The Lord of the Rings is an epic high-fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, set in Middle-earth, and it began as a sequel to Tolkiens 1937 childrens book The Hobbit. The story is about a group of heroes who set out to save their world from evil, and it is considered one of the greatest fantasy books ever written. The Lord of the Rings is often credited with creating and shaping the modern fantasy genre, and it has had an enormous influence on that genre as a whole. The enduring popularity of the book has led to numerous adaptations, including award-winning films, radio plays, and theatrical productions). While The Lord of the Rings is certainly a popular work, it is also highly respected among many literary scholars, and it has a lot of rich dialogue, narrative, and characterization, which one might expect from a "literary fiction" novel. Therefore, it can be categorized as high-fantasy literature.