I dont think that epic fantasy, no matter how good (i'm a Tolkien fan) is a Nobel Prize material. Yes, Nobel prize is very biased (Gandhi wasn't awarded!!!!!), but I think that they made the right choice. Andri? is a very good writer. Awarding someone just becouse he is popular is pure ignorance.

There are many writers who deserved the Nobel, Joyce, Virginia Wolf, Tolstoy, Rushdie, Emile Zola, but never recieved it, and Tolkien is definitely not one of them.