elfkin, Bilbo finds the ring in Gollum’s cave about a quarter of the way into the book. It’s quite early. You must have really hated it not to have got that far. And The Sword of Shannara is derivative of Lord of the Rings for many, many more reasons than that they both use swords, elves, and magic. There isn’t really any one thing; it’s an aggregate of numerous parallels. Of course, you’d have to read both to understand why.
I would love to see PJ do The Hobbit if only because I can’t imagine anybody else doing it properly.
FISH