I don’t think I need to make the argument that Tolkien is number one.
Who is number two? You could argue that the creations of Lucas and Roddenberry both fit the bill but let’s limit ourselves to books.
Personally I have no idea (Asimov’s Foundation?) but I am interested in what the SDMB can come up with.
What do you mean by “obsessed”?
If I understand what you’re looking for, I’d say Frank Herbert/Dune.
Fair enough. Let’s call it “obsessed about by fans”
Although Tolkien may well win the obsessed about by the author as well.
In that case, I’d say either Dune or Pern.
I dunno, the Wheel of Time fanatics can get pretty intense some times.
Yeah, but it hasn’t stood the test of time. Dune and Pern have both been around for 20+ years, IIRC.
'course, knowing Jordan, in twenty years he’ll still be writing the series, as he marches into the 300,000th page of descriptions of what every character is wearing.
Funniest dumb comment by an obsessed fan seen on a bulletin board (not this one):
On a SW bb I actually saw these idiotic kids saying that Frank Herbert was just some wannabe and that he totally stole ideas from Lucas. I mean, his main character is a young boy on a desert planet! What a ripoff of Luke on Tatooine, huh??
They were told by me to go look at the copyright date on “Dune” and then come back and appologize. Kids these days…
Dr. R.
A lot of people harp on Heinlien’s Starship Troopers, but they’re mostly complaining about the movie.
When I was in high school, the Great Debate of choice among the theater geeks was Tolkein vs. C.S. Lewis, specifically, The Lord of the Rings vs. The Chronicles of Narnia.
CJ
I’m not into the fan scene, for anything, but I find it hard to believe that Tolkien is more obsessed over than Star Trek. Everybody knows what a Trekkie is. How many Tolkien conventions are there?
I may be talking…er, typing…out my nether regions here, but that’s my impression.
The OP said he wanted to limit to books, and while both Trek and Star Wars have books series out, their real weight is carried by TV and movies.
Oh, you’re right. Missed that.:o
Well, in that case, I’d say the Hitchhiker’s Guide series would have to be in the running.
Potter-philes
now where is my toad???
OK, you guys seem to have it covered. I’m guessing saying ‘The Bible’ would be tactless, but how about a classic? Shakespeare? Homer? Fantasy has been around for ages and a lot of people have liked Shakespeare.
I get the feeling that the “Shannara” series by Terry Brooks has some pretty hardcore fans too. It has been around for a good 25 years now but obviously is a pretty straight forward Tolkien rip-off, and least it is in the early books.
Merrin
Charles Dickens. Fans used to mob the docks when his books came in, shouting questions about the fate of their favorite characters in whatever his current serial was.
Of course, now that he’s been dead a century, Dickens fans get to call themselves “scholars.”
A small, but nevertheless intense, group of fans worship the works of HP Lovecraft…
Ia! Ia! Lovecraft ftagn!
Spill not the sacred secrets, CS, lest the Goat with a Thousand Young be summoned to shut your piehole…
Oh, and anyone who doubts the obsession of Tolkien fans is invited to check out rec.arts.books.tolkien two days after Two Towers comes out.