Milton Waldman, Tolkien wrote about his intentions to create a "body of more or less connected legend", of which "[t]he cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama".
Works inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, aimed at adult readers who enjoyed Tolkien's works. Lester Del Rey, however, sought for new books that would mirror Tolkien's work, and published Terry Brooks' "The Sword of Shannara", David Eddings's "Belgariad", and Stephen R. Donaldson's "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever". Guy Gavriel Kay, who had assisted Christopher Tolkien with the editing of "The Silmarillion", later wrote his own Tolkien-influenced fantasy trilogy, "The Fionavar Tapestry". Russian writer Nick Perumov was able to publish several fantasy novels set in Tolkien's Middle-Earth after the events of "The Lord of the Rings" (due to a loophole